The Beginning of a New Chapter

This is a very special article for the blog, for with it I have now published 50 articles over these past 9 months! What started out as a pet project has received far more interest and feedback than I was ever expecting, and the interaction I have had with everyone during that period has been overwhelming. I am very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read one of my articles, it is very encouraging to know that you are enjoying the content and sharing in the many birds that we have seen. Speaking of birds, these 9 months have been astronomical in terms of all the different wildlife we have seen. What started out as a list of 70 odd birds, is now a huge catalogue of 156 (and still rising!) different species, some of which were even new to us onLoch Ryan and the Wig. We've also had numerous mammal and insect species; even I who have been living here for 12 years (albeit with some gaps) am astonished by the sheer diversity of life we have seen this year. I am certainly been glad that I have had the opportunity to talk about many of these wonderful records, and through this hopefully you have enjoyed some of them as well. 

Now is the part when I have to announce that this is also going to be the last blog article that I write. I am now moving into grander things and in October I will start a PhD in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia.  I couldn't be more excited about this as I will be able to combine my scientific background with my passion for the natural world - and get paid for it as well! I will no doubt get lots of bird watching in whilst I am down there, however I will be a bit too far removed from the Wig to carry on these articles. Fear not though, for my sister Eleanor will be taking over the mantle. As someone who's knowledge and passion far outshines my own I have no doubt that the blog is safe in her hands, in fact, it may well be even better than before! I hope you will continue to check out the articles in the future, I certainly will and look forward to enjoying them as a reader rather than the writer. 

From our local marsh (above) I'll be moving onto the Saltmarshes of Norfolk

Now that the tearful (No? Just me then, sniff) admin business is out of the way, there is still plenty of space to squeeze in some birds. Of course, being in September we are literally swamped in different species coming and going - there is something exciting everywhere you look. Despite the incredible abundance we had in last week article, we've matched - maybe even surpassed - that number this week and have yet more new species to boot. 

With another week rolling by, we are another step through autumn and so have had another load of winter species. Wigeon and Slavonian Grebes are just starting to arrive, but soon they will be commonplace on the loch. As it is they can be a little tough to spot right now, especially with all of the grebes being in various stages of moult as they transition into their winter plumage. Whilst by no means a common sight in winter, that is when we would expect to be seeing Great-northern Divers. Yet we found an immature bird out on the loch, definitely an early bird (though not many worms in the sea)! 

When the tide is out there is so much to see on the shore

Recently I spoke about how this was a good time to be seeing Mediterranean Gulls. They aren't the only ones however, as this past week we've also had another Yellow-legged Gull. Their numbers tend to rise across the UK at this time of year, but that doesn't make them any easier to separate from the Herring Gulls! With there being so many species of gulls that we get, you wouldn't think we'd have room for any more. Fortunately we were pleasantly surprised to add Sabines Gull to the list when we recorded 4 juvenile birds flying past the Scar. A very rare visitor in our area, these were probably blown in as they migrated from high arctic North America down to Africa. Another exciting record, even if it is another Gull species I shall have to learn how to confidently ID!

Before I cover yet even more new species, I have to mention our record of a Velvet Scoter. An irregular visitor during the winter, we get the occasional bird hiding out amongst the large flocks of Common Scoter. Currently, there are very few of these on the loch and so to see a Velvet Scoter this early was a nice surprise. Perhaps even more astonishing though is that this is the 2nd week in a row in which we added 3 new species to the blog. Second on the list was a Leach's Storm Petrel, appearing before we've even had the more common Storm Petrel. Breeding up the in the cold north they spend the rest of the year out at sea. Many birds are directed towards the UK at this time of year by autumn storms, but even so for an individual to dip into Loch Ryan is very unusual and so makes a great record for us. Perhaps the most regular group of birds that throws up migrants are the waders. After all, many of them share similar feeding habitats and across the world they are making migratory journies to their wintering grounds. We've already seen a huge diversity of wader species this week, but hidden amongst them another rarity cropped up; a Pectoral Sandpiper. Breeding in Northern America and Asia, it would seem like it was a long way off-course, however these are one of the most common vagrant wader species in the UK. We're still musing over where it might have come from but we're certainly more than happy to receive it. 

A new day dawns on Loch Ryan, and a new dawn for the blog

These past few weeks have seen so much excitement, and the good news is we're still in September so there is still plenty more to come. Still, it seems fitting that my last few articles should be filled with such exciting species, I have certainly marvelled over them so I hope everyone else is impressed as well. A final thanks to all of you readers, I am still amazed by the reception these articles have received, and I hope you will all continue to be avid readers as we begin a new chapter for the blog.