Not Too Early for Snow! Bird Report for 16/11/20 - 22/11/20

Perhaps this week's title should instead be 'Not Too Early 4 Snow' - given that this is the fourth week in a row that we have seen a new species for the blog! For those of you who may have been thinking that we haven't had any snow yet, you are right. Now you may well have already figured out this week's new species: snow buntings. These charming finches may breed further north in the Cairngorms but when the weather gets colder they, along with continental birds, come south to spend the winter along the coast. We saw 3 snow buntings on the beach this week, hopping about looking for food before they realised that there was nothing tasty to be had here and flew off again.

Our other passerine species have been varied in number this week, ranging from as little as a single linnet to a flock of over 600 starlings. Redwings and fieldfares have only been in small numbers, with 4 of the former and 13 of the latter being seen throughout the course of the week. We tend to get larger numbers when the birds are moving through on passage - only a relatively small number winter locally. The mistle thrush that we have seen multiple times is quite likely to be the same bird here to spend the winter, given that it always appears in the same general area just before the woods.

A snow bunting on the beach - gorgeous little birds

Also spotted (or heard, anyway!) near the woods was a great spotted woodpecker. The woodpecker, 3 alarming pheasants and one startled snipe all called suddenly - there must have been a predator nearby but it did not show itself. On the subject of predators, we have done quite well for raptors recently. A peregrine and a sparrowhawk were both sighted at the beginning of the week. A solitary buzzard put in an appearance a few time through the week and a female merlin was seen at the end of the week.

Moving onto waterfowl, mute swans continued to drop in number - we didn't see any at all on Sunday. We did, however, have a flock of 15 whooper swans one day. 3 shelducks and a single female scaup came to pay the wig a visit this week. Our highest day-count of pale-bellied brent geese stood at 225, with a dark-bellied individual amongst them. Interestingly, the brent geese have already started grazing in the fields alongside the wig track. In previous years, the brent flock didn't take to these fields until after Christmas-time. Our other regular flock - wigeon - is also still going strong at a weekly high of 214 birds.

Wigeon were also seen at Loch Connell this week (a total of 80). Visits at both ends of the week saw some good numbers coming from this small freshwater loch. 2 adult Mediterranean gulls were in amongst the other regular gull species in the abuttal fields. On the loch itself, the main species were ducks, with 126 teal, 4 'redhead' (females or young males) goosander, 11 mallards and 4 female-type tufted ducks (our fist tufted duck on Loch Connell this winter). Flocks of approximately 30 greylag geese and 170 Canada geese were seen on both visits, quite probably involving the same birds. Not to be outdone, a flock of 99 lapwings was also seen at Loch Connell (the one hundredth individual was sought for but not found!).

A further 176 lapwings were feeding in the fields on the way to Loch Connell. On the wader front, however, the wig far outshone Loch Connell. We had highest day-counts of 3 bar-tailed godwits, 6 dunlin, 30 ringed plovers, 210 oystercatchers, 53 curlews and 56 turnstones. Particularly good counts for the wig this year included over 70 knot and roughly 600 golden plovers.

A male red-breasted merganser

Our number of lapwings was far eclipsed by those seen by Gill Deacon at the West Freugh. In the same area as a flock of 100 pink-footed geese, was a field full of lapwings - up to 500 in number! Also at West Freugh, Gill saw some whooper swans: flocks of 9 adults with 2 juveniles and then 10 adults with 3 juveniles. It is always good to record the number of juveniles present in whooper swan flocks because it gives an indication of how good the breeding season was. Gill also went to Marian jetty and managed to get some nice views of close-in great northern divers.

We have also had some quite nice sightings out on Loch Ryan itself this week. A single gannet flew past and a flock of 135 black-headed gulls were paddling about together before coming in to roost. A red-necked grebe was amongst the great crested and Slavonian grebes (highest day-count of 25) and the same day also saw a black-throated diver. A male velvet scoter was spotted amongst the flocks of common scoters (highest day-count of 162). We also had highest day-counts of 28 black guillemots, 10 long-tailed ducks and 84 red-breasted mergansers. The long-tailed ducks are still mostly males and they don't all get on with each other - a fight broke out this week with much flapping and pecking involved! The male mergansers were also competing, if in a different manner. 16 males were in a group displaying to a single female, who didn't look very impressed.

Finally, I'll finish off by mentioning a species that is not a definite record but still very interesting. A late afternoon scan revealed two possible king eiders flying past (likely an immature male and a female). Unfortunately, due to the distance, fading light conditions and the short period of time they were seen, it wasn't possible to be fully certain that these were king eiders. They did appear to show a small-billed profile (lacking the wedge-shaped head of a common eider) but the birds were not seen again, so we'll have to leave them as "the ones that got away". It just goes to show that you should never stop looking.

[All photographs are taken by and belong Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]

Strike Three! Bird Report for 09/11/20 - 15/11/20

Yet another week with more than its fair share of unfavourable weather but yet another new species for this blog. The week started off with a trip to Marian jetty - just a little further up from the Wig car park it can offer good views of birds out on the loch, especially if the tide is in. This week there were not only birds to be seen, for an otter was fishing close in by the jetty. A nice surprise it was to see, this aquatic mammal was nevertheless eclipsed by our new species for the blog: a white-billed diver. In its winter plumage, this large bird is very similar to the great northern diver, yet it is far more uncommonly sighted, being in general a more northerly species.

Other diving birds include a highest day-count of 5 long-tailed ducks. We are mostly seeing males of this smart-looking duck at the moment. Our highest count of shags this week was 70. Opposite to this, our cormorant sightings were down this week, with only a highest count of 6. Whilst not a diving bird, it was very nice to see an adult lesser black-backed gull this last week. This species migrates south at this time of year, spending the winter in warmer countries such as Portugal (lucky for some!).

A skein of greylag geese

Mute swans have steadily decreased in number - starting off with 68 birds until there were only 27 at the end of the week. It is likely that these birds have moved off to areas with more food available. To make up for it we saw a flock of 35 greylag geese. The pale-bellied brent goose flock was also performing well. One day saw a single flock of 396 - a smashing number to be in a single flock!

Moving on to our waders, our regular curlews and oystercatchers were seen daily and we had counts of 44 ringed plovers, 58 turnstones and roughly 70 golden plovers. In amongst these, we also had some more unusual birds present. A single sanderling was spotted running alongside the waves and we also had a single whimbrel this week. We only see whimbrel on passage (and more in the spring than autumn), so to see one in November is fairly unusual for us.

Pale-bellied brent geese

It's not all about our coastal species, however, and it is always just as fun to scan through flocks of 'little brown jobs'. We only saw greenfinches once this week (a flock of 10 along the wig track). This flock seems to have decreased in number in recent weeks. The same day was also the only day of the week that we saw any fieldfares - a flock of 26. A total of 5 meadow pipits throughout the week was outshined by the number of rock pipits (we saw 5 in one day alone). A single song thrush was seen and a grey wagtail was present near the cemetery. Despite the seeming lack of food (only circa 20 twite seen this week), a male merlin was still seen hunting.

Once again it was time for our monthly WeBS count, so we also have some records from Piltanton this week. It was nice to be able to see species that we don't often see at the wig, including 3 greenshanks and 6 little egrets. 4 mallards, 200 wigeon and 25 shelduck far outshone the numbers of these ducks that we saw at the wig this wig. It was also great to be able to see 127 dunlin, having seen only small numbers of this wader this autumn. 2 stonechats, a linnet and 14 pied wagtails fed along the beach at Piltanton and everything shot up alarming when a male hen harrier flew over, shortly followed by a peregrine. My first hen harrier of this winter - brilliant!

Whether we are finding new birds for the winter or counting up flocks of our regular species, there is always more birding to be done!

[All photographs are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]

A Great New Species: Bird Report for 02/11/12 - 08/11/12

Despite the autumnal weather, we have had a great week for birds. One day saw a species total of 69 (it just goes to show that it doesn't have to be in the peak migration times for us to see lots of species in a day!) and another day recorded yet another new species for this blog. In amongst the scattered records of grey herons this week (up to 3 one day) stood another heron species. It was big and white - yes, it was a great white egret! It is perhaps surprising that this is our first record of this species, given their advance further north. The bird was only seen once before disappearing into the rain, however, another birder sighted a great white egret later in the week at Piltanton burn, alongside 6 little egrets. This could well be the same bird and it may well be the bird that has been around Wigtown harbour in recent weeks.

Onto a smaller but nonetheless long-legged group of birds: the waders. A single grey plover was seen this week and a flock of approximately 50 knot was seen at the beginning of the week. Our highest day-counts of the week stand at 83 curlews, 2 bar-tailed godwits, 228 oystercatchers and 30 lapwings (although the latter were at Loch Connell). With all these delicacies running about it was no surprise that a peregrine made an appearance twice during the week, as well as a male sparrowhawk.

An elegant grey heron

Paddling about close to shore, our highest count of wigeon this week was 288 birds. The pale-bellied brent goose flock reached a high of 245 (although no dark-bellies) and the number of mute swans scattered about the loch remained stable in the low 50s. A flock of 20 whooper swans flew over and a different flock of 18, with three of them juveniles, was seen at West Freugh by Gill Deacon. Gill also saw a couple of shelduck amongst all of the usual suspects at Bishop burn.

Waterbirds further out on the loch included highest day-counts of 168 common scoter, 19 goldeneye, 13 great northern divers (a high count for Loch Ryan), 70 red-breasted mergansers and 41 Slavonian grebes. Our highest daily count (at our end of the loch anyway) of great crested grebes was only 26 this week but these were joined by 2 red-necked grebes. 2 male velvet scoters were seen on the same day and another individual was seen later on in the week. A total of 5 razorbills were also seen throughout the week. Both razorbills and guillemots often feed out on the open sea during the winter months and the auk that we tend to see most often in the winter is the black guillemot, with our highest day-count for this week being 18. It is interesting to see the amount of natural variation that is present in the winter plumage of this auk - with birds varying between quite dark and startlingly white.

Black guillemot - or 'tystie' - in winter plumage

Another species that shows lots of individual variation is the redwing and we saw a new high (for this winter) of over 80 birds in a day this week. We also had counts of 7 mistle thrushes (high for us!), 10 pied wagtails and over 600 starlings. Whilst not a high count, it was nice to see a late swallow on the 5th. Not a bird but also rather late, this week saw a fox moth caterpillar wriggling about despite the chill in the air.

So while we still had a summer migrant, we also had some new winter ones as well. 3 bramblings flying over our garden were our first records for this winter and were complimented by another individual in the woods later in the week. Continuing around the woods, we also saw 10 goldcrests, a female great spotted woodpecker, a nuthatch, a raven and 3 treecreepers. I don't normally see 3 treecreepers in one day and it was lovely to get the opportunity to view these elusive birds so well.

All in all, it's been great week - I just hope that the weather picks up again soon so that I can go out again!

[All photographs were taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]

Blow Winds Blow: Bird Report for 26/10/20 - 01/11/20

Starting off this last week chronologically, on Monday the white-winged black tern was still present. It hasn't been seen since, so hopefully it is now well on its way towards Africa. An adult winter-plumage Mediterranean gull visited the wig once this week and the highest day-count of black-headed gulls reached 90. Gulls weren't the only species standing round in large flocks and this week we had high counts of 54 and 58 shags at the scar and Cairnryan pier, respectively. Shags and cormorants are always easier to count when they are sitting together, rather than when they are out fishing on their own all around the loch.

Many other species clearly were fishing because we saw a good selection of diving birds last week. While we didn't see a huge amount of red-throated divers (highest day count of 12), these were complimented by 2 black-throated divers early in the week. On top of this, the number of great northern divers around the loch has risen to 3 - all looking extremely smart because they are still in their breeding plumage. Poor visibility this week has resulted in us seeing smaller numbers of birds at our end of the loch this week. However, Slavonian grebes and black guillemots are still scattered around the loch, with our highest counts being 8 tysties and 10 Slav. grebes. Alongside our regular quota of diving ducks (eider, red-breasted merganser and common scoter), this week we also saw 9 goldeneyes, 3 long-tailed ducks and a female-type velvet scoter. There is quite likely to be a small number of velvet scoter present on the loch at any one given point but we just don't see them every day.

A teal paddles about on a glassy surface

On the shore, we saw a nice variety of waders this last week. A single snipe called as it lifted up and headed to the marsh to roost. Once in the marsh, these brilliantly camouflaged waders become near-impossible to see. Other single counts include one lapwing at the wig and also a sanderling. Somewhat larger counts include 15 redshank, 47 turnstones and 34 ringed plovers. 28 golden plovers were seen at the start of the week and later in the week were replaced by a juvenile American golden plover. Although they are a scarce vagrant, we see American golden plovers on an almost annual basis. It was still lovely to see and is a new species for this blog no less! Perhaps it was blown in by the gusty weather we've been seeing this past week - or maybe it just couldn't bear the thought of hanging around for the election results.

Also by the shore, our pale-bellied brent goose flock stood at 192 birds this week, 20 of which were juveniles. In amongst this feisty gaggle were 2 dark-bellies - they must have heard me saying that we hadn't seen them for a while! Our other geese were mostly seen at Loch Connell - with 84 Canada geese and 76 greylag geese present on Saturday. The number of teal at Loch Connell now stands at 168 individuals.

Redwing feathers: not quite your typical view of this bird!

It has been harder to spot small passerines (perching birds) this week, due to the blowy weather. You don't quite realise how much you rely on your ears to pick out various bird calls until you are unable to hear anything but the sound of wind roaring down your ears! Nonetheless, we gave it our best effort. The greenfinch flock along the wig track had a highest count of 18 birds this last week, while the highest day-count of twite came at the end of the week, with 250 birds being counted. The fields along the wig track also gave rise to 7 skylarks, 8 meadow pipits and 2 linnets.

A number of walks through the woods yielded some rewarding results, with long-tailed tits, at least 5 goldcrests (so often seen but not heard!), 2 treecreepers, 3 buzzards, a nuthatch, a grey wagtail and a female sparrowhawk. A second sparrowhawk was seen later in the week; bearing down on a small flock of fieldfares that had freshly flown in from the sea. One less fieldfare left the bush than had flown into it and yet the sparrowhawk left with empty talons - make of that what you will! It was a good week for thrushes, with highest day-counts of 6 mistle thrushes and approximately 130 fieldfares. Given that it is quite likely that all of the fieldfares we are seeing at the moment are different individuals on migration, we may well have seen over 270 different fieldfares last week. We typically see redwings in smaller flocks, so it was nice to see 43 birds in one day. One flock of six dropped to five individuals - this mystery was solved by the presence of freshly plucked feathers in the woods (see photo above)!

Although this leaves me with one less bird to watch next week there are enough to go around and I can't begrudge a sparrowhawk a meal!

[All pictures and photographs are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]

Birding the Town Part 2: Places to Bird-watch in Stranraer

In the 'Birding the town part 1', we looked at how there may be more bird life in urban areas than you think. In this second article, I shall cover some of what I consider to be the best locations for bird-watching in Stranraer (my local town) and what birds you are likely to see at each site. Without further ado, let's dive right in.

Broadstones

A car park off Broadstones Road, this is the perfect place to start. Affording a nice view out over the loch, you can see all manner of the loch regulars, from divers and grebes to eiders and scoters. A flock of red-breasted mergansers can often be seen loafing around near the golf course and when the tide is out ringed plovers, dunlins and turnstones scuttle along the beach. Turning inland, the grassy stretches alongside see the expected woodpigeons and gulls, the latter often 'tapdancing' on the grass to tempt worms to the surface. However, you may also see more unusual species there - such as a flock of brent geese in the winter.

Brent geese off on a shopping trip into town!

Agnew Park

No town is complete without the traditional 'village pond' and for Stranraer, this is Agnew Park. To go to Agnew Park and not see any mallards is almost unthinkable. In amongst these, there may well be one or two 'farmyard duck' hybrids, often told by their extensive white markings. If the little island is empty of people then gulls often come down to rest there. Perhaps the most famous residents of Agnew Park are its pair of swans, who often raise large broods of cygnets. Yet you may be surprised what else may turn up to visit - with both goldeneye and tufted duck having been seen paddling about.

Do you think this swan knows that the inn was named after its species?

Stranraer Harbour and Port Rodie

At high tide, the harbour can provide nice close views of our sea-going species. Taking advantage of the calmer waters of the harbour, shags, cormorants, razorbills and guillemots come right in close to feed. At low tide, the revealed mud attracts waders. It is not uncommon to see redshank and curlew in the harbour but you may also see bar- and black-tailed godwits feeding there. In the winter larger numbers of pied wagtails often gather near the harbour at dusk. I felt sure that they must roost nearby but when I stayed to watch the entire flock suddenly lifted off and flew straight into the town! The rail along the harbour front also sees black-headed gulls perched on it and it is worth checking to see if any of these are wearing colour rings.

One of many black-headed gulls that love perching on these rails.

Port Rodie car park (opposite Tesco) also provides a view into the harbour. However, the best part about Port Rodie is the gull flock on the abandoned Stena land that can be viewed from there. At high tide, the gulls gather in larger numbers and it can be great fun scanning through the flock to see what is present. During the autumn, you stand a good chance of seeing a Mediterranean gull. You just never know what could be there, so keep your eyes peeled for Iceland gulls and continental herring gulls (L. a. argentatus).

An adult winter-plumage Mediterranean gull amongst black-headed gulls.

The Railway Station

I myself didn't discover the birding potential of the railway pier until a few years ago. Alongside the railway wall, large numbers of oystercatchers and redshank can be seen at high tide. The pier itself affords a view out over most of the loch, including down towards Bishop burn (which can't really be seen as well from Broadstones). Down this way, the winter often sees the scaup flock bobbing up and down in the waves. A black redstart was also once recorded there. However, it is the summer that is better for the railway pier. Oystercatchers and rock pipits breed around and on the buildings. You can also see the gull colony on the Stena pier from the railway. Gannets and terns may pass by and dive down right in front of you. The bird that I most associate with the railway pier is the black guillemot - or tystie. These breed in holes along the pier walls and show spectacular views throughout the summer.

A black guillemot perched near the railway station.

Bishop Burn

Right on the far edge of town, the Bishop burn is a small stream that runs into the loch. This area of shore attracts many different species to it. At low tide you may see many different species of wader, including knot, sanderlings, redshank, turnstones and the occasional flock of golden plovers. The exposed mud also sees flocks of wigeon and brent geese in the winter. Also in the winter, a high tide may see part of the wintering mute swan flock present of it may draw the scaup flock in closer to shore. The freshwater of the burn itself attracts different species to it. Grey wagtails are common and even a kingfisher and dippers have shown up before. Mallards splosh about in the stream and other ducks such as shoveler and pintail are more often see around this area than other parts of the loch.

The view from Bishop burn with swans flying by.

That briefly sums up some of my favourite places to go birding in Stranraer. It is perhaps not surprising that most of these sites are along the sea front, where you an look out over the loch. Better still, they are near enough in a straight line, so you can head from one end to the other in one trip. Do you have any different favourite places to go birding in Stranraer?

[All photographs are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]