We may now be in the last month of the year but by no means does this mean that there are less birds to see. During the winter months, gulls come together to form large mixed-species flocks. Especially large flocks form when the gulls come together to roost in the evening and while we haven't counted any particularly big flocks of late we did see over 300 common gulls one day. In amongst these were 3 adult great black-backed gulls and 1 adult lesser black-backed gull. Lesser black-backed gulls typically winter further south, so this one either came back early or hasn't left - perhaps preferring to spend the winter here with us.
Gulls were also a prominent sight at Loch Connell this week, with over 170 black-headed gulls and an adult Mediterranean gull being counted. Despite 20% of Loch Connell being covered with ice this week's visit still produced some good counts. In the surrounding fields 79 curlews, 34 lapwings and over 200 and 530 Canada and greylag geese (respectively) were feeding. A little grebe and 16 goosanders were diving in the loch itself, while an elusive moorhen crept around the outside. Scattered around the loch were 28 mallards and 108 wigeon (more wigeon than were present at the wig this week). Two whooper swans - an adult and a juvenile - were seen (I wonder what happened to the rest of their family?). Teal numbers remained fairly constant, with 144 individuals being seen this week.
However, Loch Connell was not the only place that we saw teal this week; 4 birds were sighted at the scar. The number of shelducks at the scar and wig increased to 10 and the flock of pale-bellied brent geese went back up in number to 256 (36 of which were juvenile birds). Other waterfowl seen include a flock of approximately 100 pink-footed geese and yet another small flock of teal (34 birds) - this time paddling about on a pool in the marsh.
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| Purple sandpiper at the wig. |
The marsh also provided views of a grey heron and 6 snipe. It was nice to be able to add the secretive snipe to our wader list this week, for it's been quite a good week for waders at the wig. We had highest day-counts of 238 oystercatchers, 16 redshank, 52 turnstones, 66 curlews and 4 bar-tailed godwits (the highest number of bar-tails we've seen in a single day this winter). Other slightly less regular species included 6 grey plovers, 3 golden plovers, a dunlin, 40 ringed plovers and a single knot was seen twice (although it may not have been the same bird). That's still not the wader list finished (…drumroll...)! It was a surprise to find a purple sandpiper at the wig this week. These lovely waders prefer rockier habitats and so we don't often see them at the wig. Fortunately, this individual showed off for the camera and even hung around for another day for us to enjoy it. Our final wader, seen on the same two days as the purple sandpiper, is equally exciting: another American golden plover. I say 'another' but given that it is also a first-winter bird it is very likely to be the same individual. A pleasure to see, nevertheless!
This brings us onto our 'sea-going' species. A single black-throated diver was again seen twice during the week and highest counts of eiders were approximately 200. We saw highest day-counts of 16 Slavonian grebes, 34 shags, 8 cormorants and 12 black guillemots. Many of the shags and cormorants are already in full breeding plumage and one black guillemot was well on it's way to being the same - looking noticeable darker all over than its winter plumage counterparts. Only small numbers of great crested grebes were seen this week (highest day-count of 6) but the number of long-tailed ducks is still increasing. We've seen a high of 21 long-tailed ducks so far and most of these have been adult male birds.
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| A winter plumage black guillemot that was fishing off Marian jetty. |
Back at the shore, we had a highest count of 5 rock pipits this week. 6 linnets were spotted and the twite flock stood at approximately 80 individuals, providing plenty of potential targets for the peregrine and male sparrowhawk that were seen during the week. Another water-loving species was seen at Fisher's Lane pool: a second dipper. It would be interesting to know whether this is the same bird as last week or not.
Continuing on into the woods, a great spotted woodpecker and a mistle thrush were seen twice during the week. Other counts saw 3 nuthatches, 3 song thrushes, 2 redwings, 1 grey wagtail and over 70 woodpigeons. It was very nice to see a siskin and two bullfinches - two species that are not particularly regular for us (especially bullfinches). Perhaps bullfinches are under-recorded due to their quiet and unobtrusive behaviour - we shall just have to keep our eyes peeled.
That about wraps it up for this week and just in time too - a patch of blue sky has just miraculously appeared through the rain! Time for one last look for birds before the sun sets...
[All photographs are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]
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