It's Snow Time for Play! Bird Report for 18/01/21 - 24/01/21

Despite it only being January, last week saw some signs that spring is approaching. Birds were singing and our first Snowdrops and Daisies of the year were seen flowering. This was short lived, however, as we received a layer of snow overnight (the Snowdrops almost appeared to be shivering amidst the snow!). We don't get snow all too often (there is generally a visible line where the snow suddenly stops before reaching the Wig), so it was nice to see everything covered in a dusting of white. Unfortunately, the snow all proceeded to freeze the next night, making walking down hills a treacherous business.

Out walking through the woods, we were doing our best Crocodile Dundee impressions as we tried tracking animals through the snow. Deer tracks were the most commonly encountered, along with a few 'skid marks' - it's nice to know that animals lose their footing as well! We found the tracks of male Pheasants (with tell-tail-marks dragging behind the prints) and Rabbits (too small to be the Brown Hare that was seen a few days prior). On top of this, while following in the paw-prints of a Fox, a Woodcock startled from the side of the track and a Shrew was squeaking in the same area - there must have been some food there. We weren't just looking at the ground though, for we also saw 2 Jays and a Merlin; the latter of which was quite unusual to see in the woods. A snowy field played host to a small thrush flock containing at least 1 Fieldfare, 5 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Redwings. To complete our thrush quintet, we had highest day-counts of 9 Blackbirds and 3 Song Thrushes during the week.

Pink-footed Geese in the snowy fields by Loch Connell.

The slightly warmer temperatures (snow instead of constant ice) resulted in Loch Connell being less frozen-over than the previous week (only about 75% ice). 78 Lapwings stood on the ice (far short of the 200 birds that were present on an earlier visit during the week), whilst on the water were 2 Tufted Ducks and 2 Whooper Swans. 23 Mallards were counted around the Loch and Pink-footed Geese grazed in the nearby fields (over 500 were counted in these fields, albeit on a different day).

The marsh pools also saw some ice but they still managed to be home to over 100 Teal, a male Wigeon and 3 Mallards. We also saw 145 Teal in the middle of Loch Ryan, for a bit of variety in location. 2 male Goosanders were seen at the Wig and the next day 2 male Goosanders were spotted flying in the direction of Loch Connell. We had highest day-counts of 13 Scaup, 11 Shelduck, 6 Long-tailed Ducks (these have been a bit low in number of late), 18 Red-breasted Mergansers, 204 Pale-bellied Brent Geese (8 of which were immature birds) and 238 Common Scoter. Our highest count of Common Scoter in the past few weeks also coincided with a more unusual record of this species: some were heard calling over our house at night.

A small flock of Common Scoter on Loch Ryan.

Along the shore, we saw all of our 'usual wader suspects'. We had highest day-counts of 12 Grey Plovers, 9 Redshank, 48 Ringed Plovers (including 2 out on the tarmac of the old airstrip), 46 Turnstones and over 130 Curlews. After being absent from the Wig for some time now, Dunlins made an appearance last week (first 5 and then 6 individuals). Bar-tailed Godwits also had a good week, increasing in number to a high of 14 different birds.

Finally, to finish off with a few 'odds-and-ends'. The Fisher's Lane Pool Dipper made another appearance and a total of 4 Grey Herons were seen throughout the week. Totals of 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Treecreeper and 2 Goldcrests were both seen and heard in the woods during the week. A single flock of 34 Goldfinches few by and, after decreasing over the past few weeks, the Greenfinch flock at the Wig Track increased up to 10 individuals.

It was certainly a great week - my shoes might still be soaked through but it's always nice to have some different weather every now and then!

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

Winter Weather: Bird Report for 04/01/21 - 17/01/21

As the title suggests, this report covers our bird sightings for the past fortnight (instead of the usual weekly review). The weather has not been ideal for bird-watching these past two weeks; what with it being icy cold one day to pouring it down with rain the next, topped off with a helping of strong gusts of wind. It is no surprise, therefore, that many of our species have been seen in lower numbers than usual. On one day of particularly heavy rain we only saw 9 species - that must surely be a new low.

We made our regular trip to Loch Connell during the cold spells and were shocked to find that it was 98% frozen over, with only a small puddle in the middle remaining. It is not uncommon to find ice around the edge of the loch in the winter but we've never seen quite that much before. Surrounding this one tiny patch of water huddled 16 Common Gulls, 30 Herring Gulls, 170 Teal and 262 Wigeon. Around the margins of the loch were 5 Mallards, a Snipe, 11 Lapwings, a Moorhen and a further 7 Teal (paddling about on the burn). Perhaps more sensibly, 22 Greylag Geese and an additional 66 Wigeon were grazing in the abuttal fields.

An icy Loch Connell.

With the lack of available fishing opportunities at Loch Connell, it is perhaps unsurprising that 3 Goosanders instead turned up at the Wig. We have done quite well for waterfowl sightings in the past fortnight, with 1 Whooper Swan, a high of 14 Shelduck and a total of 11 Scaup (highest day-count of 4) being seen at the Wig. 2 Wigeon from the regular flock decided to pay a visit to the Flash Field, where we also counted a high of 210 Pale-bellied Brent Geese (including 16 juveniles and our returning colour-ringed individual). On the Scar, a male Teal and a single Pink-footed Goose were seen. We often hear the Pink-footed Geese at night as they go down to roost at the Scar and Pool Field but they normally fly off to their feeding grounds before dawn. However, one morning we were lucky enough to see over 1000 Pinkies lifting off the Scar.

Further out on Loch Ryan, 6 Mute Swans were seen off Lefnoll Point. Many of our seagoing species were down in number during the last fortnight. We had highest day-counts of 3 Great Crested Grebes, 25 Red-breasted Mergansers and 7 Red-throated Divers. Very few Shags were spotted, building up to a high of 12, alongside a highest day-count of 3 Cormorants. We saw a total of 4 Great Northern Divers over the last two weeks (3 were on one day), a total of 4 Black Guillemots (all on the same day; although these are likely to be under-counted) and a highest day-count of 177 Eiders. However, we did have highest day-counts of 177 Common Scoters, 29 Slavonian Grebes and 52 Goldeneyes. Goldeneye often frequent freshwater sites, so perhaps some of our birds came to Loch Ryan after their favoured ponds and lakes froze over. On top of this, we also had another potential sighting of a first-winter King Eider. Given that this is our second possible sighting, it seems fair to suggest that it could be correct but unfortunately the bird was just too far out to confirm the species.

A summer-plumaged cormorant.

On the shores of the loch, we saw 4 adult Great Black-backed Gulls and 200 Common Gulls on the Scar and another Little Egret made an appearance at Soleburn. We had highest day-counts of 5 Grey Plovers, 70 Ringed Plovers, 44 Turnstones and 120 Curlews. Two flocks of Lapwings (2 and 10 birds) and Knots (10 and 16 birds) also made an appearance during the past fortnight. Bar-tailed Godwit numbers have fluctuated during the last two weeks (normally they are fairly constant around 2-3 birds, quite likely the same individuals). We counted 6, 9, 5, 3, 1 and finally 4 'Barwits' around the Wig on different days.

Keeping a keen eye on the waders were 2 Sparrowhawks - one for each week. Also out hunting, a Barn Owl was heard from our house during the night and although they are not hunters themselves, per se, our regular Raven pair certainly wouldn't say no to a nice drop of carrion. Woodpigeons (highest day-count of 24) are on the upper size limit for a Sparrowhawk's meal but the neatly plucked feathers found in the woods suggest that they are definitely on the menu! For other potential prey items, we had highest day-counts of 5 Meadow Pipits, 12 Robins, 7 Song Thrushes, circa 60 Twite, over 1000 Starlings, 2 Skylarks, 3 Rock Pipits and 2 Mistle Thrushes (our local bird and another in the Corsewall Estate Woods). During the last fortnight we have seen a total of 3 Greenfinches, 2 Fieldfares, 1 Goldcrest, 16 Redwing, a Treecreeper, 1 Siskin, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 2 Grey Wagtails. We also had 2 records of Dipper but these are probably the same individual that seems to have made itself at home on Fisher's Lane Pool.

Red, red robin.

Another local birder, Gill Deacon, also made a trip down Fisher's Lane and although she did not see the Dipper she was able to find a Grey Wagtail bobbing around in its place. Gill has also been over to Soulseat Loch and West Freugh, seeing 4 Shoveler, 20 Tufted Ducks, 4 Coots, 6 Little Grebes, 4 Goldeneye, 4 Greylag Geese and 1000 Wigeon on and around Soulseat Loch. Having made several trips out to West Freugh, Gill tells us that the number of Pink-footed Geese present varies from 5000 to 50, along with at least 20 Golden Plover and several hundred Lapwing. Gill also found a Barnacle Goose in amongst some Pinkies - nice one! Thanks again to Gill for sharing your records with us.

We have also been out to West Freugh recently but we did not see very many birds, having more luck at Piltanton where we did our local WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) count. While the number of gulls at Piltanton was rather low (6 Herring Gulls, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 10 Common Gulls and 2 Black-headed Gulls), there were fortunately other birds to see. We counted 6 Turnstones, 80 Shelduck, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 15 Mallards, 3 Little Grebes, 3 Little Egrets, 7 Golden Plovers, 1 Goldeneye and 108 Dunlins. 59 Redshanks were scattered about and in amongst them was a single Greenshank. It was also great to see a Whimbrel amidst the Curlews and Oystercatchers, for we don't get very many winter records of Whimbrel. While not 'Wetland' species, we also saw a Stonechat, 2 Rock Pipits, 6 Redwing, 8 Pied Wagtails, 6 Skylarks and 83 (!) Carrion Crows.

Time to finish off, for this has been a bit of a longer round-up than usual (although I did have 2 weeks to cover!). All in all, the last fortnight has seen both excitement and disappointment - but that's birding for you.

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

Entering the New Year: Bird Report for 28/12/20 - 03/01/21

We had some fairly low counts last week (perhaps due to the weather) but we've still managed to see a nice variety of species. We'll start off with a record from Soleburn: a Little Egret. These don't visit Loch Ryan as often as Luce Bay but we normally see one at Soleburn every year. Not to be outdone, we had another 'little' species last week, this time at the Wig itself: a Little Auk. Unlike Little Egrets, these are tiny and so can be easy to miss if they aren't close in to shore. Fortunately, Little Auks seem fond of fishing in shallower water and this bird was no exception. Unfortunately, the Little Auk was then scared off by a dog. Another bird (perhaps the same one) was spotted later in the week - this one was more wary and was seen flying past at a distance. Little Auks are not annual species for us, so it was especially nice to see.

Our other auk species of last week - the Black Guillemot - saw a highest day-count of 8 individuals. Joining these auks out on the loch were a Black-throated Diver, a Great Crested Grebe and the Pacific Diver put in another appearance. It was a good week for Velvet Scoter sightings: one bird was seen at the beginning of the week, then a male and finally two males. For some of our other diving species, we had highest day-counts of 3 Cormorants, 10 Shags, 17 Red-breasted Mergansers, 18 Goldeneyes, 10 Long-tailed Ducks and 23 Slavonian Grebes.

A winter-plumaged Grey Plover.

Moving on to our wader species, these were not limited to the Wig shore last week. A Snipe was heard calling over our house at night (makes a change from geese!). We were also delighted to see a female Ruff feeding in the Twite Fields - for we do not get regular winter records of this species. Our more frequently seen species were showing well, with highest day-counts of 362 Oystercatchers, 11 Redshanks, 5 Grey Plovers, a Knot and 20 Ringed Plovers. Appearing back on our bog after a few months absence, on New Year's Day a Sanderling was seen running along the Scar. We had some good counts on the Scar last week. On different days, we counted 11 Shelduck, over 200 Curlew, 130 Common Gulls and approximately 200 Black-headed Gulls.

The number of gulls was once again highest at Loch Connell, with over 280 Common Gulls being counted in the abuttal fields. Also in these fields were 36 Lapwings and 174 Greylag Geese. On Loch Connell itself, there were 3 Whooper Swans, 17 Goosanders (10 of which were 'redheads'), 15 Mallards, 243 Wigeon and 122 Teal.

Likely to be different birds, we also counted 35 Teal at the marsh. The Greylag Geese that we hear calling at night, however, could well be the same as those at Loch Connell (for it is in this direction that the calls come from). Although we see them less often during the day, we also hear Pink-footed Geese at night as they roost either on the Scar or the Pool Fields. Our other regular goose species - the Pale-bellied Brent Goose - sees some change in individuals in the flock (or perhaps even the whole flock). With a highest day-count of 251, last week also saw a colour-ringed individual and a Dark-bellied Brent amidst the flock.

A Raven (left) and a Carrion Crow.

The Brent Geese can regularly be found grazing in the fields and will frequently argue with one another - other species have the sense to keep their distance! We saw c20 Twite above the fields last week and one day saw 54 Woodpigeons (in 2 flocks of 40 and 14). Other small birds reside at the shore, the marsh or the woods. We saw highest day-counts of 4 Skylarks and 6 Rock Pipits last week. We also had record of a pair of Reed Buntings, 1 Meadow Pipit and, always lovely to see, a Bullfinch.

Into the woods, we saw 6 Siskins, our regular pair of Ravens and 3 Buzzards. A Pheasant made itself known by calling loudly and calls also helped us to locate some of our other species. We saw and heard 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Nuthatch and then saw the same numbers again another day (perhaps the same birds?).

It only goes to show that you need to keep both your eyes and ears peeled when you are out and about.

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

Festivities and Three New Species!: Bird Report for 21/12/20 - 27/12/20

Last week was the final week completely in 2020 (I can hear your relieved cheers!). Both the winter solstice and Christmas day were last week and the birds were giving us an extra reason to celebrate them - for we've had a smashing week, seeing 3 new species for the blog. Nothing like squeezing in new species for the year list at the last minute! I love going for a walk on Christmas day and had a very nice day out around the Wig - helped out by the mild weather (warm enough for the Fox Moth caterpillar that was seen wriggling along the grass).

Our first new species is one that we have been keeping our eyes peeled for from the onset of winter: an Iceland Gull. Iceland Gulls are almost-annual visitors locally and we have been busy scanning gull flocks for this white-winged gull. However, amongst the 200+ Common Gulls at the Scar there were only 2 Great Black-backed Gulls and small numbers of Black-headed and Herring Gulls. The Iceland Gull (a first-winter bird) instead chose to show itself by flying over our house! Perhaps it was on its way to Loch Connell.

Also near our house and garden, we saw our 2 regular hybrid (Hooded x Carrion) crows and a flock of 11 Collared Doves. 2 Greenfinches flew over the house and a surprise Woodcock was seen lifting off from the garden across the road. I have been on the lookout for Woodcock but the neighbours' garden was the last place that I would have expected to see one! As always, the dominant species of our garden was House Sparrows, alongside smaller numbers of Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Dunnocks and Chaffinches.

A furry Fox Moth caterpillar.

The number of Chaffinches in our garden, however, was outweighed by a single flock of over 40 that was seen at the Wig. Other smaller birds that we saw last week include highest day-counts of 4 Goldcrests, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 6 Meadow Pipits, a Mistle Thrush, 13 Robins, a Nuthatch, 3 pairs of Stonechats, 4 Rock Pipits and 5 Song Thrushes. A total of 4 Pied Wagtails and also 4 Skylarks were seen over the course of the week and yet another flock of over 1000 Starlings was counted - this time over the Twite Fields. A concentrated effort to count Wrens revealed 6 individuals around the Wig route, while a Treecreeper was seen in the cemetery woods and a Dipper once again put in an appearance at Fisher's Lane Pool. A female Sparrowhawk and 2 Buzzards were seen - no doubt they were also keeping a sharp eye on these smaller birds.

Through one of our readers, we were informed of a probable Pacific Diver that had been seen at Luce Bay at the beginning of December and of another bird that had been seen in Loch Ryan later in the month. Inspired, we resolve to examine all divers we saw in greater detail and sure enough - we found a Pacific Diver! Our first sightings were distant and left us a little dubious but later on the (presumably) same bird was seen closer to, in the same field of view 2 Red-throated Divers, a Great Northern Diver and a Black-throated Diver - brilliant! Not only was this pretty spectacular to see, it was also really helpful for identification purposes. The diver reappeared on two more days throughout the week, providing decent views (through a scope anyway, unfortunately too far out for photographs). The Pacific Diver was the star of the show this week, thanks again to our reader who let us know to look out for one.

Not letting ourselves become too distracted by rarities, there were also a variety of our regular species to enjoy out on the Loch last week. We saw highest day-counts of 101 Common Scoters, 131 Eiders, 5 Red-throated Divers and 23 Slavonian Grebes. Through the course of the whole week we saw totals of 2 Black-throated Divers, 4 Great Northern Divers (3 of which were on the same day), 5 Razorbills (also 3 of which were on the same day!) and 7 Great Crested Grebes.

A sketch of our scope view. Clockwise from the front: Red-throated Diver, Red-throated Diver, Pacific Diver, Great Northern Diver and Black-throated Diver.

Closer to us, the shore was home to good numbers of waders last week. A single Lapwing was seen flying west from the Wig, perhaps on its way to join the 37 others that were counted at Loch Connell. Our highest count of Knot stood at 3 individuals (more than the regular 1, at least) and the number of Curlews has also increased to 99 (alas, that elusive 100th individual refused to be found!). Further highest day-counts stood at 2 Grey Plovers, 220 Oystercatchers 8 Redshanks, 49 Ringed Plovers and 48 Turnstones.

Whilst not a wader (more closely related to Spoonbills and herons, our third and final new species has a similar-looking appearance: a Glossy Ibis. Somewhat akin to a larger, black Curlew, Glossy Ibis are fairly rare visitors to Scotland. Once again we were informed of this by another birder (the bonus of meeting others when out and about) - a visiting birder from Cheshire. Whilst he had seen and photographed the bird on the pool field, this was disappointingly empty. Fortunately, the bird was instead hiding away in the marsh. I hear that another Glossy Ibis (or perhaps the same bird) was seen at the Crook of Baldoon around the same date.

Whilst we are at the marsh, it would be wrong not to mention the other species that we saw there: a single Reed Bunting and over 54 Teal. Teal can be very hard to count when they are paddling about in the many marsh pools. Often they hide amidst the vegetation and the first we know about them is hearing their whistling calls. Other waterfowl seen last week include 8 Shelduck and 6 Scaup. 2 Whooper Swans were in the swan fields, 8 Canada Geese were seen at the Scar and the Wig Wigeon seem to have migrated to Loch Connell (with less than 30 being seen at the Wig and 162 being counted at Loch Connell). Last but not least, the Pale-bellied Brent Goose flock stood at over 260 birds.

With that, I think that it is time to wrap up for this week - and what a week it has been. I'm looking forward to all the things I might see in upcoming days!

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

A Year Like No Other: Bird Review for 2020

I think it is safe to say that, with the spreading outbreak of the coronavirus "Covid-19" and the resulting lockdown measures, 2020 has been a year like we have never seen before. The initial lockdown (and even afterwards) resulted in us travelling to other 'local' areas much less frequently than in previous years. Indeed, we did no sea-watching at Corsewall Point in 2020. However, we are quite fortunate in that there are a variety of hour-long walks than can be done from our home and, when all else fails, there is a considerable amount of birding that can be done viewing the loch with a scope from our house. In total, my family saw 172 avian species locally throughout the year (170 'natural' species and 2 'escapees'). Of these, 4 were new for the Wig (for our family, anyway) and 4 (mostly different!) were lifers for me.

The start of the year saw nothing untoward, however, spring at the Wig was a bit of a feeble affair, especially for its lack of White Wagtails. Most other migrants were also few and far between and summer arrived without any day of notable passage. A rather stormy summer overall, it was also rather lacking - in this case in hirundines (Swallows and Martins). These have decreased terribly and perhaps for this reason we also saw no Hobbies during the year. Things began to pick up once again during the autumn. Birds began moving through in earnest and some late summer storms produced some really exciting species. The winter has been mild so far but has continued to build up the momentum from autumn, with several scarce species making an appearance at the Wig in 2020.

Time to dive right into the details! I'll start off by writing about some of the highlights and notable records. Finally, I'll finish off with a complete summary table with all of the species (listed following the Scottish List), how many days of the year they were recorded and which months of the year they were recorded in.

A Goldeneye on the left; Black Guillemot on the right.

Of these, the White-faced Whistling Duck and Bar-headed Goose are both 'escapee' species - they have likely come from waterfowl collections. This is the first time that we have seen White-faced Whistling Duck in the area. Given that 2 other sightings of this species were recorded in Dumfries and Galloway at a similar time to our bird, it appears that a group escape effort was involved!

Our wintering flock of Pale-bellied Brent Goose had completely departed by the 18th April (an early departure, normally some are still present in May) and began arriving again on the 28th August. We had a high count of 396 individuals in a single flock and 2 Dark-bellied Brents also made appearances at both ends of the year. We had 2 records of Barnacle Goose: one bird (30th May) that will could either be from a feral British population or a late migrant and the other (17th Oct) that was associating with Pink-footed Geese and is much more likely to be a true migrant individual. Also with only 2 records - our lack of Greenland White-fronted Geese sightings is down to very few trips being made out to West Freugh to look for the wintering flock there. However, one record (24th Mar) was from Loch Connell, they aren't normally seen there so it was a nice record for us. The vagrant species Lesser Scaup and Surf Scoter both made a brief appearance again in 2020. Eider numbers were down all year but on the flipside we had our highest ever day-count of Long-tailed Ducks (29 birds).

Our number of Swift sightings were once again impacted by our reduced travelling - they are not regularly seen at the Wig, preferring to stay around Stranraer, where they breed. Stock Doves are not an annual species for us, so it was nice to see one and although they are annual we only had two records of Coot this year (and only one was within walking distance at Loch Connell, the other being seen at Soulseat Loch). Another scarce species - Red-necked Grebe - has made its way onto our list for another consecutive year, although they seem to have vanished in the last month.

Purple Sandpiper

Waders had a bit of a mixed year. Ringed Plovers and Dunlin were down in number, both on passage and over winter. Golden Plovers were still down in number from previous years, although this did not stop a first-winter American Golden Plover from showing up. Breeding Oystercatchers and Ringed Plovers had yet another poor year at the Wig with the increased amounts of disturbance (a by-product of lockdown). No nests, chicks or even territorial behaviour was observed with the Common Sandpipers. The first individuals arrived late and rather few were seen during the summer - a poor year for this species. On the flip side, a Jack Snipe was recorded. These are not annual but most likely this is down to their elusive behaviour rather than not being here. Autumn and winter waders fared a little better with infrequent species like Ruff, Purple Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper making their way onto our list. Ruff especially had a good year, with 12 birds sighted across 10 days (most of these are probably different individuals). One of these was a male that was still moulting out of its breeding plumage - the first time that we have seen a Ruff in this plumage before. A single Greenshank managed to find its way to Soleburn (this species prefers Luce Bay to Loch Ryan) and we had a late record of Whimbrel on the 10th November. On the rarity front, we saw a Little Stint at the Scar and a Pectoral Sandpiper at Loch Connell.

Lack of trips into Stranraer also affected our knowledge of the Mediterranean Gull numbers during the autumn (often to be found at Port Rodie) and we can't say about the breeding success of the gulls in the town. However, the colony of Arctic Terns and Black-headed Gulls on Cairnryan Pier remained essentially empty for the second year running. In fact, all of our regular tern species were considerably down in number this year. We saw one Arctic Skua, not an unusually low number for the Loch itself - you are more likely to see skuas when sea-watching at Corsewall Point. Moving on to scarcities, we saw a single Iceland Gull (a first-winter bird), 3 Roseate Terns together and an autumn storm blew in 4 juvenile Sabine's Gulls. Yellow-legged Gulls were seen 8 days during the year, perhaps involving the same individuals - although there was at least a 2nd year bird and an adult bird involved. The beginning of October saw a juvenile Black Tern hawking above the Scar, followed the next day by a juvenile White-winged Black Tern. This White-winged Tern was only the second record for Dumfries and Galloway (record has now been accepted by the SBRC) and proceeded to hang about for 22 days, providing brilliant views. Having a White-winged Black Tern pass barely 3 metres above my head was probably the highlight of the year for me!

Juvenile White-winged Black Tern

A Little Auk snuck onto our list with only a few days to spare and we've managed to see (if, unfortunately, not photograph) all 5 species of diver on Loch Ryan during 2020. A Leach's Petrel fluttered past following a September storm, always great to see. Their larger tube-nosed cousins, the Fulmars, were seen in far fewer number than usual. Although we made fewer visits to where they may loaf about (seeing low numbers while we were there), we would normally still see birds flying up the loch. Shearwaters, on the other hand, had a few surprises in store for us. Shearwaters don't often enter the loch itself, only tending to do so after bad weather (although thousands stream past Corsewall Point on passage). On the 22nd of August, after some strong winds, a Balearic Shearwater flew in and landed next to... a Cory's Shearwater! Both birds flew off shortly afterwards, enabling flight views of the Cory's (the first of this species that we've seen on Loch Ryan). On the same day, a total of 96 Manx Shearwaters flew down the loch - the highest day-count that we've seen to date.

Speaking of highest day-counts, we had a smashing count of 342 Gannets in one day at the beginning of September. At a cliff site, we counted 5 Shag nests and interestingly, 14 Cormorant nests (Cormorants have never nested there since we started visiting the site). Unfortunately we were unable to make our way to the other Cormorant colony this year to see if there had been a change in number there.

Two more new species for the Wig (for us, at least) that we saw were Glossy Ibis and Great White Egret, both appearing in the latter half of the year. We had one record of an immature White-tailed Eagle and were finally able to find a Buzzard nest this year. On the other hand, Tawny Owl records have been fewer this year - possibly due to changes in local woodland management.

In the summer, we had just a single record of a Grasshopper Warbler and we discovered a Sand Martin colony (unknown to us!) that has recently increased in numbers. We also managed to find a pair of breeding Mistle Thrushes (they normally seem to disappear in the summer), whilst the breeding Spotted Flycatchers only became apparent with the appearance of juveniles. Stonechats also seemed to have a successful breeding year, with 3 pairs scattered along the Wig (one of which went on to raise 3 broods). Lesser Redpoll, on the other hand, were much scarcer than usual for us - not coming to visit our garden feeders once.

Sparrowhawk eyeing up the Greenfinch!

Back in the winter, the 'Waxing Winter' of 2019/20 managed to reach us: in the form of a single Waxwing! This winter a Dipper has been making a semi-regular appearance at Fisher's Lane pool. Tree Sparrows changed their yearly visit to our garden to January (instead of April) and Bramblings were seen at both ends of the year. Our winter Twite flock saw a high of circa 400 birds - the largest single flock that we have seen for some years now.

Finally, I'll finish off these notable sightings with a couple nice autumn buntings. A male Lapland Bunting arrived during the influx of this species, providing some distant but clear views at Loch Connell. Last but not least, November saw 3 Snow Buntings flying past the Wig - the second year in a row that we have had a visit from this species.

All those highlights provides a short summary of just some of the species that we have seen during 2020! The following table provides more detail about all of the species that we saw during the year:

It seems astonishing to me that all of these sightings were just from my family in one local area - just imagine the sheer number of birds than can be found around the UK all year. Still, for better or for worse (hopefully better!), that's 2020 over and done with and I can't wait to see what birds 2021 will bring.

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