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.]