If you are not the biggest fan of gulls then please don't let the heading put you off - for we have also seen lots of other species during the week! That being said, it has been a brilliant week for our gull species, so I may as well start off there.
We began the week with an adult Yellow-legged Gull and then were surprised to find another individual the very next day. The second bird was an immature (so definitely different!): moulting from second-winter to summer plumage. We don't usually see Yellow-legged Gulls at this time of year, so these two were a pleasant surprise. The day after that, we struck gold again: with a Glaucous Gull. A new species for the blog, these large 'white winged' gulls occur less-than-annually at the Wig during the winter months. In the middle of the week, we made highest day-counts of 84 Herring Gulls, over 104 Common Gulls, roughly 300 Black-headed Gulls and three adult Great Black-backed Gulls (with a third-winter bird of this species being seen on a different day). Finally, we finished off the week scouring through a gull flock landed in a field during a light rain shower. In amidst the Herring Gulls there were three adult and one third-winter Lesser Black-backed Gulls and, hiding away at the back, an Iceland Gull! All in all, it was a smashing week for gull species.
It was also a pretty good week for raptor sightings. A male Sparrowhawk was chasing birds along the ground in our garden and another of this species was seen later in the week. Four Buzzards were seen on two days, one of which all four were displaying. A male Kestrel (Kestrel sightings are pretty uncommon for us these days) winged its way over the woods and a Peregrine was also spotted. A pair of Peregrines were unfortunately disturbed by people releasing balloons (one such balloon we managed to later dispose of after it became caught up in barbed wire). While not raptors, the large Ravens always feel like they belong in this category and this week one was espied carrying food (likely towards young in a nest somewhere).
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| A male Red-breasted Merganser having a bit of a flap. |
Out on Loch Ryan, we had highest day-counts of 60 Common Scoters, 17 Red-breasted Mergansers, 13 Long-tailed Ducks (some birds are in full breeding plumage while others are still transitioning) and eight Slavonian Grebes (all in breeding plumage). We twice counted 31 Gannets, while a single Sandwich Tern and a total of seven Red-throated Divers were also spotted (two of the latter were in breeding plumage). We only counted a high of seven Shags - for many will be breeding already - and one Cormorant that we saw was carrying nesting material.
Other species are decreasing in number. Many of our wader species are departing for their breeding grounds and as such we only had highest day-counts of 17 Curlews, two Redshanks and ten Turnstones. A total of only three Teal were seen during the week and (while more were heard calling at night) just one Pink-footed Goose was spotted. A male Mallard was at the marsh, while seven Shelducks were at the Wig. The Pale-bellied Brent Goose flock varied in number: a couple of times there were over 160 birds, whilst other times there were approximately 140 birds present.
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| A Skylark showing off its crest. |
We once again had good numbers of Pied Wagtails, with a total of 16 birds counted during the week. We also had totals of ten Siskins (including a male in our garden). Our first Chiffchaffs of the spring were heard singing away - first there were two but by the next day there were six. A selection of other highest day-count include five Goldcrests, 108 Woodpigeons (in the Woodpigeon Field), a Treecreeper, two Jays, two Skylarks, three Meadow Pipits and three Mistle Thrushes. Of the three Great Spotted Woodpeckers heard throughout the week, one treated us by drumming away (very loudly!) in a tree directly above our heads.
That's it for now but I think that it's safe to say that spring has well and truly arrived!
[All photographs are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]
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