Photos:
Green-winged Teal and Whooper Swans at Caerlaverock
Green-winged Teal, Barnacle Geese, Yellowhammers, Chaffinches, Reed Bunting, Peregrine at Merse Head
November 11th
This morning I headed off to Dumfries & Galloway (Dumpties is Karen’s nickname for the area). This is another of those places we used to holiday in and I have missed visiting Mersehead which is one of my favourite reserves and which was where I intended to visit.
On arrival at the reserve it was very quiet – I was seemingly the only person there. The walk up to Bruaich hide was entertaining with around 30 Yellowhammers plus Reed Buntings and Chaffinches flitting around in the hedges. A small number of Barnacle Geese were outside the hide, they slowly moved off. The hide was empty (which suits me being a tad anti-social) and is one of the few hides where I can sit for any length of time. I usually avoid hides these days and this is perhaps one of the reasons why I rarely visit Pennington any more – you can’t see much there without spending most of your time in a hide.
More and more Barnacles starting flying in and eventually I estimated there were around 2500 birds hanging around. Several times something spooked them and they flew up in a big cloud. The noise these birds make is amazing. I then started scanning through the many ducks on the pool – loads of Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal and I soon spotted a drake Green-winged Teal. It was quite distant and it was only be chance I saw it. The bird soon turned around thus hiding its distinctive features and went to sleep. I did show it to a couple of birders who had arrived – I think they were a bit sceptical. A little later it suddenly woke up and swam behind some reeds and didn’t reappear.
A first winter brownish Peregrine appeared and created havoc without really having a go at anything. It then singled out a small flock of Teal for attention. The ducks responded by flying higher and higher. The Peregrine switched tactics and then headed for some Lapwings which repeated the tactics demonstrated by the Teal. The falcon then gave up and perched in a tree at the far edge of the pool where it was repeatedly mobbed by Crows but determinedly ignored them. The Peregrine later on flew around the pool and repeated the previous performance without any success and returned to its tree where it remained when I left.
There were few waders around today – 12 Snipe and 7 Black-tailed Godwits which only became apparent when the Peregrine flushed everything and a few Curlews. I could have stayed there all day, however on a spur of the moment decision I decided to head over to Caerlaverock.
This WWT has never been one of my favourites and I used to avoid it like the plague when I spent any time up here in the past. I’m not sure why I decided to go, however the visit turned out to be quite enjoyable despite the weather turning grey, wet and windy. On my way over there I stopped on the road between Southerness and Carsethorne to scan the sea. No hoped for flock of Scaup, however the sea was lifting with Wigeon and Pintail.
On arrival at Caerlaverock I went to the tower and scanned the Folly Pond. A Spotted Redshank and a couple of Blackwits provided the only wader interest. The rest of the pool was full of Wigeon and Teal. Eventually, after some patience, I found the drake Green-winged Teal that has resided here recently. It was typically asleep – I picked it out based on head pattern and I could just see two small white flashes on the shoulders.
Next I headed to the observatory for feeding time. There were only twelve Whoopers present for feeding time – a family pair with three juveniles and the rest being adults. Apparently it snowed in the arctic in June this year and as a result Whoopers, certain ducks and some waders such as Whimbrel have had a very bad breeding year. After the food was put down a further 11 adult Whoopers arrived.
Next stop was the hide overlooking the Folly Pond where the GWT was showing well and reasonably close. A Sparrowhawk also flew over. I then spent the remainder of the afternoon sifting through the 2040+ Barnacles (yes I did count them) present in various fields. Very enjoyable day.
This morning I headed off to Dumfries & Galloway (Dumpties is Karen’s nickname for the area). This is another of those places we used to holiday in and I have missed visiting Mersehead which is one of my favourite reserves and which was where I intended to visit.
On arrival at the reserve it was very quiet – I was seemingly the only person there. The walk up to Bruaich hide was entertaining with around 30 Yellowhammers plus Reed Buntings and Chaffinches flitting around in the hedges. A small number of Barnacle Geese were outside the hide, they slowly moved off. The hide was empty (which suits me being a tad anti-social) and is one of the few hides where I can sit for any length of time. I usually avoid hides these days and this is perhaps one of the reasons why I rarely visit Pennington any more – you can’t see much there without spending most of your time in a hide.
More and more Barnacles starting flying in and eventually I estimated there were around 2500 birds hanging around. Several times something spooked them and they flew up in a big cloud. The noise these birds make is amazing. I then started scanning through the many ducks on the pool – loads of Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal and I soon spotted a drake Green-winged Teal. It was quite distant and it was only be chance I saw it. The bird soon turned around thus hiding its distinctive features and went to sleep. I did show it to a couple of birders who had arrived – I think they were a bit sceptical. A little later it suddenly woke up and swam behind some reeds and didn’t reappear.
A first winter brownish Peregrine appeared and created havoc without really having a go at anything. It then singled out a small flock of Teal for attention. The ducks responded by flying higher and higher. The Peregrine switched tactics and then headed for some Lapwings which repeated the tactics demonstrated by the Teal. The falcon then gave up and perched in a tree at the far edge of the pool where it was repeatedly mobbed by Crows but determinedly ignored them. The Peregrine later on flew around the pool and repeated the previous performance without any success and returned to its tree where it remained when I left.
There were few waders around today – 12 Snipe and 7 Black-tailed Godwits which only became apparent when the Peregrine flushed everything and a few Curlews. I could have stayed there all day, however on a spur of the moment decision I decided to head over to Caerlaverock.
This WWT has never been one of my favourites and I used to avoid it like the plague when I spent any time up here in the past. I’m not sure why I decided to go, however the visit turned out to be quite enjoyable despite the weather turning grey, wet and windy. On my way over there I stopped on the road between Southerness and Carsethorne to scan the sea. No hoped for flock of Scaup, however the sea was lifting with Wigeon and Pintail.
On arrival at Caerlaverock I went to the tower and scanned the Folly Pond. A Spotted Redshank and a couple of Blackwits provided the only wader interest. The rest of the pool was full of Wigeon and Teal. Eventually, after some patience, I found the drake Green-winged Teal that has resided here recently. It was typically asleep – I picked it out based on head pattern and I could just see two small white flashes on the shoulders.
Next I headed to the observatory for feeding time. There were only twelve Whoopers present for feeding time – a family pair with three juveniles and the rest being adults. Apparently it snowed in the arctic in June this year and as a result Whoopers, certain ducks and some waders such as Whimbrel have had a very bad breeding year. After the food was put down a further 11 adult Whoopers arrived.
Next stop was the hide overlooking the Folly Pond where the GWT was showing well and reasonably close. A Sparrowhawk also flew over. I then spent the remainder of the afternoon sifting through the 2040+ Barnacles (yes I did count them) present in various fields. Very enjoyable day.
No comments:
Post a Comment