RSPB Scotland’s Allie McGregor shares some of the birds she is sad to see off, as autumn takes hold in Scotland.
Farewell to summer
I’m finding the change in seasons lot harder to face this year having not had the opportunity to indulge in my usual summer activities. Autumn is always so beautiful in Scotland though, and I’m sure once I see the crunchy colourful leaves and some of our marvellous winter migrants it’ll put a smile back on my face! Until then, it’s time to say to farewell to our summer visitors.
Seabirds
This has been one of the biggest losses for me this year for certain! While I never really had a chance to say hello to any of Scotland’s remarkable seabird colonies this year, that only makes me more sad that they are off again already.
It’s been fantastic to see photos pouring in from people who have had a chance to safely visit Scotland’s coasts a towards the end of the season and be reminded what incredible seabirds we have. While many of us haven’t had this opportunity this year, I know we will all eagerly await their return.
Corncrakes
While the call of the corncrake has fallen silent, throughout the month of August our corncrakes have been living secret lives amongst the long vegetation and preparing for migration. Corncrakes are difficult to see so when they are no longer calling we might not know they are there at all!
It’s not long now until the last of them will have departed to spend winter in Africa so we will have to wait until next year to listen out for their iconic call again.
Ospreys
I definitely saw a lot of people discussing how much they missed heading out to spot Ospreys this summer! As restrictions have eased lots of you have been sharing some lovely photos of ospreys you have been lucky enough to see this year. We were delighted that the ospreys at Loch Insh, part of our Insh Marshes reserve, had a great year.
Females ospreys are the first to leave Scotland and are likely to have departed already. The males hang around a little longer and the young are the last to depart.
Swallows
Luckily not so many of us missed on seeing swallows this year as they could be seen closer to a lot of our homes. Just as their arrival is considered a marker of spring’s arrival, the departure of our swallows is a pretty good indicator that the change in seasons is here once again.
Most swallows leave us in September to start their journey back to Africa.
Looking forward to autumn…
As we say goodbye to these and many other species, plenty of which have already left us, we can start to build our excitement for all our winter migrants who are about to arrive. Soon we will have geese, waders, finches and thrushes arriving from Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and elsewhere across Europe to add life to Scotland’s autumn and winter months. I can’t wait!
Very poetic--thank you. I'm just catching up on a few threads and blogs and I wonder about the comment on Ospreys. I was taught that yes, most of the females usually leave first, but in most Osprey families, it is the juveniles who mostly leave next and the best males stay until it is clear that their whole family has left. Yes, some males leave before the youngsters, but most do not, or so I thought. And a very few females stay until one or more of the juveniles have left but most do not.