RSPB Scotland’s Allie McGregor tells us about some of the exciting autumn arrivals to look forward to.
Five autumn arrivals to look forward to
When the colder weather sets in and the days get shorter it’s hard not to focus on the grey and gloom but there is plenty to look forward to as autumn sets in as all over Scotland our skies burst to life with arriving winter migrants. Here are just five of the visitors we can look forward to seeing soon…
Pink-footed geese
I saw the first tell-tale V-shape formation when looking out of my window recently - I’m sure had I been outdoors I would have noticed even sooner with their loud honking to announce themselves!
Pinkies make their way to Scotland from Iceland and Greenland, travelling with their family group and sticking with them all winter. They are one of our most common geese. Look out for their dark head and neck, a pink bill and, of course, pink feet and legs
Our Loch Leven and Loch of Strathbeg reserves are both great for a goose-watch if you can visit safely!
Whooper swans
Also joining us from Iceland are whooper swans and, like pinkies, they travel as a family often returning to the same place over subsequent years.
While the geese are honking, these swans are also making a lot of noise! They have a very loud trumpeting call.
Some tips for telling whooper swans from mute swans (other than the amount of noise they might be making…) are to look at the colour of their bill and the shape of their tails. Whooper swans have mostly yellow bills and square -ended tails. Mute swans have orange bills with a distinctive lump toward the based and a more pointed tail.
Brambling
Brambling might be joining some of your garden visitors soon. They are similar in size and shape to chaffinches and might often be spotted with them. Look for their white rump, orange colouration and a speckled head to distinguish them.
The number of brambling visiting Scotland each year depends on food availability.
Wigeon
While we have a small number of breeding wigeon in Scotland, most of them are winter migrants with between 76,000 to 96,000 of them arriving from Iceland and northern Europe to spend the colder months here.
Wigeons are smaller than mallards with a round head and a small bill. Males have distinctive plumage with a yellow forehead, pink breast and grey body and a white stripe on their wings. Females are a more mottled reddish or grey-brown colour.
Bar-tailed godwit
So many remarkable waders bring life to Scotland in autumn and winter! Thousands of bar-tailed godwits arrive here from Scandinavia and Siberia. These waders are known for their playful manoeuvres in flight; plunging down and shooting upwards, twisting and wheeling.
It can be tricky to tell a bar-tailed godwit from a black-tailed godwit. Unsurprisingly, one way you can tell is by their tails, but there are also some other features you might look for such as their bill. Bar-tailed godwits' bills are noticeably upcurved while black-tailed godwits have longer and straighter bills.