Hello again blogland!
A good week here at the Loch which began with the Iceland Gull which was still here on Monday morning but even though it’s not been seen since then doesn’t mean that it’s not here somewhere! Today though, we now have 6 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, the variation from Greenland and northern Scandinavia, amongst the large numbers of Pink-footed Geese. They are perhaps best viewed from Tower Pool Hide but are just visible from the Visitor Centre. They were a bit too distant for photographing today but we'll see what happens.
A constant highlight for me is the ringtail Hen Harrier which keeps making appearances and in the strong winds that we had today it did look very impressive dipping and ducking around the reedbed. The Short-eared Owl hasn't been seen but it's not been seen for a few days before and then puts in an appearance.
Our truck is currently being MOT’d so going out to check the Konik ponies is now done on foot and this morning we braved the winds to have a wander onto the reserve in the early morning. This paid off with the previously mentioned Hen Harrier giving us good views on our way out there.
On the way back, I happened to see a tail swishing about in the reeds and an Otter was wrestling with an impressive sized fish! It soon disappeared when it noticed us and eventually we saw a head watching us from the icing water. For fans of Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS), Blue Tits are inspecting the bird boxes and the ever industrious Starlings are eyeing up holes in the rotten wood at the top of the Elms near the farmhouse. Also the frosts we've had decorated the gorse nicely!
That's all from here for now!
Hi Tom,
I had a drake Green-winged Teal on the Loch with the Teals from Bay Hide this morning. It was watched for about 45 minutes before it appeared to fly down the Loch towards Starnafin. I wasn't able to relocate it elsewhere on the reserve afterwards but I'm sure it's still around. Here's hoping it sticks around for a while.
Re the Hen Harrier; it was pointed out today that one of them (heard there is 2 around?) present today was a young third calendar year male, its sex apparent due to signs of grey feathering around the tail, although still very much a ringtail in other ways.
All the best,
Joseph