An early WeBS count this month- normally it would be scheduled for next week but with Suzanne finishing her stay with us on Friday, our two residential volunteers leaving as well and Vicky and Emma heading home for Christmas we decided to move this one a little earlier.
With the huge recent storms, last night being a full moon and the first night in quite a while that it hasn't been below freezing, we were expecting a bit of a drop in goose numbers but our pink-foot count was a very respectable 9227 along with 108 White-Fronted Geese 367 Greyland and one solitary Barnacle Goose. NO sign of the flock of 160+ Bean Geese that were reported on Saturday, although there were one or two at Rattray south of the reserve.
Our Whooper Swan numbers have dropped, with only 47 counted this morning- although typically quite a few more flew in once the count has finished but our duck numbers are up to a very impressive 441 Mallard and 1431 Wigeon. Other duck highlights were 20 Red Breasted Merganser, 3 Long-Tailed Duck and a red-headed Smew on the loch.
The bird of the day though was no contest- a fantastic, showy Bittern at the south end of the loch! We know we regularly have Bittern through the winter but they're incredibly shy anmd hard to spot. This one gave Suzanne and Leslie a brilliant diplay- cruising over the reedbed right along the loch edge before dropping into the reeds near Starnakeppie. It's always hard to know if Bittern stay around, but we'll definitely be keeping an eye on the south end over the next week, especially Emma who normally has the south end as her regular WeBS count spot and decided to swap and go to Mill Hill for this week...