After a very productive end to May on the reserve - including Spoonbill a few Garganey, a Little Tern on the lagoon and Little Egret - June has been equally exciting, with an array of birds sustaining more than enough interest.
Just after the time of writing, myself, Iain and Ellie were out on Mosstown and had an adult Turtle Dove. Flushed out of one of the cottages in the fields, it flew southwest towards Savoch Farm at 3pm. A regional rarity that hasn’t been seen for a couple of years on site, it is worth keeping an eye out for this around Savoch Farm or similarly around the Visitor Centre itself, as it may well be hanging around in the area.
The main highlight of this week has been a single adult Spoonbill, which was a very pleasant surprise when I went in to the Visitor Centre shortly after arriving for my few day stay here. At first, as always seems to be the case with Spoonbills, it was slumberous, roosting for a good while amongst a flock of gulls. However, quite unlike the individual from late May it soon began to show-off after being disturbed by some aggressive Mute Swans, prancing around and ‘spooning’ busily on the pools right in front of the centre. It spent the night roosting on the reserve and stuck around until Wednesday evening, when it was last seen flying high to the south. Its relatively lengthy stay allowed for several visitors to enjoy fantastic views for prolonged periods (my best photo efforts are below). With a Spoonbill reported heading north past St Abbs Head in the Borders during Tuesday morning, its tempting to think that this was the same bird that turned up on the reserve early in the evening stopping off to recuperate, instead of the one seen on 28th May.
The reserve has been teeming with warblers recently. Alongside the noisy, local Sedge Warblers, a run of beautifully still early mornings and late evenings have given us a chance to listen to Grasshopper Warblers. These songsters do a superb imitation of grasshoppers, their ‘reeling’ voices audible from some distance. If you are around on the reserve early in the morning, or in the last hour of light in the evening, you will have the chance of hearing up to 3 of these birds the vegetation along the new trail, though they are masters at keeping out of sight, singing from deep in the juncus. It is a very evocative sound, so it is well worth the effort making the walk towards Fen and Bay Hide from the visitor centre at this time of the day, especially with the added possibility of coming across a Badger or a Fox at close quarters. There has also been at least one Reed Warbler knocking about, from Fen Hide on Tuesday and from Tower Pool Hide on Wednesday evening.
Other birds from last month have also stuck around into this month. At least 2 Short-eared Owls have been seen in the fields over the back of the Low Ground, and are seen best from Tower Pool Hide or more distantly from the Visitor Centre. A female Marsh Harrier and up to 2 Ospreys can also been seen here daily. The Little Egret was also present again from Tower Pool Hide last weekend on 8th and a drake Garganey was also here on 1st. One visitor was also lucky enough to see a Black-throated Diver from Bay Hide on Tuesday evening.
A few straggling Pink-footed Geese and two Whooper Swans are on the loch itself, as well as a single drake Pochard and Pintail from the Visitor Centre. 55 Lapwing touched down on the Low Ground this afternoon, the first notable concentration of waders for a little while, whilst Redpoll and Siskin have also been seen briefly.
I have had a very enjoyable stay here at Strathbeg. Though I have been birdwatching here for a long time, actually staying at the reserve has allowed me to meet some great people and discover certain aspects of the reserve that were previously unknown to me. I leave you with an photo of a Badger, which I was lucky enough to bump into on my way back to the Visitor Centre from Fen Hide yesterday evening.
Photographs and blog by Joseph Nichols.