Happy Friday folks and welcome to the end of another week,
Saturday afternoon was the perfect chance for a wee jaunt to the beach and fabled lagoon, hotspot for the occasional migrant, vagrant or in this case a Sandwich Tern who had evidently missed the boat south to warmer climes. Still the Long Tailed Duck has stuck around too and two's company.
Mondays hide checks were especially good for ducks. 4 Pintail could be clearly seen on the island from Fen hide and around mid-morning the tranquility of the Loch became an estimated 2500 Wigeon landing not far out from the hide with several hundred Teal present also. A flock of Crossbill were seen later on Monday at Tower Pool Hide.
It's been a chilly one at Strathbeg but the weeks bird surveys have been worth the frosty fingers. The Farmland Bird Survey on Tuesday, while not yielding particularly high numbers, did have most of the Major species present: 19 Greenfinch, 16 Goldfinch, 10 Chaffinch, 9 Linnet, 16 Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Dunnock, a Stonechat and a last minute Woodcock (definitely not a very fat Snipe). Wednesdays Garden Bird Survey gave us, in addittion to the usual culprits, 7 House Sparrow along with a second Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Redpoll, a handsome Bullfinch and a Treecreeper clearly visible from Willow hide. Still my elusive foe the Bittern defeats me at every turn and the high Tree Sparrow count of 40 at the feeders is a sure sign that Winter is Coming (should be read aloud to a drematic music score).
Iain