There's lots of goose action to be seen at Strathbeg this week with the first early morning Pink-footed Goose count totting up 22600. Honking alongside them are 5 Barnacle Geese, 13 Greylag Geese, 16 Brent Geese and 2 Canada Geese. Large lifts of Pink-footed Geese can be seen even during the day at the moment and we hope to see even more arrive over the next few weeks.
In addition to all these geese there's been good numbers of ducks with 260 Coot seen on the loch. Ducking around with them have been 4 Gadwall, 2 Great-crested Grebe, 120 Goldeneye, 120 Mallard, 6 Pochard, 3 Shoveler ducks, 108 Teal, 35 Tufted Ducks and 340 Wigeon. The loch is also home right now to around 350 Mute Swans.
(Above) The Short-eared Owl seen on Moss Town marsh. Photo by Iain Hartshorne (me).
Bay hide is currently particularly good for Whooper Swans with around 30 generally visible of the 42 seen accross the reserve.
A few waders can be seen on Starnafin pools from the visitor centre including 340 Lapwing, 1 Greenshank, , 1 Ruff, up to 11 Snipe, 22 Black-tailed Godwits and 72 Curlew.
The south end of the loch down towards Rattray head has been home to 84 Cormorants and a beautiful murmuration of around 2000 Starling.
Other notable sightings this week include a Peregrine Falcon seen from the Visitor Centre on the 19th and then again down the south end of the loch on tuesday. A trip to tower pool hide at the moment might be good for a Sparrowhawk while 1 Short-eared Owl has been seen on Mosstown Marsh. The lagoon is also looking good at the moment with 10 Dunlin and 2 Ringed Plover seen on tuesday and a wee walk further on to the plantation would be worth a chance at seeing 2 Yellow-browed Warblers seen only this morning. While you're over there keep an eye on the sea as 30+ Manx Shearwater were seen earlier today travelling past Rattray lighthouse.
Iain