Well the birds are all back.
Firstly I would like to take this chance to apologize for the sparsity of the birdlife the week before the 23rd of March, clearly they all had somewhere else to be and the weather probably didn't help. The week gone has been much more lively with 30 Pochard on the Loch , 20ish shelduck around the reserve and 5 Pintail on the silt trap by the Savoch Burn. A Great Spotted Woodpecker has been seen (and heard) drumming on trees around the rookery and also the tree right outside my window which woke me up this morning at around 6:30. It can often be seen on the feeders from the visitor centre window too. Lapwing have been seen in good numbers (up to 210) on the reserve again which is good news as well as frequent small groups of Oystercatcher (totalling around 30) and 1 Redshank. While out to check on the Koniks yesterday I had the fortune to see a Kestrel and flushed a Snipe in the rushes to the right of Starnafin pools. A wander up to Tower Pool Hide after work was good for 7 Tufted Ducks, 25 Teal, 2 Goosander and 12 Oystercatcher while the island in front of the Visitor Centre is host to around 40 Black Headed Gulls.
Now a toast to everyone who took part in Fridays dawn goose count. The score was 16100 Pink Footed Geese which, while slightly higher than the previous count is well below the winter peak and so it seems that the the great trip back to Iceland has started. Bon voyage.
(Tower Pool Hide in the snow)
This winter has been particularly good for viewing farmland and garden bird species and recent peak numbers on the wild bird cover around the reserve have included 100 Yellowhammer, 30 Skylark, 30 Linnet, 20 Tree Sparrows and around 80 Reed Bunting. A few small flocks of Starling are still cruising around also.
A few migrants have been seen including a couple of Song Thrush and Vicky saw a Chiffchaff in the plantation. Yay for her.
I never did get to look for the lesser Scaup reported by Tim but the south end of the loch is worth a look and you'll probably see the Cormorants displaying on the island down there.
Iain