(Daffodils in the Wildlife Garden.)
As Spring takes hold of the Loch of Strathbeg, we still await the arrival of our summer visitors we are still being entertained our now usual birds on the reserve.
The Greater Yellowlegs remains and has been giving good views throughout the week I’m not surprised that my intended map has not been any use whatsoever as the Yellowlegs has been all over the Low Ground.
Our Ruff count has doubled to 2 as me and Diana saw a distant Ruff from the Centre and the another Redshank has joined the resident 2 in the Visitor Centre pool also. The lone Black-tailed Godwit is there as well and yesterday we had a count of 16 Bar-tailed Godwit at northern most tip of the Strathbeg boundary at the beach near St. Combs.
The reserve year list is steadily increasing mostly after that trip to St. Combs with Grey Plover being another sighting for Ben and Diana found a mostly summer plumaged Black-throated Diver out to sea which failed to get on the 2011 year list! A Hooded Crow has also been seen on more than one occasion on the Low Ground this week, including this morning.
Fulmar is new for the list too but that’s another one which just hasn’t been put on until now.
The Short-eared Owls have been around with Patch and non-Patch being very obliging again by the Visitors Centre and along the bank between Starnafin and Tower Pool Hide. The female Hen Harrier is around still and the young male is being seen now and again.
Also making a welcome ‘return’ is the numbers of Pink-footed Geese on the fields viewable from the centre and Tower Pool Hide as well as few White-fronted Geese but nowhere near the high numbers of January. I will endeavour to get a count of them soon!
And for all mustelid fans, the Starnafin Stoat which has attracted fans from as far afield as Cambridgeshire and Hampshire is now back in its summer coat but still viewable from the Visitors Centre.
That’s about it for this week and we will have to wait to see if more summer visitors arrive this week!