After a few days of superb weather there was a definite nip in the air by late afternoon today. The good news is that the calm windless weekend has bought with it a bit arrival of Pink-footed Geese. Saturday especially saw at least 800 geese on the reserve, many of them flying in from the sea. This means that Strathbeg is probably the first land they’ve seen since leaving Iceland, and they all seemed very eager to drop on the loch and get a drink of fresh water and a bath. Today we got our first more unusual goose as well, with a single Barnacle Goose tucked in with the Pink-feet.
Numbers dropped a bit by the end of today, which probably means that geese are heading south so keep an eye out if you’re in Aberdeen, Montrose, or down in the borders. We’ve already got reports of Pink-feet around Loch Leven, Aberlady and there are a few as far south as Norfolk. We’ll keep you up to date with our goose numbers on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RSPB_NEScot and you can share your goose sightings again this year by using the #goosewatch hashtag.
It’s a good week for Goldfinches too with at least 70 in front of the centre and in the bird cover on the way to Tower Pool Hide, including lots of juveniles (if you thought counting geese would be tricky, try counting a fast moving flock of goldfinch!). It’s also worth checking the docks) in front of the centre (which we knew would be good for something) for a few late staying Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and a small family group of Lesser Redpoll.
The green-tagged male Marsh Harrier is still around as well, although still refusing to turn left side on to a telescope so we can read the tag. There’s still a few waders on Starnafin as well with up to 4 Greenshank, Redshank, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Knot all seen this week.