Well, that was a busy weekend on and off the reserve... After the Great White Egret left in midweek we managed to attracted the smaller version- a Little Egret which moved up from the Ythan and was on the pools on Sunday morning. Sunday also bought two fly-over Cranes, and a Turtle Dove just off the reserve at Rattray Church.
I missed most of the action as I spent most of the weekend doing our bit for the Energetica Walking Festival. First stop on Saturday was the Bullers of Buchan just south of Peterhead. The promised Puffins turned up early on, which took a bit of the pressure off. We then extended the walk a bit more than expected and ended up going all the way to the ruin of New Slains Castle (which gave me chance to tell a few vampire stories on the way back...).
We were all feeling quite pleased with the morning until we got back to the reserve and I checked my phone- to find out that a pod of 6 Killer Whales had been reported in the bay just south of Slains Castle, just minutes after we left. We later found out there may have been as many as 15 in the group, including several big bulls. I've never seen Killer Whales before (they're very scarce off the East coast) and to miss them by just a few minutes was hugely disappointing, but you've just got to accept this kind of thing (albeit with a lot of grumbling and swearing) when there's unpredictable wildlife involved!
Sunday afternoon and we headed back out again, walking from St Combs out to the lagoon with 13 people and one very cheerful dog. A dozen or so seals followed us for most of the way, getting gradually closer as they got more and more curious.
We had a very experienced guide with us who helped with a bit of wader identification and who found a beautiful male Snow Bunting in white summer plumage on the beach. The best bird for me was (as usual) the Bonxie that turned up in the lagoon, feeding on a dead porpoise. Skuas are not everyone's favourite bird but there's something about them that I never get tired of watching.
The walk also showed just how much the bad weather this winter has moved and changed the dunes, one 30ft dune has almost entirely disappeared- to the point where Amy and I could barely recognise enough of the landscape to find our way out of the lagoon! Thankfully we made it to the Cut just before we had to make the decision to climb out way out via the remaining dunes.
Thanks to everyone who came along on the walks. As they were both so successful we may well run the walks again later in the spring, so keep an eye on the website- www.rspb.org.uk/lochofstrathbeg and we'll add our guided walks in as soon as we've set the dates.