Another early start again this morning as we tried again to count the geese roosting on the reserve. The weather was much more helpful today with the cloud staying much higher so we could actually see where at least some of the geese were flying! The goose roost seems to be split between several thousand on the loch and an almost equal number actually roosting on the beach. While the loch birds eventually behaved and flew south, the beach birds were far less willing to leave the reserve. Eventually they did lift, and then drop down again, at which point even with goose counters all round the reserve they managed to disappear entirely. From our vantage point at the south they seemed to drop on the beach with none on the loch, for those at the north end they seemed to drop down onto the loch with very few left on the beach. It turns out (after a bit of exploring by Cain later on) that they actually came down somewhere in the middle of the dunes- completely out of sight of us all.
The final total for today was 16,300 Pink Feet and around 130 Barnacle Geese. This is a low number compared to the past few years, but other sites in the area and down in Lancashire have got similarly low figures over the weekend, suggesting that a large number of birds are still in Iceland and have yet to even start their migration. That means there's still a chance for very big numbers to appear in the next few weeks.
The plantation was a bit less busy today but still turned up a Spotted Flycatcher for the year list.
Skene had none at all at dawn on Sunday morning, compared to 220 on 19 September.