There have been many ‘highlights’ as there always are this time of year with spring migrants such as swallow and willow warbler arriving at the reserve at the beginning April, followed by grasshopper warbler, sedge warbler and whitethroat all arriving a couple of weeks after. Now another week has passed and the reserve is full of sedge warbler song!
Of course, one of the reasons this time of year is so special for birdwatchers is because whilst the spring arrivals are arriving, some of the ‘winter’ species are still holding on and haven’t moved to their more northerly breeding grounds yet. This has been the case once again, with smew and scaup both being recorded frequently throughout the period 28 February to 12 April. Two of my favourite species I have seen since working here at the reserve.
I’m a big fan of birds of prey and the last couple of months have been OK for raptors with peregrine seen 4 times between 2 March and 12 April. Kestrel has also been recorded a few times during this period, with the sightings being split between the Barr Loch and the Aird Meadow Loch. Always nice to see this species which has suffered decline in recent years.
Also notable were some large counts of birds – 170 goldeneye on Castle Semple Loch on 3 March and there was the great sight of 71 lapwing roosting on the Aird Meadow at the end of February. Alongside the lapwing there were frequently a small group of curlew – a peak count of 23 being the stand out record.
Two fantastic sightings this period has turned up are the osprey sightings both over the Aird Meadow Loch and the Barr Loch, and perhaps even more impressive – 4 records of nuthatch between 10 April and 26 April! Two of these records came from Garthland Woods, one from the Dubbs trail and the other was a bird seen on the feeders right outside the viewing window! On my day off of course...
A pair of garganey have also set up residence on the Aird Meadow, which have brought birders into the reserve in droves. A bird I have rarely seen, but having the quality of views we have had since 12 April has inspired me to seek this often elusive species more in the future.
Lastly, a great count of 28 white wagtails by our resident expert Angus Murray over at Castle Semple on 24 April – a great example of getting out of birding what you put in!
May has been rather dreich and disappointing weather-wise on the reserve, although we have had some lovely bird sightings to make up for the rain.
Garganey continued to show in the channel throughout most of May until the 25th – at the peak, we had an amazing 3 males and a female on the reserve. We have also continued to have occasional sightings of osprey fishing over the Aird Meadow and Barr Lochs, including a fantastic view of an individual hovering over the Aird Meadow before diving twice into the Lochall Channel outside the visitor centre.
One of the highlights of May was the appearance of a green-winged teal on the pond on the 14th. This North American species is a rare vagrant to the UK - this is only the second time this bird has EVER been recorded at RSPB Lochwinnoch. The first record was in April 1965, when one bird spent a week on the Barr Loch. At this time, the green-winged teal was considered a sub-species of the teal, although it is now recognised as a distinct species.
Other exciting visitors during May have included a whinchat on the Barr Loch on the 2nd, our first in 3 years, and 26 whimbrel flying over the Barr loch on the 7th, with another 4 seen over the Aird Meadow on the 15th.
May has been a great month for demonstrating the effectiveness of the habitat work we have undertaken at the reserve over the past few years – the Lochall channel was excavated in the hope that it would bring wildlife closer to the visitor centre, and also attract some different species not usually seen in that area of the reserve. We have therefore been thrilled that the garganey and osprey have both been spotted using the channel. We were also excited to have not one but 3 sightings of black-tailed godwit at the reserve during May. We think that we had 2 different individuals, which were both seen feeding extensively on the edge of the channel, and on the islands in the pond. It was great to have such close views of this beautiful bird. We also had a pair of gadwall feeding in the channel on the 21st.