Yet again it was another fantastic week for birdwatching on the reserve, the main focus continuing to be at the Barr Loch. An estimated total of 1000 waterfowl were present on the loch there on 30 Sept (attracted by the continuing waterweed bloom as mentioned in the previous blog). This got me rummaging through old bird reports and reserve records this week. These periodic waterweed blooms over the years on the Barr Loch have resulted in spikes in wildfowl numbers even in what are considered to be the "glory years" for wildfowl assemblege on there in the 1960s and early 1970s with e.g. annual peak counts in this period for wigeon fluctuating between counts of over 1000 birds (the last time this sort of number occurred was in 1972) and counts in the low 100s. This nosing around in records from pre and early reserve logs paid off with the discovery that the peak count in Sept for wigeon during the reserve's existence is 360 on 25 Sept 1976 so the 250 present on 28 Sept is the second highest Sept reserve count.
Barr Loch by Thomas Begg
Getting down to view this spectacle required you to negotiate the jungle that is the norm in early autumn for the vegetation cover state at the south end of the loch but it was certainly worth the effort. Of the fifteen species of wildfowl that were seen this week on the reserve the seven shoveler, four gadwall, three pintail, up to five whooper swans and six pochard were all to be found there amongst the throngs of wigeon, teal, mallard, tufted ducks and mute swans though many were still in their eclipse and immature garb so not always easy to pick out.
Pintail Pair by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
Elsewhere a drake scaup, first seen on Castle Semple Loch on 25 Sept, was then on Aird Meadow on 1 Oct with also there the first hen harrier of the autumn was found, a ringtail on 25-26 with then presumably the same bird at Barr Loch on 30 Sept.
Scaup by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Despite this series of great records the yearlist stubbornly refused to budge from the 118 species mark that it reached last week.
Angus Murray