September is a time of change. The leaves start to change colour, the evenings start to darken earlier and before the month is out, there’s a definite nip in the air.
It’s also a time of change in the world of wildlife, as our summer visitors start their migration to warmer climes and our winter visitors start to arrive. Despite this we still had a few summer stragglers waiting for the right time to make a move: sedge warbler, willow warbler, chiffchaff and spotted flycatcher were seen throughout the month, along with swallows and house martins. In addition, we also spotted a single sand martin – something we’d not seen on the reserve since June. Perhaps it was checking out our artificial sand martin bank as a possible nesting site for next year?
By the end of the month, 245 pink-footed geese had announced that autumn was well and truly here, as their distinctive calls echoed through the skies above Lochwinnoch.
Pink-footed goose
Increasing numbers of other wildfowl and waders were also recorded in September, with 120 tufted duck and 108 mallard counted along with good numbers of Canada geese, lapwing, wigeon, snipe, goldeneye, and teal indicating a change in season.
Lapwing
We had some excellent raptor sightings this month too, with marsh harrier, hen harrier, sparrowhawk and osprey all making an appearance.
Osprey photographed by Robert Conn
The osprey had a blue leg ring, which allowed us to find out a little bit more about it. This particular bird was ringed in Bonar Bridge in the Highlands in July, one of a brood of three, so this is its first migration south to warmer climes. . RSPB Lochwinnoch plays a vital role in providing a favourable habitat for migrating birds, one of many pitstops on their long migratory journeys. It's great to have such a prime position to witness magnificent birds like ospreys passing through on their way to warmer climes, and hopefully we can find out about other sightings of this bird and see how it gets on.
Other September highlights included included skylark and meadow pipits beginning to pass over on migration, 2 sandwich tern, a stonechat, 50 goldfinch, 45 chaffinch, 5 goldcrests, 5 lesser redpoll, 2 bullfinch, 2 nuthatch and a kingfisher seen regularly throughout the month.
Look out for more signs of autumn in the coming weeks – we’d love to hear what you’ve seen on the reserve, so get in touch via Facebook and Twitter!
Little grebe: seen on 10 Sept
Great crested grebe: 10 seen on 8 Sept
Pink footed geese: 245 seen on 30 Sept
Canada geese: 27 seen on 24 Sept
Wigeon: 14 seen on 30 Sept
Teal: 6 seen on 24 Sept
Mallard: 108 seen on 8 Sept
Tufted duck: 85 seen on 6 Sept, 120 seen on 8 Sept, 96 seen on 21 Sept
Goldeneye: 8 seen on 30 Sept
Marsh harrier: seen on 14 Sept
Hen harrier: seen on 18 Sept
Osprey: seen on 7 Sept
Sparrowhawk; 1 seen on 1 Sept, 2 seen on 30 Sept
Water Rail: seen throughout the month (7, 8, 17, 21, 24, 30 Sept)
Lapwing: 22 seen on 6 Sept, 16 seen on 8 Sept
Snipe: 12 seen on 8 Sept, 10 seen on 20 Sept
Sandwich tern: 2 seen on 16 Sept
Kingfisher seen throughout the month (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 23, 26 Sept), with 2 seen on 20 Sept
Skylark: seen on 30 Sept
Sand martin: 13 Sept
Swallow: 8 seen on 3 Sept, 2 seen on 16 Sept
House martin: 5 seen on 5 Sept
Meadow pipit: 5 seen on 13 Sept, 3 seen on 17 Sept
Dipper: seen on 7, 15, 16 and 17 Sept
Stonechat: seen on 30 Sept
Sedge warbler: 2 seen on 14 Sept
Chiffchaff: seen throughout the month with 4 seen on 10 Sept and 7 seen on 26 Sept
Willow warbler: 2 seen on 10 Sept, 3 seen on 17 Sept
Goldcrest: 3 seen on 13 Sept, 5 seen on 17 Sept
Spotted flycatcher: seen on 13 Sept
Nuthatch: seen throughout the month, with 2 seen on 30 Sept
Chaffinch: 45 seen on 15 Sept and 20 seen on 28 Sept
Goldfinch: 21 seen on 3 Sept, 50 seen on 26 Sept, 5 seen on 30 Sept
Siskin: seen on 6 Sept, 16 Sept
Lesser redpoll: 5 seen on 16 Sept
Bullfinch: 2 seen on 5 Sept
Reed bunting: seen on 6 Sept, 30 Sept