Sadly the winds have been 'wrong' and so the hoped for fall of migrants on the east coast has failed to materialise, so far. However, there are always good birds to see, if you look hard enough.
On the 28th we travelled down to Troon with Judith and Mike and had a distant view of a Black-throated Diver which was unexpected. There were also good numbers of Golden Plover and a ringed herring Gull caught my eye.
Record shot of Golden Plovers - Troon
Herring Gull A:B24 - Troon
I discovered from the ringer that it was ringed as a chick on 8/7/13 on Lady Isle, near Troon as part of a
wider research project. It has only wandered
away from Troon/Lady Isle on one occasion during the past five years when it was recorded in Stranraer in March 2014.
It can be amazing what you find out about birds by reporting ring numbers and I know that more and more people are now participating in this as part of their day-to-day birding.
On the 30th, we travelled through to Barns Ness and White Sands Bay with Stephen bad sadly no obvious migrants, but yet more Golden Plover ….
Barns Ness
Another record shot of Golden Plover - Barns Ness
We also visited Ardmore Point with Judith and Mike on Friday, but no photos and no surprises.
Thankfully, birding locally at Hogganfield Park LNR (on the 2nd and 6th) did prove fruitful with Black Tern (I wonder if this is the same bird I found on 20/9/18 or a new one), Ruddy Duck and the return of the Whooper Swans being the highlights.
Black Tern resting - 2/10/18
Whooper Swan preening - 2/10/18
Ruddy Duck resting - 6/10/18
So, having travelled a good few miles, the most unusual birds were to be found almost on my doorstep! Indeed the Ruddy Duck was the 76th bird I've seen at Hogganfield Park LNR this year.
Next week could be good with the winds changing, for a couple of days at least, to south easterlies and this could result in migrants turning up on the east coast - fingers crossed.
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