Nigel's Nature

Sunny spells, sharp showers, strong north-westerly, high tide 16.52. I headed seaward at first because a dog-walker had just returned from the upstream end of the beach and would have disturbed everything there. The rising tide worked to my advantage and drove a mixed flock of waders towards me. They landed on the stony fringe of the rapidly filling creek and I counted about 90 Turnstone as they began to feed in a frantic manner. Among them were seven Dunlin, five Golden Plover and a single Ruff, possibly the same one as last week. No sign of the Curlew-Sandpipers nor did I spot any Ringed Plover or Redshank, which was surprising. Curlew and Oystercatcher were present of course, although numbers of both appeared to be reduced, with counts of about 40 and 70 respectively. As usual on a rising tide, a few Cormorants and Mergansers swam up the creek, presumably following fish. Today they were joined by a Common Seal, which hauled itself out onto a sand-bank. I could clearly discern it...

 Bands of rain, strong south-westerly, high tide 15.23. There were five Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Bishop Burn late afternoon among about 120 Mute Swans. The Brents always remind me of Dublin where I grew up. A thousand or so Pale-bellies used to winter in Dublin Bay at that time, especially on the north-side near my home. The Bull Island provided high tide sanctuary and the surrounding mudflats had plentiful Zostera seagrass for feeding. In more recent years, they have taken to cropping amenity grasslands in local urban parks, seemingly unphased by human activity. They have even become an argument against the development of parkland for housing. I know that Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland also hosts a flock and that’s just a short hop across the North Channel from Wigtownshire, so I will be interested to see how many turn up here. Recent D&G Annual Bird Reports give counts over 300 for Loch Ryan. Today’s gathering of swans seems to be a pretty high count for this site, ...

  Sunny spells, moderate westerly, low tide 18.33. On arrival at the parking area mid-afternoon, it was immediately obvious from tracks in the sand that joy-riders had been at the site recently. They had crisscrossed the foreshore several times before their escapade came to an inglorious end in the middle of the tidal channel. For there was the vehicle, a Mitsubishi pick-up, abandoned mid-stream to leak its noxious fluids into the water. Whomever was to blame, juvenile delinquents high on drink and drugs or otherwise, they may have had a lengthy walk home during which to contemplate their folly. With dog-walkers away to the east, I headed upstream first to see what was utilizing the freshly exposed riverine mudflats. A dozen Lapwing was the answer, along with some Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank, plus a pair of Little Egrets and a Grey Heron. A flock of loafing gulls included Common, Black-headed and a couple of young Herring. On the upper shore, there were a few Skylark l...

  Cloudy, showers, light south-easterly, high tide 13.30. I arrived about an hour after high tide. Luce Sands, south of the river, were almost completely inundated, which only happens on the highest of tides. As I made my way upriver to view the saltmarsh roost, my attention was diverted by a group of passerines flitting along the tops of the dune scrub through which I walked. It was a family of Stonechats with 3 or 4 juveniles, presumably the ones that bred by the entrance track in a  gorse bush. Single Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler were also present, although showing only briefly before disappearing into tangled vegetation. At the roost on the far side of the creek, a nice variety of waders were gathered with the gulls. Apart from numerous Curlews (110 the total visit count), I spotted a Whimbrel, two Greenshank, three Bar-tailed Godwits and at least four Redshank. One of the latter was engaged in a rather demented bathing technique that I have seen adopted by various ...

  Mostly overcast, medium westerly, high tide 16.35. I arrived about an hour before high tide and noticed that the creek was almost devoid of birds near the car-park. No doubt there had been recent dog-walking and this suspicion was confirmed when a greyhound appeared. As I headed downstream where there seemed to be more avian activity, a dozen or so Greenfinch flew up from the tideline, presumably the remnants of last week’s flock. Linnets were also feeding along the upper shore, primarily among the developing saltmarsh hummocks; I counted 32. A single Rock Pipit was noted, a much scarcer species here away from its usual rocky haunts. Whimbrels were present again: one feeding along the edge of the creek as the water level rose and a second out at the sea-ward edge of Luce Sands where 30 or so Curlew stood among the advancing waves. Rounding the corner to view the coast east, there was a high-tide roost of 180 Oystercatchers on the nearest spit with a small flock of Turnstone f...

  Sunny spells and showers, light westerly, low tide 17.45. When I arrived at the parking area about 13.45, there were several other cars there already – dog walkers and a family with young kids. Too much disturbance, so I turned around and went elsewhere until later. It was shortly after 16.00 when I returned and this time I had the place to myself. With the tide reaching its lowest ebb, there was a lot of exposed foreshore. The first thing to catch my eye was a goodly number of Ringed Plovers scampering about, a mixture of juveniles and summer-plumaged adults. My highest count was 55 but there could easily have been quite a few more hidden amongst the hummocks of wrack, certainly an increase since my last visit. A dozen or so Dunlin were also there, mostly with breeding black on their bellies. The influx of 60 Golden Plover from last time were absent, apart from one single bird I spotted. A Whimbrel came to my attention when a Curlew started chasing it towards me along the mu...