Piltanton Burn - 9.xi.23

 Sunny spells, light westerly, low tide 3.09pm

Disturbance was the unwelcome theme of this visit. Upheavals to the beach were immediately obvious when I arrived. Judging by the wide deep tracks, someone had brought heavy machinery to take away a lot of the accumulated heaps of seaweed from the tideline. And in the process, they also uprooted pioneer plants, such as Sea Rocket and Common Orache that were beginning to colonize the sand, and disturbed the naturally stratified deposits beneath, doing untold damage to the whole foreshore ecosystem. While it may be laudable in principle to make use of fertilizer that is not derived from fossil fuels, any net gain is rather undermined if you trash the environment while you do it. To add insult to injury, some narrower tracks suggested that more joy-riding had also happened, although by motorbike this time instead of the 4x4 that is still stranded mid-channel like a metal hippo. Indeed the new tracks passed by that flooded wreck and continued on the far side of creek.

I headed west to check the fully exposed riverine mudflats first. A couple of Linnets flushed from the fringe of the dunes but they proved to be almost the only passerines I encountered along the upper shore, now that the rich source of invertebrate food provided by freshly washed-in seaweed was largely absent. Thirty or so Curlew were feeding on the cattle pasture inland, along with the usual mixed gang of corvids and about twenty Common Gulls. Whether the recently spread slurry is of benefit to them or otherwise I am uncertain. But certain it is that nutrient run-off from muck-spreading into the river and thence to the sea has an impact on marine ecosystems that can be seen from space when algal blooms proliferate and choke the rest of the planktonic food-chain.

I tried to forget about human destructiveness and concentrate on counting ducks and waders. A couple of Snipe were hunkered down at the base of reeds and there were the usual scattering of Redshank, Oystercatchers and more curlew. Of most interest perhaps were a flock of Wigeon, whistling as they preened and dabbled. That is one of my favourite sounds in nature and always takes me back to my formative birding years at Dublin Bay. I was about halfway through estimating their number when a guttural buzzing noise came to my attention. It grew steadily in volume and resolved into a pair of trail-bikes approaching from the south along Luce Sands, heading towards Torrs Warren plantation on the far side of the main creek. No doubt these were the makers of the tracks described earlier. The wigeon heard them too, raising their heads and tensing ready for flight. Some gulls took to the air and I prepared for everything to flush, but luckily the bikers turned away into the trees before getting too close and we could all relax again.

For once there were no dog-walkers about, so I headed downstream then to survey the exposed stony shoals. More wigeon were there, making a site total of 165. A single Grey Plover and about 30 Golden Plover were nice to see, but there was an absence of smaller waders. I did spot a large flock of several hundred wheeling above the distant sandflats, colours changing as they banked towards the setting sun, but too far to identify. Probably Knot or more Golden Plover, perhaps the flock that visits West Freugh where the American Golden Plover was seen recently. With light fading fast, I retreated to the car, gulls beginning to stream overhead from inland to roost on the coast. Hopefully they had an undisturbed night’s rest.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loch Ryan - 9.x.2023

 My late afternoon visit began about an hour past low tide and the expanse of exposed mud in the south-east corner of the loch was busy with feeding birds. But they would have to wait, for even as I pulled into the parking area by the Ryan Bay Holiday Park my eager eyes had distinguished a small group of Whooper Swans in amongst the Mutes. There were just four of them, a pair with one youngster and another adult. Perhaps newly arrived from Iceland, they seemed keen to rest with head tucked under a wing rather than dipping for weed as their plentiful resident cousins were doing. A little later, the single adult perked up a bit, gave a couple of whooping calls and began to feed. It was an excellent start to what proved to be a very productive hour before I had to get to the supermarket. Surrounding hills were lost to view in the foggy conditions but visibility across the loch was surprisingly good. In fact, the flat light seemed somehow to enhance the performance of my decidedly av...
Read more

Piltanton Burn 14/ix/23

Image
  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...
Read more

Piltanton Burn - 24.x.23

 Rain clouds gathering from the east on a chilly breeze, brief glimpses of the sun. The tide was at its lowest ebb when I arrived at 2.40pm. I headed upstream first as no dog-walkers were visible in that direction. As usual, several Redshank tiptoed enthusiastically on the riverine mud as they pecked at food items, while a single diminutive Dunlin scampered about among them. More redshank were in the shallows, along with a couple of Greenshank and Little Egrets. Some Curlew used their longer legs and bills to hunt in deeper water, where a few Red-breasted Mergansers waited for the current to reverse and bring them some fish from the open sea. A small flock of starling rose from the strandline where heaps of decaying seaweed grow ever larger each time I visit. There were smaller birds with them, about 15 of which were Greenfinches. When three others alighted on a fence I could see they were Twite. This is a scarce but regular species along the Wigtownshire coast outside the bree...
Read more