Piltanton Burn estuary – 16.xii.24

 Today was my first WeBS count at this site for the BTO’s Wetland Bird Survey, having previously done counts down south in Bedfordshire. The tide was approaching full and it was one of the highest I have seen here, being a full moon last night and with a brisk onshore south-westerly breeze. This meant most of the waterbirds were either in near-side pasture fields or on the far side of the main channel where most of the saltmarsh was flooded.

My attention was first grabbed by a sizeable flock of Shelduck, riding the waves and upending in the shallows to reach below-surface vegetation. I managed to count 204 just as they started to relocate further upriver, which is the most I have seen here in the last couple of years. Other wildfowl present were a couple of Goldeneye, male and female, a trio of Red-breasted Mergansers, 8 Mallard, 25 Wigeon and 8 Teal. The best of the waders were 9 Godwits in a roosting flock. Fortunately, some of them preened and stretched a wing to reveal a lack of white wing-bar. So Bar-tailed, not Black-tailed. Most numerous was Oystercatcher at 48, then  Curlew 44, Redshank 8 and Lapwing 4. Smaller species such as Ringed Plover and Dunlin must have been elsewhere on this occasion.

Other waterbirds included 5 Little Egrets, a pair of Little Grebes and a single Great Crested Grebe. Three types of gull completed the tally: Black-headed 60, Herring 42 and Common 36. Passerines were few and far between, other than corvids and starlings. The highlight of the day was a quartet of Twite that perched obligingly on a straggly gorse bush long enough for me to get my scope onto them. They can be a challenge to separate from Linnet, but I got lovely clear views of their unstreaked orangey-buff throats, yellowish bill, and heavily streaked mantle and flanks. Delightful little birds.

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