Saturday 16 October 2010

Sat 16th October



Carl was up round Ardnave for a walk today and got these Sanderling along with a few Dunlin as they flew past. On Ardnave Loch were 6 Whoopers and 2 Mute Swan, along with Dabchick, Mallard and Wigeon.There were a good number of Twite in the dunes, feeding on the ground and on the seed heads. A Merlin flashed through the flock causing panic! A few Goldfinches and Linnets were also present.There were plenty of Ravens around, and 3 Buzzards were seen at one point. The overall flock of Sanderling was over 100 birds, Carl reckoned.
James is back from a week over on Oronsay, so straight into counting the geese. His figures at Gruinart this afternoon was 27,230 Barnies, 621 Whitefronts, 5 Pale bellied Brent, 8 Pink feets, 1 Canada parvipes sp and 3 hutchinsii sp. He also counted 3 Whooper Swan, 3 Grey Plover and 3 Black tailed Godwit. James said that his count of Barnies was possibly on the low side as some of the geese were proving difficult to count....
Bob had seen 17 Pintail on Loch Indaal yesterday, just as the River Sorn enters the loch. On Loch Gorm today, he had 5 Goldeneye, 10 Scaup, around 800 Greylag and a male Pochard. 20 Reed Bunting were noted close to the former Kilchoman School. At the viewing platform, there were some Long tailed Tits present, and while he was watching the geese, a White tailed Sea Eagle was seen flying overhead! He also managed to spot the Long tailed Duck up at Bun an Uillt too.

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