Thursday 8 September 2022

Thursday 8th September

 A much cloudier, muggy sort of warm day with lighter winds and very little rain. There were a number of folks out birding - Jim Dickson, Graham Cundall, Mary Redman, James How, Gary Turnbull, Hannah Stanger and David Dinsley all contributing some interesting sightings:

Wheatears were again much in evidence: 6 @ Port Wemyss, 8 @ Carabus including large Greenland birds (see photo below).

In Loch Indaal Jim found the first of the autumn's Slavonian Grebes - 3 including a summer-plumaged bird along with 43 Eiders, 164 Wigeon, a Little Egret, a summer-plumaged Grey Plover, 2 Greenshanks, 131 Bar-tailed Godwits, 41 Knot, a Pintail and 38 Red-breasted Mergansers. (I had a summer-plumaged Red-throated Diver there later in the day).

White-tailed Eagles were popping up all over the place: 2 at Carrabus and one heading off with a rabbit in its talons (see photo below). Hannah saw another two young birds on Texa (photo below) and Graham saw another at Machair Bay..

Loch Gruinart produced a good variety: Jim had 12 Curlew Sandpipers, a Little Stint and 5 Golden Plovers, a Spotted Flycatcher, 8 Siskins,




160 Linnet and a Lesser Redpoll on the Craigens side. Later he counted 130 Black-headed Gulls, 3 Pintail and the 2 White-tailed Eagles again. James upped the autumn Black-tailed Godwit tally to 30 seen from the viewing platform.

Elsewhere, Jim counted  63 Tufted Duck on Loch Gorm; Gary saw an Osprey passing the ferry by Gigha and Mary had a Grey Wagtail at Nerabus. Graham reporting from Machair Bay had the 2 Ruff again on the flood along with 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and then 23 Sanderling, 5 Ringed Plover, a Kestrel and Sparrowhawk plus a few Choughs on the beach and towards the radar station on the hill.



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