Saturday 7th November

A mostly overcast day with little or no wind, the smoke from a bonfire nearby going straight up into the sky.

Today's birders concentrated on the geese - and why not? In the early afternoon, Martin Culshaw and Will Miles searched through a large flock of Barnacle Geese at the head of Loch Indaal and found an adult Red-breasted Goose, which immediately poses the question whether this is the first recorded visit to Loch Indaal by the bird which has been present at Loch Gruinart every winter since 2021-22, or a different bird. They also saw a Cackling Goose, a slightly larger Canada Goose, so possibly Lesser, parvipes, and single Pink-footed and Light-bellied Brent Geese.

Just after lunch, Fiona McG was at Loch Gorm and was amazed to see thousands of Barnacle Geese sitting on the loch (see photo), a rare sight, also noted by Catherine F the previous day. There's been a lot of night-feeding by the geese under the moon this last week, hence the large flocks at the head of Loch Indaal during the day, and the ability of the Loch Gorm geese to take time out from feeding in the middle of the day.

The one non-goose report of the day came from David D who saw 9 Black-tailed Godwits from the north hide at Gruinart.