Northern Delights

Last weekend six of us ventured to Dumfries and Galloway to see what birds we could find.
On the way to Kirkcolm our first stop was Annan bridge, the best bird there was a Goosander huddled into the lea of the bank. Next stop - WWT Caerlaverock. There were lots of cars in the car park and we wondered if we'd stumbled on a major twitch but it turned out to be Swan census day and they had rounded up the Whoopers to be checked, weighed, ringed etc. before they took off for their breeding grounds over the next few weeks. Very fleeting and distant views of Harriers but the main highlight was the thousands of Barnacle Geese feeding on the marshes, almost as far as the eye could see.
After lunch we made our way to Loch Ken where there were fewer birds than expected but delightful views. We had our first views of the Red Kites that have been reintroduced into the area. As we left the Loch to make our way further west we came across the Red Kite roosting area and watched 40+ Kites coming from all directions towards a wooded hillside.

Lighthouse at Corsewell Point

Sunrise st Corsewell Point

Saturday morning, before sunrise, we were sea-watching at Corsewell Point. Cold and bright but very interesting. We watched Red-throated Divers, Eider, Shag and Common Scoter flying round to the entrance to Loch Ryan and were entertained by a couple of Rock Pipits chasing in and around the rocks and gullies. There were also hares running around in the fields close by and a Grey Seal offshore.
After breakfast we went off to explore Loch Ryan, starting with the western side where we found a large flock of Twite with some Linnets mixed in. On the shore there were Ringed Plover, Redshank, Turnstone, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Curlew feeding.

Further out we were able to see rafts of Eider, Common Scoter, Scaup and quite a few  Slavonian Grebe. There were also Black Guillemot, Guillemot and Red-breasted Merganser. It was interesting to see the Mergansers displaying. Plenty to look at and in numbers. We also spotted Harbour Porpoise making their way down the loch towards Stranraer. At the end of the day we were lucky enough to get good views of the Starling roost at Stranraer.

 

On Sunday, after a very wet night, we made our way to Black Head and the Killantringan Lighthouse. As we went down the single track road a Short-eared Owl flew across the road and perched on a fence within sight.

 

After a brief seawatch at Black Head we moved on to Portpatrick in search of Purple Sandpiper. We were unable to locate them but found more Rock Pipits and pairs of Fulmars on the cliffs.

Portpatrick Harbour

 From Portpatrick we drove to Wigtown where we had views over Wigtown Sands and across the River Cree mud creeks and saw a very distant Peregrine Falcon. On our way back to Kirkcolm we stopped off to see the Long-tailed Ducks on Loch Ryan. They were distant and it wasn't possible to get any clear photos but it was a thrill to see the males complete with long tails.
On Monday we stopped off at Carlingwork Loch for Smew on our way to Mersehead RSPB reserve. We had a quick walk to the nearest hide where we watched a ring-tail Hen Harrier hunting across the meadows as well as large numbers of Pintail amongst the usual ducks.
All in all a great weekend with lots of good birds.