Bird Watch this October

So this October, this is what Ju and Jan observed: 

• 96 Greylag Geese on the Barbreck fields, and 34 Canada Geese at Kintraw.
• A total of at least 95 Common Eiders and 43 Red-breasted Mergansers were on the Loch, along with 4 Teal on the mud by the shop and a total of 6 Little Grebes between the Loch and the Lagoon. 
• No Wigeon were recorded, so the 45 seen in September are assumed to have moved further South.  However, on Tuesday there were 22 by the church.  Perhaps these will remain for the winter!
• Along with the usual modest numbers of curlew, redshank and oystercatcher, there were 8 Ringed Plovers on the shore by Craigdhu.  These little birds are well camouflaged for life on a shingle beach and hard to see unless they are active, so it was good to see them this month. 
• A couple of rarer sitings were 3 Guillemots and a Red-Throated Diver offshore near Eilean Buidhe. 
• Loch Beag was unusually quiet this month.

 
In other news, flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare are moving through now.  These birds breed in Scandinavia and spend the winter in Britain where they strip trees of their berries in no time flat!  Members of the Thrush family, Fieldfare are very vocal, and big flocks sound like the old-fashioned football rattles.

More next month!