Our neighbour from Thurstonfield does a monthly Wetlands Birds Survey count and provides us with a report of his observations. You may seem him with his Westie, Archie, on a Sunday afternoon trying to count the birds.
Here is Trevor’s report from his visit on Sunday, 13th November 2016 by name and number:
Coot: 20 in Oct (about the norm), but increased to 30 today.
Gadwall: numbers steadily increasing; 30 Sep, 48 Oct & 64 Nov (near same last year).
Little grebe: typically ~12, but difficult to spot as they get into the reeds or spend a lot of time under-water. 10 seen today.
Mute swan: nice to see that the two resident pairs and their cygnet broods (2 & 7) are surviving well. They’ve been joined by 24 other adults.
Two Whooper swans were on the lake in early November, there are plenty around the Solway so they could show regularly.
Shoveler: they stand out well with their white chests & big bills. There were 3 pairs in Oct and I wondered if they were the same birds that were here last year, but, if they were they had spread the news about a good site because today there were 7 pairs!
Teal: also very difficult to count, being small and they tend to sit in the reeds. Counts are probably significantly lower than actual, but 40 in Oct & 86 today.
Tufted duck: only 2 returned by early Oct, but at least 30 today (also difficult when they are feeding (diving))
Wigeon: the most numerous duck. Numbers just a bit over 150 pairs in Oct & Nov (about 25pair more than these months in 2015)
Water rail: heard both months; you have at least 2 birds responding to call.
Grey Wagtail: the ‘resident’ 2 seen on the dock in Sep & Oct counts, but not today.
If you do go out on the boat, let us know if you spot anything unusual. Trevor and our guests did manage to spot the Otter in September!
Feedback
We hope you enjoyed the Wetlands Birds Survey Count for November 2016. Did you manage to spot any of the birds on the list? Did you see something unusual? Do let us know.
