Another trip up for a couple of weeks with plenty of activity on the seawatching front from the caravan site.
A total of 9 Pomarine Skuas seen,all with spoons ,also 5 Arctic Skuas including 3 chasing Kittiwakes in the bay and a single sighting of a Great Skua made the seawatching worthwhile. Also 3 sum plum Great Northern Divers and 2 Red Throated Divers were still about, plenty of Manx Shearwaters, Gannets etc passing daily.
On the beach still a nice passage of waders with over 100 Ringed Plover one day and a maximum count of 29 Sanderling, and 25 Dunlin together with 6 Whimbrel.
Fairly quiet down Auchie Glen migration wise,with just a nice little fall of 5 Spotted Flycatchers one morning after overnight rain,otherwise just the usual Sedge Warbler,Whitethroat etc plus 2 singing Yellowhammers.
A drive up to Braid Fell just above Stranraer was interesting with Spotted Flycatcher and Siskin in one of the plantations ,and out on the open moorland Whinchat,Cuckoo, Raven,Buzzard Skylark, Meadow Pipit and a Red Kite. Unfortunately no sign of Hen Harrier,Short Eared Owl or Merlin which were virtually guaranteed only a few years ago. On Penwhirn Reservoir a small colony of breeding Common Gulls were utilizing the lip on the reservoir wall where there was an overhang above which would prevent Foxes predating them.

-- Edited by pete berry on Sunday 29th of May 2022 04:48:11 PM

-- Edited by pete berry on Sunday 29th of May 2022 04:50:27 PM

Just back from first trip up this year,luckily had all this nice weather all week.
Sea watching from the caravan produced a few Red Throated Divers and a couple of Great Northern Divers,plenty of Gannets,Kittiwakes,Auks together with a few Eider,Black Guillemots.
On the beach 66 Pale Bellied Brent Geese ,226 Golden Plover, over 50 Turnstones,plenty of Oystercatchers,Curlew ,Ringed Plovet, single Sanderling and a flock of 6 Rock Pipts feeding on the high tide strand line.
In Luce Bay a disappointing number of divers,with only 2 Great Northern and 6 Red Throats,a few Common Scoter,Red Breasted Mergansers and Black Guillemots.at least 6 over wintering Greenshank seen,plenty of Redshank and Oystercatchers.
Loch Ryan was excellant usual with at least 32 Red Throated Divers seen but only 1 Great Northern. Good numers of Slavonian Grebes still present,some coming into summer plumage. Also on the loch a few Long Tailed Ducks,Common Scoter,Red Breasted Mergansers Scaup,and a single Little Egret.
On the way home we had half hour looking for the Golden Eagle but no joy this time, however 13 Red Kites coming out of roost together from a small clump of trees and thermalling up high together before they dispersed. Also nearby a couple of Black Grouse were heard calling. Last call was at Browhouses where there were 5 Avocets,and county tick for me.

-- Edited by pete berry on Wednesday 23rd of March 2022 09:00:36 PM

The following information was supplied by Pete Jeavons:

D&G is poorly serviced with bird sightings information, with a small number of resident and most importantly, active sightings reporting birders (or watchers!). Of course there are some records submitted via the established e-media and BirdTrack but the region is under-watched as a whole. As noted, D&G (as is well known by BTO reps at least), has few resident, more serious, regular birders, who routinely submit sightings for others to benefit from. The birdwatching fraternity that exists is by and large disunited & fragmented. Organisations & individuals "go their own way" and as a result, there is no D&G based go-to coordinated sightings information. 

Therefore, D&G Bird News has been set up for simplicity on Google Blogger and is in need of "members" ie, users, reporting hard to find, uncommon not exclusively scarce or rare, birds. Please find all the information you should require on the attached two documents. 

 

 

Just back from another trip up to caravan ,the highlight was a Sooty Shearwater flying past with a few Manxies. Also a imm. Pomarine Skua watched for an hour chasing Sandwich Terns and Herring Gulls,it even dive bombed the Herring Gulls roosting on the beach to try and flush them. A couple of days later a dark phase Arctic Skua was offshore.
On the beach good nos of returning waders,including over 40 Sanderling, 4 Whimbrel, Dunlin,Ringed Plovers,and Turnstone. There was also an adult Mediterranean Gull with the other gulls on the beach,still quite a rarity up there.
Plenty of Sandwich Terns feeding on sandeels and nice to see quite a few juveniles with them constantly calling and begging for food.
A Painted Lady butterfly was the first I've seen this year,and a Speckled Wood (quite a rarity up there) was in Auchie Glen,my third ever record for there.
On my previous visit up a nice count of 1140 Manx Shearwaters passed the caravan in an hour. And on the Mull of Galloway in with the masses of Guillemot and Razorbill at least 20 Puffins. From the Mull a Minke Whale was seen heading north and a few Harbour Porpoise offshore.

Got back middle of last week after a weeks birding up on The Rhinns.
On the beach by the caravan plenty of Turnstone,Dunlin,Ringed Plover, Curlew,Oystercatcher and singles of Grey Plover ,Bar Tailed Godwit,and Sanderling. On the fields adjacent to the beach several small flocks (20+) of both Twite and Linnet.
Did a few mornings vis migging on the nearby Mull of Ga?loway,nothing too rare but 747 birds of 10 species in an hour and half was the biggest number of the week,with the highlights 22 Whooper Swans and 2 Yellowhammers .
A couple of miles up the road and impressive flock of over 1000 Golden Plover, at least 100 Lapwing ,several hundred small gulls and a single Ruff were all feeding in the same field. On the nearby Luce Bay a few Red Throated Divers back,together with several small flocks of Common Scoter,a scattering of Black Guillemots and still large numbers of Razorbill feeding offshore.
Auchie Glen was pretty quiet although a Long Eared Owl was a nice find,as were the flock of 250+ Fieldfare with a few Mistle Thrush and Redding for company. A late party of 5 Swallows on the 16th feeding over the Glen.
Loch Ryan held a very late juvenile White Winged Black Tern which was hawking insects over the nearby fields rather than over the water!!!. Plenty of the usual birds on the Loch,Red Throated Divers, Eiders,Red Breasted Mergansers etc.

Just back from a few days at my caravan,after a very successful trip.The weather was very windy when I arrived,and an hour seawatch from my caravan produced a big passage of Razorbills,Gannets,and Kittiwakes,a few Eiders,Red Throated Divers and a single Great Skua.
I spent a few mornings vis migging on the Mull Of Galloway,which was very productive,some of the highlights were 831 skylarks in one hour,a few late Swallows,Brambling,a Merlin present every day chasing all the passing migrants,and a Great Spotted Woodpecker which was most unexpected!!We also found a Black Redstart around the lighthouse.(all the counts are on Trektellen)
Auchie Glen was a bit quiet with a maximum of 6 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap,but there was a decent fall of at least 30 Coal Tits and 60+ Goldcrests on the 15th.There was also at least 3000 Pink-footed Geese on the nearby fields.
Luce Bay had 11 Great Northern Divers and 37 Red Throated Divers on the 15th,and a summer plumaged Black Throated Diver and a very late Sandwich Tern.
An hour at West Freugh in the evening was very productive with 3 Hen Harriers,a single Marsh Harrier(only the 3rd one I've seen up there in 40 years!!),2 Short Eared Owls hunting right in front of us,a hunting Barn Owl and a Merlin.We also had over a 1000 Pink-footed geese flying in at dusk which presumably had just arrived from Islay?
Loch Ryan was as usual full of winter wildfowl,2 Red Necked Grebes were the highlight,with over 20 Slavonian Grebes counted from one spot.Plenty of divers,Scoters etc were present,but it was a bit too early for any Long Tailed Ducks.
There were still a few Wheatear about and a flock of 1000+ Golden Plover was nice,but unfortunately no American Golden Plover with them this year.Several flocks of Whooper Swans were about with the biggest flock containing 40 birds.We also found a 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull which is still a rarish bird up there.

Richard,
I was up in D&G last week 30/3 to 8/3 staying about 10 miles inland from Dumfries. I record the arrival dates of hirundines each year in the village. Last year I had swallow 30/3, this year 7/4 - so a bit later, but I did not witness a large scale movement.

A local farmer has built a small loch on his land as a community wildlife asset, which is great, and I am enjoying watching it mature. On this visit I had;

Sand Martin - 4 on 3/4
Common Sandpiper - 3/4
Osprey - 3/4 - a great records .... especially as there are no fish in the Loch yet. It worked that out pretty quick and moved on
Swallow - first on 7/4 - 1 along with 20 sand martin
House Martin - first on 8/4 - 1 along with 6 swallow and 8 sand martin

They may have been a bit earlier, but the weather was so poor I was not out and about as much as I would have liked.

Only made one trip to the coast and got gannet, Red throated diver, black guillemot and little egret.

Chris

The last 48 hours has been unbelievable!!!

With a total of 70 species, the highlights include....

A special arranged trip for kingfisher viewing with unbelievable close views,
Goosander female having a bath close
Osprey
Peregrine
Goldeneye
Wigeon
Over a dozen Scaups

Today,

Siskin & Redpoll,
Willow tits at Ken-dee marshes along with great spotted woodpecker, raven, stock dove, fieldfare and redwings, common gulls and a suprise- a Mediterranean gull!!!

I finished today at the red kite feeding station, not as thrilling as the experience I had last July/Aug in mid-Wales, but still addictive to enjoy the thrills and spills, especially when two had a scrap and chase with each other so close you could hear clearly the air rushing through their feathers!

My pictures will take a while to sort, especially without a proper way of sorting them out at the moment. However, I have (only) been able to and will be putting a couple from yesterday on my Flickr page tonight.

Ta!

Just got back from a few days at my caravan,there were still 4 Swallows feeding over the site when I arrived on the 24th and a late Wheatear was feeding round the site as well.When I was driving down I saw a big flock of Golden Plover over some fields about 3 miles from my caravan so went to check them out the following day.There were over 1000 birds in the flock plus about 450 Lapwing and 4 Ruff.I decided to start looking from the rhs of the flock and the 3rd bird I looked at was an American Golden Plover!!Glad I didn't start from the lhs!!.I've attached a poor record shot of the bird as unfortunately the battery had run down on my camera and I had to phone scope the bird,it's the one in the centre at the back.
Elsewhere in Luce Bay there was a flock of 1000+ Common Scoter wth at least 3 Velvet Scoter with them,a few Red Throated and Great Northern Diver about(some of the GNDs in full sum plum still),a few late Razorbills still .,3 Little Egrets at Sandhead was noteworthy.A sighting of 2 Sandwich Terns on the 30th was the latest I've seen up there.
Around the caravan site there was a nice flock of approx 40 Twite in the next field and on the beach an adult Med.Gull was a site tick for me.Still a few waders about on the beach inc. 5 Bar Tailed Godwits,lots of Curlew,a few Turnstones,Redshank and Ringed Plover.
Down Auchie Glen a couple of late Blackcaps on the 27th and around The Mull at least 2 Merlins and a couple of Peregrines hunting any late migrants going through.Nearby a nice flock of 452 Teal with a few Wigeon and an hybrid Herring x LBB gull in a flloded field and 32 Whooper Swans on another fllooded area,and at least 3000 Pinkfeet in the general area.
On loch Ryan at least 20 Slavonian Grebes,2 Red Necked Grebes and 2 Long Tailed Ducks were back,plus numbers of Red Throated Divers,Scaup,Eider etc.
All in all a most enjoyable few days birding

-- Edited by pete berry on Saturday 4th of November 2017 02:41:34 PM

Just back from a weeks birding with a mate of mine,we got off to a good start with the Red Head Smew still at Milton Loch and great views of the Golden Eagle,its "golden head" glowing in the sunlight ,and at least 10 Red Kites on the way up.On the beach in front of caravan the Pale Bellied Brent flock had increased to 74 and on the nearby Mull Of Galloway 4 Twite,2 Wheatears,8 Snipe a Jack Snipe and a Hooded Crow were nice to see.Nearby down Auchie Glen at least 8 singing Chiffchaffs.
On Luce Bay at Terally Bay in flat calm conditions we had an impressive count of 109 Red Throated Divers and 3 Great Northerns from the same spot.Also around Luce Bay good numbers of Common Scoter,Red Breasted Mergansers and a Slavonian Grebe,plus a few newly arrived Sandwich Terns.
On Loch Ryan we had at least 18 Slavonian Grebes,some in superb summer plumage,several Long Tailed Ducks,stunning close views of summer plumage Red Throated Divers,a couple of Velvet Scoters,plus plenty of other sea duck,Common Scoter,Eider and displaying Black Guillemots etc.We also had 3 brief views of a close 1st.year White Billed Diver which unfortunately disappeared before we could get any photos,one that got away!!!!
Around West Freugh at least 3000 Pinks and smaller numbers of Greylag and Greenland Whitefronts,plus on a nearby loch 100+ Sand Martins and a single Swallow.By the end of the week there were several Swallows in the area.
We had a run over to Wigtown and Crook of Baldoon reserve where there were a couple of thousand Barnacle Geese,and simialar numbers of Pinks and a flock of 3000+ Golden Plover.Out on the merse we had excellent views of a couple of perched female Merlins.

3 days in glorious sunshine around Upper Nithdale and the Inner Solway (2nd to 5th Jan).

Highlights;
Dalbeattie (Park) - 25+ Waxwings
Carlingwalk Loch (Castle Douglas) - Ring-necked Duck (great view of a very smart male). Plus kingfishers and good numbers of Little Grebe, Goldeneye and Goosander.
Moniaive/Upper Nithsdale - Brambling, Woodcock, Crossbill, Dipper, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk, Raven
Carsethorn Beach to Southerness - Wader heaven - Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone, Knot, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Greenshank, Curlew. Didn't manage to find Purple Sandpiper which are normally regular sightings here.
Sandyhills - Peregrine, Rock Dove

Shows there is lots of good birding in the area away from the main reserves of Mersehead, Dee Marshes and Caerlaverock - for the Geese and Ducks (currently American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal at the latter).

Still small flocks of winter thrushes around - mainly Fieldfares.

Chris

Male and female ospreys on nest at Threeve Castle. Nesting peregrines in Castle.

A few days over Easter,unfortunately weather not great so had to spend most of Saturday seawatching from caravan as too wet to go out but well worth it with

A party of 12 Great Northern Divers all asleep on the sea about 150yds out from caravan
A good passage of Fulmars,Kittiwakes,Gannets,Razorbills and Guillemots plus 3 Red Throated Divers passed a few pleasant hours.
On Sunday a nice male Wheatear was just in front of caravan and in the field next to site about 140 Twite were about,but mobile.
On the beach 41 Pale Bellied Brent Geese were still about and a few Turnstones,Ringed Plover,Curlew and a single Golden Plover
Nearby at Auchie Glen 3 early Chiffchaffs were seen,but other fairly quiet on the migrant front
Elsewhere still plenty of wild geese about including Greylags,Pinkfeet and Greenland Whitefronts.

A few days again last week still had the flock of 80 Twite in the field next to caravan,and a high tide roost of 57 Turnstones.
On the 15th an amazingly late Common /Pallid Swift seen briefly before flying off and not relocated.
A count of divers along an 8 mile stretch of the west shore produced:-

45 Great Northern Divers
8 Red Throated Divers
1 Black Throated Diver

and at Stairhaven on the east Side of Luce Bay

5 Great Northern Divers
6 Red Throated Divers
3 Slavonian Grebes
200+ Common Scoter

Still plenty of geese at at West Freugh,and the roost produced

3 Hen Harriers including a stonking male
and a hunting Short Eared Owl

Had a half-term break in the Dumfries area and would like to thank Pete Berry for the info on sites to visit.
Of note:-
RSPB Mersehead - Barnacle Geese
RSPB Ken Dee Marshes - Hen Harrier, Red Kite
Loch Ryan - Rock Pipit, Brent Geese, Whooper Swans, Eider.
West Freugh - Hen Harrier ( x3), Peregrine, Merlin, Greenland Whitefront Geese, absolutely thousands of small prey birds and an abundance of pheasants, no wonder this is a raptor haven.

Within a day of putting a feeder up at the cottage we stayed in, 5 feet from the back of the house :- robin, dunnock, wren, coal tit, great, tit, blue tit, goldfinch, chaffinch, kestrel sat on a rock in the field behind, along with jay, carrion crows and a magpie, then a cow ate the feeder!!!

Got back a few days ago from a couple of weeks birding which got off to a good start with a ringtail Hen Harrier hunting over the back of the caravan site as I arrived,and got even better later in afternoon when a pod of 30 Bottlenose Dolphins appeared on the sea in front of caravan and spent the next hour performing up and down the bay(some nice footage on youtube,google in- bottlenose dolphins mull of galloway).I also had a couple of Merlin sightings around the site and a Barn Owl put in an appearance at dusk posing on top of its breeding barn at rear of site.
I spent some time helping the wardens on The Mull with the vis mig.Highlightswere 666 Skylarks in an hour and half,lots of Linnets,Meadow Pipits,Swallows etc,an impressive flock of 27 Ravens,and daily sightings of one or more Merlin taking advantage of the abundant food supply.Other birds of note were Short Eared Owl,Hen Harrier, a couple of Red Throated Divers and a Whooper Swan.
At nearby Auchie Glen I found a Yellow Browed Warbler which unfortunately was very elusive due to the still abundant leaf cover.Also a Spotted Flycatcher present till 12th Oct,a couple of male Blackcaps and 2 probable northern race Coal Tits,as well as other common migrants like Redwing etc.Also quite interesting for there was a late Hummingbird Hawkmoth(6th Oct) and a Speckled Wood butterfly which is only the third or fourth record for this area.
Luce Bay had small nos. of Red Throated Divers back from their breeding grounds(some still in breeding plumage).Also a nice flock of 600+Common Scoter and over a 1000 Razorbills feeding on the large Herring shoals that are around at the moment.Also still plenty of Gannets feeding on the same Herring shoals.
Loch Ryan held good nos. of returning Slavonian Grebes,again some still in partial sum plum,plenty of Red Throated Divers,Scaup,Wigeon,Red Breasted Mergansers,Eider plus a few Med Gulls,Knot etc.
There were still numbers of Swallows in the area with a flock of 50 plus on the 9th,and a few still about on the 16th,with a late Wheatear the same day.Reasonable nos. of Whooper Swans were seen as well as some impressive flocks of Pinkfeet and the first of the wintering Greenland Whitefronts back round their wintering area at West Freugh.

Just back from a few days at my new caravan,a flock of 100 Twite in the field next to my caravan was a good start,as was the 36 Pale Bellied Brent geese on the beach and a high tide roost of 18 Purple Sandpipers a few minutes walk down the beach.Offshore at least 3 Great Northern Divers,a couple of Red Throated Divers,Gannets,Black Guillemots,and a Fulmar was a good start to my caravan list.
Plenty of geese around the area,2000+ Pink Feet,200 Greenland Whitefronts,Greylags,a few Barnacles and the overwintering Ridgeways Cackling Canada Goose(of unknown/dubious origin?).
On Luce Bay a few Long Tailed Ducks,plenty of Common Scoter,a few Slavonian Grebes and a Little Egret on the shore,but the highlight was the juv. White Tailed Eagle which has been overwintering seen several times.Also an adult Iceland Gull at Stranraer was good to see,as was he male Hen Harrier flying past the car whilst watching a flock of Pink feet.
On the way home called up to the Mennock Pass for the Rough Legged Buzzard.

Just got back from my last trip of year and although apart from a partial eclipse drake American Wigeon on Loch Ryan there was nothing else unusual about there were still plenty of birds to see
Loch Ryan
Some impressive numbers of birds on the Loch with at least 65 Slav Grebes some in parties of up to 6 birds and a few still in sum plum,also plenty of Red Throated Divers about ,flocks of up to 10 birds together, again some still in full sum plum.A single flock of 165 Red Breasted Mergansers was impressive as was a mid October Sandwich Tern .Also on the Loch good numbers of Eider,Great Crested Grebes,Wigeon,Scaup and a few Mediteranean Gulls, late Gannets about,and the first of the wintering Pale Bellied Brent Geese beginning to arrive.
Nearby a flock of 14 Whooper Swans on Loch Connel was good to see,
Luce Bay
Common Scoter flocks totalled over 2000 birds,numbers of Both Red Throated and Great Northern Divers about with most of the GNDs still in full sum plum,handsome birds!!Quite a few Greenshank still around the bay(probably overwintering birds) 5 Little Egrets together was noteable for here and a flock of 1600 Golden Plovers roosting on the beach was close enough to scope,unfortunately nothing rarer amongst then.Also plenty of Auks feeding offshore with smaller numbers of Eiders.
Plenty of raptors about,with up to 3 Merlin seen daily,also good numbers of Peregrine,Buzzard,Sparrowhawk sightings and a couple of Hen Harriers seen well,and a Red Kite well away from the introduction area was good to see.Still plenty of Swallows when I arrived with numbers tailing off as the week progressed,a few Chiffchaffs around still and the first of the autumns Redwings just beginning to arrive.
On the Mull of Galloway plenty of viz mig of common migrants,Skylarks,Meadow Pipits,Linnets,GoldfinchTwite,Swallows,but perhaps the most interesting thing was the numbers of Red Admiral butterflies migrating southward out to sea,something I've never seen before,also a single Painted Lady with them !!
Also quite interesting there are the large numbers of corvids(including Ravens) which gather every morning and after a very noisy fly round for 15 minutes or so head out to sea,only to return 5 minutes later,and this happens every morning !!! I can only assume corvids really don't like flying over water.

Just back from my first visit of the year to my caravan after an excellent weeks birding.
It started with a flock of 226 Greenland Whitefronts at West Freugh,and at my next stop I found a drake Smew and saw down to 20ft. the Slavonian Grebe that had been around all winter at Soulseat Loch.Onto Loch Ryan where I found a 2nd winter Kumliens Gull and two 2nd.winter Med. gulls.At nearby Loch Connell there was a flock of 5000 Pink Footed geese in the surrounding fields and 14 Goosanders on the loch.
Next day at Pilanton burn at the head of Luce Bay there were 2 Little Egrets.
The following day I caught up with the overwintering adult Iceland Gull on Loch Ryan,also on the loch 8 Long Tailed Ducks,6 Great Northern Divers,2 Black Throated Divers and 67 Red Throated Divers,plus an adult Med Gull.
The following day I checked out Luce Bay and from 5 different places on the west side of the bay logged 69 Great Northern Divers,18 Red Throated Divers,6 Black Throated Divers,3 Slavonian Grebes ,160+ Common Scoter and 2 overwintering Greenshank.Also in the general area 43 Whooper Swans,900 Golden Plover,and 6400 Pink footed Geese.
After hearing that a Hoopoe had been wintering at Leswalt I decide to check it out,and managed to find the bird feeding on a grassy lawn,a nice find,and on the way back found another Iceland Gull on Loch Ryan,this time a 3rd.winter bird.
Not bad for my first trip up,hopefully it can only get better

Quick call in to Caerlaverock WWT on way to Dumfries on Wednesday 18th December - Green-Winged Teal on Folly Pond, still there according to WWT website.

Off to Caerlaverock this weekend for our annual trip.

Just had another couple of trips up there,had great views of Golden Eagle on both trips,including a 10 minute fly around when it was being mobbed by 3 Ravens,the size difference was very noticeable.
There were plenty of Manx Shearwaters in Luce Bay had I had a count of 1080 birds passing south on just one hour.
I caught up with the Yellow Legged Gull as it made its third July visit to Loch Ryan,and is now a full adult,lots of waders now on the loch,including summer plumaged Knot,Dunlin,Sanderling,Black Tailed Godwits,and the first retuning Scaup of the winter,and a stunning sum.plum. Red Throated Diver very close in.
A couple of Med Gulls had returned including one feeding in front of caravan.
3 Harbour Porpoise seen from my caravan were very nice,but completely outclassed by the Fin Whale which both myself and my missus saw 5 times ,before disappearing past the point

pete berry wrote:

---

Yeh,at Annan you sit right opposite the other end of the viaduct at Bowness,so in theory you should see exactly the same birds.Some of the birds come through sat on the water,whereas others come through high up,and all points in between,so the more pair of eyes the better.The prime time for the skuas seems to be couple of hours either side of the high tide,with a s.w. wind apparently the best,although the skuas will come through at other times and with other wind directions.There's most likely a web site with gen. on it for the Bowness On Solway side,with prime dates etc.etc. Well worth a trip up if you can catch it on a good day,its quite a spectacle,and a lot nearer than The Hebs.

---

The only downside to viewing from the Annan side is that you will have the sun in your eyes.

Hi Pete
Fantastic Skuas nos!!
Just a quick query...would you have seen the same from the Cumbrian side, Bowness etc and what time of day, wind direction was it?
Cheers
Nev