4 Smarties following the plough (!) at Prestonmill just outside East Linton on Saturday. Blackcap in song at Belhaven Bay, no other migrants seen though.
Interesting to see a drake Pintail on pond at Scoughall but it came out onto bank to reveal a blue closed ring 10...AYF.
Also quiet at Aberlady, Peregrine in favourite spot on salt marsh, probable imm f.
Nests built all over the place, can't really log "used nest" (UN) any more so poised to add various as "occupied nest" (ON) shortly, though leaves will soon obscure many. Breeding atlas starts again tomorrow!
Sunday - back at Ferny Ness, finally got a Sand Martin heading W past, also a hybrid crow (one of the normally-plumaged shore residents depicted above); less easy to view sea with some wind and duck numbers down: 160 Velvets, 57 LTD, 47 RBM, 15 Common Scoter, 6 Wigeon, 6 Slav; on Gosford Sands, 190 Oyc, 143 Barwit, 46 Curlew and a Shelduck. On land Small Tort(s) and Peacock at large.
Finally, last weekend's Barn Owl from Tranent bore BTO ring GC42727, ringed locally as one of 5 pulli at a site near Haddington (c. 10 miles east) on 7 July 2007, so had presumably survived the two tough winters preceding this one, only to perish in this sad way in its 5th winter. This is third ring found in 62 recovered, amongst 115 casualties total; the two previous ones from further afield at Drumnadrochit (Highland) and Largo (Fife).
Given last weeks weather, it was all the more strange to note a Swallow reported in the Blizzards today!
ReplyDeleteIndeed; even the winter birds would have been struggling today; I was on a site visit at Niddrie Burn and even the gulls were hunkered down. I recall Mike McDowall's comment on LBN* once how his view of arrivals changed the year a Swallow appeared very early but was soon found dead - I expect many of ours will also perish, not to mention young of many species now in the nest...
ReplyDelete* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lothianbirdnews/message/10829