Away for a couple of days in Alnwick. The high spot was a dog walk on Warkworth beach on Sunday, where a width of wetland lies behind the extensive beach. Immediately on arrival a couple of male kestrels appeared, repeatedly flying close and low over the grasses and bushes. At first I thought they might be sparrowhawks, as I haven't seen kestrels do this for any length of time before.
On the beach the sand is very thick but at the water's edge a number of sanderling could be seen scurrying about, which was a minor birdwatching first for me, though I'm sure I must have seen them on the Northumberland coast in younger days.
On the way back from the beach, a lady pointed out that a kingfisher was active above the main channel of wetland, and sure enough, you could make it out in the distance hovering above the treeline, then diving down into the water. Again, it was behaviour I hadn't seen before.
Then the kestrels returned and one hovered nearby before they resumed the previous low flying activity as other birds sought cover.
On the Sunday there were redshanks at Alnmouth beach and another kestrel plus a dead red-legged partridge at Hulne Abbey.
Tricked by an over-optimistic weather forecast, I set out on a brief afternoon bike ride to Caerlaverock to check for egrets. In cold, foggy conditions with no hint of the promised sunshine, the emphasis was on staying warm but I did see another bullfinch before spotting four shelduck filtering the estuary mud like flamingos. On peering through the binoculars, I could see that there were another ten further away as the fog lifted momentarily, so it would be hard to say how many might have been visible in better conditions but there were no egrets.
Later, unsurprisingly spotted a goosander on the Nith by Kingholm Park.
Bad weather has continued so decided to head for Dalbeattie Forest for latest goshawk forage. Changed plans because of parking issues and eventually ended up going to Screel rather than faff around getting change to pay for parking in a totally empty car park!
Ironically did not manage to identify a single bird of prey during the walk. One brown bird of prey was moving at one point but my attention was simultaeneously drawn to two red deer passing along the forest edge right in front of me.
In the end only saw another bullfinch, a mistle thrush, several coal tits and even more robins. I noticed a large number of robins at this time of year once before. On a walk in nearby Doach Wood, now undergoing deforestation, every single bird was a robin - scores of them in just a couple of miles.
Nevertheless a pleasant walk in bright sunlight that was given an unexpected highlight when one of the aforementioned robins cheekily decided to share my apple with me!
Bad weather has restricted activities for the past couple of weeks, so I decided to get out for a walk on the basis of a better forecast today. I haven't been out walking much lately and I think the reason was that I don't really have much in the way of birdwatching targets. One bird I would like however to see during the remainder of my stay in Dumfries and Galloway - however long that may be - is the goshawk.
The path by Kennick Burn
So I plan to target a few forest areas on the run-in to Spring when they are most active, starting today with Laurieston Forest. As it happened I hardly saw anything at all in dark and drizzly conditions, just a couple more low perching buzzards on the way, and a kite hovering on the way back. The only clear sighting on the walk itself were some male bullfinches, as is common for this time of year when I think they move in to feed on young tree buds.
Still the walk back by the Kennick Burn was pleasant and a lady jogger reported seeing a snipe further up the hill.
Took advantage of another bike ride to Caerlaverock in the hope of seeing the egret. Nothing at first sight and a bit cold to hang around. Tide was out, which may have made some difference. Did however sight a raven flying and calling over the grounds at Caerlaverock.
After the fun with the starlings, I went on a bike ride on Tuesday with fitness in mind and so no binoculars. Noted from a distance three more young buzzards that were sitting in very low trees and bushes, and had the impressiona that this was either a sign of desperation or supreme confidence but wasn't sure which.
Dusk at Caerlaverock
No binoculars meant I couldn't check the flight of a darkish bird that flew in harrier-like fashion across the merse at Caerlaverock but then landed on the shoreline more like a gull, visible at 400 yards. But just a few hundred yards further along the road towards Glencaple I couldn't escape seeing that the swan I momentarily thought I had glimpsed in the nearby rushes next to the Nith was in fact an egret. I stopped to get the camera out and it immediately flew off downstream, but its neck position gave final confirmation that it was no swan.
I should have hung around for a further sighting but was on a sort of schedule and rode on. I meant to go back on Thursday but at the last minute drove instead to the sites at Southerness and Carsethorn where I saw the twite three years ago (only seeing a few redshank and a couple of wigeon for my troubles) since when the weather has deteriorated.
The Dumfries and Galloway Birding group on yahoo indicates that little egrets are now quite often seen in the area, which gives me a slight problem as I thought it was too big for a little egret and that it probably had a yellow beak. Great egrets are still rare here but it could just have been a cattle egret in winter plumage. Either way, it's my first definite egret sighting in this country.
Decided to go to Gretna Gateway with my son Alex and his girlfriend Vicki to do a bit of after-Christmas shopping. We planned the visit so that we might have a chance of seeing the Gretna starling roost following my previous failed attempt. Except that the main shop we were looking for had closed down, so we decided to abandon the starlings and head instead to Carlisle and finish the shopping trip there.
On the way into Carlisle, Vicki noticed a small flock of starlings by Junction 44 but we thought no more of it. After minor parking hassles we parked the car at Portland Square and hit the shops. If we hadn't stopped for a burger, we would have missed it...
We were making our way back to the car at 4.30 p.m. and, just after duskhad fallen, Alex noticed a congregation of starlings was building up in the sky above. We watched as the birds swept from side to side and the flock grew in size to circle more tightly over Portland Square. That sight alone was spectacular.
Then, just before five they started to swoop down and we could watch as they all landed on the trees in the Square itself with a tremendous amount of twittering and, as we shortly discovered, a considerable amount of bird lime that covered the pavements and the cars on the Brunswick Street side of the square.
Finally having witnessed a large murmuration of starlings, I have to say it was much more exciting than I had ever anticipated. Was this the whole of the Gretna starling roost? We reckoned there were certainly thousands of birds and it certainly seems they vary their roosting location from night to night - possibly to avoid the attentions of birds of prey?
P.s. My car was more fortunate than most, but hopefully picked up enough good luck to last me the whole of 2015!
