An excellent few hours over the high tide at the Point of Ayr this morning was capped with two Lapland Buntings found feeding on the small shingle bank to the left of the old hide area.
This couplet represent the first and second birds for me anywhere and being in Flintshire too made finding the birds even more satisfying.
Longspurs notwithstanding, the thousands of Blackwits and Oystercatchers roosting on the spit made the trip worthwhile alone, although predicatably they were subject to disturbance from a couple of plonkers with two Alsatians and also, rather crassly, a birder.
It was good to see the leucistic Oystercatcher back for another year and other interesting birds included a dozy female Goosander, a tardy juvenile Sandwich Tern, a fresh looking Grey Plover and a maurading Peregrine.
Wildfowl numbers are on the up with around seven hundred and fifty Shelduck and a century or so of Pintail and Wigeon.
The numbers:
Oystercatcher VIIIM
Black-tailed Godwit IIMVD
Shelduck VIICL
Wigeon C
Pintail C
Lapland Bunting II
Sandwich Tern I
Peregrine I
Grey Plover I
Skylark XL
Linnet XX
Hail Caesar.
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Were the lapland buntings quite approachable? Might see if I can get up there tomoz with the Dad. Weather permitting.
ReplyDeleteHi Ash,
ReplyDeleteI reckon if the birds are present today then you may be able to photograph them.
I wouldn't walk onto the spit an you will disturb all the waders and wildfowl - I just sat quietly at the end of the bank and watched them through my scope.
They were with a flock of Mipits, Skylarks and Linnet, but only for fifteen minutes or so before flying towards the old colliery site.
Cheers, Paul.