Major Distraction

With the first decent high tide of the year predicted, there really was nowhere else but the coast to head for today.

Keen to avoid the crowds at Parkgate, I instead opted for a session down at the Point of Ayr. A biting south-easterly made standing at the site of the old hide a trial of endurance, but Mark and I – whom I bumped in to – still managed a good ninety minutes or so.

Highlight was a female Merlin that rather outrageously tried to catch a Woodpigeon – either a sign of supreme confidence or naivety.

A trio of Brent Geese was a good year tick and there was a big roost of Oystercatchers today too. Wildfowl was well represented with good numbers of Teal, Wigeon and Pintail. A soporific Red-breasted Merganser also roosted listlessly behind the spit.

Surprise of the day though was the excellent numbers Curlew, Blackwits and Peewits on Warren Fields. I am guilty of neglecting this site, particularly as it has turned up good birds in the past including White-fronted Goose, Great White Egret and last year’s unidentified ‘Marsh Tern.’

Nothing too out of the ordinary today, except perhaps a single Golden Plover mixed in with the Lapwings – Glovers are actually fairly uncommon in this neck of the woods.

Curiously, for the entire thirty minutes I was scanning the flooded fields, a Great Spotted Woodpecker was intent on performing its own demonstration of the Indian Rope Trick in a nearby tree - piss poor image at the top...

Point of Ayr 19.02.11

1 Merlin (female)
3 Brent Goose
1 Red-breasted Merganser
10+ Grey Plover
2 Gadwall
2 Shoveler

Warren Fields

150 Curlew
50 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Merlin (female)
1 Golden Plover

Until later.