This afternoon I had the pleasure of taking a group from the Wigtown Book Festival down to the Crook on a walk. They had attended Mathew Curry's talk about his poetry and how Galloway had inspired him.
We came across a nice party of 5 Ruff in the saltmarsh pools feeding as we walked down Skylark Walk always a delight to see them and five is my personal best and as far as I know the Crooks.
Tomorrow I have another guided walk so I do hope they are there again and with the tide a few more I hope.
Thanks to the visitor to the Book Festival that introduced themselves in the county buildings it is always nice to put a face to a name. Not that I remember the name and come to it the face except to say I think I know that person. So I must apologise should I look blank next time we meet. The Wife tells me it is a man thing I think it is my age.
Paul
A number of waders have starting to coming
67 Lapwing
10 Black tail godwits still showing summer plumage
several hundred Curlew
dunlin, several oystercatcher
Ducks wigeon,mallard,
black headed , herring, great black back Gulls
Small passerine Linnet 60+, Goldfinch 50+, Pipets and wagtails
a quick summary of half an hour lunch break
Things will get slowly better as we go into October along with the weather I hope we are already at 85mm for the Crook and still 10 days to go until the end of september.
This was a question posed by Original Goldfinch in another discussion, but I figured it deserved it's own one!
I haven't had, or heard any exciting goose or swan reports yet, apart from Billc (one of the Wigtown Bay Osprey volunteers) who saw an Australian Black Swan last Tuesday (13th) from the Wigtown Bay LNR Wetland Hide; although I severely doubt it was a lost migrant from Down Under, more likely a local feral bird!
I have heard that Caerlaverock have had the start of the Pink Footed Geese arrive, and that Mersehead are immanently expecting the return of the Barnacles. We'll let you know how things develop, I'm sure that Paul the Warden of the Crook of Baldoon Reserve will be posting his news on here soon...
This year the joint Goose related conservation organisations have decided to have the Dumfries and Galloway Wild Goose Chase all Winter rather than just for the month of March, so Goose Walks, Talks and Events will be going on all winter throughout the region.
The details of the first of these events can be found at the new Dumfries and Galloway Wild Seasons website http://www.wildseasons.co.uk/ including two Gaggles of Geese fun days at the Wigtown Bay Visitor Centre, a Crook of Baldoon Guided Walk with Paul the Warden on Thursday 27th October, and the RSPB's National Feed the Birds Day event on Sunday 30th October in the Wigtown County Buildings. Click on the website link for details of all these events and many more.
The Wigtown Bay Ospreys seem to have definitely gone, I have received no more sightings of Ospreys over Wigtown Bay since the 1st of September. Just as well with the weather we are currently experiencing, lets hope they were safely to the South before it arrived!
Apparently there are still this year's two chicks and Black 80, the 2006 Glaslyn born adult male, still to be seen at NTS Threave Ospreys, the next nearest osprey viewing centre at Castle Douglas. Their chicks were thought to be a few days younger than the Wigtown ones so that probably accounts for the time difference.
If anyone out there has more recent information then me, please let me know.
Ian
It seems that the Wigtown Bay Ospreys have gone, they were last seen at the nest on Thursday 24th August, and we haven't had any recent sightings of ospreys over Wigtown Bay since Paul Tarling saw one on Thursday 1st September.
There are still ospreys been sighted in Dumfries and Galloway, I saw one just last night over the Northern end of Loch Ken. It was probably a passing migrant, as it would be too far away from the NTS Threave nest.
So, please keep your eyes open, and report any sightings either on the Crook of Baldoon blog, to a member of staff in the Wigtown Bay Visitor Centre, or email me ian.brown@rspb.org.uk