12th to 14th April

The weekend was a bit of a struggle with mainly lingering birds seen in the strong westerly wind and occasional spells of rain over 12th to 13th. On the former date the Tundra Bean Goose was seen again with the Greenland White-fronted Goose on the latter and the 2 Ruff also remain. On 12th a 'littoralis' Rock Pipit was on the Links with single Grey and White Wagtails also there, while the pick of the passerines on 13th was a new Brambling among up to 4 lingering Chaffinches and 2 Rooks. A better day on 14th saw the wind drop in the afternoon and hopefully there'll be a few more birds getting moving tomorrow. A Short-eared Owl at Gravity was the first in 2014, while the first 4 spring Black-tailed Godwits joined increased numbers of Redshanks (45) and Oystercatchers (126) on Ancum Loch.