10th February

A stunning, flat calm morning with Skylarks singing over the fields and Long-tailed Ducks yodelling in the bay, there were a couple of sharp showers from lunchtime as the NE wind gradually picked up; despite the lovely morning and a huge hatch of flies all around the coast there was little new to report out in the field (hence all the sightings being prefixed by ‘the’ rather than ‘a’!).   Totals seen along the coast from the Obs to The Links included the Black-throated Diver again in Nouster, 7 Great-northern Divers, the Eurasian White-fronted Goose and 3 Pink-footed Geese with the Greylags, 2 Shelduck, 165 Wigeon, 130 Teal, the Green-winged Teal again in East Loch Park, 78 Mallard, 8 Shoveler, 7 Tufted Ducks, 17 Long-tailed Ducks, 340 Golden Plover, 305 Lapwing (the highest count of the year so far), 2 Knot, 145 Purple Sandpipers, 82 Dunlin (the highest count of the year so far), 2 Ruff, 90 Snipe, 35 Bar-tailed Godwits, 151 Turnstone, 7 Black-headed Gulls and 295 Common Gulls.

                Landbirds comprised a Hen Harrier, 16 Skylarks, a Meadow Pipit, 21 Rock Pipits, a Song Thrush, 1,250 Starlings (including c1,000 feeding on the beach at The Links), 4 Chaffinches, 3 Common Redpolls with 63 Twite at Kirbest, 85 Snow Buntings still in East Loch Park and 5 Reed Buntings.

Golden Plover

Common Redpoll with the Twite