Birnie and Gaddon Loch Wildlife Reports.
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Another obvious thing to look out for is an increase in the number of herons feeding around the lochs. There are young herons feeding here on their first expeditions out of the nest. They have most likely bred at the heronry in Ladybank Woods, which is only a couple of miles away as the heron flies. The
highlights at the moment are the grebes. The little grebes are swimming
around feeding their young right by the footpath on the south side of
Gaddon Loch. If you’re quiet and careful it’s possible to sneak up
close to them as they deliver small fish to their hungry chicks. The
great crested grebes have had their best year yet on both lochs. A total
of three pairs nested one on Birnie and two on Gaddon, with mixed
success. The Birnie pair produced chicks that promptly disappeared into
the marsh to hide from herons and crows. The other two failed to breed
but hopefully they will try again next year. The star of the month,
however, was a red necked grebe, still in its breeding plumage that
popped in on its way to the coast to over winter. Red necked grebes
breed on the continent, The shallows at the far end of Gaddon Loch are currently home to a moulting flock of lapwings. Unfortunately the weather has been too wet this year and so the water level is still too high to expose the large area of mud that can attract in really large flocks. It’s still worth a look as other waders might be drawn in as the autumn migration starts. The
meadow areas of Gaddon Loch are looking good at the moment, covered with
birds foot trefoil. They are also full of butterflies too as the years
first load caterpillars metamorphose into adults and start to breed.
This year saw the first site record for small heath, a small brown
butterfly that feeds on various grasses as a caterpillar. They have been
recorded at various sites in The dragonfly and damselfly population has had a slow start this year; the cool damp weather has put them back a bit. Hopefully as August warms up they will become more active and start to be noticed. That’s all for this month, as usual I’ll leave you with the peak bird count figures for July. Little grebe 4 Common gull 10 Sedge warbler 4 Great crested grebe 5 Lesser black-backed gull 14 Blackcap 2 Red-necked grebe 1 Herring gull 76 Chiffchaff 1 Cororant
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Greater black-backed gull
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Grey heron 2 Stock dove 2 Goldcrest 6 Mute swan 4 Wood pigeon 7 Coal tit 6 Wigeon 1 Swift 1 Blue tit 10 Mallard 95 Sand martin 77 Great tit 3 Tufted duck 65 Swallow 7 Jackdaw 1 Ruddy duck 4 Pied wagtail 1 Rook 47 Buzzard 2 Wren 5 Crow 5 Moorhen 7 Dunnock 1 Chaffinch 9 Coot 46 Robin 3 Goldfinch 2 Oystercatcher 1 Blackbird 13 Bullfinch 2 Lapwing 87 Song thrush 1 Reed bunting 1 Black-headed gull 126
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