Birnie and Gaddon Loch Wildlife Reports.
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The
cold spell just before Christmas brought in large numbers of ducks,
looking for open water to roost on safely and to feed in. All the
regular waterfowl were present in higher than usual numbers, but the
wigeon population of the loch hit an all time high with over a thousand
birds present. Perhaps this is why, on the day before the count, we had
had our highest ever catch of ducks when we netted them in order to put
rings on their legs. Each year we try to catch as many birds as we can
at the lochs to try to establish their movements. This is particularly
interesting for migrant birds, so we can have some idea whereabouts in
the world they come from. We
catch ducks, mostly wigeon, by firing a net over them as they feed on a
baited site on Gaddon Loch, then put individual rings on each bird. Each
has a unique number and an address to allow anyone finding it to return
the information on its location. Alternatively, if the bird is re
trapped, it's location and age can be worked out. Over the years we have
established that the wigeon that visit here come back to the same site
year after year, but so far we have no records of their movements once
they leave While we are on the subject of waterfowl; the smew was still on Gaddon Loch on Hogmanay, which means it has been here for over a month. It seems to be quite happy to have people watch it from relatively close up, so you shouldn't need binoculars to see it. The far end of the loch seems to be it's favourite spot, look for a white bird with black mascara. The cold weather has also brought in flocks of smaller birds to feed on the berries and seeds of the trees around the site. In particular December was a good month for finches. There were quite high numbers of chaffinch and goldfinch, but the real influx came in the form of redpoll. Over a hundred of these small finches worked their way through the alder and birch trees looking for seeds, another highest count for the site. These together with flocks of siskin numbering over sixty mean that it's well worth checking the trees as you walk round, there could be all sorts of colourful little birds nearby. Finally the uncommon bird we spotted was a woodcock, a shy relative of the snipe which breeds in wet woodlands. This is only the second time they've been recorded at the lochs. With that here are the peak count figures for December. Little grebe 1 Coot 64 Goldcrest 4 Cormorant 1 Oystercatcher 1 Long-tailed tit 12 Grey heron 2 Lapwing 25 Coal tit 7 Mute swan 28 Snipe 5 Blue tit 8 Greylag goose 247 Woodcock 1 Great tit 7 Wigeon 1029 Black-headed gull 149 Treecreeper 1 Teal 4 Common gull 7 Jay 1 Mallard 198 Herring gull 24 Jackdaw 24 Pochard 38 Wood pigeon 3 Rook 227 Tufted duck 67 Tawny owl 1 Crow 5 Goldeneye 64 Kingfisher 1 Starling 32 Smew 1 Wren 4 Chaffinch 45 Goosander 38 Dunnock 1 Greenfinch 4 Sparrowhawk 1 Robin 8 Goldfinch 20 Buzzard 2 Blackbird 7 Siskin 62 Kestrel 1 Fieldfare 1 Linnet 2 Pheasant 1 Song thrush 1 Redpoll 124 Moorhen 21 Redwing 1 Bullfinch 2
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