Birnie and Gaddon Loch Wildlife Reports

FIFE RANGER SERVICE
Craigtoun Park ,
St Andrews ,
Fife ,
KY16 8NX,
Tel: (01334) 473047.
BIRNIE/GADDON LOCH NEWS OCTOBER 2004

The last week of September saw the winter migrants beginning to arrive in earnest at the loch. The first skeins of geese began to appear in the skies above, a sure sign that autumn is here. Fife is one of the major staging areas for the migration of grey geese from the arctic to the warmer winter climes of Western Europe . They arrive here from Greenland , Iceland and other such chilly parts and spend the autumn feeding themselves on spilt grain and grasses. Many of them then travel further south to England and the Low Countries to spend the worst of the winter there. Many of them stay in Fife throughout the winter, their numbers dependant on how mild it is and how much food they can find. The two main species we get are the greylag goose and the pink-footed goose, both of which can occur in flocks of several thousand. At Birnie and Gaddon Lochs it is greylags that sometimes roost on the water overnight, to keep safe from foxes and other predators. They are commoner in the early spring as their numbers build up for the return journey north. The fields to the south are the easiest place to see greylags on the ground while they feed on the grass there.

The winter ducks are arriving back too, several dozen wigeon were back by the end of last month. We hope to try to catch some again soon to see if there are any with rings on their legs to tell us where they have been. Last year we caught quite a few so we’ll also be looking for birds returning to Fife from their arctic breeding grounds.

Smaller numbers of goldeneye and pochard are arriving back too, within a month or so the numbers of ducks on Gaddon Loch in particular will be several hundred. This is a good time to come along and brush up on your duck identification skills, particularly if you have a key for the hide. These are available from the Ranger Service by phoning 01334 473047. There is a charge of £3 to cover the cost of cutting them, but after that you can keep the key to use whenever you want to.

Other winter visitors to watch for soon are the thrushes. So far there have only been a few mistle thrushes around, but it won’t be long until fieldfare and redwing from Europe join them. They particularly like the berries on trees such as rowan, hawthorn and holly, of which there are plenty at Birnie Loch. In a good year these are joined by the colourful waxwing, so if you’re really lucky you might see one of these too.

Speaking of colourful birds the kingfisher is still around and showing itself really well. Look out for it at the north end of Birnie Loch, flying low across the water. They are surprisingly large in flight, and unless you get a really good view on a sunny day they can see to be quite drab. It’s best to spot them in flight and hope for them to settle somewhere you can watch them at your leisure.

With that here are the peak bird counts for September.

Little gerbe 4 Kestrel 1 Dunnock 1

Great crested grebe 3 Moorhen 12 Robin 8

Cormorant 1 Coot 81 Blackbird 6

Grey heron 2 Lapwing 80 Mistle thrush 1

Mute swan 21 Snipe 2 Goldcrest 4

Greylag goose 106 Black-headed gull 123 Long-tailed tit 12

Wigeon 96 Common gull 2 Coal tit 8

Teal 3 Herring gull 6 Blue tit 12

Mallard 82 Wood pigeon 7 Great tit 7

Shoveller 1 Kingfisher 1 Jackdaw 4

Pochard 1 Sand martin 113 Rook 248

Tufted duck 19 Swallow 36 Crow 2

Goldeneye 2 House martin 6 Starling 36

Ruddy duck 3 Grey wagtail 1 Chaffinch 6

Sparrowhawk 1 Pied wagtail 1 Goldfinch 14

Buzzard 2 Wren 3 Reed bunting 1