Vanishing Point

An exceptionally high tide at the Point of Ayr this morning produced an excellent crop of birds, with the pick being an incredible count of ninety five Brent Geese that arrived in two equal sized skeins about twenty minutes apart.

The water practically covered the spit today – the first time I have seen this happen. A tide of 10.1m had been predicted – lower than yesterday – but the combination of falling atmospheric pressure and a strengthening wind conspired to produce a big ‘un.

I had started out the morning with a seawatch - hoping to locate a small flock of Long-tailed Ducks that had been reported over the last couple of days. No joy, but plenty of Red-throated Divers past and a couple of Guillemots too.

I needed little encouragement to pack the seawatching in as he birds were not flying very close to the shore and when I spotted a Short-eared Owl cruising along the beach I sensed things must have started to get interesting on the marsh, so I headed over to near the café.

To my astonishment the water was already up to the embankment with an hour still to go. Pintail, Teal, Shelduck, Redshank and Curlew comprised the lion’s share of the birds, but a few goodies were present too in the form of a Red-breasted Merganser and a Spotted Redshank, whilst the first flock of Brent Geese soon touched down.

Closer scrutiny of the waders revealed a lone Bar-tailed Godwit – a nice addition to my Flintshire list – but the arrival of more Brent Geese had me trying to get an accurate count of their numbers. Ninety five in total – including at least two Dark-bellied Birds - and perhaps a record count for this site?

Point of Ayr 02.02.10

1 Short-eared Owl
95 Brent Goose (inc 2 Dark-bellied)
15+ Red-throated Diver
2 Guillemot
1 Spotted Redshank
3+ Rock Pipit
3 RB Merganser
2 GC Grebe

Until later.