Only five members set off on a bright day in two cars along the busy A96 for Moray, not stopping until Forres, where some food restocking was done in the Tesco store. Findhorn Bay was a turmoil of waves and spray, driven towards the hide by the persistent SW gale. Keeping the personnel, let alone the telescopes, upright made birdwatching all but impossible, although large skeins of Pink-footed Geese were obviously flocking to the saltmarsh on the south side. A search for more shelter in the village allowed the identification of a large group of Redshanks huddling on the far bank. A visit to the East Beach was productive, with Guillemot, Razorbill and an unidentified Shearwater seen bobbing in the waves, while Gannets dived in the distance. Returning to the hide, the water had at last receded a few yards from the shore, allowing some Oystercatchers and a single Ruff, feeding on the sands, to be studied through jittering telescopes.
The next move was direct to Lossiemouth East Beach, where the estuary bank afforded some shelter from the wind and the sun shone. The near foreground provided continuous entertainment as small numbers of waders, Ringed Plovers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlins, Turnstones, one Sanderling, four Ruffs and two Curlew Sandpipers came and went among the larger groups of Wigeons, Mallards, Teals and Goosanders. Within the large assemblies of gulls further inland in the estuary, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were spotted among the hundreds of Great Black-backs.
Loch Spynie provided further shelter from the now receding wind and a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Tree Sparrows were evident among the throngs of finches, tits and sparrows busy at the feeders. The loch itself was relatively quiet, apart from a group of Tufted Ducks, some Little Grebes, a Cormorant and a family of Mute Swans. Pink-footed Geese came and went in the background, briefly trying to join some Greylags on the loch, but the highlight, for one of our group on her first outing, was a brief sighting of a Marsh Harrier alighting in the far corner where it apparently normally roosts. Despite a lengthy wait for it to reappear, it was never seen again.
The diversion to Garmouth and Kingston-on-Spey added the best part of an hour to the day but proved fruitless, as the species seen the day before were no longer there. The eastern shore of the river where the action seemed to be was too far off to study. There was nothing left but to join the slow progression back along the A96, during which two Kestrels were added to the list. A total of 60 species for the day was barely passable, but several surprising omissions probably had a lot to do with the overwhelming wind during the morning.
Alex Joss.
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