Natural environment

Numbers of Common and Grey Seals have steadily increased in recent years. They can be seen at their haul-outs near the mouth of the bay nearly every day. As a result of this increase Findhorn Bay is now a designated haul-out site.

Moray Council Ranger Service in conjunction with Scottish Natural Heritage have produced an information board which is being put on a number of the Nature Reserve signs near the mouth of the Bay.

The advice is to enjoy the seals from a good distance, but do not get too close and keep dogs under close control at all times.

Over the last couple of weeks many of the waders have started to return to the Bay. Over 300 Curlew are being counted and Oystercatcher numbers are up around the 400 mark. Many of these birds will have local breeding sites. Good numbers of Redshank are also being seen although they are a bit down from a peak of 600+ a week or so ago. Other waders around include Dunlin, Knot, Sanderling, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, a couple of Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and a few returning Turnstone.

On the beach and offshore then Terns are the most numerous birds at present with 300+ Common Tern, 130 Arctic and even 14 Little Tern (including 2 juveniles) on the beach recently. It isn’t certain where these Little Tern will have come from as there are no known breeding sites in Moray at the moment.

On shore in the Reserve many of the spring flowers have now gone over, but the heather around the beach car park area is starting to look good and will continue to flower through August. The star plant in flower at the moment though is the Green-flowered Helleborine (Epipactis phyllanthes). This is a type of orchid and is a rare plant. The site on the edge of the Reserve is the only reported one in Scotland, so how it got all the way to Findhorn is a bit of a mystery.

With the cold weather of late April now over, the start of May has seen warmer and (some) sunnier days. As a result flowers are starting to bloom again and the first butterflies of spring have emerged. At the same time many of our over-wintering birds have moved on and summer visitors have arrived.

In the woods beside the River Findhorn in the SW corner of the Reserve many early flowering plants are coming out before the light gets crowded out by the leaf canopy of the woodland. These include the blues of Green Alkanet and Wood Forget-me-not as well as Cow Parsley, Greater Stitchwort and Wood Anemones. Butterflies that can be seen include Green-veined Whites and Speckled Woods.

The saltmarsh is relatively quiet at the moment, but plenty of Scurvy Grass is in flower and a few Ringlet butterflies can be spotted.

In the coastal heathland near the beach car park there is plenty in flower. Most obvious is the Whin or Gorse and the Broom which both provide a bright splash of yellow. Smaller plants include Birds-foot Trefoil, Common Dog Violet, Thrift and Common Storksbill. On sunny days Small Copper butterflies and Dingy Skippers can be seen on the wing. The Skipper is easily overlooked but is a relatively rare butterfly this far north in Britain.

Amongst the birds on the Reserve, many of the wildfowl on the Bay have now departed although there are still good numbers of waders which have stopped off at Findhorn on their way north to breeding grounds. Latest counts included 50 Bar-tailed Godwit, 450 Dunlin, 600+ Ringed Plover and 270+ Knot. Summer arrivals include Swallows, House and Sand Martins, as well as Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers. However the star bird is a Grasshopper Warbler which is offering fine views beside the B9011 to Findhorn just north of Kinloss village. If you do go and look for it, then take care with the traffic as it is a very busy road.

Two Snow Geese dropped into the Bay on 27 March. They were seen on the salt marsh at the southern end along with about 2300 Pink-foot Geese and one Barnacle Goose. They stayed around for much of the day before departing west. They may be the same birds that were recently sighted in the Inverness area.

Both birds whilst on the ground appeared to be of the “blue morph” variety with relatively dark plumage below white heads and necks. However, once they were airborne one of them showed extensive areas of white on the body indicating an intermediate form between a blue and white morph.

Snow Geese are only very occasional visitors to the bay and are often mixed in with the Pink-footed Geese. One of the last sightings had been a “white morph” variety in October 2015.

We have had good numbers of waders on the Bay this winter. Numbers of Knot have been particularly noteworthy with a flock of 2000+ seen quite regularly. At low tide they can often be seen on the sandbar just opposite the piers in Findhorn Village. Black-tailed Godwit have also been present all winter, although only in small numbers. It is only fairly recently that these have been overwintering and are still a scarce bird to see in northern Scotland over winter. Bar-tailed Godwits though are much more common along our coastline and there has been a group of 100+ on the bay quite frequently recently.

The other main species of waders on the Bay are Dunlin (1200+), Redshank (650+), Oystercatcher (1300+) and Curlew (3-400). Most of these species are best seen in the southern part of the Bay at low water, particularly near water channels. Curlew though will feed fairly widely across the Bay.

Other waders to look out for in smaller numbers include Golden Plover, Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstone.

Changes in wader numbers will start to occur in mid March as many of the Dunlin will depart. Oystercatchers will also start to disperse to their breeding grounds along with Curlew and a little later Redshank. Around April we can also expect to see influxes of species like Knot, Golden Plover and Ringed Plover on their migrations north to their breeding grounds.

January can be a month when numbers on the bay can be quite static; autumn migrants have arrived to over-winter and it is too early for any to depart for summer breeding. This year a few species have been notable for their numbers.

Pintail have continuously increased in recent years on the Bay despite a marked decrease nationally since 2005. High counts on the Bay were 207 in the winter of 2012/13, 320 in 2013/14, 380 in 2014/15 and 422 in 2015/16. Within the last week we had a count of 588 – a spectacular sight which is easily seen from Findhorn village at low tide.

Along the coast between Nairn and Burghead there is usually a flock of 2000+ Knot that are seen most winters, but they don’t often come into the Bay in any great number. This year we have seen many more than usual with a count of around 1800 within the last week. Again, showing well from the village at low water.

Up to 80+ Bar-tailed Godwit are a common sight at this time of year, but the presence of 3 Black-tailed Godwit is unusual, as this species normally over-winter much further south.

Lastly the Pink-footed Geese have almost disappeared from the Bay at the moment after seeing record numbers in October. We can expect numbers to pick up again in March as they gather to feed up around the Bay prior to their departure for breeding grounds in the north.