Natural environment

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.

Over the last couple of months Findhorn Bay has seen record numbers of Pink-footed Geese. The peak occurred in the first week of October when over 50,000 were roosting on the Bay. Since then numbers have dropped off which is normal as many continue their migration to estuaries further south and there are now around 5-8,000 left. Greylag Geese are also quite numerous with several hundred on the Bay at the moment.

Good numbers of waders are also around with about 1300 Dunlin, 950 Knot, 500 Redshank, 250 Curlew and 650 Oystercatcher at the last count. Over the last couple of months 10-20 Black-tailed Godwit have also been feeding on the Bay, but these have now all moved on south. Bar-tailed Godwits remain though, with about 10 at the moment and their numbers may well increase over the winter.

The Little Egret mentioned in the last post is still around, mainly being seen in the channels at the south end of the Bay. It is conceivable that it may now stay for the winter.

In the wider area there have also been exceptional numbers of Waxwing this year. Flocks of several hundred birds have been seen on the edge of a number of the local towns in the last couple of weeks with 600+ birds in a flock on the outskirts of Forres a few days ago.

Over the last few weeks numbers of Wigeon have continued to rise and there are now around 3,200. Their numbers are fairly steady at the moment and this may be around the maximum we will see, although it is possible that there are still a few more to arrive.

Over the last few days there has been a spectacular influx of Pink-footed Geese and this morning there were 10,500. They are still arriving and we may well see this number increase over the next week or so. By the end of October good numbers of these will move on to over-winter on estuaries further south. Mixed in with these have been other species such as Barnacle and Brent Geese and yesterday a Snow Goose.

Another recent arrival has been the Whooper Swans with 20 seen on the Bay yesterday and more sightings today. Numbers of waders have not changed a great deal although Dunlin are up to 1000 and about 150 Golden Plover and 4 Grey Plover are around the bay off the bird-hide.

Other regular sightings over the last couple of weeks has been a Little Egret near the Mosset channel and a Kingfisher by the channels on the south-west corner of the bay. Among the departures have been the Osprey with the last seen about a week ago.