Midweek Outing: Ardmore Point, Wed 20/12/23

After sending out my email saying this outing would go ahead even if it was raining, I was beginning to regret that when I saw the forecast for Ardmore Point. Oh well, nothing for it but to see what happens.

I picked up Mike & Judith and after a drive through the rain, met Stephen & Alison at Ardardan Garden Centre for coffee. It was a relief to see that someone else had turned up! Arriving at Ardmore, I was surprised (and delighted) to see John, Peter, Idris and Chi had also come along and braved the weather.

Before setting off for the north bay, we looked to see what was around the car park and on the shore of the south bay. As the tide was out and even in the drizzle the light was against us, it was hard to pick out detail but we did spot Oystercatcher, Curlew and Redshank and, best of all, a Sparrowhawk flying low across the shore in front of us. We also added Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail and Carrion Crow to the list.

Heading off along the path to the north bay, the drizzle actually stopped and it was quite pleasant walking out of the wind. There was also lots to see along the path and in the bay – Wigeon, Shelduck, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Starling, Blackbird, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare, Magpie, Great Black-backed Gull, Robin, Wren, Buzzard, Redwing, Greenfinch, Treecreeper, Mallard, Peregrine, Teal and Bar-tailed Godwit.

When we got out of the trees on to the open grass at the north end of the point, the wind was coming straight at us and was so strong, it was hard to keep binoculars steady. Coupled with that, the water was pretty rough which made it almost impossible to see anything in the waves. We did manage to add Cormorant and Great-crested Grebe to the list before retreating with watery eyes.

On the way back to the cars for lunch, we didn’t manage to add any other species, but did have good views of the Peregrine sitting on top of a tree watching us.  Also, I have to note that it had stayed mainly dry for the morning.

After lunch we headed round to the south side of the point. The water here was calmer, but got rougher the further round we went. Again, the rain mainly stayed off, but there were few smaller birds seen – House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Greenfinch and Dunnock. On the water we had good views of small flocks of Wigeon and Teal. Other birds spotted were Goldeneye, Eider, Shag, Red-breasted Merganser and one Great-northern Diver. Billy spotted it flying near the other side but only a few of the group managed to see it. At this point we turned back as we had reached the end of the shelter before encountering the strong wind again.

After all the apprehension and worry about the weather, it turned out a much drier day that predicted and we ended up with a total of 46 species.

Agnes