I had a couple of hours to spare so decided to go to the Loch of Strathbeg. It is only a few miles down the road. It was a bit of an odd day because much of the Loch was frozen. The smaller pools would have been completely frozen so all the bird life seemed to be concentrated in a small area. There were literally thousands of Wigeon. There was another person in Fen Hide we searched for the elusive American Wigeon but could not find it. We looked for a Green-winged Teal but there didn't seem to be one. Lots of Teal, lots of Mallard, a few Pintail, the odd Shoveller, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Whooper and Mute Swans all crowed into a smaller space that they were used to. A new duck for the list was a Gadwall. Some of the Wigeon were standing on the ice. It was thawing and quite comical to seen a duck occasionally sink through the ice and try to get out of the ice hole it had made. More entertainment was provided by an ice skating Moorhen.
Raptors were represented by several Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk but is was an entirely different bird that set the Wigeon into the air. By this time my fellow watcher had left. My first reaction on seeing all the birds take flight was to find out what had spooked them. If they were unconcerned about Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk what could it be? Then within the flying ducks I saw hat must have frightened them. It was not a raptor but a Glossy Ibis. Its unmistakable long thin neck with a round head and long decurved beak and long legs meant that it couldn't be anything else. I lost sight of it as it flew past fen hide. A top bird for a Monday!
Now my little mini aim is to get to 111 birds by the end of the month. Agh. That means finding a new bird tomorrow.
Total on List 110
Good luck tomorrow
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