Chronological Summary 1999

January - March

A memorable end to the century in Ayrshire began with a pair of Smews gracing Martnaham Loch on the 1^st, while Barassie turned in a Mediterranean Gull whose true identity would be revealed later in the year. A wintering Bonxie flew South past Girvan on the 5^th and, two days later, 10 Snow Buntings appeared near Dalmellington. Even more spectacular was the Great Grey Shrike near Lugar, seen by one fortunate observer on the 8^th. Blairbowie hosted 7 Greenland White-fronts from the 15^th till the 19^th and the month seemed to go into hibernation at that point. However, for at least one gull enthusiast, the 30^th threw up a stranger on the shore at Greenan which may well have been a so-called Caspian Gull. Just as January opened, it closed with another Smew, this time on Kilbirnie Loch on the 31^st.

February seemed fairly quiet too until the 13^th when 3 Velvet Scoters turned up at Prestwick. Kilkerran’s Nuthatch of the previous year was still around on the 26^th - until at least April 26^th. However, the 27^th turned into a day of real excitement with the first of 5 Scandinavian Rock Pipits and a Water Pipit at Doonfoot (yes, we really do get Water Pipits in Ayrshire!). But, Prestwick stole the show when one lucky observer noticed that the scoter he was looking at had a white patch on its head – Ayrshire’s first Surf Scoter. It stayed around till the 3^rd of March for those a little slower off the mark.

A wintering Red Kite glided over Blacksidend on 8^th March, and the 13^th provided the only Green Woodpecker of the year, at Southwood, Troon. Do they still breed here? Feeding the gulls can be fun, especially when an adult Ring-billed Gull arrives to be fed, as did one at Ardrossan on the 14^th, on the same day as the first 2 Chiffchaffs sang at Knockdolian. WeBS counting on the 20^th resulted in the re-discovery of the Surf Scoter at Dipple, the bird staying here until 12^th April. Airds Moss hosted our first migrant Wheatear on the 20^th, and the first 2 Sandwich Terns arrived off Stevenston Point 3 days later. Swallow and Sand Martin closed off the first quarter on the 29^th and 30^th respectively.

April – June

The first Willow Warbler came in on the 2^nd at Martnaham, and an early Common Sandpiper arrived at Dipple on the 7^th, on the same day as Blackcap at Rosemount. Doonfoot provided another Med Gull on the 9^th and more early migrants arrived on the 15^th with Redstart at Bogside and Sedge Warbler at Maidens. As usual the South Ayrshire coast held a good number of divers with 67 Black-throats along the Turnberry to Ballantrae stretch on the 17^th. 13 Whimbrel arrived on the 18^th along with House Martin and Tree Pipit, with Cuckoo following 3 days later. Troon saw a Velvet Scoter fly South past the headland on the 22^nd and a late Brambling frequented a Beith garden on the 23^rd. Dunure turned in a splendid summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebe on the 25^th, a day ahead of the first Whitethroat at Greenan. Migration was now in full swing with Garden warbler, Grasshopper Warbler and Swift all appearing on the 27^th.

May was not for the faint-hearted, such was the calibre of the birds arriving in the county in what must have been one of our best springs ever. On the 1^st a male Ring Ouzel sang on Cairn Hill, while Wood Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Flycatcher all piled in. Whinchat followed next day and 33 Greenland White-fronts stopped by at Munnoch Reservoir on the 3^rd. Dunure provided a North-bound Osprey on the 3^rd, just as an unbelievable flurry of activity was about to hit us. On the 6^th a dark-bellied Brent Goose arrived at Doonfoot, along with a drake Garganey. The 8^th turned in 64 Whimbrel at Bogside, 7 Dotterel on Blackcraig Hill, a Lesser Whitethroat at Garnock Floods and 2 Common Terns at Stevenston Point. On the 9^th Saltcoats produced another Osprey, Garnock Floods held 2 drake Garganeys, North Craig had a Hoopoe and Munnoch Reservoir added a drake Lesser Scaup to the tally of top class birds. A Marsh Harrier over Ashgrove Loch on the 11^th only gave 2 days breathing space till a Long-tailed Skua arrived off Saltcoats. Arctic Tern eventually turned up on the 19^th and the first of only 4 Quail called near Tarbolton on the 19^th. A solitary Leach’s Petrel flashed past Troon on the 22^nd and the second Quail turned up near Rankinston a day later. The familiar?? strains of Wryneck came from the scrubby undergrowth of a wood near Daljarrock on the 24^th, leaving one observer a bit shell-shocked. On the 27^th the 2 wintering Brents at Maidens decided they’d better leave before the tourists arrived. Bogside struck again on the 29^th with a one-day Avocet, and a Ruff appeared at Lochlea at the same time. A truly remarkable May wound down with a drake American Wigeon at Doonfoot on the 30^th.

June was an anti-climax: well almost. Another Quail called near Maybole on the 9^th and a Wood Sandpiper stopped over briefly at Blairbowie on the 10^th, a day ahead of the final Quail at Girdle Toll. One sharp-eyed observer at Barassie on the 13^th found another Ring-billed Gull, and an Osprey drifted South over Coylton on the 16^th. Greenan turned in a calling Corncrake at the end of the month, the bird staying from the 26^th till July 4^th.

July-September

Predictably, July was even quieter than June, although the year’s breeding birds results could be assessed at this stage. Most of the summer migrants had done well, raptors had had a reasonable time despite the continuing problems of persecution in East Ayrshire and egg-collection elsewhere, some waders had done well, notably Lapwing and Redshank at one or two sites, and the Raven survey had produced a record number of breeding pairs. On the negative side, Corn Bunting disappeared and only two sites held Lesser Whitethroats. There were indications of Ring Ouzel turning up at some old sites again though, signalling some hope for the future. Back with seabirds, and a Cory’s Shearwater was seen in Irvine Bay on the 2^nd, while a young Iceland Gull decided to stay for the summer in the same area. By the 22^nd Storm Petrels were seen in increasingly large numbers with 34 off Turnberry Point on this date.

Returning waders started to trickle back through in early August with Green Sandpipers at Munnoch and Blairbowie on the 5^th and 6^th, the latter site also holding 2 Wood Sandpipers on the 6^th. Little Tern is now a scarce visitor in Ayrshire so it was nice to see 6 in Irvine Bay on the 7^th. Lochlea provided yet another Wood Sandpiper on the 10^th and Bogside produced a juvenile Marsh Harrier on the 12^th. One more Green Sandpiper was added to the total near Rankinston on the 13^th and a splendid adult Sabine’s Gull appeared at Irvine harbour mouth on the 16^th. Driving trains and birding doesn’t strike you as a comfortable combination, but that indeed proved to be the case as one lucky driver saw an adult Hobby flash in front of his unit near Minishant on the 16^th, a day ahead of another Green Sandpiper at Blairbowie. Corsehouse produced one more Wood Sandpiper on the 19^th, but the big news of the day was the discovery, near Loans, of Ayrshire’s second Nuthatch which stayed on top of a fence just long enough for the observer to get a good look at it. The first Curlew Sandpiper arrived at Maidens on the 20^th, 10 Black-tailed Godwits were at Bogside on the 21^st and Little Stint popped up at Blairbowie and Doonfoot on the 22^nd. The autumn’s seabird watchers were about to be rewarded with the arrival of the first of several Mediterranean Shearwaters off Turnberry Point on the 21^st. Coylton held another Wood Sandpiper on the 23^rd and the month drew to a close with a single Little Stint at Maidens on the 28^th.

A packed September opened its account with a young Mediterranean Gull, scarcely out of juvenile plumage, at Lochlea on the 1^st. Saltcoats had its first Pomarine Skua of the autumn on the 3^rd and Turnberry Point had the spectacular double of Osprey and Sabine’s Gull on the 9^th. The 10^th produced a young Spoonbill at Raith Reservoir and a Sooty Shearwater off Troon, while Turnberry hit back with both the “Meds” – Shearwater and Gull – on the 11^th. A heavy rain shower during the same day grounded an astounding 69 Curlew Sandpipers at Bogside, by far the biggest flock ever to be recorded in the county. In contrast to this, only one Spotted Redshank appeared in the autumn, on the 12^th at Bogside. The inner Clyde held lots of shearwaters around this time, with 1500 Manxies off Portencross on the 13^th and Med Shearwaters appearing off Saltcoats on the 15^th and 16^th. Two lucky Swallow-watchers witnessed a late evening kill by a Hobby at Martnaham on the 20^th and another raptor fan was kept happy with the appearance of a male Marsh Harrier at Dalmellington on the 25^th. With yet one more Wood Sand, single Med Gull and Med Shearwater on the 26^th, the real signs of autumn had still to appear. This duly occurred on the 27^th with the first returning Redwing at Glenbuck, flocks of Greylag and Barnacle Geese following on the 29^th.

October-December

Fieldfare arrived on October 1^st, on the same day as the first returning Whoopers. Turnberry Point hosted the third Sabine’s Gull of the year on the 2^nd, and yet another Pomarine Skua next day, while a flock of 4 Brents appeared at Troon on the 1^st till the 3^rd. 5 Jack Snipe were seen at Loch o’ th’ Lowes on the 10^th and North Craig Reservoir turned in its first Smew on the 16^th. The last 4 Sandwich Terns of the year headed South on the 23^rd, and 5 Snow Buntings stopped by at Stevenston Point the same day. Saltcoats produced single Med Shearwater and Pomarine Skua on the 26^th to end the month.

Seabirds dominated the first two days of November with Pomarine Skuas at Saltcoats, Troon and Turnberry, these being joined by a single Leach’s Petrel, and up to 5 Med Shearwaters at the latter site. An adult Mediterranean Gull on the beach at Barassie was finally forced to reveal its origins on the 2^nd when the persistence of one observer resulted in the colour-ring combination showing that it had been ringed in Belgium during the summer – this is now a marked bird! Maidens saw “its” 2 Brent Geese return for the winter on the 3^rd and another Med Gull passed Turnberry Point the same day. Doonfoot held a late Swallow on the 4^th, two days before a group of 5 Snow Buntings winged their way out to sea at Turnberry Point. Just as Dipple’s flock of Long-tailed Ducks peaked at 9 on the 13^th, a juvenile House Martin flew around the rooftops in Maidens, looking a bit lost and forlorn. On the 16^th 2 Waxwings turned up in Dalry and the 18^th produced a real surprise for one birder at Doonfoot when a young Golden Eagle flapped its way southwards along the coast. Another Med Gull at Doonfoot on the 25^th brought November to a close.

Perhaps the same returning drake Smew arrived at Martnaham on the 11^th and the following two days provided single Red-necked Grebes at Ardneil Bay and Fairlie. 2 more Waxwings appeared at Auchincruive on the 14^th and Troon provided a Little Auk on the 16^th, while the only Brambling of the autumn turned up at Auchincruive on the same day. Raithhill had a solitary Waxwing on the 18^th, while the biggest flock of Pink-footed Geese dropped in near Crosshill on Christmas Eve. Another Red-necked Grebe eluded many observers at Barassie from the 26^th to the 30^th and Kilbirnie Loch held a redhead Smew on Boxing Day. A sickly looking Little Auk was rescued from certain death at Seamill on the 26^th and handed in to Hessilhead Wildlife Centre near Beith for a bit of R and R. Finally, the last two days of a fantastic year produced 2 Slavonian Grebes at Barassie. Ayrshire, boring?? Not this year!!