Chronological Summary 2000
January - March
Those of us fit and well enough to enjoy January 1st were treated to a fine drake Smew on Martnaham Loch. If you missed it, it stayed till April 11th. On the same day, a Pomarine Skua popped up at Stevenston Point, being seen later in the month at Portencross. A Balearic Shearwater was an unusual visitor to the sea off Saltcoats on January 12th, and Kilbirnie Loch added 2 more Smews, both redheads, on the 15th. Duck enthusiasts would be well pleased with the 7 Long-tailed Ducks at Dipple on the 16th, while the 17th saw the first of the year’s nine Mediterranean Gulls turn up at Barassie. The period of 21st to 30th saw lots of frustrated birders try to catch up with a drake American Wigeon at Bogside. Typical winter birds arrived in the form of a single Snow Bunting at Pow Burn on the 23rd and a Great Grey Shrike at Loch Doon four days later.
By contrast, February was fairly quiet, with the 1st providing one of the year’s three Little Gulls at Doonfoot. Intriguingly, a Little Owl discovered roosting in an old building early in the month was claimed to have been present for over a year! Seawatching at Saltcoats proved fruitful on the 9th when 8 Brent Geese flew North, a Great Skua following on the 15th. A Green-winged Teal at Warwickdale from the 27th till April 20th would attract a lot more attention in the following year when it became “tickable.”
March also ran fairly quietly, with six Greenland (Greater) White-fronts at Fail on the 10th being the only notable feature. However, the 18th provided the first Common Chiffchaffs at Knockdolian and Northern Wheatear on the top of Shalloch on Minnoch. On the same day 33 Great Northern Divers assembled between Lendalfoot and Kennedy’s Pass. Seven Sand Martins arrived at Martnaham on the 20th and the quarter ended with the first Sandwich Tern at Newton shore on the 25th.
April-June
Stevenston’s wintering Whimbrel was last seen on April 2nd, four days before the arrival of the first Common Sandpiper at Ayr. Swallows arrived at New Cumnock and Prestwick on the 7th, as a pair of Ring Ouzels stopped by briefly at Loudoun Hill. The 8th saw the first Willow Warblers and White Wagtails come in, while 65 Black-throated Divers built up in South Ayrshire along with 75 Black Scoters. Barrmill produced our next Wood Nuthatch on the 8th, and Blackcap turned up at Prestwick on the 9th. Migrating Black-tailed Godwits popped up at both Lochlea and Blairbowie between the 11th and 14th, and the 11th produced yet one more (or was it the same?) Wood Nuthatch at Dalry. An early House Martin flew over Kilkerran on the 14th and the 16th provided a couple of reeling Common Grasshopper Warblers at Doonfoot. Both Common Cuckoo and Common Redstart arrived on the 21st, and things began to pile in during the next two days. Sedge Warblers at Trabboch and Monkton on the 22nd, along with 2 Whinchats, a Whimbrel and 84 Black Scoters at Doonfoot were followed on the 23rd by 2 Common Whitethroats at Doonfoot and a Ruff at Blairbowie. A brief pause during the next two days, then off again with Common Swift at Irvine on the 26th and a dark-bellied Brent Goose at Bogside on the same day. Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail came in on the 27th, whilst the 28th produced Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Blairbowie’s second Ruff. Wood Warbler sang at Knockdolian on the 29th and a walker on Shalloch on Minnoch found 8 Dotterel on the summit. A splendid drake Garganey dropped into Garnock Floods on the 30th, ending a fine month’s migration.
Not to be outshone, May began in terrific fashion with the 1st providing migration spectaculars like the 205 Pink-footed Geese seen heading north from Turnberry Point and Saltcoats, the former site also adding 141 Arctic Terns and an Arctic Skua to the show. Two Dotterels were discovered on top of Blackcraig Hill, but the observer might not have expected them to be accompanied by a Black Redstart. The final star of the 1st was a female Marsh Harrier watched heading South over Munnoch Reservoir. Five Dotterels graced the summit of Blackcraig on the 4th, on the day when Ayrshire’s first breeding Gadwall were seen at Irvine and the year’s first Common Tern turned up at Prestwick. Pied Flycatcher made it in on the 5th at Failford while the Whimbrel total for the 6th peaked at 71. Spotted Flycatcher finally arrived on the 7th, but a much more exciting find was a Eurasian Wryneck on a forestry track above Dailly. Another female Marsh Harrier stopped a party of birders a bit sharply as it circled over the main road just south of Girvan on the 14th, a day before a Little Tern flew past Barassie. Continued sea-watching produced an adult Pomarine Skua off Saltcoats on the 17th, followed by single Ospreys at Ladyyard on the 18th and Portencross on the 20th.
June saw another Osprey head over Prestwick on the 5th, with yet another at Stevenston on the 13th. A singing Corn Crake in South Ayrshire on the 15th stayed for a fortnight, posing the obvious question of a future return. The second quarter finished with a somewhat unseasonal drake Long-tailed Duck at Troon.
July-September
Predictably, July was a bit quiet but a dark-bellied Brent Goose at Pow Burn on the 7th was maybe the one seen earlier in the year. Manx Shearwater numbers off Turnberry Point rose to over 2000 on the 10th, and yet another Pomarine Skua flew north past Saltcoats on the 14th. Martnaham Loch produced another fine duck with a Red-crested Pochard on the 30th.
The year’s only Little Stint, an adult, appeared at Barassie on August 1st, just as another 2 Pomarine Skuas were watched from Saltcoats. Turnberry Point’s first Balearic Shearwater of the autumn flew by on the 7th, while a Curlew Sandpiper at Lochlea on the 9th was only one of six in a poor autumn. The season’s only Wood Sandpiper also fed actively around the pool at Lochlea on the 12th, a day before Turnberry’s second Balearic Shearwater. The Pomarine Skua saga continued with another north past Turnberry Point on the 15th, followed by 2 more Balearic Shearwaters on the 19th. Lochlea’s Ruffs peaked at 8 on the 27th as Turnberry struck once more with both Grey Phalarope and 2 Black Terns. The 28th turned up a juvenile Mediterranean Gull at Bogside, proving just how fast these youngsters leave their breeding grounds on the European mainland.
Early September fooled everyone. It was so dull! Best birds on offer were a Brent Goose at Barassie on the 5th, another Black Tern at Stevenston Point on the 6th and a single Sooty Shearwater at Troon on the 8th and 9th. A young Osprey tried its luck at a fish farm near Largs on the 14th to 16th, and the autumn’s first three Greater Scaup arrived off Stevenston Point on the 19th. One more Osprey moved up Glen Muck on the 20th on the same day as the autumn’s only Green Sandpiper was found at Beith. Then came all the activity one normally expects at this time of year. The 23rd was superb with the first 5 Barnacle Geese heading past Turnberry Point, followed by a somewhat weary juvenile Osprey. Six Northern Pintail were found, three each at Burnfoot and Turnberry, while that same hillwalker on Shalloch on Minnoch completed the double by finding an autumn Dotterel. Over the two days of 23rd and 24th seven hours sea-watching produced a spectacular 272 Red-throated Divers flying south at Turnberry Point. The autumn’s first Redwing arrived at Crosshill on the 29th and a Common Whitethroat skulked among the bushes at Turnberry Golf Course a day later.
October-December
A very late Common Swift was watched over Crosshands on October 2nd a day before the first arriving Goldeneye at Irvine. The last of our Northern Wheatears headed off at Cronberry on the 4th, two days before a Sandwich Tern at Balkenna. The 6th also provided 9 Brent Geese at Doonfoot and a Glaucous Gull at Barassie, the latter species proving to be a scarce commodity in the coming winter. The year’s first returning Greylag Geese flew south past Kennedy’s Pass on the 8th, but Turnberry Point wasn’t finished yet. Four buntings flying in from the North proved to be Lapland Buntings, a wee bonus for this sea-watching site. A Velvet Scoter at Doonfoot on the 13th preceded the first of the incoming Whooper Swans by a day, and Stevenston got its wintering Whimbrel back on the 14th. A Slavonian Grebe at Turnberry Point on the 16th was followed by a second Velvet Scoter, this time a well-known individual, at Largs on the 22nd. Three House Martins at Ayr on the 24th were the last and, just as they departed, a massive arrival of Redwings occurred, a minimum of 14,000 in the Irvine to Maybole stretch crowding the skies on the 28th. It was back to seabirds on the 29th with 10 Leach’s Petrels past Troon and another 3 past Turnberry Point.
November 1st saw Martnaham pull off a good double with a late Common Sandpiper and a fine drake Ring-necked Duck, four days prior to our last 4 Swallows at Barassie. A Red Kite was reported from Ayr Hospital on the 8th, and the only Red-necked Grebe of the year turned up at Prestwick on the 11th. Martnaham Loch produced a redhead Smew on the 12th, the bird staying till the 26th.
For those who had despaired over not seeing a Green Sandpiper this year, another turned up at Irvine on December 1st, a day before Barassie’s Belgian-ringed Mediterranean Gull came back for another winter. Just as Martnaham lost one Smew, the drake came back on the 3rd, and another Black Redstart was found at Newton shore on the 11th. Maidens turned in both Velvet Scoter and Slavonian Grebe on the 16th, but Brambling numbers failed to impress with only 14 at Bogton on the 23rd. Christmas Day set the stage for a Waxwing invasion, with the first four birds turning up in Ayr gardens. And then it was nearly the end of the year again, but not before another Green-winged Teal had been found at Seamill and another 5 Waxwings flew over Knockshinnoch Bungalow on the 30th. It wasn’t too bad a beginning to the new millennium, was it?