Little auks seen off the Caithness coast among winter wildlife wonders
Wildlife Sightings by Rob Hughes
The recent spell of colder weather has brought about the movement of some of the hardier Arctic breeding species of birds into our waters.
One such species is the little auk, which comes down from Svalbard, Greenland and Novaya Zemlya, Russia to winter in the North Sea and can be seen off the Caithness coast in strong northerly winds.
Little auks are approximately half the size of a puffin, roughly the same size as a starling. Two were in Dunnet Bay on the 13th and 21st, with one in Sinclair’s Bay on the 14th and six there on the 20th.
It’s fascinating to think that one of their main predators is the Arctic fox, and polar bears have been reported to feed on their eggs.
Also from Greenland, there has been a recent influx of Iceland gulls into the county with at least six different individuals seen between Scrabster and Thurso through most of November.
Following the movements of these Arctic breeding species, it would be rude not to mention the popular bearded seal that spent the day on Thurso river (very close to the Iceland gulls). Although I have seen three bearded seals in Scotland, I don’t pretend to know very much about them – though I did find out that they are another food source of polar bears, as well as orcas, and are more commonly found in the Arctic and sub-Arctic.
It’s great to see people excited by something like this up close in an easy-to-access location.
Another sign of weather-related movements was the arrival of the first woodcocks of the winter. Recent studies have discovered that many of the UK’s winter population breed in Russia and that individuals regularly winter in the same location year after year.
There is still an unusually large numbers of coal tits around as well as long-tailed tits, with treecreepers, bullfinches a great spotted woodpecker (in Olrig on the 24th) turning up in places they haven’t been recorded before.
A hawfinch has been roaming around the Castletown area for the last few weeks, dropping into garden feeders and even seen feeding on the pavement on the main street. A Siberian chiffchaff was still in Castletown on the 15th, whilst two were along Wick riverside path on the 14th. The American wigeon remains on Loch Watten, as does the impressive flock of 200 golden plover around Keiss.
A Norwegian ringed black-headed gull is back at the boating pond in Thurso for it’s fourth winter. This bird was ringed as a chick near Stavanger and it’s easy to notice its bright green leg ring with J44Z inscribed on it. It was re-sighted back near where is was hatched as a chick this summer too.
With Norwegian ringed common gulls and the larger, darker Scandinavia race herring gulls regularly seen here in the winter, the bulk of our wintering gull population could originate from this area.
- Rob Hughes, originally from Conwy in North Wales, has been into wildlife, particularly birds, since he was about eight years old. Now living in Castletown, Rob can often be found birding around Dunnet and the surrounding area. To report sightings, email Rob at xema_sabini@hotmail.co.uk
