Monthly WeBS counts today - a cool, breezy day with squally showers blowing in periodically.
Loch Bee: Things fairly quiet, even the Mute Swans count was down to c220 birds, of the 30 species seen nothing was particularly unusual or unexpected, though three Black-tailed Godwits in the south-west corner were notable.
South Ford: Caught the South Ford on quite a high tide although it was falling by the time we surveyed it but it was much quieter than usual. A couple of sizeable groups of gulls were roosting up, c70 Black-headed Gulls and 30+ Common Gulls, very few waders.
In between surveying Loch Bee and South Ford we had our customary break at Ardivachar where I was able to see a few Manx Shearwaters out at sea. Passing North Bay there were a few Sanderling, looking lovely in their summer plumage (that's more than can be said for me - I was still almost in full winter plumage - thick jumper, fleece, gloves but no hat).
Sanderling, North Bay, South Uist
