On Monday walking on the road past Winterton a small flock of Yellowhammers were feeding on the seed heads of Common Knapweed on the roadside verge. This was the second record of numbers of Yellowhammers at Balvicar in the past week, the last being a small flock of ten near the golf course. It would appear they have had a good year, as records of this declining species are hard won.
As I continued along the road towards the sea I noticed some plants were still flowering on the sheltered verges, Devil’s-bit Scabious, Meadow Buttercup, Yarrow, Red Campion and Common Knapweed. They were not aware autumn was about to betray their confidence, as night frosts were not far away.
On reaching the sea I looked across Seil Sound and found something interesting on the water. My first impression was a Guillemot, but as it moved closer I was still unsure. My uncertainty was well founded as this was a winter plumaged Guillemot which I had not seen before. As with many sea birds they change their plumage as winter approaches. It would appear that this has something to do with camouflage when fishing.
Other items of interest included the last sightings of our summer visitor the Swallow on 1st October and the arrival of both of our winter visitors from Scandinavia, Redwing and Fieldfare by the 5th. These latter birds (which belong to the family of thrushes) spend the winter with us and may be seen until the spring months, when once again they wend their way far northwards.