Waders on the Sands
Perhaps the highlight of the day for me, although the landscape views across to Mull and beyond were very special, was coming across a small group of waders on Traigh-na-Criche (Boundary Strand) on the north of the island.
I had the beach to myself and had spotted a small group of Sanderling a little further west on the sands. As I was photographing them a group of five Curlew Sandpiper flew in to feed and forage with the Sanderling.
It’s never that easy to see these elegant waders that breed in northern Siberia and migrate in small numbers through Britain, between August and September, to their wintering grounds in western Africa. These birds were exhibiting their winter plumage with one juvenile bird showing a redish buff colour to its breast. Curlew Sandpipers and Sanderlings breed in the same area but unlike the Sandpiper many Sanderling over winter on our shores. A lone Ringed Plover, which does breed here, was feeding with them.
Shags plied the sound between Iona and Calf Island and it’s always a treat to see the pure bred and really wild Greylag Geese across the sound. An adult and juvenille Red-throated Diver were riding the waters of the Strait of the Storm and the beautifully clean Common Gulls were passing through.
Starlings were beginning to flock together now the breeding season was over, being the middle of September. From our cottage we had a grand stand view of them amassing on the telephone wires in the late evening.
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