Saturday morning started with a quick review of the birds on offer in the north-west in anticipation of our lunchtime departure for the Solway. So a phone call from Chris Baines in deepest D&G with the news of the Red-breasted Goose showing near Carlisle was most welcome. We managed to reach Easton by 3.30 PM and despite finding a huge flock of a couple of thousand Pink-feet there was nobody watching the geese. A few Barnacles were littered amongst the Pinks so we started sifting through them wih difficulty as we were looking straight into the sun. I'd just about given up all hope when the Red-breast popped up out of a dip in the field, behaving very aggressively towards the Barnies with which it was associating. Too distant for a record shot even but very satisfying. Bouyed by our success we set off, Mrs. B. spotting a Barn Owl from the car and headed north of the Solway and into Scotland. We'd been intending to visit the Gretna Starling roost this winter and as time was running out for us this evening seemed like a good opportunity. Our timing was perfect and as we headed west out of Gretna a few small flocks could be seen in the sky.
A couple of other cars were in the lay-by and no sooner had we arrived than a huge "blanket" of Starlings appeared in the sky above us.
The "swarm" thickened, crossing the road and twisting and turning as the flock gathered momentum and "spooking" every now and then as a Sparrowhawk passed by.
We whitnessed a couple of spectacular "swirls" as sections of the flock broke suddenly from the rest in perfect coordination. Estimations of this gathering have varied enormously but there are certainly hundreds of thousands here.
By now a few cars had gathered in the layby down the road too. The Gretna Starlings have local celebrity status and have now made the national news apparently with clips of the roost on YouTube as well. Well worth a visit if you're ever in the area. We watched from 5.15 PM at approximately NY311689 from the lay-by on the right hand side of the road from Springfield to Kirkpatrick-Fleming.We set off for Annan happy with our afternoon's haul, adding a Peregrine and Buzzards to our tally for the day.
