Spoonbill, River Dee, Kirkudbright 24 June 2008.
A glorious start to the day (summer has arrived at last!) saw us deserting our Southerness bolthole in favour of the Galloway Forest Park. After some superb raptor watching on the Raiders Road (as well as Golden-ringed Dragonflies) we headed down to the coast at Gatehouse of Fleet where the bay was disappointingly devoid of birds at high tide. Back up to the uplands then to Gatehouse Station where Whinchat was pick of the bunch near the viaduct there.Back down to the coast on on to Kirkudbright where a Spoonbill had last been reported nearly a month ago (!). A quick drive along the western shore at high tide revealed very little - gulls, Redshanks, Curlews, etc so we headed into town to check the east side. An inspired hunch took us down to the marina where we found a footpath alongside the estuary. There, to my amazement was the Spoonbill dipping in and out of view on a salting. We watched this very welcome D&G tick (remember we dipped on a pair in June?) for over an hour before it wandered off onto the by-now exposed mud as the tide ebbed. Great day.
