Breeding Arctic Terns?

Sanderling and Dunlin roosting at high tide at Newbie on the Solway (Dumfries & Galloway) 4 June 2011.

2cy Arctic Tern on the River Douglas from Hesketh Out Marsh East, 14 June 2011.

May was a pretty awful month for birding as far as I am concerned - far too windy for most of the month. I was pretty glad to see the back of it but June started in the same vein with just the same Curlew Sandpiper in the creeks at Marshside on 1st. A singing male Quail at Hesketh Out Marsh on 3rd was nice before we headed up to Scotland for our holiday on Ardnamurchan. We stayed a day on the Solway on the way up seeing little apart from some nice wader flocks in the high tide roosts.

There's plenty about Ardnamurchan in the previous posts and local birding since the trip has been predictably rather quiet apart from some good birds today at Hesketh Out Marsh. I've located reasonable numbers of Corn Buntings on the Ribble marshes (7 singing males on Longton Marsh yesterday evening and 3 at HOM); Yellow Wagtail, Jackdaw, Great spotted Woodpecker and 39 Avocets all being noteworthy HOM records.
I walked from HOM out to the River Douglas today and apart from a family party of 6 Tree Sparrows it was quite uneventful. I was surprised to see 26 Arctic Terns on the Douglas though, including two 1st summer birds. They were rather territorial and quite aggressive when Greater Black-backs flew over, usually returning to the same saltmarsh patch. Breeding has been recorded on Longton Marsh in the past (Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside) in 1964 when one pair bred and subsequently on Hesketh Out Marsh prior to the site being claimed to agriculture n the 80's.

Two Ravens out on Longton Marsh too.

Ardnamurchan June 2011.

Last few pics from our short break in the highlands ....

Loch Sunart, Ardnamurchan June 2011.

Rannoch Moor near Glencoe en route to Ardnamurchan. One day we'll get to explore this marvellous area!

The ancient oak woodlands of RSPB Glenborrodale were full of the sounds of singing Wood Warblers, Redstarts and Tree Pipits.

Angie 'toughing it out' watching Otter (note glass of wine).

Dusk at Loch Sunart, Ardnamurchan.

The Ardnamurchan lighthouse on the most westerly point on the British mainland.

Ardnamurchan Point where 1000+ Manx Shearwaters could be seen but no Basking Sharks for us unfortunately.

The cottage we stayed in on Loch Sunart. The old oak woodlands of the Ardnamurchan peninsula can be seen behind the property.

See this website for more about Pine Martens and here for info on Ardnamurchan.

Pine Martens at Loch Sunart, Ardnamurchan

After a pretty dreadful May, June has already fared better ......

Angie snapping away at the Pine Martens from the conservatory. They were oblivious to our presence.

Ardnamurchan Pine Martens, June 2011.

Angie and I are just back from a short trip to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula in Highland. We stayed on the shores of the scenic Loch Sunart where we watched Red Deer, Otter and Porpoises from the conservatory of the cottage in the first few hours after arriving.
The birds were wonderful if not exceptional: Ravens, Spotted Flycatchers, Siskins and Common Sandpipers in the garden; Black Guillemots, Manx Shearwaters, Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Terns on Sunart. I've long wanted to see a Pine Marten and knowing that this elusive Mustelid had been seen in the beautiful old oak woodlands of the RSPB reserve at nearby Glenborrodale we spent some time walking the trails there and elsewhere. In fact we lucked out with brief views of our first Pine Marten, quite unexpectedly near Salen on a rainly afternoon after watching Wood Warblers, Redstarts and Tree Pipits. Feeling reasonably happy we decided on an early return to the cottage with a cuppa and hopefully a few 'bit's 'n bobs' from the conservatory when a Pine Marten popped up at the bird feeding station on the conservatory steps. It returned several times hat evening and again the following evening with another animal.