Thursday 28th August

Spent about 45 minutes at the south west corner of Bogside racecourse watching the birds congregate as the tide went out. 136 Mallard, 14 Wigeon, and 1 Teal were feeding at high tide. An immature Great Crested Grebe was feeding on this stretch of estuary too. 5 Shelduck and 11 Goosander were on one of the high-tide islands. 81 Dunlin was a reasonable count. An unexpected Green Sandpiper feeding on the mudflats was interesting. A Greenshank, which was probably roosting at Bogside, flew overhead to the River Irvine. Almost all of the Bogside ducks moved to the upper estuary, joining 3 Gadwall. A Bar-tailed Godwit was in the southernmost bay of the upper estuary. A Flock of 33 Goldfinches near the ponds at Garnock East and a flock of 15 Chaffinches in the cattle field scrub were worth recording.