Ayrshire Coast :: 21-23 February 2022

Having had our Christmas trip to Scotland cancelled, the school half term gave us an opportunity to travel north and visit my mum. It was an eventful journey north with strong winds and closure of the M6 - an expected detour through Bolton was not what the doctor had ordered. We’d set off bright and early, and so were still there by 1.30pm. We had lunch and spent a couple of hours chatting - to avoid having to leave early after dinner I decided to check into the hotel and fill the car up with petrol.

Coming out of the Morrison's petrol station in Stevenston the traffic back to the bypass was queuing and I decided to turn right and investigate Stevenston Point - I had never been but there have been numerous reports from Ayrshire birders related to this site. In just a few minutes I was on the on the rocky outcrop into the sea, with a stretch of beach to the north. From the car park there are almost 360° views.

I stepped out of the car to look around the outer reaches and initially couldn't see anything - I raised my bins to see there were actually numbers of sanderling on the rocks, then a group flying by, and more on the beach. Beside the sanderling on the rocks there were a couple of redshanks, a dunlin and a turnstone. All of a sudden, the sanderling and dunlin departed and joined those on the beach - now totalling c.150 birds.

I made to leave when three small waders flew onto the far rocks and started hopping around, darting to avoid the waves – purple sandpipers. They are so agile and capable on the edge of the crashing waves.

I hadn't planned on stopping and was glad to have encountered a few species new for the year on this recon trip. I headed back and by the time I got there my brother had arrived and soon was starting to prepare dinner.

The following morning started wet and I decided not to head out as my alarm rang. I checked the weather regularly and by 7.20am the rain had all but stopped - I pulled on some clothes and headed out along Seamill beach. I checked the burn for dippers, but the water was deep and was flowing strongly. I moved on and saw curlew, rock pipit, meadow pipit, lots of oystercatchers, gulls, shag, shelduck and a fly-by red-breasted merganser. Very far offshore there were a couple of gannet fishing.

Breakfast was scheduled for 9.00am and so I turned for the hotel and, on the way back, spotted an eider duck and then one of the dippers at the far end of the burn. What a morning given the late start.

After breakfast we made for my mum's house and chatted through lunch and into the afternoon. We decided to go out for a coffee to the Barony Church - a redevelopment of the Church is now the focal point of the wider arts and crafts initiative in the town providing an exhibition gallery, retail area, production workshop, and cafe. The building provides an excellent space for producing, exhibiting, and selling locally produced arts and crafts work. We had a nosey around before ordering our drinks - we saw some works from a local photographer (Peter Ribbeck) I follow on Facebook.

The cafe was closing and so we made for the car and the rain started to fall - we had some time before my brother was due to arrive from work and decided to park up at Portencross, near the castle, and watch the waves crash in. As we turned off the A78 there was a flock of geese in the righthand field - around half of them were pink-footed - another year tick.

The Portencross Castle site has been fortified since the 11th Century. The present tower castle is thought to date from the mid-14th Century and remained in use until it was unroofed by a great storm in 1739, gradually becoming ruins. The castle was designated as a scheduled ancient monument in 1955.

Parked up, we chatted, and I watched the waves with my bins. Pairs of eider duck swam passed at distance, diving regularly. Gulls tore passed in the wind, but I also spotted some different birds on the water - I saw what I believed was a black guillemot but lost the bird without a positive ID. Fortunately about 10 minutes later I locked onto a bird that I could see was a black guillemot and managed to take a record shot.

The following morning was very windy, just shy of 50 mph gusts. Despite this I decided to make for the Bogside Flats - parking at the Irvine Golf Club I headed to the old racecource. Bogside Racecourse was a horse racing track situated in Irvine, Scotland, on the banks of the River Irvine. Its first meeting was held on 7 June 1808, and its last on 10 April 1965, although there is evidence of an event known as the Irvine Marymass Races in the area as far back as 1636, initiated by the Earl of Eglinton.

Bogside's flat course was an undulating, right-handed triangular course of two miles in length. Its jumps course, meanwhile, was two and a half miles round, with nine plain fences, two open ditches and one water jump.[3] It was here that the first steeplechase recorded in Scotland took place on 25 April 1839.[2]

During its existence it hosted the Scottish Grand National (now contested at nearby Ayr) and twice hosted the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup which now takes place at the Cheltenham Festival.

I scanned the area as there are reports of short-eared owls hunting over these fields. On the water directly ahead, I could see 9 whooper swans with two Canada geese - the swans yet another year tick.

I decided to try and close the distance and made my way through a gate and across a rough grass and scrub field. Suddenly I became aware of a bird to my right - it was a short-eared owl! I lifted my camera and tried to take a photo realising that I had the settings all wrong and only managed a blurry out of focus shot. I tried to correct the settings and managed a final couple of shots as it disappeared over the brow of the hill. I tried to relocate the bird without success and instead had an encounter of two kestrels hunting around the perimeter of a group of fir trees on the golf course.

I searched around the area and added curlew on the estuary but nothing else of significance. Again, I was back at the hotel for a 9.00am breakfast and off to spend the day with my mum.

The final morning started with snow blowing horizontally. I decided that we might just have a bit of a lie in and an early breakfast. No more year ticks but some great birding in addition to the main reason for our visit – great to see my mum again and we will be back soon to mark her birthday.