The Lincolnshire Bird Club

We came across a group of approximately 100 Snow Buntings on the beach at Rimac this afternoon.
When we left, at about 2.45, they were still there, almost opposite the Rimac car park.
A message came on the pager at 3.45 indicating that there were '110 Snow Buntings at Saltfleet Haven'. I am wondering if there are two groups of birds or whether the one flock is ranging over a wide area.
We watched them for about 45 minutes during which time they never got close to Saltfleet Haven.
Does anyone know if the Snow Buntings being reported for Saltfleet are being seen to the north or to the south of the haven?

Roy

Hi Roy,

The Snow Buntings at Saltfleet are north of the Great Eau, normally in the vicinity of the isolated 'island' on the beach about a third of a mile north-east of the car park. The largest numbers are usually present early morning and then the flock often seems to fragment.

On a recent visit a Merlin went through the flock followed soon after by a Peregrine and about half the Snow Buntings headed off south towards Rimac. I had a count of 161 on 1st December but recently there have been about 50 fewer than this about, so maybe some of the Rimac birds are from Saltfleet which have relocated.

On another occasion, when I spent practically the whole day on the beach watching the buntings, 86 had been present but were joined mid-afternoon by a flock of 20 birds which came in from the north. These birds then moved off after a brief visit, although I didn't notice in which direction they went.

James

Thanks James.

As you know, it is difficult to get an accurate count of a large group of Snow Buntings when they are actively feeding but we thought we had about 97 indviduals in the Rimac group yesterday. This means that there are over 200 in the Saltfleet - Rimac area.

Roy