Commissioned Report 252 - Scottish Natural Heritage

Site B has tended to be the main roost site. There have been major declines in use
of this roost since 1995, particularly red knot, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit and common
redshank (Table 19). These species seldom roost here, now apart from during spells
of very cold weather, when the inner part of Nigg Bay freezes up. Eurasian
oystercatchers, however still regularly roost here in large numbers.
Table 19. Changes in wader numbers at Nigg oil terminal.
OC RP KN DN BA CU RK TT
Pre 1995 5 3 6 6 5 2 6 1
Post 1994 5 2 4 4 4 1 4 1
As access here is very restricted, being beyond a large fence bounding the oil
terminal, disturbance is unlikely to account for the decline in numbers using this
roost. Possibly it is associated with fewer birds now feeding on the mud flats
adjacent to the terminal.
Nigg Bay.
Nigg Bay is the most important site for shorebirds in the Cromarty Firth. There are
four major roost sites within the inner section of Nigg Bay. On the east side of the
bay, at Bayfield, the roost is spread out along the saltmarsh, on various points and
islets, from NH80316 72781 to the east side of the Arabella channel at NH80386
73601 (siteA on Fig 15). The core of the roost is normally around NH80303 73423.
On the west side of the Arabella channel is a continuation of this roost stretching
round the large saltmarsh point from NH80015 73557 (the core of the roost) to
NH79883 73675 and often including the islet at NH79804 73752 (site B on Fig 15).
Figure 15. Roosts at Nigg Bay.
Y
D
C
Based upon Ordnance Survey material with the permission of the controller of HMSO © Crown copyright (1996)
Licence no. 100017908
18
X
B
A