August; the month when bird summer blends into bird autumn; a month that is consistenly good all round the UK for birds as rare migrants drift onto the coasts and big falls come due to South-easterly winds, just waiting to be discovered by birders. It cannot be refuted that August is a great month for birds, and this year I hope to make it one of my best yet. 
So far this month, I have been out birding twice, once on the 1st and today (the 5th). Undoubtedly it won't be the last. I shall now tell you what happened on those two birdwatches I have had so far this month.
1st August:
It's 1:00pm, and my Dad and I, having planned to go out earlier, are at Girdlness. It had been a horrible day hitherto are arrival at the Ness, having been very windy and raining heavily. However, at 1:00pm, it was only windy, and bad weather (as long as there is no rain), as we all know, means good birds! We set out for a sea-watch, knowing that our chances were high of getting some noteworthy birds.
As we arrived at the foghorn (which particularly sticks out into the sea), we came across another birder, who obviously had the same idea as us about checking the sea. We asked him if he had seen anything of note:
" Nothing particularly noteworthy as such off shore right now, no shearwaters or skuas."
" But a big passage of Gannet, I see," said my Dad.
" Indeed. I reckon I have seen around 350 offshore so far. A lot of them seem to close in and going south."
We left the birder to sea-watch on his own, moving round the corner from him and setting up our equipment. Just because he hadn't seen anything in the half an hour he had been there, that didn't mean that we wouldn't. We spent around an hour out there. Gannets flew past incessantly, the wind propelling them onwards at speed over the colossal sea. I'd say we saw around 3 or 4 hundred pass whilst we there, most of them going south as the birder had pointed out. The gannet passage was all there was to note for a long time. But just as we thought of leaving, my Dad picked up a big, stocky dark bird on the horizon going north.
" I've just found a Great Skua," he said, " At around 10 o clock from where your standing."
I quickly got my scope on the bird; and it was clearly a Great Skua. It was moving at some speed. At one point, it decided to launch itself at a Sandwich Tern, which was exciting stuff. It then flew on and out of our sight. It was a relief to see this Great Skua, as before that time, we hadn't seen one this year.
Just after we saw the Skua, it started raining heavily again. We quickly abandoned the sea-watch, and decided it was best to drive away to the Ythan Estuary.
When we arrived at the Ythan it was still raining, so we stopped off at the second car park near Inch Geck island and decided to take lunch. During lunch the weather cleared up, and we continued birding. The Estuary was teeming with waders, as it was low tide. Redshanks, Dunlins and Curlews were in abundance. I managed to spot a Whimbrel standing right beside a Curlew. It was an interesting but easy comparison to make (the curlew was far bigger). That Whimbrel was one of 5 or so that we saw whilst at the Ythan. The other noteworthy birds we saw there included 2 Greenshank, which were moving about busily with their long bills dabbing into the water, presumably trying to catch fish, and a Little Egret, which we saw round at Waulkmill Hide. It was particularly lovely to see the Greenshank, as they were one for the year and it was very intriguing to watch them pecking for food. o
After this we headed back in the direction of Aberdeen, dropping off at Black Dog to see if we could see the Surf Scoter, which we had already missed twice earlier in the year. Yet again we failed to see it. We searched the whole duck flock, but no sign of it at all; just moulting Eider, some Common Scoter and the odd Velvet.
Overall, it wasn't the best day. But nonetheless, it was still nice to see the Great Skua and the Greenshanks, as well as the Curlew and Whimbrel and Curlew standing together.
On the 2nd of August, my Dad spotted some Common Crossbill in a pine forest just outside Aberdeen whilst with a friend. I wasn't there so I didn't see it, but nonetheless it counts as we have a joint year list.
Today (5th August):
The best way to describe todays birding would be 'A Sandpiper day'. Today I saw 3 species of Sandpiper. The species of those sandpipers will be revealed over the course of todays report.
It was a lovely day today, the sun was shining and the temperatures were warm. This was not exactly the best for migrants, but still, good weather doesn't mean bad birds. When my Dad and I set out for the Loch of Strathbeg, are hopes were fairly high that we would have a good day.
We arrived at the reserve at around 10:30am, popping into the visitor centre. Due to the glorious weather, quite a number of people seemed to be at the reserve. The birds were also taking full advantage of the weather, each and every one there showing well.
We were greeted by one of the wardens; an elderly, friendly man that we often see there.
" We've had quite a good last few days on the reserve," he explained, " We have had a pair of both Wood and Green Sandpipers here for quite a while now, along with a Pectoral Sandpiper. I haven't seen the Pec Sand or the Green Sands today, but there is a Wood Sandpiper still lurking about somewhere that."
One of the main reasons we went to Strathbeg today was to see if we could see the Wood and Green Sandpipers, both of them being birds I have only seen a couple of times before and that I wanted to see again.
As my Dad and I scanned the reserve, we saw copious amounts of birds, each taking full advantage of the lovely weather. There were a lot of waders out there, especially Dunlin. However, there were also several Greenshank present, a satisfying scattering of Ruff (probably around 10 or 11 in all), easily distinctive from the other waders with their buff plumage, and a flock of 150+ Golden Plover in the fields by the Savioch Tower.
It took us quite a long time to find the Wood Sandpiper which the elderly warden had talked of, probably around half an hour. It was a delight when we did, especially for me, as I have only ever seen one Wood Sand before. This particularly bird was very delicate, moving nimbly amongst the grass by the small area of water in which we had found it. It struck me as quite small (and pale), as a Greenshank, which it was beside at one point, looked incredibly large compared to it. The white supercilium behind its eye was incredibly prominent, too. Overall, it was a really lovely bird to see! Having watched the Wood Sand for a considerable amount of time, we headed to the nearby Tower Pool hide. It was generally very quiet there, with just a couple of Ruff to note. On the way back from the Tower Pool hide, we spotted a dark (possibly juvenile) Marsh Harrier riding on the heat waves.
At this point we were going to leave Strathbeg, but decided that we would pop into the Visitor Centre just to say goodbye. As we went in there, the fantastic local birder Margaret told us she had seen a Green Sandpiper on a pool at the back of the garden just in front of the car park. She very kindly took us to this pool, and there a Green Sandpiper stood! It was a very clean bird, bigger than the Wood Sand we had seen earlier, much darker and its white breast showing beautifully. My Dad and I came to the conclusion that it was a juvenile, as it seemed pretty brown (juveniles being browner than adults). We watched it just for a couple of minutes or so, before it decided to fly into the nearby grass. Just as we were on the way back from seeing it, we managed to bump into Ken Hall, which was very nice (it was pleasure to meet you Ken:t. He was going to see if he could see this Green Sand too (I hope you saw it in the end!).
We then left for the Ythan, arriving to discover that it was high tide. So instead, we made our way to the mouth of the Estuary. There we managed to see some lovely summer plumaged Knot sitting on the beach, and one Willow Warbler in Foveran Bushes. We then went back to the main part of the Estuary, where we managed to pick up a Common Sandpiper, the third sandpiper of the day and the 6th sandpiper of the year (its been a good year for Sandpipers!).
So there you are, in its way not a bad start to August. I will report in here again when I next go out birding. Thanks for reading!
So far this month, I have been out birding twice, once on the 1st and today (the 5th). Undoubtedly it won't be the last. I shall now tell you what happened on those two birdwatches I have had so far this month.
1st August:
It's 1:00pm, and my Dad and I, having planned to go out earlier, are at Girdlness. It had been a horrible day hitherto are arrival at the Ness, having been very windy and raining heavily. However, at 1:00pm, it was only windy, and bad weather (as long as there is no rain), as we all know, means good birds! We set out for a sea-watch, knowing that our chances were high of getting some noteworthy birds.
As we arrived at the foghorn (which particularly sticks out into the sea), we came across another birder, who obviously had the same idea as us about checking the sea. We asked him if he had seen anything of note:
" Nothing particularly noteworthy as such off shore right now, no shearwaters or skuas."
" But a big passage of Gannet, I see," said my Dad.
" Indeed. I reckon I have seen around 350 offshore so far. A lot of them seem to close in and going south."
We left the birder to sea-watch on his own, moving round the corner from him and setting up our equipment. Just because he hadn't seen anything in the half an hour he had been there, that didn't mean that we wouldn't. We spent around an hour out there. Gannets flew past incessantly, the wind propelling them onwards at speed over the colossal sea. I'd say we saw around 3 or 4 hundred pass whilst we there, most of them going south as the birder had pointed out. The gannet passage was all there was to note for a long time. But just as we thought of leaving, my Dad picked up a big, stocky dark bird on the horizon going north.
" I've just found a Great Skua," he said, " At around 10 o clock from where your standing."
I quickly got my scope on the bird; and it was clearly a Great Skua. It was moving at some speed. At one point, it decided to launch itself at a Sandwich Tern, which was exciting stuff. It then flew on and out of our sight. It was a relief to see this Great Skua, as before that time, we hadn't seen one this year.
Just after we saw the Skua, it started raining heavily again. We quickly abandoned the sea-watch, and decided it was best to drive away to the Ythan Estuary.
When we arrived at the Ythan it was still raining, so we stopped off at the second car park near Inch Geck island and decided to take lunch. During lunch the weather cleared up, and we continued birding. The Estuary was teeming with waders, as it was low tide. Redshanks, Dunlins and Curlews were in abundance. I managed to spot a Whimbrel standing right beside a Curlew. It was an interesting but easy comparison to make (the curlew was far bigger). That Whimbrel was one of 5 or so that we saw whilst at the Ythan. The other noteworthy birds we saw there included 2 Greenshank, which were moving about busily with their long bills dabbing into the water, presumably trying to catch fish, and a Little Egret, which we saw round at Waulkmill Hide. It was particularly lovely to see the Greenshank, as they were one for the year and it was very intriguing to watch them pecking for food. o
After this we headed back in the direction of Aberdeen, dropping off at Black Dog to see if we could see the Surf Scoter, which we had already missed twice earlier in the year. Yet again we failed to see it. We searched the whole duck flock, but no sign of it at all; just moulting Eider, some Common Scoter and the odd Velvet.
Overall, it wasn't the best day. But nonetheless, it was still nice to see the Great Skua and the Greenshanks, as well as the Curlew and Whimbrel and Curlew standing together.
On the 2nd of August, my Dad spotted some Common Crossbill in a pine forest just outside Aberdeen whilst with a friend. I wasn't there so I didn't see it, but nonetheless it counts as we have a joint year list.
Today (5th August):
The best way to describe todays birding would be 'A Sandpiper day'. Today I saw 3 species of Sandpiper. The species of those sandpipers will be revealed over the course of todays report.
It was a lovely day today, the sun was shining and the temperatures were warm. This was not exactly the best for migrants, but still, good weather doesn't mean bad birds. When my Dad and I set out for the Loch of Strathbeg, are hopes were fairly high that we would have a good day.
We arrived at the reserve at around 10:30am, popping into the visitor centre. Due to the glorious weather, quite a number of people seemed to be at the reserve. The birds were also taking full advantage of the weather, each and every one there showing well.
We were greeted by one of the wardens; an elderly, friendly man that we often see there.
" We've had quite a good last few days on the reserve," he explained, " We have had a pair of both Wood and Green Sandpipers here for quite a while now, along with a Pectoral Sandpiper. I haven't seen the Pec Sand or the Green Sands today, but there is a Wood Sandpiper still lurking about somewhere that."
One of the main reasons we went to Strathbeg today was to see if we could see the Wood and Green Sandpipers, both of them being birds I have only seen a couple of times before and that I wanted to see again.
As my Dad and I scanned the reserve, we saw copious amounts of birds, each taking full advantage of the lovely weather. There were a lot of waders out there, especially Dunlin. However, there were also several Greenshank present, a satisfying scattering of Ruff (probably around 10 or 11 in all), easily distinctive from the other waders with their buff plumage, and a flock of 150+ Golden Plover in the fields by the Savioch Tower.
It took us quite a long time to find the Wood Sandpiper which the elderly warden had talked of, probably around half an hour. It was a delight when we did, especially for me, as I have only ever seen one Wood Sand before. This particularly bird was very delicate, moving nimbly amongst the grass by the small area of water in which we had found it. It struck me as quite small (and pale), as a Greenshank, which it was beside at one point, looked incredibly large compared to it. The white supercilium behind its eye was incredibly prominent, too. Overall, it was a really lovely bird to see! Having watched the Wood Sand for a considerable amount of time, we headed to the nearby Tower Pool hide. It was generally very quiet there, with just a couple of Ruff to note. On the way back from the Tower Pool hide, we spotted a dark (possibly juvenile) Marsh Harrier riding on the heat waves.
At this point we were going to leave Strathbeg, but decided that we would pop into the Visitor Centre just to say goodbye. As we went in there, the fantastic local birder Margaret told us she had seen a Green Sandpiper on a pool at the back of the garden just in front of the car park. She very kindly took us to this pool, and there a Green Sandpiper stood! It was a very clean bird, bigger than the Wood Sand we had seen earlier, much darker and its white breast showing beautifully. My Dad and I came to the conclusion that it was a juvenile, as it seemed pretty brown (juveniles being browner than adults). We watched it just for a couple of minutes or so, before it decided to fly into the nearby grass. Just as we were on the way back from seeing it, we managed to bump into Ken Hall, which was very nice (it was pleasure to meet you Ken:t
. He was going to see if he could see this Green Sand too (I hope you saw it in the end!).We then left for the Ythan, arriving to discover that it was high tide. So instead, we made our way to the mouth of the Estuary. There we managed to see some lovely summer plumaged Knot sitting on the beach, and one Willow Warbler in Foveran Bushes. We then went back to the main part of the Estuary, where we managed to pick up a Common Sandpiper, the third sandpiper of the day and the 6th sandpiper of the year (its been a good year for Sandpipers!).
So there you are, in its way not a bad start to August. I will report in here again when I next go out birding. Thanks for reading!
