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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Birds fae Torry (7 Viewers)

Couldn't say conclusively, as i haven't been round the ness in ages, and i havent spotted any ringed birds, but I wonder if all your sandwich terns are down here off Gourdon. For the last couple of weeks, numbers seemed to have swelled.They are currently out fighting the wind and enjoying what appears to be pretty good feeding at the minute. Also good numbers of Gannet doing the rounds.

kevt
 
An hour at The Ness today, before heading to the Ythan:

Greyhope Bay - 2 Wheatears, 15 Turnstone, 1 Redshank, about 100 Oystercatchers, 1 Whimbrel, 36 terns of various denominations and ages, 73 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Not much at The Coo - just 3 Redshank flying south and some gulls and Eiders.
 
Had a dash around this evening. 30 Goosanders and two Whitethroats were along the north shore. There was a bit of skua action too with 1 Arctic Skua and 3 Bonxies off the Coo. Also one juvenile Arctic Tern and a Sparrowhawk being hassled by the Swallows.
 
Another day of changeable weather here in Torry. A dark phase Arctic Skua was around the harbour mouth this morning and a pale phase bird was keeping the Kittiwakes and Terns company as I wandered around the Ness late afternoon. No Goosander count today but I did see one swallowing a very big fish. There was a big gathering of terns on Greyhope Bay. Most were Sandwich Terns, but there were a few dozen Common Terns and 5 Arctic Terns (3 adults and 2 juveniles). I was entertained by a red-legged Black-legged Kittiwake in the same area. Well, it was more orangey-legged but red-legged sounds better. My first Wheatear of the autumn was in Walker Park. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the day was a good flock of small waders on Nigg Bay at low tide: 19 Ringed Plover, 13 Dunlin, 1 Knot and 2 Turnstones. That counts as good for here by the way.
 
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Some interesting (?) sightings from The Ness yesterday. A flock of 230 or so Starlings in the Walker Park, with other smaller flocks charging around all over the place. One Wheatear flying along the road. In Greyhope Bay, a lone Grey Heron on the rocks surrounded by terns gulls and Oystercatchers.
I took a walk around The Battery, first time for a while. It was easy to see there had been nothing of note - no trampled grass or paths through the willow herb jungle. The best I could find was an adult and juvenile Goldfinch, 2 House Sparrows, 2 Linnets a Blackbird and some Meadow Pipits.
The South Breakwater was awash with roosting birds, mainly terns, gulls and Oystercatchers. I took a photo (attached) so that I could count them later, but now I can't be bothered. You can if you like. Have a guess first, you may be surprised.
I've no idea what the other two photos are all about, but if you tried to get a telephone engineer recently and failed, this could be the reason.
 

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Some interesting observations there Ken. I failed to locate the items in your second and third pictures this morning so I guess they were just one-day wonders. They might well have been blown away, as there was a raging southerly this morning. It was all a bit mucky in fact, with regular bouts of rain.

The tide was very low, almost as low as I've ever seen here, and this helped to produce some good counts. On the north shore a flock of 46 Ringed Plover, together with 2 Dunlin, was particularly good. Six Whimbrel flew south and there was a juvenile Grey Wagtail on the rocks. The Goosanders were loafing about on the mud and now number a majestic 53 - perhaps as good a count as I've ever made here. Perhaps they've had a decent breeding season.

Four Whimbrel were on the rocks at Greyhope Bay, probably from the flock I'd seen earlier. There were also four Turnstone and a Wheatear. Off the Coo lots of Gannets were feeding and a single Bonxie and juvenile Arctic Tern went south. Another Wheatear was along the south side, hanging tenaciously to its grip on the land in the teeth of the wind. There were another 23 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin and a single Sanderling on Nigg Bay.
 
or maybe BT man came back for his jacket and bed. Interesting how a foul day can turn out productive for birds, I must remember that. I'm afraid I was more intent on following the cricket. There now, I've come out - a Scot who supports England. But only when its cricket!
 
Ken Hall said:
or maybe BT man came back for his jacket and bed. Interesting how a foul day can turn out productive for birds, I must remember that. I'm afraid I was more intent on following the cricket. There now, I've come out - a Scot who supports England. But only when its cricket!
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Have you not discovered the technique of listening to TMS whilst birding? It's what seawatching in particular was invented for.
 
While I remember, this morning I saw my first Red-throated Diver of the autumn flying south. It's probably a good thing they've not been around, as it might mean they've been breeding successfully rather coming down here early.
 
A nice autumnal feel to the ness this morning, with loads of Hirundines around and at least 50 alba wags on the golfcourse. 45 Goosander in the harbour as well, which was nice. Offshore, 3 arctic skuas went north, and there were absolutely loads of kittiwakes about. 7 knot in greyhope bay. And thats your lot!

It's good to be back!
 
TheSeagull said:
Where exactly are the areas of Girdleness? I've been to the Barracks birdwatching and seen Shag but not sure about anywhere else...
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Hi Calvin

I've attached a copy of a map from my website www.thenatureofnortheastscotland.com

Basically, the whole area on the map is worth checking, the coast and the edge of the golf course.

I'm sure you can read a map OK ;)

cheers,

Ken
 

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Just for a bit of fun......

Who'd like to have a go at predicting 'bird of the Autumn' for girdle ness this year?
Try predicting the species, date, and exact location of the bird.......

I'll start off: Citrine wagtail, 7th september, with all the alba wagtails on the putting greens behind the allotments!

Good luck!
 
Indeed, edenwatcher. ;)

Personally I think that bird of the Autumn will be a species of Wheatear; hopefully a Black-eared Wheatear hopping around where the Desert Wheatear was seen a few years back. :king:
 

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