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

Birds fae Torry (2 Viewers)

Not too much to add to what Mark saw. I heard a Snow Bunting over the harbour, there was an abietinus-type Chiffchaff in the willows below the Battery, a male Blackcap on Victoria Road, a Siskin at the Mound, and on Nigg Bay I saw the Great-crested Grebe, four Red-throated Divers and a couple of Common Scoters. Both Bottlenose Dolphin and Harbour Porpoise (four of the latter) were conspicuous.
 
Not quite Torry

Good afternoon all, It's not quite Torry but can you help me identify this from Loirston Loch yesterday lunchtime, (still honing my id ' skills '). Only thing I can match it with in book is a Scaup, or is it something else in winter plummage, thanks
Jim.
 

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Good stuff, had just popped out for petrol over lunch and swung by the loch for 20 minutes or so, this was about the only thing on the water, couple of mallard and gulls, couple of weeks ago had a good half hour watching on otter feeding there, shame they're going to put a football stadium up there !
 
Had a quick look round in 'fresh' conditions this afternoon. Not an awful lot was about really. The Great-crested Grebe was still in Nigg Bay; a Song Thrush on the south side may have been a migrant; quite a few Purple Sandpipers were about. That's about it, although Bottlenose Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises were both in action.
 
Here are today's results from the Torry Birding League, sponsored by Torry Chip Bar.

Great-crested Grebe 1 Other good birds 0

And quite a few Gannets and Kittiwakes offshore. And a Red-throated Diver. More significantly we had some top action on the Purple Sandpiper Totaliser:

240

Top Totaliser bothering.

And now onto the Pools news, where the dividend forecast is 'no decent birds likely for quite some time'.

Premiership birding is available elsewhere.
 
Still a bit quiet. And quite nippy too. Not much to speak of today, with just 'the usual' stuff around. Quite large numbers of auks and around 14 Red-throated Divers were offshore. Two Common Scoters were in with the Eiders. The odd Gannet and Kittiwake are still about. A Kestrel was on the south bank. Quite a bit of Bottlenose Dolphin action, though that doesn't quite compare with the cetacean happenings further north.
 
Rather a cold but bright day today, and at least the wind had abated. And there still isn't much about, aside from the usual mix of shorebirds and gulls. Actually there aren't even that many gulls, which is a bit annoying. It's the 'might as well look at gulls' time of year, so at least they should have the decency to be hanging around. The most notable sighting was quite an interesting one though: a flock of ten Greylag Geese that flew in from the North Sea just to the north of the Ness. This is only the second time of seen this species here, so it's certainly out of the ordinary. The circumstantial evidence would suggest these were continental birds - sadly they were a bit too distant to get clear shots of.

Hardly anything else was around, except for four Red-throated Divers, a Sparrowhark and a Goldeneye.

Pictures:
1&2. Greylags (the same shot, with a closer crop)
3. Four species of wader on Greyhope Bay
 

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Had a quick jaunt round a chilly Ness this afternoon. A drake Red-breasted Merganser on the river was the first for a while and the cold had brought a Common Snipe to Greyhope Bay. There wasn't too much else about apart from at least four Bottlenose Dolphins and three Harbour Porpoise.
 
A good 5 minute spell today between snow showers. A 1st cal yr Iceland gull was off the foghorn, and a little auk went north. Also long tailed duck and common scoter with the eiders, and a peregrine over too. And it was cold...
 
Think you had the luck today Mark, although you probably deserve it! I didn't see too much, although I did get cold. Two Red-breasted Mergansers were on the river and another two went north off the Coo. I saw the Common Scoter but not much else on the sea. Still a fair number of Gannets and Kittiwakes around.
 
Managed what I suspect will be my final Torry birding of the year yesterday. Not too much about in the incredibly pleasant and mild conditions. A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers was on the river mouth, a Redwing at the allotments and Gannet and Red-throated Diver offshore. There was plenty of action from Bottlenose Dolphins and a couple of Harbour Porpoises too. That leaves my Torry year list on 138, which is just one shy of the record total last year.

Can I wish everyone a happy Christmas fae Torry.
 
Its been a quiet start to the new year, but an arctic skua going south past the foghorn this morning was interesting. Try as I might, I couldn't turn it into a Pom, which is the more likely option at this time of year. Not much else of note though...a goldcrest in Nigg bay and 6 lapwings yesterday....
 
After a phone call this morning,saying there was a SE Owl near the Battery,I had a quick walk round "The Ness" at lunchtime.No sign of the Owl but a large number of Purple Sandpipers on the Skates Nose and Greyhope Bay.I didnt have time to count them all but Im sure It would have been an Impressive number for Andrews totaliser.

Quite a lot of Razorbills just offshore,plus 6 Red throated Divers and a Red breasted Merganser,struggling to eat Its catch,which brought a lot of onlooking Gulls to the bird.

The SE Owl may still be In the area,for anyone wanting to see It but It didnt show for me.
 

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