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

Birds fae Torry (2 Viewers)

Regarding Great-spots - Tullos Hill has been 'heaving' with them. 1-4 obvious on all recent visits. I've occasionally seen the odd one in the past. They are also very prominent in my area of the north if the city - daily lately, normally very rare.
 
Some of my colleagues are reporting an owl over the golfcourse (most likely SEO). I didn't see it when I went out though so I must be blind as a bat. All I could manage were a few goldcrests, and a funny (ie eastern) sounding chiffchaff. All in all very quiet though...
 
Another bucketload of thrushes in this morning. I had a quick scoot round the allotments before work, and had three large flocks of fieldfare and redwing go over, as well as a flock of 20 or so woodpigeon. Nothing else of note really apart from goldcrest and brambling...but there's bound to be something good out there...
 
Had a scoot round this morning. I think most of yesterday's migrants must have moved on. I only managed a few Song Thrushes and Goldcrests. The best bird was a Short-eared Owl at the Battery. Had a couple of annoying 'ones that got away' too. A diver seen from home that was flying around the harbour mouth certainly wasn't a Red-throated but was too far away to really work out. An aythya duck flying out of Nigg Bay was probably a drake Scaup, but the light and angle were really bad and it was hard to assess the features properly.
 
Some decent stuff from the foghorn this morning. 2 flocks of whoopers north (a ten and a five) were the best of the wildfowl, but there was a good variety of ducks on the move as well as a few pinkfeet. Also a little auk and a great northern diver went south.
 
A cold north wind in late October - it's like a door closing isn't it. But, as one door closes another opens and it was actually quite decent round the Ness this afternoon. Unusually, a lot of the rough grass around the golf course has been cut in the last few days and a small patch by Walker Park had attracted a group of ten Snow Buntings that trotted jauntily through the stubble.

The main action was offshore. One or two Little Auks were going through immediately but, after about half an hour, a few larger groups went north. These were mostly quite distant but later groups seemed to be going through a bit closer. Around one hundred were counted. A juvenile Pomarine Skua was harrassing the Common Gulls around the mouth of Nigg Bay. Also on the go were ten Red-throated Divers and two Long-tailed Ducks. A surprise was a Great-crested Grebe that headed south before putting down on the sea. A Short-eared Owl was hunting over the golf course at dusk. Nice late autumn birding, even if it isn't what some would call 'real autumn birding'.
 
Popped into the Ness for an hour late afternoon, the first time I'd been in a good while. Seawatching was the main focus but there didn't seem to be much movement at all. A few Kittiwakes were loafing about offshore, as were a few Guillemots and Razorbills and a Red-throated Diver. Auk passage itself was minimal, but I did manage a single Little Auk distantly veering its way northwards. A bit of thrush vis mig was entertaining, consisting of two groups of Fieldfare (8 and 7?), with a Blackbird and a Starling mixed in with the respective groups.

Andrew managed yesterday's juvenile Pomarine Skua again, which we missed. 18 Purple Sandpipers were on the breakwater at the Coo, mixed in with a group of 25 Turnstone and a few Ringed Plover and Redshank.

Joseph
 
Yes, the Pomarine Skua was again about (although I guess it could be a different bird to yesterday). It harrassed a few Common Gulls at fairly close range before purposefully heading off into Greyhope Bay and then continuing northwards.

Bird of the day was my first Waxwing of the winter, flying north over Victoria Road. Hopefully the first of many. Otherwise it was pretty quiet with very little moving. Earlier in the day a few ducks were seen heading north from the flat (two Goldenye, a Long-tailed Duck and seven Common Scoter) but that all dried up once the rain stopped.
 
Had a quick scoot around this lunchtime and had a nice short-eared owl flying around the battery and a long-tailed duck went through greyhope bay.
 
Not a lot of 'stuff' today, although the weather was lovely, particularly this morning. Single Fieldfare and Redwing were on the north bank. Seven Common Scoters went north, and at least four Harbour Porpoises and two Bottle-nosed Dolphins were seen in the calm sea. A Snipe and a Grey Wagtail were in Nigg Bay. We did at least have some action on the Purple Sandpiper Totaliser:

47

*punches air*
 
I also had a wander around the Ness yesterday as far as Greyhope Bay early-mid morning. It wasn't totally quiet on the passerine front, with continental Robins seeming to have arrived in reasonable numbers; at least a dozen were present from the allotments to Greyhope, including a group of 5 together in the allotments. 2 Siskins were a nice surprise in the latter location, though were flushed and did not return. A Chiffchaff was along the start of the North Bank. 10 Ringed Plovers were on the rocks at Greyhope Bay.

Joseph
 
A big surprise on todays lunchtime walk was a crossbill coming in off (well, flying along the north bank just like everything else that comes in off). Otherwise very quiet though.
 
Welcome to Birds fae Torry Scotkat. Today turned out to be a bit more interesting than anticipated. The big news early on was some serious Purple Sandpiper Totaliser action:

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Nifty! Other stuff included 59 Turnstone, 14 Ringed Plover and seven Red-throated Diver. Two Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck passed through out to sea, along with a small purple balloon (see picture).

I got a text from Mark to say there was a Great-northern Diver in the harbour and eventually I made my way back along the north bank to look for it. It seemed to spend much of its time underwater, but I managed some good views as it grappled with a large flatfish. As I was watching it, a Little Auk whizzed past and plopped down on the water. It dived under and was soon whizzing back south. Some rippling calls overhead revealed six Snow Buntings, which settled down on the golf course between the allotments and the Battery.

Here's a record shot of the balloon - a bit of a rarity here.
 

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Here's a record shot of the balloon - a bit of a rarity here.
Click to expand...

Well at least it's airborne - makes a change from discarded trousers and shoes, doesn't it.

A lovely purple sand totaliser that Andrew - can't remember what your best count has been though?
 

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