Birds
Regular readers of this thread may be surprised to hear that Girdle Ness occasionally gets some good birds. But good birds are sometimes a bit 'complicated'. Which is okay, I think. Anyway, I went birding today and here's what I saw.
It's been raining two days solid in Aberdeen with southeasterlies so I reasoned there'd be a few things around. Seeing a Woodcock fly over whilst glancing briefly out my kitchen window first thing gave some substance to this. I headed along Abbey Road, where there were plenty of Redwings and Blackbirds and had a look around the allotments, where there was a Blackcap, a Goldcrest and a Brambling (heard only). The supple limbs of the tree were drawing migrants seductively towards its soft embrace, including several Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff. There were more Fieldfares and Redwings overhead and good numbers of Song Thrushes, Robins and Dunnocks. Another Blackcap and a less expected Willow Warbler were along the north bank.
Walking in the other direction (towards the Ness) I hopped up the bank a short distance into the willowherb and a completely smashing Firecrest appeared in front of me. I know it's been said before, but they really are good birds. You can't go wrong with a Firecrest. This was a particularly bright one with a very orangey crest. They even look good in crap photos (see below). It spent the rest of the day in the same small area, often giving great views.
The Battery was a scene of intrigue. Not long after arriving a small, plain acrocephalus warbler flew out of the bushes on the north side, giving only brief views as it dashed about. It was very flighty and soon disappeared. When I got around to the other side, Richard Schofield and a couple of others were carefully scrutinising some gorse and told me they'd seen an interesting warbler in there. I assumed they might have seen the acro but Richard eventually managed views of the bird and said it looked like a Dusky Warbler. It flitted out and into the small patch of low rosebushes by the car park. It showed very intermittently and briefly in the bushes for several minutes. My first view was of a dark looking warbler with a huge supercillium. Then I got a better view as it poked its head up for a few seconds. Nobody else could see it at this point but it looked to have a chunky bill and a distinct yellowish tone, particularly on the broad downcurved supercillium. I've never seen Dusky or Radde's Warbler before (as I'm not a filthy tick-hungry twitcher) but this conformed well to what I imagined Radde's Warbler to look like. I told Richard what I thought but it didn't show again in the roses. It then flew back towards the battery and into some gorse before reappearing in some weeds and showing much better for half a minute or so. I say better, but the light was less good and the bird was further away. Richard was happy it was a Dusky and I also thought it looked darker and without the yellow tones I'd seen earlier, so was happy to go along with that. It also seemed a bit smaller than it had looked in the roses, although I was really struck by the large and long head, giving the bird a strangely 'front heavy' appearance. Anyway, it disappeared and we couldn't find it again.
I headed off around the golf course and didn't see much except for a Swallow, a male Stonechat and a Reed Bunting. I returned to the Battery and had an entertaining chat with a birder from Shetland, whom I later discovered was Brydon Thomason. The warbler seemed to have done a runner and so I headed home for lunch, seeing the Firecrest again on my way back. Just before I got home I got a text saying that the warbler at the Battery had been reidentified by Brydon as a Radde's Warbler. Hmm! Checking books and pictures when I got home, I felt much happier with that ID than with Dusky. I was quite struck by how unlike a Chiffchaff it had looked at all times, and I sort of expect a Dusky to be much more Chiffy-like in proportions. Anyway, all educational - thanks to Richard and Brydon for finding and helping to figure out the ID of a new bird for me.
Later in the afternoon I returned to the Battery. I was interested to hear that others had seen an acrocephalus warbler on the north bank just below the Battery - presumably the bird I'd seen in the morning before getting distracted. I saw the bird briefly but others saw it better, IDing it as a Reed Warbler. Otherwise, I met Ken and we and others had further looks for the Radde's and had further views of the Firecrest.
Here are some cracking crest shots. You can, I think, tell what it is.
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