Birds fae Torry (2 Viewers)

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Are you allowed into the allotments without owning any or are the Black Redstarts being seen through the fence?

I would say that strictly speaking you're not allowed in, although you don't actually need to go in to see all the plots fairly easily. Most people just bird from the outside the perimeter fence. I don't know if any Black Redstarts have been seen this week - they've not been seen by me anyway!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Windy here today and it didn't seem to be the sort of wind that's good for birds. A Chiffchaff and a couple of Redpolls were by the railway embankment and seven Fieldfares flew over. Not much was happening out to sea. The 'bird of the day' was an unseasonal adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in the harbour. I took some pictures of it because it was so exciting. And of a sparrow. It was that kind of day.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Bit of an unremitting gloom-fest here in Torry today, but I had a chance for a brief look around this afternoon. Some evidence of there being a few thrushes in, but only in small numbers. The best bird was a Woodcock, breezing past me near the base of the breakwater. Also fifty Purple Sandpipers roosting.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Winter had definitely arrived today, with a chill northwesterly blast and a few snow flurries. I only managed to get out in the afternoon. The cold weather was probably what had three Lapwings moving north overhead. Most of the interest was on the sea, although some of it was too far out to really deal with. Probably two different skuas were at a distance - one looking fairly like a Pom and the other somewhat like an Arctic. Probably. Nine Long-tailed Ducks and six Common Scoters went through. The best, from my point of view at least, were four Barnacle Geese heading north. Mark had a few other things today. Tomorrow might be decent.

 

[GusHawk]

I'm going out in the hopes of Little Auk and Great Northern Diver, or any skuas tomorrow.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Perhaps there wasn't quite as much happening as I'd hoped today, although it was still a little bit interesting and rather a glorious winter's day as well. Passage out to sea wasn't all that brisk but was reasonable for ducks at least. These included 13 Long-tailed Ducks, 15 Teal, 15 Wigeon (a patch year tick!), two Goldeneye and nine Common Scoter. I caught sight of what I'm 70-80% sure was a Grey Phalarope going north. That's a little shy of the percentages I look for though. Not too much else was moving though.

Otherwise, a Knot was in Greyhope Bay, a pair of Stonechats on the south bank and a Chiffchaff was still lingering along the railway embankment. Also in that area were a nice group of eight Siskins, a Long-tailed Tit, a Fieldfare and a Pheasant.

Some Stonechat and Siskin pictures. Messy eaters aren't they.

 

[GusHawk]

In a cold few hours in the afternoon I had 1 Great Northern Diver flying past from in front of the lighthouse, 1 Snow Bunting in the puddly car park, several Black-throated and Red-throated Divers, the Goldeneye, Common Scoter and Knot that you've mentioned, Andrew, and also a strange male Eider which I actually had a double take at due to the fact that it's crown was far more obviously peaked than the other Eiders about it. Intriguing but my photos don't really show anything unfortunately...

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Rather blustery and chilly today. The main action was out to sea again with a rapid flurry of 20 Little Auks in around 30 minutes either side of midday. They were heading north at various distances, with some quite close. A few appeared to just be getting up off the water and one came down quite close to shore where it was visible in amongst the waves before diving under. Rather limited returns otherwise but a flock of 17 Lesser Redpolls in the newly planted areas in Nigg Bay was rather a good number. I also heard at least one Bullfinch calling along the railway embankment.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Limited returns today. The best was a Chiffchaff, still along the railway embankment. Also about 25 Siskins flying over was a large flock. Very little around elsewhere, with a noticeable lack of gulls around. They often seem to depart (maybe for fishing ports like Peterhead) at this time of year. 130 Purple Sandpipers were roosting.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

As elsewhere it was remarkably mild here today, with mostly cloudy skies and sometimes a brisk wind. The birds seemed to be quite active, possibly thinking spring might not be far away. The best bird was seen early - a striking Mealy Redpoll associating with nine Lesser Redpolls in the planted trees near the Nigg Bay pools. Also in that area were a couple of Yellowhammers, five Reed Buntings and a couple of Pheasants. Two Chiffchaffs were together along the railway embankment.

The warm weather seemed to be having an effect offshore, where rather high numbers of Kittiwakes were lingering. A pair of Stonechats were on the south bank and a lone female on the north side. A Knot was in Greyhope Bay.

Here's some record shot action with the Mealy Redpoll and a closer view of a female Stonechat.

 

[Mark Lew1s]

A juv Glaucous gull on the outer breakwater yesterday.

 

[Jimmycq]

Glaucous Gull ?

Sitting in Greyhope Bay at lunchtime and Mark passed, mentioned there was a Glaucous Gull by the sycamore so stopped by on the way back to work. Never (knowingly) seen one so took me a while, but singled out this bird as favourite, just need a confirmation or i'll have to go back tomorrow and try again !

Jim.

 

[Richard Prior]

Sitting in Greyhope Bay at lunchtime and Mark passed, mentioned there was a Glaucous Gull by the sycamore so stopped by on the way back to work. Never (knowingly) seen one so took me a while, but singled out this bird as favourite, just need a confirmation or i'll have to go back tomorrow and try again !

Jim.

Oh yes, that's it Jim, well done!

 

[Jimmycq]

Thanks Richard

 

[Richard Prior]

Thanks Richard

Don't forget to thank Mark too!!!

 

[Jimmycq]

Of course, and I'll probably see him down there again, gets me out of the office over a lunch time.

 

[Mark Lew1s]

Glad you caught up with it!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Was back for my first Torry birding of the year today, in quite chilly conditions with lots of ice around (particularly on the still closed road). Parts of the north bank look like a bomb's hit it with at least a couple of new landslides and lots of debris washed up. Amongst the debris was the Glaucous Gull, having a fine time picking out moribund sea creatures. Also in the harbour were at least five Red-breasted Mergansers and a Goldeneye. A Common Scoter went south. A trudge around the Nigg Bay area produced four Common Snipe - presumably brought in by the cold - and a couple of Fieldfares.

Here's the Glonk - bit bigger than a Redshank isn't it.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

The milder turn in the weather encouraged some vigorous singing from a Song Thrush on Abbey Road. Around the Ness the Glaucous Gull was again lurking about around Skate's Nose. The roosting waders included a Dunlin and a Knot as well as some progress on the Purple Sandpiper Totaliser:

176

That's a fine way to get the year going. A female Stonechat was along the north bank and three Red-breasted Mergansers were still in the harbour.

I had a wander late in the afternoon and the Glaucous Gull was still in the same area and there were two Knot on the shore. A particularly fetching adult male Sparrowhawk was in the bushes along Abbey Road. The gulls are probably worth checking at the moment, for anyone visiting.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A similar selection of birds was around this afternoon. The Glaucous Gull was again around the Skate's Nose. Lots of waders were roosting there until they were scared off by someone letting off a firework (!). Numbers roosting were 160 Purple Sandpipers, 118 Redshank, 58 Turnstone, 115 Oystercatchers and two Knot. The female Stonechat was around Greyhope Bay. Lots of crowd-pleasing dolphin action too.