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Birds fae Torry (6 Viewers)

A beautiful sunrise scene that Andrew.

..... but what did you say to the Dove to make it moon at you?;)
 
Another lovely day here in Torry. I got out for a wander late in the afternoon. The clear conditions haven't produced many obvious migrants this week but that changed when I got to the allotments and soon found a lovely female Black Redstart. It showed really well as it zipped about the plots.

There was some evidence of other migrants being around, with a couple of Willow Warblers on the north bank probably new in and a Chiffchaff on the south bank probably also on the move. Four big looking Wheatears were on the golf course. My first Whitethroat of the year was singing on the north bank near 'the Tree'.

Was amused to see a House Sparrow squatting at an old House Martin nest on Abbey Road.
 

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Not so much around today, although I saw my first Common Sandpiper of the year along the shore by Inverdee House. Offshore, five Arctic Terns went north.
 
A cooler, breezier day here today. My first Sedge Warbler of the year was singing in the marsh in Nigg Bay, albeit rather furtively. Other birds in that area included a Teal and a White Wagtail. A Pink-footed Goose again flew into the marsh for a short time before being scared off. The best bird appeared as I headed up towards the golf course when a gorgeous female Ring Ouzel appeared on the grass next to St Fittick's Church. I watched it there for a few minutes before it flew off towards the south bank.

Four Wheatears were on the golf course and two Whimbrel were seen, one flying north and another south. There were still 128 Purple Sandpipers in Greyhope Bay.

The Bottlenose Dolphins were particularly numerous and active today. Once again, there were heading well into the harbour. At least four headed past the banana pier with a couple right around the start of the River Dee channel by the Caledonian Oils tanks.
 

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The weather was 'interesting' today, starting out calm and quite pleasant but this was followed by the wind picking up from the north and the first rain for ages falling in some light showers. The interesting weather translated into an interesting day for birds and, by some measures at least, one of the best I've had here for a long while. It features TWO patch ticks, a patch third and a total of 67 species.

Things started well when a curious, quite chattering along Victoria Road turned out to be coming from my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year. A House Martin flew over the buildings nearby. The Nigg Bay area was quite busy but it was mostly familiar stuff. The first brood of Mallard of the year were on the marsh. A Sedge Warbler was again singing. A Stock Dove and a Pheasant were on Tullos Hill. I also managed to find where some of the local Rooks were nesting, in a few trees on the slope north of Tullos School. From the railway bridge, a scan of the Bay turned up a surprise with a pair of Gadwall swimming about in the calm waters. Only my third ever sighting here, but hot on the heals of the second. I wonder if they might even be the same pair wandering the coast, particularly as I noticed a report of two from Donmouth the other day.

I headed up to the south bank, where a Yellowhammer was singing. I was checking the burnt gorse patch on the western bank when I noticed a medium-sized bird trotting along the track along the top. Much to my surprise this was a Red-legged Partridge. Patch tick one! I'd only just got a look at the black necklace below its throat when it disappeared out of sight down the track. It didn't reappear but was presumably skulking in the gorse somewhere. Not sure what it was doing here, although it seems that gamebirds were on the move eastern Scotland today ;).

A White Wagtail and four chunky Wheatears were on the golf course and a pair of Stonechats were again on the south bank. Whimbrel seemed to be on the move with seven seen heading north. Relatively little was going through out to sea, but a pair of summer-plumaged Long-tailed Ducks went north close to the shore. Following a similar trajectory, I picked up a small Charadrius plover zipping over the rocks below the Coo. I initially expected it to be a Ringed Plover but immediately saw that it was a bit wrong looking. Then I noticed the black bill and lack of white wing bar. It was a Little Ringed Plover and patch tick number two!

A few other totals from the day included 19 singing Willow Warblers, four Chiffchaffs, seven Blackcaps, two Whitethroats, three Goldcrests, two Bullfinches, 30 Sandwich Terns, 14 Sand Martins and 18 Swallows.
 

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After yesterday's RLP/LRP extravaganza, things were a bit quieter here today in a cold northerly. Lots of commoner seabirds were passing by offshore late in the afternoon but it was all pretty routine stuff. Of most note were my first three Knot of the year in Greyhope Bay. A Kestrel was giving some unorthodox views around the tip of the headland.
 

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A cool day here in Torry but with a fine end to it. Things were mostly quiet, though there were three Wheatears on the golf course and four Common Scoters on the sea. The best sighting was fairly left-field: two Greylag Geese heading north over the harbour mouth and then continuing up the coast.
 
Quick question. Does anyone have a list of all the bird species recorded at Girdleness? If not what is the highest patch list.

Thanks

Ian
 
Quick question. Does anyone have a list of all the bird species recorded at Girdleness? If not what is the highest patch list.

Thanks

Ian

Interesting question Ian and I don't really know the answers. I know Mark has seen 216 species. I'm a little over 200. Probably our combined lists might be around 220-225. I would guess that another 20-30 or so species might have been seen by others, mostly in the past (I only started birding here in 2004) but I really have no idea. I suppose 250 species might be a reasonable ball park figure though.

So a bit of a vague answer. Maybe Mark or Stuart can say more? One day, maybe we should work out an authoritative list of the 'birds of Girdle Ness and surrounds'!
 
Interesting question Ian and I don't really know the answers. I know Mark has seen 216 species. I'm a little over 200. Probably our combined lists might be around 220-225. I would guess that another 20-30 or so species might have been seen by others, mostly in the past (I only started birding here in 2004) but I really have no idea. I suppose 250 species might be a reasonable ball park figure though.

So a bit of a vague answer. Maybe Mark or Stuart can say more? One day, maybe we should work out an authoritative list of the 'birds of Girdle Ness and surrounds'!

The Ness was my local patch from late 1987 until 2000 when I moved away. I put together a tentative list of the birds of Girdle Ness then which included the 195 species I'd seen there plus others mentioned in old North-east Scotland Bird Reports or seen by other people. That totaled 219 species. I'm aware of a fair few species that have been added to the list since then so I reckon the total list could be around 240 - 250 species.

I was actually supposed to be visiting Aberdeen this week, in which case I would have taken the opportunity to visit my old patch and compare notes with Andrew and Mark. That will have to wait for another day.
 
Maybe if I get time over the summer I could have a go at putting something together.

Stuart - if you still have that list you put together, I'd be interested to read it.

I went out in the chilly wind this evening. The highlight was my first Arctic Skua of the year: a dark phase bird heading north before it decided to tear into the Sandwich Terns. Not too much else around, although one Wheatear was on the golf course. Still 110 Purple Sandpipers in Greyhope Bay.
 
Like a few people, I noticed a combination of easterly winds and rain overnight and thought this might be 'interesting'. I'm not really sure it was though.

I had quite a good look round the Ness but there was barely anything that could be called a migrant. A couple of Blackcaps looked 'migranty' on the north bank. There was one Wheatear on the golf course. That was about it!

The best birds were a pair of Shelduck heading south over the golf course. Four Sedge Warblers were in good voice in Nigg Bay marsh. Once again the dolphins were heading right into the harbour.
 

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I didn't get out for a walk until this evening. Earlier in the day I had three Whimbrel going north from the flat. The walk was fairly quiet. There were two Wheatears in Greyhope Bay, both looking 'non-Greenland'. Most interesting were a group of three Common Sandpipers flying out of the harbour at sunset.

Some nice light today.
 

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A cold, windy day in Torry today with regular showers. I only headed out late in the afternoon and focused my efforts on the sea. Although common seabirds were moving through in numbers, there wasn't too much else passing. Some compensation came with a summer-plumage Black Guillemot just offshore, which showed very nicely (despite the photos). A couple of Common Scoter were also on the sea.

If seabirds weren't moving, waders were. Ten Whimbrel passed through and the largest group of six was accompanied by a Bar-tailed Godwit, my first of the year. A smart summer plumage Dunlin was on the rocks. Two Wheatears were about and there were two Common Sandpipers along the north shore below Inverdee House.
 

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I woke up early so got down to Nigg Bay just after 6am. There were plenty of birds singing in the cold, calm conditions but it was mostly the usual stuff. At least five Sedge Warblers were making plenty of noise around the marsh, where there were two Snipe. A White Wagtail was on the school field. My third House Martin of the year appeared over the south side of Torry.

Around the Ness things were busy but mostly as expected. Three Wheatears were on the golf course. A few ducks seemed to be moving offshore with ten Common Scoters and five Red-breasted Mergansers passing through and sometimes resting on the sea. Off the Coo my first two Puffins of the year went north, as did seven Arctic Terns and four Red-throated Divers. A Bonxie waded into proceedings in its own inimitable way, sending the Kittiwakes scattering. Waders were thin on the ground compared to yesterday but a Dunlin was again about and there were still 57 Purple Sandpipers.
 

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Fairly quiet here for the past two evenings, with cold, clear conditions. This evening produced three Wheatears on the golf course, four Long-tailed Ducks and a Red-breasted Merganser heading north and a Knot in Greyhope Bay.
 

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