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

Birds fae Torry (9 Viewers)

Jane Turner said:
Must have been the only mile of East cost without an Inornate Warbler. What are you playing at :p
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell there was only one on mainland Scotland today (at Collieston). They hit East Anglia, Yorkshire and the Northern Isles but missed out the bit in between it seems. I expect there might be more in the next few days though.
 
Went round again yesterday morning and saw a not dissimilar array of birds. The Bar-tailed Godwit and Golden Plover were both in exactly the same places as Saturday. Two Wheatears were new and three Grey Wagtails were scattered about. The sea wasn't too busy, but I still managed a Bonxie, four Velvet Scoters, a Wigeon and twenty Teal. One or two Harbour Porpoises were still about. Three Chiffchaffs were around the waterworks in Nigg Bay, along with two Goldcrests and three White Wagtails. A Teal was on the pool by the football pitch.

Later in the day two Arctic Skuas went south. It'll be interesting to see what the wind and rain brings over the next day or two.
 
I went around this lunchtime but it was a bit half arsed because of the wind. No migs apart from a couple of goldcrest. Best bird was a grey plover on the north shore in front of the battery.
 
It was wild at t'pants today, with an appreciative audience watching a monster swell burst over the breakwater.

The sea seemed to be happening - lots of Auks & gannets heading north, and a number of bonxies & manxies. Best of all was a Slavonian Grebe in the surf of Nigg Bay, which soon lifted off and headed north past the foghorn. Unfortunately I only had bins and had young kids in the car, so I left after 5 mins feeling a great opportunity missed. A great chance for a good seabird today, I think...
 
The conditions made looking for migrants very difficult, but in a bright and calm period at the battery this evening I had a redstart, a blackcap and a reed warbler. A few goldcrest were scattered about calling, but I couldn't get anything else away from the battery. No doubt there are other bits and pieces out there.
 
Still No Petrels

What about this weather we're 'avin then? All rather riveting: the sea sprawling over the land like an angry bear at times, trees and branches strewn everywhere in the street. I ventured out in the afternoon, after the worst of the rain had passed. Still quite a few squally showers and lots of wind though.

It was one of those days where it's hard to tell whether to watch the sea or the land. I did a bit of both. There were certainly migrants around with Goldcrests and Song Thrushes most obvious: perhaps 15-20 of each. I thought I saw a Tree Pipit at the mound but it disappeared almost instantly. The best migrants I found were a Redstart on the south bank and a Brambling in the tree. I also managed two Willow Warblers and a Blackcap but there must have been more around.

The sea was good, although maybe not quite as good as I'd hoped. There was one very decent bird: a pale juvenile Long-tailed Skua that went north at quite close range. Lovely straw coloured bird. Other stuff included four Sooty Shearwaters, five Manx Shearwaters, seven Bonxies (plus two earlier in the day from home), four Arctic Skuas, eleven Common Scoters (plus four earlier), one Velvet Scoter, thirteen Wigeon, 21 Red-throated Divers and a Grey Plover. All perfectly fine but Still No Petrels.
 
So while everyone else was seeing megas in Aberdeenshire I was looking round Girdle Ness. Not seeing megas. There were a few birds worth mentioning though. Migrants were okay, but diversity was low. There were several each of Song Thrush and Goldcrest still, three Wheatears, two Redstarts (one on Abbey Road and one at the Battery) and a skulking Lesser Whitethroat at the Battery.

Offshore, seabird passage was rather limited. Three Bonxies, four Red-throated Divers, a Common Scoter, at least thirty Wigeon and a few Teal went through. The highlight was a near summer-plumage Black-throated Diver that went north at fairly close range.
 
Andrew Whitehouse said:
No envy at all. Just sheer determination to work my patch.

Hello there - I'm assuming you've just spent the whole summer on a beach in the south of France. Am I right?
Click to expand...

very wrong, though I did just about see a beach in the gale force winds yesterday...

Have I missed any of Torry's more interesting sights - shopping trolleys and the like?
 
turkish van said:
very wrong, though I did just about see a beach in the gale force winds yesterday...

Have I missed any of Torry's more interesting sights - shopping trolleys and the like?
Click to expand...

Ah, it was probably the Maldives then.

We've not been doing that well for trolleys, shoes and household appliances recently. There's been even less to report on than the birds. Disappointing. Hopefully the onset of autumn will mean there'll be a few passing through. I'll be sure to report on anything to share the joy.
 
The first meeting of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club (SOC) Grampian branch winter programme takes place this coming Monday. The speaker is Ron Summers, who will talk on the “Crossbills of Scotland”. The meeting will be held at The Sportsman’s Club, 11 Queen’s Road, Aberdeen, and starts at 7.30pm. All welcome, with a suggested donation for attendance of £2.

If anybody wants a copy of the full winter programme, please PM me.
 

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