Bit of an interesting morning here in Torry, with the main interest out to sea. I headed down to the Coo straight away, although Mark was already there and
had seen quite a few good birds. The main theme was duck passage. My totals after a couple of hours were 104
Wigeon, 125
Mallard (a remarkably high count), 28
Teal, 42
Long-tailed Duck, 8
Common Scoter, 21
Goldeneye and a
Red-breasted Merganser. Divers were also passing through with five
Great Northern Divers and 13
Red-throated Divers. Seabirds were a bit less apparent however, at least until late morning when I picked out a
Little Auk heading north at roughly middle distance. A
Black Guillemot also went north close to the shore.
Just after midday I picked out a very large diver heading north at relatively close range, though not in the best light. As it headed into better light I noticed it was in more or less full summer plumage and that it had what appeared to be a large, pale, yellowish bill! I couldn't get a clear sense of the shape of the bill, what with the wind now buffeting me and my scope about quite a bit. It seems I wasn't the only to see this bird, as others in the car park at Greyhope Bay were able to get slightly clearer views of the bill and confirm that it was a
White-billed Diver.
On my way back to Torry a
Snow Bunting headed north over the rooftops in Victoria Road. It looks quite good for the next few days, so stay tuned.
. If that proves a bit tricky, there might be a bit of potential in the Greater Torry area at least if there's a hint of east in the wind. 
