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

Wild in Aberdeen - City and Shire (5 Viewers)

Many thanks for posting and reporting this colour-ringed Waxwing. If that bird is RGL, which it looks like, it was ringed by myself, Raymond Duncan and Euan Ferguson on 2/12/12 in Ferryhill, Aberdeen. Was it in Peterhead when photographed ? Raymond will be able to give a full history of resightings in his report.

There are still an estimated 400-500 Waxwings present in the city so please keep checking for colour ringed birds and report any via the Grampian Ringing Group blog. Nearly 400 have been colour ringed and many are still present in the region.

Lindsay (on behalf of Grampian Ringing Group Waxwing Team)
 
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The following is from an email I sent about birding on my local patch this Sunday (I intend to watch this area, north of Findon, more closely this year):

I had an amazing half-hour today during a hungover drive home from Torry... There was a large flock (hundreds) of small birds flying around some farmland. I decided to stop and have a closer look (if it wasn't for the Patchwork Challenge I would probably have carried on driving and assumed they were Goldfinch - thanks!). The birds were flying between a field and some trees so I set up my scope (very glad I bought this) for a closer look. It was quickly obvious that the majority of the flock were Chaffinches (first of the year) but the prospect of Brambling (a bird I struggled to find last year) got me excited. It didn't take long to find the Brambling in the trees and then an all-brown bird caught my attention. I watched it for a while until it flew off and I realised it was a Corn Bunting (lifer). As I was scanning the trees, the flock in the field got agitated and started flying away. I looked over to see a small brown falcon fly through the flock and then disappear along the field boundary. It didn't seem to chase the Chaffinches so I initially assumed it was a Kestrel. I didn't get a long look at the raptor but the realisation that there was no inner/outer wing contrast meant I had a female Merlin on my patch! My hangover meant I needed to get home for some food and drink. I headed out later for a walk around the patch but the flock and the Merlin were not re-found. The coast and moor produced a few new birds but I didn't manage to catch up with any owls (after being unable to identify one on a tree in the driveway)...
 
17 Waxwing briefly in the residential car park just south of Greyfriars House in the Gallowgate, Aberdeen between 14:00 and 14:15 this afternnoon. Feeding on some low bushes there.

Cheers
 
Glaucous Gulls. Peterhead harbour.

There are still 2 Glaucous Gulls around the harbour at 10.30 this morning. Both pics are the same bird.
 

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The next meeting of the SOC Grampian branch takes place this coming Monday. The speaker is Graham Rebecca, who will talk on “Hen Harriers and Merlins in NE 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.

Hugh Addlesee (Branch Secretary)
 
I braved the arctic winds of Buchan today and was rewarded with a male Hen Harrier near Hatton. It was the second I have seen in this general area this year, so perhaps the same individual.

On my way home this evening I saw a badger running up the side of the south deeside road near Banchory. Badgers are pretty widespread in Aberdeenshire, and I often find setts or see roadkill, but I think this was only about the fifth time I have seen a live badger in the north-east in over 20 years.
 

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Capercaillie71 said:
I braved the arctic winds of Buchan today and was rewarded with a male Hen Harrier near Hatton. It was the second I have seen in this general area this year, so perhaps the same individual.
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I had good views of a male Hen Harrier when driving between Collieston and Cruden Bay (think it was in November). Was very pleased to see it and it sounds worth coming up to have another look.
 
markhammonds said:
I had good views of a male Hen Harrier when driving between Collieston and Cruden Bay (think it was in November). Was very pleased to see it and it sounds worth coming up to have another look.
Click to expand...

Quite possibly the same bird I saw as it was the same general area (although you can never be sure how many might be there). I don't know how much area these birds cover in their winter haunts, but there was 4km of farmland between the two sightings I have had this year.
 
I enjoyed the calm weather on Saturday and had a walk around my local patch (near Findon). Out of the 39 species seen, the following were new for me this year: Coal Tit, Pied Wagtail, Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Redshank, Guillemot. Not very exciting, I know, but I was happy to finally catch up with some of the more common local species.

Mid-afternoon, I stopped at a pleasant spot overlooking the sea. The Fulmars were flying by pretty close, and there were plenty of Eider and Gulls out to sea. The sea was amazingly calm and my attention was caught by small "rafts" (5-10) of small black/white birds (Auk) that appeared about halfway between the land and horizon (although they must have been closer). I assumed Guillemot/Razorbill until one of these swam past and the birds in the raft appeared about half the size. Are the juvenile birds likely to be that size at this time of the year. Is anything else likely? (Guess I should post in the ID thread...)
 
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Stonefaction said:
Given the strong winds of late, I'd suspect that they were probably Little Auks. If so, great catch.
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Aye, maybe the winds of previous days had something to do with it. I can't remember where the wind was coming from before the weekend. The sea was superbly calm on Saturday and it would be nice if someone else saw similar birds out in the water.
 
Does anyone on here go birding at Blackdog regularly?

I visited in late September on my way to North Ronaldsay when we had some time to kill and managed to read some Eider colour rings. A lot of birds were sat around on the beach and I guess there were a lot more colour rings than the 4 we read.

I heard back today that 2 of the birds we saw had been rung as juvs in 1982 and '86! So was just wondering if the Eider hauling out here is a regular event and you always see colour rings here or did we just get lucky on the day we visited (20/09/12)

Cheers
 
timmyjones said:
Does anyone on here go birding at Blackdog regularly?

I visited in late September on my way to North Ronaldsay when we had some time to kill and managed to read some Eider colour rings. A lot of birds were sat around on the beach and I guess there were a lot more colour rings than the 4 we read.

I heard back today that 2 of the birds we saw had been rung as juvs in 1982 and '86! So was just wondering if the Eider hauling out here is a regular event and you always see colour rings here or did we just get lucky on the day we visited (20/09/12)

Cheers
Click to expand...

Blackdog always gets a substantial moulting flock of Eiders through the summer and into autumn. I would guess there are normally a few thousand birds there through that period, with smaller numbers for the rest of the year. They do some ringing at the Forvie colony I think, so it's not too surprising to see colour rings. There's lots of colour ringing done generally in northeast Scotland of many different species.
 
Ringed waxwing

Here's a ringed waxwing that was in my garden in Aberdeen this morning
 

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Plenty oystercatcher pairs around the ARI site just now - heard & seen! Must drive the patients mad!!

Chaffies also heard, & indeed the odd blackie too.

Spring is a-coming!
 

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