Birds fae Torry (22 Viewers)

[JTweedie]

I always think Stock Doves look more similar to Wood Pigeons than Feral Pigeons.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

Rock Doves (or more precisely Feral Pigeons)

Shows how little I know.
These chaps looked so dapper in their morning suits and so similar. Not the usual hodgepodge of the ferals in our garden.
Yesterday I almost walked on this, nosing its way up the muddy path. Quite calm about me being within a couple of metres of it.

View attachment St Fitticks>Harbour 24,3,13 dunlin by Capstan history 143 comp cut .mov
And this morning, I didn't need to leave home to see some action.

View attachment GARDEN 24,3,14 frogs in pond 2 comp cut cut .mov

 

[Cucurrucucu]

I always think Stock Doves look more similar to Wood Pigeons than Feral Pigeons.

Yes, more even grey.
But they not so delicious!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Better weather here today, although a bit cold still. There was definitely a bit of an arrival of birds with three Lesser Black-backed Gulls now on the rooftops and several Meadow Pipits also appearing. At St Fittick's, there were nine Teal, three Water Rail, a Stock Dove, a Yellowhammer and two Redpolls. Nine Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck were in Nigg Bay. Offshore, plenty of auks and Kittiwakes were moving and three Harbour Porpoises surfaced. The female Red-breasted Merganser showed well again in the harbour.

 

[Ian Bell]

Lovely photos,Andrew.Believe It or not,I had a similar hair cut myself back In 1977/78 when I was a Punk.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

More springlike today and it proved to be reasonably interesting. St Fittick's held eight Teal, a Stock Dove, two Water Rails, and a Yellowhammer. It's not been good recently for Snipe (of any kind) but one was flushed from the edge of the marsh. I half-expected to hear a Chiffchaff near the concrete bridge but somewhat to my surprise I saw one instead, which turned out to be a Siberian Chiffchaff. It flitted about in the reeds for a bit before (I think) heading up to the embankment. In that area, I also saw a fairly normal looking Common Chiffchaff, which wasn't in the mood for singing. Seven Common Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck were in Nigg Bay, where my first Dunlin of the year careered around before heading north.

The headland was fairly quiet. Three Common Scoters went through offshore. A fairly early White Wagtail was along the wall near Walker Park. Lesser Black-backed Gulls are now up to at least six.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I had a look around late afternoon today, in fairly pleasant, mild conditions. Things were quiet around the headland, although the female Red-breasted Merganser was still in the harbour. Six Common Scoter and a Long-tailed Duck were in Nigg Bay. At dusk, a Sand Martin appeared around the marsh in St Fittick's, presumably to roost. I think it's probably my earliest ever record here.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

Not our patch but Saturday there were pairs of mergansers, goldeneyes, long-tailed and goosanders below Bridge of Don. (Worth the 10 km walk to get to the Farmers' Market.)
Today the highlight was your sand martin flitting over Bay of Nigg. It had clearly been listening to Bill Oddie's Tweet of the Day on Sunday.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

pairs of mergansers, goldeneyes, long-tailed and goosanders below Bridge of Don.

Bridge envy!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A bright but windy day. I headed off around the headland late afternoon and soon had some success when I noticed an Iceland Gull in amongst the other gulls along the north shore below the allotments. It was a bright eyed 3rd calendar year bird, and seemed quite happy, preening and mooching about among the seaweed. It's my first here since January 2023.

Not too much else was seen in the wind. Three Long-tailed Ducks were in Aberdeen Bay and nine Common Scoters were in Nigg Bay. Eight Teal were in the marsh at St Fittick's.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A windy day today, with a lot of squally showers at times. Despite the weather, four Chiffchaffs were singing around St Fittick's. Other birds there included four Teal, four Stock Doves, a Kestrel, two Goldcrests, four Redpolls and a Yellowhammer. I had, by recent standards, quite good views of a Water Rail from the concrete bridge. Nine Common Scoters were in Nigg Bay and another three were offshore. Two Ravens appeared later over St Fittick's and Tullos Hill. Otherwise, things were pretty quiet, although the dolphins were coming very far into the harbour, even heading quite a way up the River Dee channel.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Another windy, showery day, although the wind had moved round more to the north. The headland was quiet but there was a good movement of commoner seabirds offshore. Kittiwakes were moving in large numbers, with over 2000 estimated north in an hour. Two Common Scoters were on the sea and a Long-tailed Duck also flew north. Nine Common Scoters were still in Nigg Bay, along with my first Black Guillemot of the year. Hopefully, the latter will stay around through the spring. St Fittick's produced nine Teal, two Water Rails, three Chiffchaffs, a Stock Dove, a Goldcrest, two Siskins, a Redpoll and two Yellowhammers.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

One or two siskins in the garden this week. Doesn't often happen.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A fairly pleasant, mild day today. I had a reasonable look around. St Fittick's held a fairly typical array of things, including eight Teal, a Pheasant, six Chiffchaffs, two Goldcrests, a Redwing and two Yellowhammers. Eight Common Scoters were in Nigg Bay and three more passed offshore, along with two Long-tailed Ducks. Not too much else about, although it feels as though more arrivals will come in over the weekend.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Quite sunny again today, but breezier than yesterday. I looked around the headland first. A Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff along the north bank suggested there might have been a small arrival of migrants. Things were generally quiet otherwise, with two Long-tailed Ducks offshore the best of it. Another was in Nigg Bay with the nine Common Scoters. Seven Chiffchaffs were around St Fittick's, where there were also six Teal and a Yellowhammer. A Peacock butterfly was my first of the year.

 

[Flycatcher 123]

I've not visited Girdleness very much, so I'm not very familiar with it.
Could anyone help with figuring out where to go for which birds? - Migrants, Auks, Gulls, Snipes and Rails etc.
A map attached would help!
Thanks!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I've not visited Girdleness very much, so I'm not very familiar with it.
Could anyone help with figuring out where to go for which birds? - Migrants, Auks, Gulls, Snipes and Rails etc.
A map attached would help!
Thanks!

There are two main areas. One is the headland, which extends from the east end of Torry to the lighthouse, and then St Fittick's Park, which is inland from Nigg Bay on the south side of Torry.

For seabirds, go to the east end of the headland. Seawatching is best from around the foghorn. A scope is helpful, but you should see auks, Kittiwakes, Gannets etc. with binoculars. Migrants can potentially be anywhere. Torry Battery is good, as are the allotments and the north bank. Open areas can pick up things like Wheatears. St Fittick's is also good for migrants but there is so much cover they can be hard to find there. That's also the place for Snipe and Jack Snipe, although there haven't been many lately. Some may appear in the next few weeks but they can be tricky to spot. Water Rails are there and are often easy to hear. This winter, they've been a bit difficult to see because of high water levels. Winter is always best for seeing them.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A really pleasant day in Torry, with quite warm sun and very light winds. I had a good walk around but, again, nothing really notable appeared. Chiffchaffs were very numerous with at least 10 around St Fittick's, eight of which were singing. For the second day running, another was singing along the north bank of the headland. Other birds at St Fittick's were five Teal, two Water Rails, a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker, two Goldcrests, two Redpolls and a Yellowhammer. Also of note was the first Tree Bumblebee I've seen here.

Otherwise, things were quiet, although large numbers of commoner seabirds were gathered offshore. Twelve Long-tailed Ducks were in Aberdeen Bay.

 

[Flycatcher 123]

There are two main areas. One is the headland, which extends from the east end of Torry to the lighthouse, and then St Fittick's Park, which is inland from Nigg Bay on the south side of Torry.

For seabirds, go to the east end of the headland. Seawatching is best from around the foghorn. A scope is helpful, but you should see auks, Kittiwakes, Gannets etc. with binoculars. Migrants can potentially be anywhere. Torry Battery is good, as are the allotments and the north bank. Open areas can pick up things like Wheatears. St Fittick's is also good for migrants but there is so much cover they can be hard to find there. That's also the place for Snipe and Jack Snipe, although there haven't been many lately. Some may appear in the next few weeks but they can be tricky to spot. Water Rails are there and are often easy to hear. This winter, they've been a bit difficult to see because of high water levels. Winter is always best for seeing them.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Was out today, in much colder, greyer weather. I was showing someone around, so didn't see too much, but a Black Guillemot was again in Nigg Bay.