Birds fae Torry (5 Viewers)

[Cucurrucucu]

Risso's Dolphins

Very jealous.
But I don't think I could carry your volume of tech around to see that far out.
So many turnstones and ringed plovers - scared off the South Breakwater by the men come to fix the light.
Please could you post a picture of the knot so I can pick it out?
What else did you see on Greyhope rocks?
Somebody said there had been a golden plover but I couldn't see one.
Was that a juvenile common tern?

View attachment HARBOUR 24,9,15 turnstone, ringed plovers, redshanks, tern, purple sandpipers, Greyhope 43 c...movWhat else was there? Purple sandpipers?

Weren't the dung beetles impressive? But did make you feel the need to keep your mouth closed as they swarmed around!
Also, a brown morph magpie has been coming into the garden all week. Are they common?

(Three badgers at once at our door tonight. We must have four regulars at least. Last year's baby still looks quite fluffy and the new one is half-sized.)

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Very jealous.
But I don't think I could carry your volume of tech around to see that far out.
So many turnstones and ringed plovers - scared off the South Breakwater by the men come to fix the light.
Please could you post a picture of the knot so I can pick it out?
What else did you see on Greyhope rocks?
Somebody said there had been a golden plover but I couldn't see one.
Was that a juvenile common tern? View attachment 1602065

View attachment 1602062What else was there? Purple sandpipers?

Weren't the dung beetles impressive? View attachment 1602066 But did make you feel the need to keep your mouth closed as they swarmed around!
Also, a brown morph magpie has been coming into the garden all week. Are they common?
View attachment 1602067
(Three badgers at once at our door tonight. We must have four regulars at least. Last year's baby still looks quite fluffy and the new one is half-sized.)

The tern is a rather sickly juvenile Arctic Tern, which has been around for a few days at least. I'm not optimistic about its chances. Don't know if I have a picture of any of the Knot. They tend to be juveniles at the moment. They look quite scaly, like this bird:

Red Knot Photos and Videos for, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

<p>Red Knots are plump, neatly proportioned sandpipers that in summer sport brilliant terracotta-orange underparts and intricate gold, buff, rufous, and black upperparts. This cosmopolitan species occurs on all continents except Antarctica and migrates exceptionally long distances, from High...

www.allaboutbirds.org

I guess the brown Magpies might be colour bleaching, which is fairly common in corvids.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

What causes colour bleaching? Actual bleaching?
The colouration on this magpie is symmetric so, I assume genetic.
Also had a magpie without any tail feathers. Didn't look like a fledgling. Would have thought an accident wouldn't take all the tail feathers. It didn't slow it down at all. It was too fast to photograph.
We've had one with a large, dangly bald cyst hanging off its shoulder coming into the garden for years.
It has just shown up again with the rest of its family and a few jackdaws to see off the sparrow hawk which, we think, is trying to return to a kill under the tree.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

Struggling to make the Forum work at the moment. It keeps logging me out or not letting me upload files.
But here is the magpie with the lump. Looks as though its whole side has a bulge. But it is healthy. The photo was from over a year ago.

 

[delia todd]

It's a form of leucism. In this case a reduction of the black pigment. You can read more about it in the Opus article: Dictionary G-L - BirdForum Opus

 

[delia todd]

Struggling to make the Forum work at the moment. It keeps logging me out or not letting me upload files.
But here is the magpie with the lump. Looks as though its whole side has a bulge. But it is healthy. The photo was from over a year ago.

It sounds like a browser issue, I think.

Can you post in the Site Notice Board about it, someone more knowledgeable than me is more likely to see it and put you on the right tracks to sort it out.

 

[Cucurrucucu]

It's a form of leucism.

Hadn't heard the term "bleaching" before. Leucism I know a bit about but the BF bit about using schizochroism with prefixes describing which pigment is changed and in which direction is very interesting. Thank you!
Albino cats tend to be deaf. Something to do with the that gene forms the aural nerve pathway.
We had a cat with one blue and one green eye. (He was called Oddie, not for his love of birds but because of his odd eyes although many specimens in the Tasmanian Museum has a tags saying it was "collected" by Mr Oddie.)
We could never tell if he was deaf in one ear. Cornell Feline Health Center tells me he probably was.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I had a stroll around the headland this evening. It was sunny but a bit cool, with a brisk southerly wind. The best bird was seen fairly early, with another Mediterranean Gull. This one was along the north shore below the allotments. It definitely seemed to be a different bird to the one on Friday, with a more obviously bicoloured bill. A Knot was in Greyhope Bay and a Wheatear on the golf course. Offshore, things were quiet, although there was a distant Arctic Skua and five Arctic Terns. Of most note was a very substantial arrival of Kittiwakes, with thousands around. It's easily the most I've seen all year (and possibly for a couple of years).

 

[Cucurrucucu]

Mediterranean Gull.

How do you tell the difference when there isn't a black-headed standing next to it?

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

How do you tell the difference when there isn't a black-headed standing next to it?

As is often the case, there are a lot of small differences but relatively few big differences, at least for juvenile/ 1st winter birds like this. It actually looks more like a juvenile Common Gull in some ways. It's a bit stockier than a Black-headed with darker legs, a thicker bill and more extensive brown on the wing coverts. The dusky 'mask' on the head can be quite distinctive, although it's not as pronounced in this bird than in some. This bird actually seems quite advanced for its age (just a few months old).

Some helpful pictures and commentary here:

https://www.birdguides.com/articles/species-profiles/focus-on-mediterranean-gulls/

 

[Cucurrucucu]

actually seems quite advanced for its age (just a few months old).

You sound like a proud father!
Thanks for the info.
Saw nothing what so ever of interest this morning. Not nuffink.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

The weather remains quite pleasant with clear blue skies and light winds, which are starting to turn easterly. I wondered if there might be some migrants in when I rounded the headland this evening, but nothing obvious was about except for a Wheatear on the golf course. The Kingfisher reappeared in Greyhope Bay to give some pleasing views. It blended in surprisingly well with the rocks. Not much was offshore, although there seemed to be quite a few feeding flocks in the distance, which included an Arctic Skua. Five Red-breasted Mergansers flew south. As I returned, five Wigeon had appeared in Greyhope Bay. Of most note were a group of three Mute Swans that flew low overhead as the sun set. I was getting worried I wasn't going to see any here this year, so this was a bit of a relief.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Conditions looked promising today with an easterly wind, and overcast, slightly misty conditions. I had a look around the headland late afternoon but it turned out fairly uneventful. I tried looking for migrants but found nothing. A Snipe flew over and three Knot were roosting on the breakwater. We did at least have some movement on the Purple Sandpiper Totaliser:

40

Offshore, not a lot was happening. There were three Arctic Skuas, five Manx Shearwaters (my first of the month, amazingly), and a Harbour Porpoise. Hopefully, things will pick up over the weekend.

 

[delia todd]

Of most note were a group of three Mute Swans that flew low overhead as the sun set. I was getting worried I wasn't going to see any here this year, so this was a bit of a relief.

What have you been feeding them on Andrew..... carrots!!!?

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

What have you been feeding them on Andrew..... carrots!!!?

That's what a nice low sun can do for one's plumage!

 

[delia todd]

Perhaps it'll do the same for my hair then, it'll maybe cover the grey LOL

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A grey day with a north-easterly blowing and a certain amount of promise in the air. It turned out interesting but fairly hard work. Initially, I looked for migrants but there was really nothing about and no one else seemed to be finding anything. A Knot, two Kestrels, a Mistle Thrush, and a Wheatear were about all I could see around the headland. I spent a while seawatching with others. It was fairly quiet for birds, with a Bonxie, an Arctic Skua, three Manx Shearwaters and seven Wigeon about the best. It was better for cetaceans though. In addition to a couple of Harbour Porpoises, a few Risso's Dolphins were heading north a mile or two out and then later I twice saw a Minke Whale surface as it went south.

I had a good look around St Fittick's, again hoping for migrants. There were a several Chiffchaffs and a rather pale looking juvenile Blackcap but nothing else on that front. Other birds included a Redpoll, three Stock Doves and calling Water Rail and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I popped out again in the evening, mainly to seawatch. There was a reasonable passage with 58 Manx Shearwaters, three Arctic Skuas and, rather belatedly, my first Sooty Shearwater of the year.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Today was also quite grey with a fairly light north-easterly. I was out most of the day and saw a fair variety of stuff but it remained challenging in terms of migrants. I spent an hour or so seawatching in the morning and did a bit more mid-afternoon. There was a bit of movement, particularly of ducks and divers. Final totals for the day included 37 Wigeon, 22 Teal and 33 Red-throated Divers. Four Sooty Shearwaters went north, one of them fairly close in. Also moving were 14 Manx Shearwaters, two Bonxies, and eight Arctic Skuas. A Bar-tailed Godwit going north was also notable.

I spent a while rummaging around St Fittick's but it was pretty quiet today. A Teal was along the burn and eight Redpolls was a good count.

Back around the headland there were two Wheatears and also a pair of Stonechats west of the Battery, which was pleasing. A Sedge Warbler near the community garden was quite late and a Knot was roosting on the middle pier. Finally, after a whole weekend searching, a Yellow-browed Warbler appeared in the enticing boughs of The Sycamore Tree and showed nicely for a minute or two.

 

[Farnboro John]

While Andrew was absent late morning I found a Yellow-browed Warbler between the breakwater and car park. In the afternoon he happened by and I ticked a BF legend.

John

 

[delia todd]

and I ticked a BF legend.

Nice one John.... perhaps we need to wake up the BF200 thread LOL. I've a couple to add to it too.