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Wild in Aberdeen - City and Shire (2 Viewers)

I had a very pleasant walk up Mither Tap this morning. Bit chilly up at the top with snow flurries but of course it is only mid May. Heard my first cuckoo of the year and had 23 species in total. Highlights were Red Squirrel and Redstart.
 
What are the conditions like on Lochnagar at the moment? I was planning on heading up there on either Friday or Saturday, but plans may need to be rearranged. The Cairngorm webcam over the last few days has looked, er, white - can I assume Lochnagar will be the same?

Thanks.
 
JamesA said:
What are the conditions like on Lochnagar at the moment? I was planning on heading up there on either Friday or Saturday, but plans may need to be rearranged. The Cairngorm webcam over the last few days has looked, er, white - can I assume Lochnagar will be the same?

Thanks.
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Yes, it was looking fairly white this morning when I glanced across at it from the Cairn o'Mount road.

No sign of SE Owls on the aforementioned road this morning, but there were 4 Black Grouse feeding right at the roadside on the south side between the summit and Clatterin' Brig.
 

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Loveley morning on Loch of Skene, Sunday, arrived just as mist lifting, all the usual suspects Great, Blue, Coal Tit, Long-tailed tit feeding fledgings in the canopy, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Buzzard off east end, plenty of Mute with the ' resident ' Whooper. quiet on the water, a few Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot and Common Gull, with Swift and Sand Martin aplenty. Heard a Cuckoo call from the South side woods, (twice) towards the 'Roman Boathouse'. Went over later but nothing seen or heard. Need some help with this little fella, a very rasping song, did capture a few seconds ov video, but bit big for uploading. Listening on RSPB site, seems to me like Sedge Warbler, but prepared to bow to the more knowledgable. Alos a couple of Terns, but looking in to the sun, very harsh " aaark " sounding, but that's all I could make out.

Jim.
 

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Capercaillie71 said:
Unbelievably it is actually snowing here this morning and settling above 250m.
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Home now, but yeah, we had a fair bit of snow. Early on Friday we drove up into Speyside - snow was on the roads down at 3-400m really early am but didn't last.

Had my black grouse in Glen Muick, and found that ptarmigan weren't nearly as difficult as I'd worried they might be once you got onto the tops. Brilliant stuff.
 
JamesA said:
Had my black grouse in Glen Muick, and found that ptarmigan weren't nearly as difficult as I'd worried they might be once you got onto the tops. Brilliant stuff.
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Glad you had a good trip. Today summer seems to have started with the warmest temperatures since the March heatwave - 16C! The snow should melt a fair bit this week.

I was just finishing cutting my grass as it got dark at 10pm when a roding woodcock flew over the garden. Nice, but a little unusual as we are surrounded by open fields.
 
Fantastic weather for being out and about today. I had some early morning fieldwork to do in the north of the county, the highlight of which was finding 8 singing Corn Buntings in 1 square kilometre of farmland near Turriff.

After I had finished my work I headed up to Troup Head for a look at the Gannets, before stopping in at the Loch of Strathbeg, where the highlights were a couple of Little Gulls, an Osprey over the loch and the Greater Yellowlegs. Unlike my last visit, the excellent light conditions today meant that its yellow legs stood out clearly even from a distance.

It was also good to see a few Stonechats on the north coast: they used to be common on Deeside before the winter of 2009-10, but it is an uncommon sight for me now.
 

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Totally off the bird track here but worthy of a mention I think.

I had a "face to face" encounter with a Fox on the new path to Marischal College,off Queen Street today.Nothing strange about that,I hear you say but this was at 5.10pm this afternoon,In broad daylight,with shoppers and office staff,busy going about their business..!

If anyone has any Information on the (breeding) Peregrine's In the city centre,can they possibly PM myself please ? I cant locate them on Marischal College,nor the Triple Kirks but have seen both birds frequently over the past 4 months.

The reason I ask is,In the case of planned work going ahead at Marischal College,I can alert Management and Contractors to the birds,should they be breeding.
 
I have finally emerged from the other side of my Higher exams, which has seen my birding time in the last few weeks being very limited. Today was my first full day's birding in a long while, and in short in was a well needed release from all previous exam stresses.

The Greater Yellowlegs remained at Strathbeg, visible from Tower Pool Hide. Starnafin produced a few other nice birds including two Little Gulls, a Little Ringed Plover, 2 Ruff , as well as a female Osprey and Marsh Harrier. 2 Whimbrels were on an otherwise quiet lagoon. The highlight however was the ornate looking drake Red-crested Pochard from the south end; my first in the region, associating with Mallards around the boathouse.

Had a quick stop off at the Ythan where from the Snub car park 8 Little Gulls were very nice - 6 1st summers, one sub adult and a cracking adult - taking the overall Little Gull total to 10. Blackdog provided idyllic viewing conditions for scoters, but barely produced any scoters. 2 Great Skuas did however head north. Despite being soporific at times, a very enjoyable day out.

Joseph
 

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Ben Nevis said:
Totally off the bird track here but worthy of a mention I think.

I had a "face to face" encounter with a Fox on the new path to Marischal College,off Queen Street today.Nothing strange about that,I hear you say but this was at 5.10pm this afternoon,In broad daylight,with shoppers and office staff,busy going about their business..!

If anyone has any Information on the (breeding) Peregrine's In the city centre,can they possibly PM myself please ? I cant locate them on Marischal College,nor the Triple Kirks but have seen both birds frequently over the past 4 months.

The reason I ask is,In the case of planned work going ahead at Marischal College,I can alert Management and Contractors to the birds,should they be breeding.
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I'm sure i heard that the triple kirks site had been cleared of the peregrines. sad news indeed if true. i think they also hang out at the huntly street cathedral.
 
Not posted for ages, but wondered if anyone in the south would be interested:

Common Crane (06:40) In field north of B974, immediately west of Marykirk.

It's always a pleasure waking up next to a beautiful long legged burd...

:)
 

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