Wild in Aberdeen - City and Shire (2 Viewers)

[TheSeagull]

Well done, sounds like a great day. Any more details on the Ptarmigan and Golden Eagle?

Well one of my great birding habits is to birdwatch in the car when there is no chance of a certain ID or binocular usage. So the possible "Ptarmigan" was certainly a species of gamebird and the "Golden Eagle" was certainly a large bird of prey at a very high altitude.
Anyway I walked the green trail at Abernethy Forest and all I got out of it was nice scenery, an ant hill, some ducks, Great and Blue Tits and a possible Crested Tit. At Loch Garten there were Siskin, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Osprey and Red Squirrel. My parents though must stay and conform within the boundaries of a suggested path route so no mice, voles, Capercaillie or Wildcat sadly but I wasn't expecting any.

 

[Ken Hall]

Well one of my great birding habits is to birdwatch in the car when there is no chance of a certain ID or binocular usage. So the possible "Ptarmigan" was certainly a species of gamebird and the "Golden Eagle" was certainly a large bird of prey at a very high altitude.
Anyway I walked the green trail at Abernethy Forest and all I got out of it was nice scenery, an ant hill, some ducks, Great and Blue Tits and a possible Crested Tit. At Loch Garten there were Siskin, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Osprey and Red Squirrel. My parents though must stay and conform within the boundaries of a suggested path route so no mice, voles, Capercaillie or Wildcat sadly but I wasn't expecting any.

I'm jealous now, all I've done today was go Glenkindie House gardens. House Martins still have young in the nests on the house. Ptarmigan are found only above about 800m, probably higher at this time of year, so maybe the game bird you saw was a Red Grouse or a Black Grouse. Red Grouse on heather moorland, Black Grouse the same, or maybe rough grass with some trees.

 

[TheSeagull]

I'm jealous now, all I've done today was go Glenkindie House gardens. House Martins still have young in the nests on the house. Ptarmigan are found only above about 800m, probably higher at this time of year, so maybe the game bird you saw was a Red Grouse or a Black Grouse. Red Grouse on heather moorland, Black Grouse the same, or maybe rough grass with some trees.

Well it was beside the Leicht Ski Centre, how high is that? And I can't find a Highlands thread, is there one?

 

[Ken Hall]

Well it was beside the Leicht Ski Centre, how high is that? And I can't find a Highlands thread, is there one?

Not quite high enough for Ptarmigan, and probably too high for Black Grouse, which leaves Red Grouse. I've seen lots of them at the roadside around the Lecht Ski Centre, so almost certainly what you saw. Nice one! Good place for Snow Buntings too, in the winter. They come to the car park for scraps.

 

[Ken Hall]

Link to Highland and Moray forum here: http://highlandandmoraywildlife.freeforums.org/index.php

 

[Ken Hall]

Today at the Ythan estuary, wader numbers are building up steadily:

From the old lifeboat shed up to the golf shelter - lots of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers. a few Sanderling, 1 Ruff, 1 Peregrine, and loads of terns.

At The Inches - 1 Whimbrel, numerous Curlews and Redshanks, and 1 Osprey.

At the topmost car park - flock of about 300 Golden Plovers, and the same of Lapwings.

plus the usual Grey Herons and gulls and Eiders everywhere.

 

[TheSeagull]

Can anyone tell me here if there is a domestic cat breed that has almost identical fur pattern as a Wildcat? Because I seen a cat with identical pattern in amongst the Tesco Westhill Recycling Bins...

 

[Ken Hall]

yes, the domestic tabby cat is very similar to the Scottish Wild Cat. The most obvious difference is it doesn't have the long thick tail, and its a bit smaller.

 

[choughed2bits]

Just received a text from ABZ rare birds:

re: Closure of Loch of Strathbeg.

"Following strong winds this morning a bough from one of the large trees in the car park has snapped and is hanging loose over the car park. We have closed the reserve until we get a tree surgeon on to site to make the tree safe. Apologies for the inconvenience this may cause."

Thought it might help to pass this info on here. Unless of course its a total bluff and they are hiding some ultra rare mega or something!

k

 

[choughed2bits]

Went for a stroll along the bank of the Ythan just opposite Newburgh. Plenty of good stuff - most notable were the 200 or so sandwich tern and over 100 golden plover.

k

 

[Joseph N]

Just received a text from ABZ rare birds:

re: Closure of Loch of Strathbeg.

"Following strong winds this morning a bough from one of the large trees in the car park has snapped and is hanging loose over the car park. We have closed the reserve until we get a tree surgeon on to site to make the tree safe. Apologies for the inconvenience this may cause."

Thought it might help to pass this info on here. Unless of course its a total bluff and they are hiding some ultra rare mega or something!

k

Oh that's not good! Hope its open by the weekend so my Dad and I can go there.

 

[choughed2bits]

Strathbeg Closure UPDATE:

"Works to remove the offending tree should be completed by lunch time tomorrow. Will update everyone as soon as there is any further news"

Again, hope that helps.


k

 

[choughed2bits]

Subject: [ABZ-Rare-Birds] RSPB Loch of Strathbeg update


Following work on the damaged tree in the car park, the reserve and
Visitor Centre are now fully open again.

Sightings so far today include: Little Egret, two Marsh Harrier and
stacks of waders, including 17 Ruff, 11 Greenshank and 26 Black-tailed
Godwits.


David Parnaby
Visitor & Publicity Officer
Loch of Strathbeg & Grampian Reserves



Think i might pop up after work.

k

 

[Joseph N]

Good to hear its fully open again. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it this weekend, but I'll be up there again soon.

 

[Ken Hall]

I stopped off yesterday at the Den of Maidencraig, on my way home from Girdleness. It has gone a bit quiet now. 10 Swallows twittering past, 2 Magpies, several Willow Warblers calling, though I couldn't see any of them, and a Grey Heron in the long vegetation by the pool. The Mallard youngsters have grown a bit, and there are still 5 of them which is encouraging. They were on the only bit of short grass by the pool and when they saw me, they swam across to say hello. Someone must be feeding them. The wild rasps are still plentiful, and I had my first brambles of the autumn.

Further west, the ducks on the roadside pool at Cullerlie are steadily building in numbers. 21 Teal and 35 Mallards.

 

[TheSeagull]

I stopped off yesterday at the Den of Maidencraig, on my way home from Girdleness. It has gone a bit quiet now. 10 Swallows twittering past, 2 Magpies, several Willow Warblers calling, though I couldn't see any of them, and a Grey Heron in the long vegetation by the pool. The Mallard youngsters have grown a bit, and there are still 5 of them which is encouraging. They were on the only bit of short grass by the pool and when they saw me, they swam across to say hello. Someone must be feeding them. The wild rasps are still plentiful, and I had my first brambles of the autumn.

Further west, the ducks on the roadside pool at Cullerlie are steadily building in numbers. 21 Teal and 35 Mallards.

There's an old couple who feed them bread everyday, I wonder how they manage the hill :smoke:
Just had a walk through the local woods where I seen squirrels, no idea if they're red, grey or some sort of hybrid.
http://picasaweb.google.com/CalvinMacKinnon/Mammals#5372799018872153970
http://picasaweb.google.com/CalvinMacKinnon/Mammals#5372799032443296882
http://picasaweb.google.com/CalvinMacKinnon/Mammals#5372799037569366450

 

[Ken Hall]

There's an old couple who feed them bread everyday, I wonder how they manage the hill :smoke:
Just had a walk through the local woods where I seen squirrels, no idea if they're red, grey or some sort of hybrid.
http://picasaweb.google.com/CalvinMacKinnon/Mammals#5372799018872153970
http://picasaweb.google.com/CalvinMacKinnon/Mammals#5372799032443296882
http://picasaweb.google.com/CalvinMacKinnon/Mammals#5372799037569366450

don't mock the elderly lad, you'll be old one day.o

I reckon your squirrels are greys. Where was the wood? Hazlehead? There are reds in Carnie Woods.

 

[TheSeagull]

don't mock the elderly lad, you'll be old one day.o

I reckon your squirrels are greys. Where was the wood? Hazlehead? There are reds in Carnie Woods.

It was Sheddocksley Woods, I thought it might be a winter coat Red but haven't seen one here for about 8 years.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I had a fairly lengthy jaunt up the coast today, beginning at the Ythan and then heading up to Strathbeg. I was hoping to improve on my wader day list record for the autumn (16 from the Ythan last week) by going up to Strathbeg, although by the end of the day I'd only managed 14 species! The Ythan was okay, with two Ospreys perched on some low posts north of the bridge. 5 Snipe flew up Foveran Burn but otherwise the waders were numerous but not especially diverse. The red adult Knots from a few weeks ago had largely been replaced by lots of buffy looking juveniles. There were a few immaculate looking juvenile Sanderlings too.

There were loads of birds at Starnafin pools, particularly Teal and Lapwing. Also there were 5 Barnacle Geese, 19 Ruff, 17 Black-tailed and 1 Bar-tailed Godwits, 6 Greenshank and 1 Knot. A couple of Marsh Harriers were drifting about over the marshes, regularly putting up the Lapwing.

 

[Capercaillie71]

Just had a walk through the local woods where I seen squirrels, no idea if they're red, grey or some sort of hybrid.

They are indeed Grey Squirrels - hopefully soon to be eradicated . Red and Grey Squirrels don't hybridise.