Wild in Aberdeen - City and Shire (2 Viewers)

[RecoveringScot]

First Red Kite of the year at Cults from NW in a long rapid glide ESE to roughly the area of Inchgarth Res. at 11a.m. Buzzard sightings have increased recently though not in any numbers, usually singles. Birdsong still on and off on account of the low temps, I think. Mainly Blackbird, Sparrow and Chaffinch so far. Odd visits by Coal Tit and Blue Tit etc. Last week there were up to 300 Pinkfeet moving NE on a couple of days.

 

[RecoveringScot]

Cults 08:45 (Summer Time) this morning an unexpected fast moving compact flock of about 70 Redwing low over the building going roughly WSW, the first I have seen here since December. Other recent highlights include Kestrel (now rare compared to when I was starting out in the 70s), and singing Song Thrush (ditto). 4 Buzzard yesterday and a couple this morning. Wood Pigeon, Sparrow and Blue Tit well advanced in nesting. Anxiously awaiting Short-toed Eagle, but the feeling is that disappointment awaits this year, again. Will have to content myself with Kites and occasional Osprey.

 

[RecoveringScot]

First House Martin of the spring, 5 minutes ago over its usual hunting spot around the trees at the back of South Avenue, Cults, Aberdeen. somewhat earlier than they used to appear in the centre of town in previous years. Other recent visitors are Goldcrest (twice), Coal Tit, and Pied Wagtail male. A dark, medium sized raptor yesterday was unIDed, as the flight action was not typical of Kite or Buzzard (no bins, eyes only). First I reckoned Kite, as the wings seemed kinked, but on its return it flapped rather like a Buzzard, though slightly faster than normal. Probably the latter.

 

[burnie]

Trip over the Cairn o'Mount in a howling gale, nothing seen at all, same on the return down the Netherly Road apart from corvids and a Herring Gull. Odd find in a pond of flood water not far from the Todhead lighthouse was a pair of Egyptian Geese.

 

[Hugh Addlesee]

Trip over the Cairn o'Mount in a howling gale, nothing seen at all, same on the return down the Netherly Road apart from corvids and a Herring Gull. Odd find in a pond of flood water not far from the Todhead lighthouse was a pair of Egyptian Geese.

Hi Burnie, your Egyptian Geese are a very good record. There have only been a few sightings so far in NE Scotland and it's actually a description species for the region, with various other wildfowl species & hybrids obviously needing to be excluded. Did you get any photos or would you be able to do a description? Where exactly were they?

 

[burnie]

Opposite Lower Crowhillock farm, not far from Kinneff church with a pair of African Geese?

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[Hugh Addlesee]

Opposite Lower Crowhillock farm, not far from Kinneff church with a pair of African Geese?

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Thanks Burnie. Based on the company they were keeping and the Google image, perhaps more likely of local origin than pioneers from the feral population further south. Useful to know though.

 

[RecoveringScot]

09:05 Cults Lovely morning, as I gazed with shielded eyes into the bright sunshine. Everything normal, Blue Tits, Pigeon and sparrows, the usual Wood Pigeon as a dark shape at the top of a particular tree from which it regularly sings, when I heard the plaintive 'pee-oo' of a Buzzard. This continued for a minute or so as I looked at the sky to try and spot it. Couldn't see it, and then the 'Wood Pigeon' suddenly took off going west and suddenly revealed itself by its flight as a Jay. This is only the 2nd time in 23 years I've seen Jay in Aberdeen, the previous time many years ago when 3 passed my house in Union Grove going west, a record that rather startled me at the time. IIRC that was around about October. So No. 63 is in the bag!

 

[burnie]

Thanks Burnie. Based on the company they were keeping and the Google image, perhaps more likely of local origin than pioneers from the feral population further south. Useful to know though.

I thought that might be the case, I have family in Norfolk and they are well established on the Broads, I think it was in the 1980's when I first remember them, those African Geese(don't know their latin name) are also more common, no doubt they might spread around as well.

 

[RecoveringScot]

Well, well. After years of seeing no Jays in Aberdeen itself this morning at Cults at 10.04 4 Jays arrived in a sort of loose, well-spaced flock, flying in, in no hurry, from the N and moving S over my building, calling as they went. Where had they come from? Unlikely to be spring migrants, I'm sure.

 

[RecoveringScot]

3 Jays east this time at Cults at c. 09:30 this morning roughly parallel with South Avenue. There wasn't even a hint of them last year, but they seem to be about the area this year. Previously I had read somewhere that 'there are plenty of Jays on Deeside', but I'd always thought they would be further inland for some reason.

 

[RecoveringScot]

2 probable White Wagtail this morning at Cults (noticeable black cap with clear distinction from neat light-mushroom-grey back). Also 2 Pied Wagtails around, though those are regulars. House Martin have shot up from 1 yesterday to an exciting 4 today. No Swallows or Sand Martins so far. Also seen Sparrowhawk and all the usual regulars. Collared Dove has returned this week. But skies still largely empty, with a dearth of things moving, except Common and Herring Gulls and the odd Rook and Jackdaw.

 

[RecoveringScot]

Just to confirm it's officially summer today as I saw 1 Swallow last night and another today at Cults. Sparrowhawk the only other notable occurrence. This is one of the slowest springs I've seen for a few years. I'm reduced to finding even Herring Gulls interesting.

 

[delia todd]

Swallows and Martins arriving in numbers on my Patch now.

 

[RecoveringScot]

Swallows and Martins arriving in numbers on my Patch now.

Interesting. This is really late for Swallows which in my experience used to reach E.Scotland on about the 16th April, give or take a few days either side, with a noticeable increase in the following two weeks. Not to even glimpse one till May is tribute to the lousy strong northerlies we've been having this spring. As to House Martins I confess that as a townie they usually wouldn't make themselves conspicuous in my previous home till early May anyway, and even then they didn't breed locally to me (always seen at a distance).

 

[delia todd]

I think we saw one about 3 weeks ago, but it was so quick we really didn't get our eyes on it properly. But that was all until today really.

 

[RecoveringScot]

Better day today at Cults. About 15:50 spotted a number of gulls circling high, and they were followed by 6 Buzzard, all going north (3, 2, 1) within 10 minutes, the about 5 minutes later a Red Kite (missing some secondaries on the right wing) appeared over the building not too high with another Buzzard nearby, circled for a minute or two and then moved back SW. After another few minutes a single female Sparrowhawk passed by lower down, again going SW. 2 Buzzards re-appeared from the north about the same time.

Earlier in the day Greenfinch (3) feeding actually in the gardens with 2 Goldfinch, and 2 Pied Wagtails also about at same time. House Martins have doubled to 8.

 

[Andy Strachan]

A new first for me and on my own patch which is a bonus. It only took me 6 days to realise what it was! I snapped it on the 24th. It was far away, didn't call, just sat still for a few seconds while I snapped some pics before it gently popped down the other side of tree out of sight. I just viewed the pics on the back of the cam and seen the eye stripe and thought sedge warbler. There was a slight nagging though.. it didn't behave like one. I wasn't satisfied, but I just couldn't think of anything else, and a quick skim through warblers in my book didn't give me anything. I just left it at that. It wasn't until I actually seen Andrew Whitehouse's female bluethroat picture this evening where I thought "woah woah woah.. could it be..?!" I just remembered the bold supercilium, a bit of head striping and the fact that it didn't seem to be a warbler. Could this be my SECOND bluethroat! I hadn't considered a female! I uploaded the pics to my computer, and immediately confirmed it was a chat, not a warbler! BUT... that's where the excitement ended as pretty quickly I realised that what I had was actually a Whinchat, not a Bluethroat
Can't stop the mind running a bit wild sometimes!

Still, chuffed to get a new patch tick and see a new bird, ken fit like.
This was in the fields by Dales Park School in Peterhead.

I've discovered a woodpecker nest with young in it nearby also. So chucked in some photo's of the male and female woodpecker delivering food to the nest.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

A new first for me and on my own patch which is a bonus. It only took me 6 days to realise what it was! I snapped it on the 24th. It was far away, didn't call, just sat still for a few seconds while I snapped some pics before it gently popped down the other side of tree out of sight. I just viewed the pics on the back of the cam and seen the eye stripe and thought sedge warbler. There was a slight nagging though.. it didn't behave like one. I wasn't satisfied, but I just couldn't think of anything else, and a quick skim through warblers in my book didn't give me anything. I just left it at that. It wasn't until I actually seen Andrew Whitehouse's female bluethroat picture this evening where I thought "woah woah woah.. could it be..?!" I just remembered the bold supercilium, a bit of head striping and the fact that it didn't seem to be a warbler. Could this be my SECOND bluethroat! I hadn't considered a female! I uploaded the pics to my computer, and immediately confirmed it was a chat, not a warbler! BUT... that's where the excitement ended as pretty quickly I realised that what I had was actually a Whinchat, not a Bluethroat
Can't stop the mind running a bit wild sometimes!

Still, chuffed to get a new patch tick and see a new bird, ken fit like.
This was in the fields by Dales Park School in Peterhead.

I've discovered a woodpecker nest with young in it nearby also. So chucked in some photo's of the male and female woodpecker delivering food to the nest.

Nice! I've actually seen more Bluethroats than Whinchats in Aberdeen this year, so I think you did pretty well there .

 

[aberdeenshirebirdtours]

A nice surprise this morning near Belhelvie in Aberdeenshire. An alert on BirdGuides suggested a couple of European Bee-eaters had been seen in the area first thing, but no further details were given. I decided to head across as I live not too far from there.

Having driven around the area for a few minutes a movement near some pine trees caught my eye (through the rain and windscreen wipers!) and a quick look through the binoculars confirmed a Bee-eater. I stopped and parked, checked again and noted there were now 4, and by the time I got my scope out, I realised there were 7! After putting out an alert on the local WhatsApp, a few other birders started to arrive, and we eventually counted 8 at one time.

A very unexpected, and spectacular sighting.