Our home for the next week is a delightful cottage overlooking Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire Scotland, arriving on Saturday evening. We spent our first day just chilling out locally, enjoying a long beach walk in the morning and heading just a few miles further up the coast to explore the harbours of Peterhead.
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| Juvenile Eider Duck ~ Plenty around here! |
This area has some excellent sea watching opportunities and also holds large concentrations of
Eider Ducks and there was certainly plenty around the bay during our walk.
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| Possible Scandinavian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis) |
Also of note was a possible Scandinavian
Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis) found by Dazza along the inlet at Cruden Bay but I'm no expert!
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| Purple Sandpipers at Gadel Braes |
Today we visited RSPB Loch of Strathbeg, only a short drive from the cottage. Firstly, a stop at the rocky sandstone shoreline along Gadel Braes, Peterhead. This is a great spot to sea watch from the comfort of the car and along with two
Red-throated Divers more
Eiders and
Shags offshore at least a dozen
Purple Sandpipers with the foraging
Oystercatchers,
Turnstones and
Redshanks.
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| Gorgeous Hen Harrier passing the Dunbar Hide |
RSPB Loch of Strathbeg has a large population of
Tree Sparrows around the small visitor centre and well worth a look. At this time of year too, there are good numbers of
Pink-footed Geese and
Whooper Swans. It's also a great place to find wintering
Hen Harriers and we were not disappointed. Huge flocks of
Golden Plover and
Wigeon seemed to be constantly on the move, mostly put up by at least six
Common Buzzards,
Marsh Harrier and
Hen Harrier. We also managed a quick view of
Merlin, which flashed through while chasing a flock of
Linnet.
More Images of the Day!
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| Golden Plover |
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| Pink-footed Geese |
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| Whooper Swan in the evening light |
