A weekend in Aberdeenshire househunting gave the opportunity for some coastal birding in between viewings, culminating in a Sunday afternoon visit to RSPB Loch of Strathbeg before flying back late evening.
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Hooded Crow on the road while enjoying a coffee stop! |
Saturday we spent time around the Ythan Estuary where large numbers of
Eider had congregated and with the tide ebbing there were plenty of waders with large groups of
Oystercatchers, along with
Bar-tailed Godwits,
Sanderling,
Turnstone,
Grey Plovers and over fifty
Curlew!
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| Rock Pipit around Peterhead Harbour |
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| Shag at Peterhead Harbour |
Before heading off to Strathbeg on Sunday we stopped at the harbour at Peterhead to sift through the many Gulls, both
Glaucous and
Iceland can regularly be found around the fishing fleet. Unfortunately being Sunday there wasn't a lot of activity and so fewer Gulls but there was plenty on offer with many
Shags, small groups of
Eider and several
Rock Pipits.
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| Purple Sandpipers around the rocks at Gadel Braes |
Just around the corner from the harbour is Gadel Braes, a road which runs parallel to the rocky shoreline and a great place to stop and search for
Purple Sandpipers. It wasn't long before we managed to find at least eight feeding around the kelp. Offshore more
Eiders, a few fishing
Gannets,
Red-throated Diver and many
Shag.
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| Tree Sparrow at the visitor centre feeders |
We spent a few enjoyable hours at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg before heading off to the airport. Around the visitor centre feeders, a large population of
Tree Sparrows is still evident, along with some stunning male
Siskin but alas no
Brambling on this visit.
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| Siskin at Loch of Strathbeg |
There are still plenty of
Whooper Swans to be found, along with 1000s of
Pink-footed Geese and during our stay, a couple of
Hen Harriers and a single
Taiga Bean Goose were other highlights. As you would expect
Goldeneye were plentiful, along with small numbers of
Pintail but a distinct drop in
Wigeon numbers since our last visit in November.
