Thursday, September 30, 2021

πŸ“– RSPB Strathbeg Again!! πŸ‚ ~ 30/09/21

I hadn't expected to return to Strathbeg this week after Tuesday's visit but when a report came through this morning of the Greater Yellowlegs, now in its 3rd day, being joined by a Lesser Yellowlegs it was a no brainer! When I arrived at the site at around 10:30am it was blowing a hoolie but I made my way around to the bench area which overlooks Starnafin Pools and tucked in to try and avoid the wind.

Lesser Yellowlegs ~ I suppose that's why we call them waders!

There were actually more waders on the pools than I've seen of late with (8) Black-tailed Godwit, (2) Ruff, (11) Dunlin, (5) Snipe, (2) Greenshank, (2) Grey Plover, double-figure Lapwing and a single Pectoral Sandpiper. I could see the Greater Yellowlegs feeding behind some grass tufts but at this point no sign of the Lesser Yellowlegs

Wonderful record shot of Lesser & Greater Yellowlegs.

Glad to say that after a short wait I finally had eyes on the Lesser Yellowlegs and after waiting for what seemed an age I managed to snap a few record shots of both feeding together reasonably close by. A mind-blowing few hours with three Nearctic waders on one pool, not sure how often that's happened in the UK if at all!

More Record Shots of the Yellowlegs...







Tuesday, September 28, 2021

πŸ“– RSPB Strathbeg πŸ‚ ~ 28/09/21

πŸ‚Tuesday, September 28th ⛅️ 14C ~ A visit to RSPB Loch of Strathbeg this morning where unfortunately I failed to correctly identify a Greater Yellowlegs. Instead and despite having a few doubts when posting on birdguides early morning I decided it was more likely to be a Spotted Redshank. No excuses here though and well done to a chap called Andy Carroll who did identify the bird correctly later in the afternoon. Immediately after the word went out I knew it was the bird I'd photographed, so in a nutshell, I screwed up and we move on! Thankfully, lots of people got to see it and for me, it's a UK lifer, I've only ever seen them in Canada and the US in full summer plumage.

My first image of the Greater Yellowlegs 

It was actually a good day all around with thousands of Pink-footed Geese at Strathbeg, along with Whooper Swans, although the latter not in any large numbers yet. Ruff, Snipe, Dunlin and Greenshank were other waders, along with a single Little Egret. A walk down to the hides and around the Farmland Loop in the strong breeze didn't throw up anything unusual but there was a large flock of Linnet, lots of Meadow Pipit movement and a dozen or so Swallows passing through, plus a Chiffchaff back at the centre, where there's also a healthy population of Tree Sparrows. Despite the cool breeze, there was also plenty of Common Darter dragonfly's to be found.

Tricky one but I've logged this a Pomarine Skua

A stop for an hours sea watch at Peterhead proved to be well worth the effort with a huge flock of Golden Plover on the rocks below Skene Road. In the strong southerlies a decent passage of Red-throated Divers, I counted nineteen during my stay and what I've registered as a Pomarine Skua was the best of the bunch. Plenty of Gannets coming close in, including several juveniles and a single Velvet Scoter, flew south. Going in the opposite direction was two adult drake Long-tailed Ducks!

Sandwich Tern heading south

Sandwich Terns were passing south occasionally too and a small group of Common Scoter were seen at distance bouncing about in the waves. A good few Guillemots and the odd Razorbill were other notables, plus my first Purple Sandpiper of the autumn.

Images of the Day...

Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

Velvet Scoter → South

One of nineteen Red-throated Divers → South

Gannets → South

Golden Plover at Peterhead

Meadow Pipit ~ Strathbeg

Monday, September 27, 2021

πŸ“– Autumn Arrives πŸ‚

πŸ‚πŸAfter a late-summer surge and unseasonably high temperatures, it would seem that Autumn has finally arrived this morning with heavy rain and strong winds. Unfortunately, It was an awful morning altogether for Dazza's work flight down to Birmingham! She tells me it was a bumpy ride throughout and that they were required to circle a dozen times due to torrential rain before finally getting in at Birmingham, with some other flights even being diverted. 

A late Common Whitethroat at the Sand Loch, Forvie NNR

Since arriving back from Spain I've managed two visits to RSPB Strathbeg, Forvie Nature Reserve and my usual few hours around the Ythan Estuary and upper reaches. One thing that's struck me since my return is the reluctance of trees, shrubs and flowers to accept that Autumn is on the horizon. Full canopies with no sign of colour changes, lots of insects and bees still buzzing around and even plenty of butterflies, mostly Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, along with the odd Large White. My visit to Forvie on September 20th even threw up a late staying Common Whitethroat and also noted during my short walk a half dozen Stonechat, a single Wheatear and my first Common Darter dragonflies of the year.

Pink-footed Geese

Despite the late Summer warmth, accompanied by a long period of southerlies, the wind did eventually swing around to the northwest overnight Wednesday and on Thursday while having a garden tidy skein after skein of Pink-footed Geese drifted endlessly overhead, the floodgates have opened! Due to not having any previous experience of the late summer up here in northeast Scotland, I'm unsure as to whether the birds have arrived early or late but either way it's a wonderful sight to behold.

Whooper Swans ~ Another winter visitor from Iceland

Friday morning I was along the Ythan for a few hours pre-high tide and was delighted to see a group of 32 Whooper Swans drop in, another wonderful sight and interesting to think that it may well have been their first landfall since leaving Iceland! By the time I departed they were all fast asleep and who could blame them after another epic journey.

Redshank ~ Abundant around the Ythan

As is the norm the Ythan was awash with waders during my Friday 24th visit, hundreds or even thousands of Redshank, double-figure Greenshank and I managed my first Curlew Sandpiper of the year during my stop at the Waulkmill Hide. 

Peregrine Falcon from the Snub lay-by

In the end, I recorded fifteen species of wader with some huge flocks of Golden Plover and with this many waders to choose from the above Peregrine was never far away! 

Two Pectoral Sandpipers on Starnafin Pools, Strathbeg during my visit on the 16th.

Two trips to RSPB Strathbeg the first of which was on the 16th, mainly to catch up with the Pectoral Sandpipers. A quite remarkable three on one day at one stage but just two during my visit. While here I dropped onto a Whinchat, a decent Aberdeenshire tick along with three Stonechat while walking the farmland birds track. I also noted some early Pink-footed Geese fifteen in total which had obviously braved the southeasterlies. 

A good few Common Darters at Strathbeg

Also of note during my visit (2) Snipe, (3) Greenshank, (2) Ruff, (5) Curlew, (8) Dunlin, Blackcap, Water Rail and number of Common Darters along with Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell

One of two Grey Plover at RSBP Strathbeg

The highlights of my short visit on the 21st were my first two Grey Plovers of the year, not that regular up here in the northeast, Little Stint and just a single Pectoral Sandpiper today.

More Images of the past few weeks...

Greenshank on the Ythan

Black-tailed Godwit from the Waulkmill Hide

Pectoral Sandpipers after a quick Sparrowhawk fly-by

Wheatear enjoying the rolled hay vantage point 

One of six Stonechat at Forvie NNR

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

πŸ“– πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ Spain Trip Report 05 ~ 14th Sept 2021 ~ Part 3

The final part of my recent trip to southern Spain includes visits to Cantero's Los Arenales and Zapata. Details of both sites can be found HERE or by clicking on the tab Birding Spain at the top of the blog.

Rock Buntings occasionally do show quite well.

πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ Saturday, September 11th ☀️ 32C ~After the drive up to the parking at Puerto del la Graja, it's always a good idea to spend a little time checking out the rocks, shrubland and old quarry before making the steep walk up to the top. Dartford Warbler, Rock Bunting and Black Wheatear can all be found in the vicinity but during today's visit, I failed to connect with the latter for the first time in over 10 years.

Wall Brown enjoying a warm spot

It was a slow and steady walk today pausing every so often in the shade to shelter from 32C temperatures. There are still a few butterfly species on the wing and every so often I'd come across a Wall Brown or Striped Grayling perched on the rocks. A few Common Crossbills high up in the repopulated Pines along with Chaffinch and a small group of Long-tailed Tits

Firecrest ~ With patience curiosity usually gets the better of them!

Crested Tit ~ Another species of Canteros that can be quite obliging

As usual, I could hear Firecrests and Crested Tits calling for most of my stay and as I reached what is for me the summit I stopped for a while to try for some images.


The high point (around 2,000ft) of my walk is simply stunning with amazing views of the Hoya de Malaga and I usually spend an hour or so here watching the odd passing Raptor, which today included Booted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle and Honey BuzzardCrag Martins and the occasional Alpine Swift are also regular sightings and today a Peregrine flew so close I could hear the whoosh of the air as it passed by at a rate of knots!

One of two Iberian Ibex ~ A first for me at Canteros

On the walk back down to the parking lots of cracking branches alerted me to two young Iberian Ibex feeding down in one of the ditches, a first for this sight for me. Also of note during my visit Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart and Short-toed Treecreeper.

Despite being over 50 kilometres away the fire could easily be seen from the villa in Mijas!

πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ Monday, September 12th ⛅ 28C ~After much needed overnight rain, particularly in relation to the ongoing fire just north of Estepona, one of the worst in living memory I arrived at Zapata in much fresher conditions. Although that didn't last long once the sun began to break through turning things rather muggy. 

The ford at Zapata after heavy rain crossing the Rio Guadalhorce 2018

You can easily drive around the rough tracks at Zapata but since getting Dave's 4X4 well and truly stuck a few years back I prefer to walk. In any case, you obviously get to see a lot more on foot. This is a great place to find Red-necked Nightjar in the spring and early summer but being so late in the year and day to be fair I drew a blank. 


Down at the ford which crosses the Guadalhorce, a Grey Wagtail was enjoying a wash, along with Cattle Egret, Greenshank and Little-ringed Plover which unfortunately I flushed as I approached. While photographing the Grey Wagtail an Osprey and Booted Eagle drifted over, so maybe I wasn't to blame after all. Further upstream a Little Bittern flew out crashing into the reeds further along but just too quick for a photo and both Chiffchaff and Reed Warbler were also noted.

Common Waxbill ~ Frustratingly difficult to photograph.

A largish flock of Common Waxbill, blow-ins from Africa which are now well established in Spain and Portugal soon made themselves known but these are very skittish birds and taking a photo can be a little frustrating at times. 

Bluethroat from my last visit before Covid in  Decmber 2019

A word with a couple of local ringers over coffee confirmed what I'd be feeling during the visit in that it was particularly quiet. I get the impression that like most things this year everything is a little late and species I'd normally record here over the autumn and winter like Bluethroat, Penduline Tit and Stone Curlew have yet to arrive. 

Whinchat along with two of four Wheatear

Having said that there was still plenty to see with Lesser Short-toed Lark, Woodchat Shrike, Hoopoe, Turtle Dove and at one stage a group of four Wheatear was joined by a Whinchat

Away from the birding a Dragonfly lifer for me at Zapata ~ Long Skimmer

Another excellent visit to Spain, great to be back & see my buddy Dave after so long and I'll be back in November with Dazza so hopefully, we'll catch up with a few noticeable absentee species before the year-end. 

More Images of the Visit...

A Canadair CL-145 water bomber passes close to the villa en route to Estepona! 

Daytime view from the terrace of the fire

Little-ringed Plover

Striped Grayling

Black Kite at sunset over the terrace

Short-toed Eagle

Spotted Flycatcher

Reed Warbler

Juvenile Woodchat Shrike

Wheatear

Firecrest