Boatbirder.com: 📖 Rattray & Cairnbulg 8/09/26

Things have quieted down since the recent easterly winds brought a wonderful fall of common migrants to the Aberdeenshire coastline, but a shift in the weather is already shaking things up. We are now experiencing the predictable autumnal flow of north-westerlies. As I type this post, the very first reports of Pink-footed Geese arriving across the region from Iceland are starting to roll in. While I'm not a hardcore twitcher per se, I have to admit I was more than a little tempted when news broke last week of a Scottish first Egyptian Vulture up on Shetland! Still, my usual October one-week-a-year twitching exploits on Shetland are more than enough to keep me happy—especially with my annual trip just a few weeks away.

View from Cairnbulg watching the 100s of diving Gannets!

This morning, a walk to the Rattray Lighthouse cottages from St. Mary's Chapel with Ruth Howie was quite productive, starting with a female Marsh Harrier quartering the newly combined fields. A large flock of some 100 Tree Sparrows was a sight to behold around the farmland, and along the track a few Yellowhammers appeared to still be feeding young. There were also plenty of Swallows and House Martins across the fields, a few Skylarks passing south, and around 80 or so Lapwings before we arrived at the cottages, where we bumped into Mark, Matt, and Fran Sullivan.

A Yellowhammer with food.

During my last visit here on the 28th, the cottage gardens had held Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, and Lesser Whitethroat. Today it was a bit quieter, although Mark had seen a Lesser Whitethroat. A walk down to the Lighthouse produced Wheatear and Meadow Pipits, and along the shoreline we found Sanderling, Knot, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, and a surprise couple of Pale-bellied Brent Geese. A few Grey Seals were keeping a wary eye, with Gannets and several passing Sandwich Terns and Kittiwakes. Shags and Cormorants were sunning themselves on the lighthouse, and a few Eider Ducks were lingering. The walk back to the cottages produced a fly-by Sparrowhawk.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Rattray.

Back at the cars, a quick look over at the Loch produced both Little Egret and Great Egret, and endless Mute Swans, and after bidding farewell to Ruth, I headed over to Cairnbulg, where I spent an enjoyable hour watching the hundreds of Gannets diving and photographing the waders, which included: Knot, Dunlin, Sanderling and Ringed Plover. The absolute highlight, though, was counting at least 10 Wheatears, which just seemed to be everywhere. My kind of birding!