Week 25 - Scotland Big Year

Week 25

18 – 24 June 2025

During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the twenty-fifth week's recap. The number next to the day indicates my year list at the end of that day. Birds written in italics indicate Scottish year ticks.

June 21 - Day 172: 182

Today, my mum wanted to join for Girdlenesting, so, as always, we quickly got ready for Raymond to pick us up at quarter to seven. We arrived to a very foggy Girdleness, where we could barely see across the car park! We walked around Torry Battery, but not many birds were present. We decided to check on the Swallows that were using the ruins of the Battery, to hide their nests. I confirmed that one of the nests had 6 small young, probably only a few days old. We walked down along the harbour, hearing some Sandwich Terns - despite being only a couple dozen metres away, the fog was too thick! We stopped by the sycamore, determined to find whatever rarity the fog had brought down, however, the only birds were Goosanders, a Song Thrush, a Guillemot, and a pair of Sedge Warblers. Raymond managed to locate the sedgies' nest, which had 6 ring-able chicks. We ringed them one by one, of which some I could do myself, as well as taking some photos. We were walking up on the road, near the allotments, when we spotted a Meadow Pipit, attending to a nest. I went down, taking perhaps the most perilous way possible, through ferns and brambles, as tall as I was! Luckily, after a while, I got to the bottom in one piece or close enough. Unfortunately, we didn't find the nest before having to leave to drop off Maya, my sister at a birthday party, and going, with my dad, down to Fife.

We arrived at Tentsmuir Forest NNR, near the town of Leuchars, at about quarter to noon, where an Iberian Chiffchaff has made residence for the past couple of weeks. Upon arrival, we heard Willow Warblers, and a Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), but not its Iberian counterpart. We started walking, through the woods, to where it had been hanging about, stopping to chat to a couple other birders, who hadn't seen it, despite having stayed quite a while. We were told that some others were waiting for it, next to a glove, which was sitting on top of a branch. We heard some Crossbills, and spotted some at the tops of the trees, as well as hearing Goldcrests, and a few Siskins. Before arriving to where the others were standing, I heard the distinctive song of this rare visitor. Soon enough, we spotted the Iberian Chiffchaff briefly, in the trees, before it flew over our heads and into the trees on the other side of the path. We listened to it and took many audio recordings, before it stopped singing. We waited a bit longer before leaving some newly arrived birders to keep searching. We had a quick walk through the dunes and onto the beach, spotting a Dark-green Fritillary, before heading back to the car. We were thinking of going to St Andrews, but, with the weather degrading, we headed to Tay Reedbeds, after a quick and rather unsuccessful stop at the Eden Estuary.

We arrived in Errol at approximately half past two, however, with our bellies groaning, we stopped to have lunch at the local pub. But, it quickly arose to us that the pub wasn't a great choice for lunch, so we opted instead to have lunch at the Lass O'Gowrie, a decision we wouldn't regret. The service was amazing, and the food came from heaven. We walked down to the reedbeds, after a 6-star lunch. We saw a Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, and a Reed Bunting in the fields adjacent to the reedbeds. It didn't take long at all before we heard the “ping!” call of the Bearded Tit. We tried to get some photos, while I got distracted by some Field Speedwells. We walked a bit, to get a better view over the reedbeds. While scanning with my scope, I got brief glimpses of them flying in and out of the reeds, but no media.

On our way to Forfar, for dinner, we stopped at Loch of Kinnordy RSPB, where we didn't see much other than a Marsh Harrier and a heard-only singing Reed Warbler.

Finally, after dinner in Forfar, we went to an undisclosed location near Brechin, for my Nightjar Survey. We saw a Red-legged Partridge on the country roads around, and a very confiding Buzzard but, sadly, after over two hours, the Nightjars weren't being very active. We left at around 11:15pm, yet I somehow managed to convince my dad to have a final stop at a lay-by, between Edzell and Inchbare, where Nightjars had been reported. As soon as we turned off the engine, the rattling song of the Nightjar could be heard. We got some audio clips before heading home.

We arrived back in Aberdeen at half past midnight, having spent 18.5 hours straight, birding.

Day 172: https://ebird.org/tripreport/387688

Sedge Warbler in my hand

Spectrogram/Sonogram of Iberian Chiffchaff song 

(click image to open the recording)

Little Egret, Eden Estuary

Tree Sparrow, Errol

Female House Sparrow, Errol

Yellowhammer, Errol

Male Reed Bunting, Tay Reedbeds

Sedge Warbler with food, Tay Reedbeds

Male Marsh Harrier, Tay Reedbeds

Female Reed Bunting, Loch of Kinnordy RSPB

Spectrogram/Sonogram of Reed Warbler song 

(click image to open the recording)

Great Tit parent attending to its 

young, Loch of Kinnordy RSPB

Buzzard, fields near Brechin

Buzzard and Pheasant, fields near Brechin

Close-up Pheasant, fields near Brechin

Spectrogram/Sonogram of Nightjar song 

(click image to open the recording)

Week 24 - Scotland Big Year

Week 24

11 – 17 June 2025

During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the twenty-fourth week's recap. The number next to the day indicates my year list at the end of that day. Birds written in italics indicate Scottish year ticks.

June 11 - Day 162: 178

Today, after several reports of a Broad-billed sandpiper on the Ythan, we decided to head up there, to have a quick look before dinner. We started at Inch Road, seeing many female Eiders with their super cute ducklings, an Osprey with fish, and countless Arctic Terns. We then went up to the Snub, where we met Ian Broadbent, who hadn't seen it that evening either. We thoroughly scanned a flock of Ringed Plovers, picking out a few Dunlins and a Sanderling. I spotted a Shoveler, some Wigeon, and Teal, feeding out on the mudflats, but no Broad-billed sand. While chatting, to Ian, we heard a few Sedge Warblers and saw a Stock Dove flying through the trees.

June 13 - Day 164: 178

After shocking news of a Bridled Tern on the Ythan, and the Broad-billed Sandpiper still kicking about, we set up alarms for 4:15am on Friday morning, to try to find these birds before school. On the drive up, we saw a few Grey Partridges. We started at the tern colony, where the mega rare Bridled Tern was last seen. Sadly, despite seeing hundreds of Common Terns, Sandwich Terns and Arctic Terns, their Bridled counterpart was nowhere to be seen. Next up was Waulkmill Hide, where we didn't see many birds at all, due to the low tide. There was another birder, however, but he hadn't seen the sandpiper that morning. We then tried Inch Geck, where a group of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers were, although no sign of it here, either. We did manage to pick out a breeding plumaged Golden Plover, some Redshanks, and a few Greenshank, too. We had some time to kill before having to head back to Aberdeen, so we tried again for the Bridled Tern. Despite now having a few birders to help scan the colony, we couldn't find it. Indeed, the bird was not seen again, and presumably moved to Coquet Island, in Northumberland, before finishing its tour of Britain, with a stop at Minsmere RSPB, in Suffolk. Finally, we finished at the Ythan, having also seen a flock of Knot, some Reed Buntings, Linnets, Willow Warblers, Song Thrushes, and Chiffchaffs.

June 15 - Day 166: 178

On Saturday, we nearly went after the Broad-billed sandpiper, however a heavy shower put an end to our plans, for the day. In compensation, we went the day after. The tide was at its lowest when we arrived at Waulkmill, which meant there were a lot of birds to scan through. We picked out a lone Turnstone, a few Black-tailed Godwits, Redshanks, Greenshanks, Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Sanderling, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Curlew, yet still no Broad-billed sand. We were lucky enough to witness an Osprey fly over our heads with a fish, but, even after a brief stop at the Snub, the Broad-billed Sandpiper was nowhere to be seen. It was not seen after.

While my sister was at a dancing show rehearsal, we went to Inchgarth Reservoir to see what was about. We saw a few Common Sandpipers, Grey Herons, a family of Whitethroats and a family of Wrens.

Day 162: https://ebird.org/checklist/S250066714

Day 164: https://ebird.org/checklist/S250065906

Day 166: https://ebird.org/checklist/S250669207

Day 166: https://ebird.org/checklist/S250663919

Eider and young

Knot in flight

Turnstone

Common Sandpiper

Week 23 - Scotland Big Year

Week 23

4 – 10 June 2025

During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the twenty-third week's recap. The number next to the day indicates my year list at the end of that day. Birds written in italics indicate Scottish year ticks.

June 2,3,4,5,6 - Days 153, 154, 155, 156, 157: 178

While at Lochgoilhead, for a week of actives (mostly water sports), I took some time to try to find some new species for my big year. I was hoping for Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher, since we would otherwise have to visit Speyside in search of these two species, which are quite scarce in our part of the world - near Aberdeen. Unfortunately, I was unable to find either of these species, however, I saw Common Sandpiper, countless Siskins, a Gannet and a few Ravens, too. Thanks to this trip, I was able to add some summer migrants to my Argyll list, which I didn't yet have, such as Swallow and House Martin. In total, I finished the trip with 50 species, which I think is pretty good, considering that I didn't have much time to spend properly birding.

June 7 - Day 158: 178

Of course, Saturday mornings, mean Girdlenesting, and today was no exception. We arrived at Girdleness, where we immediately started searching for the Grasshopper Warbler nest that we expected to be in some brambles and gorse SE of Torry Battery. We got great views of the female carrying food to her young, but, despite our best efforts, we couldn't locate the nest. We walked down to Greyhope Bay, where we saw a Whimbrel, and a Ringed Plover fledgling. As we were setting up the mist net to try to catch some Sand Martins, we spotted a dark morph Arctic Skua, that came back and forth, stealing fish from the Sandwich Terns. Sadly, we didn't catch any Sand Martin, so we went round the lighthouse, hearing, and then seeing, a Grey Wagtail, on the way. We refound the Whimbrel in Walker Park, and also saw the Ringed Plover pair. We went back to the café, where we had some pastries and watched a pair of Fulmar glide past. We had a quick chat with Andrew Whitehouse, before giving a final shot at the Grasshopper warbler's nest. Soon, however, we went back to the car, empty-handed. On the way back home, Raymond and I stopped at an undisclosed location in search of Lesser Whitethroat. We saw Coot, Reed Bunting, some Mute Swan cygnets, and found a Sedge warbler nest, but no Lesser Whitethroat.

Day 155: https://ebird.org/checklist/S248218397

Day 158: https://ebird.org/checklist/S248222100

Sedge Warbler nest