The Return of the Sunshine

13 – 15 February 2026

After over 20 days of grey skies, the sun finally reminded the people of Aberdeen that it exists.

Fri 13 February 2026

Today, on the infamous “Friday the Thirteenth”, I decided I had had enough of sitting at home, so I got dropped off at Girdleness by my dad, at 9:20, and started with a seawatch. I soon gave up, however, since not many birds were passing the foghorn that morning. My main targets for the day was seeing the long-staying Pale-bellied Brent Goose that had been regularly seen feeing on seaweed and moss on the South Breakwater.  I was also hopeful to spot the Great Northern Diver that has been spending its winter in Aberdeen Harbour. 

I started by walking towards Torry Battery, seeing Skylarks and Meadow Pipits in Walker Park, and some waders in Greyhope Bay. The mixed wader flock consisted mainly of Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, and had the odd Curlew, Redshank or Turnstone mixed in. Sadly, since some maintenance work was being done on the South Pier, so the Brent Goose must have found another place to feed, out of sight. However, the old south breakwater was full of birds, probably ones that would have been on the main breakwater. They consisted of Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, a single Shag, some Eiders, more of the same waders I had seen earlier on, and a few Ringed Plovers. 

Shag

Afterwards, I went to St Fittick's, where I was relieved to finally see my first Jackdaw and Dunnock of the year. I also managed to get a great-quality audio recording of some Coal Tits. I also saw many of the common woodland birds here, such as Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Blackbird, and a couple of Song Thrushes.

My Coal Tit Recording

(click to open Maucauly Library)

Back at the foghorn, I saw a Red-throated Diver, which seemed to only surface every twenty minutes(!), 2 Guillemots, some Cormorants, and a raft of Eiders. 

Guillemots

Sat 14 February 2026

Today, we met up with our friend Raymond, at Logie Buchan, on the Ythan. Once we arrived, at around 11am, we joined him and Steve, for a spot of ringing. We were mainly catching Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinches, and Chaffinches, but also managed to get a couple Siskins, both a male and a female, which were the first I've ever ringed. Meanwhile, some other birders were watching a flock of geese near Slains, with a few Tundra Bean Geese, so we decided to go there, after ringing.

When we arrived, we soon saw one of the many geese species in this flock, the Snow Goose. Along with the Snow Goose, there were Pink-footed Geese, White-fronted Geese, a Brent Goose, and some Barnacle Geese. Despite thorough searching, no one in the group of birders we were with could find the 3 Bean Geese.

Barnacle Goose

White-fronted Goose

White-fronted Goose (trust me)

After that, we went to the Snub Layby, just as we got word that just after we had left, a juvenile White-tailed Eagle flew over and scared all the geese away! At the Snub, we saw a few Teal, a single Greenshank, some Bar-tailed Godwits, and some Goldeneye.

Teal at the Snub

Bar-tailed Godwit at the Snub

That evening, at Tarves, on the Ythan, we saw our 6th and final goose species of the day: Greylag Goose.

Sun 15 February 2026

Today we headed out with Ian Broadbent, to look for Jack Snipes, at Inchgarth Reservoir, in the outskirts of Aberdeen. Just minutes before we arrived, we received a message from Ian on the ABZ Scarce Bird WhatsApp Group, that a Slavonian Grebe was on the reservoir. When we got there, I spent much longer than necessary getting ready, but we luckily managed to get splendid views of the “Slav Grebe” as it fished reasonably near to us. At times, we could even see the stunning red eye that comes with their otherwise rather drab non-breeding plumage. On the reservoir, we also saw a few Wigeon and a juvenile Mute Swan.

Slavonian Grebe

After that lovely encounter, we walked towards the flooded fields, where we would try to look for the Jack Snipes, and seeing a Buzzard along the way.

Buzzard

Before long, we flushed a couple Common Snipes, which was a good sign. Ian flushed another Snipe, before he suddenly shouted, “JACK SNIPE!”, we watched the Jack Snipe, which was noticible smaller than the Snipe, fly across the sky and land again in another part of the field.

Jack Snipe

After that, we saw a Pheasant, and two more Snipe, but weren't able to reconnect with the Jack Snipe. When we were back at the entrance to the reservoir, we saw a few gulls, and the Slavonian Grebe was still present, we also were greeted by a flock of boisterous Long-tailed Tits.

After that, we went to Aboyne, since the sun had started peeking out from behind the clouds and we weren't going to miss an oppourtunity like that. We had a short walk along the Dee and went for cakes at the Spider on a Bicycle, which had some of the best hot chocolates I've ever had.