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Sunday 30 June 2024

White-winged Scoter - Blackdog

Blackdog 

Sunday 23 June 2024

Before a nesting session at Girdleness with Raymond Duncan, we went to Blackdog beach, near the outskirts of Aberdeen to look for a White-winged Scoter that had been associating with the local Common and Velvet Scoters. We woke up at 5:45 and left to Blackdog to see the bird. When we arrived, at 6:10 we saw many rabbits running across the road and car park. We heard a Sedge Warbler from the car park and walked towards the beach. We saw a few Meadow Pipits and soon noticed hundreds of Common Scoters only a hundred metres from the shore. I started scanning through the flock, not finding much. It soon was almost 7 and we didn't want to be late for Girdlenesting so we gave up (for now!) and walked through the dunes once more. We met another man scanning the flock but he didn't see them. We found a few fledgeling Stonechats in the gorse near the car park. We thought we might try later in the day. 

A sunrise on Blackdog beach


eBird Checklist

Please note: Common Scoter is usually a sensitive bird in summer, however the birds at Blackdog are mostly non-breeding so birds are not as affected by people but eBird still hides them as sensitive. 

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