Monday, 27 January 2025

Week 4 - Scotland Big Year

Week 4

21 – 28 January 2025

During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the fourth week's recap. January has nearly ended and February is right around the corner already. The number next to the day indicates my year list at the end of that day. Birds written in italics indicate year ticks.

Day 24:

As I write this post, I can hear the wind blowing outside. Today is a Friday so normally I would be at school, however, due to the winds, both my sisters' school and mine have closed. The Met Office has issued a red alert for the central belt of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Gusts across the British Isles have reached over 115mph. Sadly, even though I missed school, because of the wind, we weren't allowed to go to Sandhaven to see the reported Iceland Gull. Indeed, if not for my physics homework on pressure, I would not have even stepped outside today! With such wind, our bird table fell down, but I still saw a male Blackbird on our bird feeder, hanging on for its life!

Day 25:

Today is the day we have all been waiting for... The RSPB's "Big Garden Birdwatch" has been running since 1979 and over 1 million people from all across the UK participate in one of the largest public wildlife surveys in the world. This survey provides vital information on garden bird populations trends in the UK. Not to forget, today is also Burn's Night 2025. Robert (Rabbie) Burns was a famous Scottish poet born in Ayr. He wrote many much-loved poems such as "a Red, Red Rose" and others. In order to celebrate Burns, every year on January 25, people in Scotland and all over the world, eat Haggis and drink Whisky as well as other Scottish foods and drinks.

We chose the hour between one and two p.m. To seem more appealing to my sisters, we advertised it as a chance to ride our bikes. We spotted many common birds such as Goldfinches, House sparrows, Blue tits, Great tits, Woodpigeons and Blackbirds. I soon also spotted a Wren flying between the bushes. Before long, I found the regular Stock doves of Victoria Park, however, this time a third individual joined. I finally managed to count Herring Gull and Carrion Crow, since I spotted a few on the tops of some houses. Back at the feeders, I saw a Chaffinch and saw 2 Robins have a battle with another one spectating from the sidelines. I also picked out 2 Dunnocks feeding on the ground with a tiny Wood Mouse. After a while, a flock of 16 Redwings landed in the lawned areas with a Pied Wagtail.

Day 26: 94

Today was the RSPB outing to Girdleness. Before that, my dad and I went to drop off my grandparents at the airport to take the plane back to their house in Békéscsaba. In the end, we arrived a few minutes late, but managed to catch up to a part of the group that would be going towards the foghorn and to St Fittick's. Near the lighthouse, we saw large numbers of auks, mostly Guillemots with one Razorbill. In the distance, we spotted a Gannet being harassed by some Herring Gulls. At the foghorn, we found a Red-throated Diver and met Mark Lewis, who had been doing some seawatching in the blistering cold. He hadn't seen much, so we kept walking to keep warm. On the way down to St Fittick's we had a flyover flock of Linnets. Away from the coastal wind, and in between the trees, we were much warmer at St Fittick's. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to spot any Snipe from the reed beds. As we walked down to the concrete bridge, we had a Sparrowhawk fly in front of us and into some trees. At the bridge, we didn't have to wait long before the Water Rail came right out for the mealworms that we had put out. Before long, a second Water Rail came out from another part of the reeds. Despite the large group, these water rails were just as confiding as last time, coming right out into the open. It's a shame we didn't bring the camera! Make sure to check out Keith's blog "Boat Birder " to see some great pics! As we walked back to the car park we found some wader species, with a few Turnstones, a Ringed Plover and a Redshank. Back at the car park, we spotted a large flock of roosting Oystercatchers and Purple Sandpipers.

After warming up and having lunch at a coffee shop, we did our weekly shopping and I managed to convince my dad to take a short detour down to Loirston Loch, in order to find Coot. As we first passed the lake, I scanned as fast as I could, picking up number 93: Tufted Duck. On the way back north past the lake, we stopped in a lay-by, so I got out and started scanning. I saw many Wigeon, Tufted Ducks, Goldeneyes, Mute Swans, Cormorants, and, in the distance, 2 Coots.

Day 25: https://ebird.org/tripreport/S210776703

Day 26: https://ebird.org/checklist/S210752090 ; https://ebird.org/checklist/S210752816

The worst of Storm Éowyn off Ireland

(Windy.com)

Not much better in the North Sea!

(Windy.com)

Our Big Garden Birdwatch results

Total List of 17 species

(Stock = Stock Dove

Car Crow = Carrion Crow

W pig = Woodpigeon

B Bird = Blackbird)

Wednesday, 22 January 2025

Week 3 - Scotland Big Year

Week 3

14 – 21 January 2025

During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the 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 year ticks.

Day 18: 86

While my dad was in London for work, my grandparents from Hungary came over to take care of my sisters and I. For the past week, Hawfinch records from Fetternear Bishop's Palace and the Kemnay area have been coming in daily. After lunch today, my mum and I drove up to try to see the birds. 30 minutes later, we arrived at the nearby business centre, where we parked. In the fields, we spotted a Yellowhammer and got an alert saying the birds had been seen 10 minutes ago. We saw a large flock of Pink-footed Geese fly over while we were making our way across to where they had been seen. When we arrived, I found a few Long-tailed Tits but no Hawfinches. After waiting for about 15 minutes, we met Sailaja again. She said that she had not seen them yet. We started to get quite pessimistic about seeing the birds. We walked up to the Palace and met another birder who hadn't seen them neither. Soon, we were joined by a few other birders, none of which had seen the birds. As my mum and I walked back up and down the trail, we heard a rather strange sound coming from the tops of one of the trees. When I saw a small bird hop across some branches, I didn't expect to lift my binoculars and watch a female Hawfinch sitting on a branch! The bird soon flew, and I could see the characteristic wing bar. Unfortunately, the other birders didn't arrive soon enough and they didn't see it. On the way back to the car, we accidentally flushed a flock of Linnets from the fields nearby.

Day 18: https://ebird.org/checklist/S209760716

Wednesday, 15 January 2025

Week 2 - Scotland Big Year

Week 2

08 – 14 January 2025

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

Day 11: 82

Today we had planned to go to Montrose Basin after our weekly karate lesson since a Snow goose and a Green-winged Teal had been seen the day before. We left at around 10:00AM. After the 50-minute drive, we were in Montrose. We quickly stopped to get ourselves some pastries for lunch. When we arrived at the visitor centre, we paid the £5 fee. We were very quickly pointed in the direction of a flock of Pink-footed Geese on the shoreline. As we looked through the scopes, we spotted the Snow Goose standing out with its white plumage. As I turned around, I spotted a Collared Dove in a tree next to the bird feeders. While I was scanning the basin, I saw 2 male Goldeneyes flying across the water. Between some of the gulls, I also found a Shelduck flying over the basin. Soon after, the flock of Pink-footed Geese and the Snow Goose with them, flew off to go foraging in the fields. While I was scanning the shoreline for the Green-winged Teal, I spotted several Greenshanks feeding with a few Redshanks. A decade ago, Greenshanks wouldn't winter in this part of the world. With a warming climate, birds like Greenshanks are wintering as far north as the Ythan Estuary. This became even more apparent when I found a Great White Egret in the SE corner of the basin. While I was searching for the GWT, I saw a small bird diving near the Teal. Under closer inspection, it turned out to be my first Little Grebe of the year. I was enjoying views of a Water Rail and a Snipe in the same scope when I spotted a Sparrowhawk dash across the pools in front of us. It hid for a while behind a fence post, where we could just make out the shape of its head moving around. It soon flew to the top of another fence post and flushed a couple Snipe while doing so. The bird was showing well, and we could identify it as a male because of its size and its barred, orange chest. We kept checking, again and again, every Teal to try to find the scarce American visitor hidden between them. After waiting for another 20 minutes, we gave up and decided to head to the Ythan Estuary for either of the two Green-winged Teals that have been seen there for a few days. While we were driving back towards the main road, we saw a large group of ducks out on the water. We found a place to park and scanned the birds, finding several Grey Herons, a Great Black-backed Gull, Mallards, a Wigeon, tens of Teal but no GWT

We raced against the already fading light to arrive at Inch Geck island before sunset. When we arrived, we saw another birder scanning the island, he told us that the GWT was over at the Snub Lay-by. While we were scanning the island, my sister, Maya, spotted Raymond Duncan (the chairman of the Grampian Ringing Group) driving past in his car! He turned around and parked next to us. After a quick chat, we drove up to the Snub Lay-by and started scanning the many Teal out on the mudflats. I thought I spotted it before they all got spooked by a passing Goshawk! The birds landed again a bit further out, so Raymond took out his scope. Before long, he spotted the Green-winged Teal and got us onto it, too! I got a few digiscoped photos through his scope and found it in my scope as well.

Day 12: A adult male Scaup was seen at Inchgarth Reservoir on the 10th of January and later on the 11th, too. Since we already had plans for the 11th, we decided to maybe go to Inchgarth on the 12th. We arrived in Cults at around 10:30 and started walking towards the reservoir. On the way, spotting a Red Squirrel climbing up a tree. The reservoir was nearly completely frozen, apart from a small area where many gulls were congregating, at first glance we didn't see any ducks but headed across to the south side anyway. When we arrived, we saw a rather large group of Wigeon that were hidden behind the gulls but no sign of the Scaup. As I scanned the gulls, I saw 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, as well as many Common Gulls between the ubiquitous Herring Gulls. While we were watching the many gulls and the Wigeon, two male Goosanders flew overhead. As I scanned the gulls again, I saw that one of them was a bit different. It seemed to be an immature Great Black-backed gull, but the bill was too narrow. It had a grey back, paler than GBBG but darker than Herring. The slate-grey mantle reminded me of LBBG, a rarity in winter in the North-East. The feet were a dark pink. As we walked back to the car, we passed the River Dee, seeing a Little Grebe and a Grey Heron. Over in Cults, we saw a few more Fieldfares, a Bullfinch flew over and I heard a Collared Dove.

Day 11: https://ebird.org/checklist/S208895916 ; https://ebird.org/checklist/S208886898

Day 12: https://ebird.org/checklist/S208978882

Snow goose

Pintail

Greenshank

Little Grebe

Sparrowhawk

Green-winged Teal

(from Raymond's Scope)

Green-winged Teal
(from my scope)

Mystery gull sp.

(if you do know what this is,

then please let me know!)

Friday, 10 January 2025

Week 1 - Scotland Big Year

Week 1

01 – 07 January 2025

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

Day 1: 22

Day one was rather relaxed. The first bird was the inevitable Herring Gull, followed by Blackbird, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blue tit, and Jackdaw, all from inside the house. By submitting my checklist so early, I secured 5th place on eBird in Scotland. We went for a quick walk in our local park, Victoria Park, to try to complete one of our targets of the year; to be 1st in Scotland on eBird. We got several new species such as Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Coal tit, Great tit, Redwing, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Chaffinch, and Goldfinch. In the afternoon, we went to Hazelhead Park to film a section of our own “The Big Year” movie. We were rewarded with a few new year birds, like Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Greenfinch and the highlight of the day, Crossbill.

Day 2: 26

Unfortunately, due to the ice on our street, we could not get out and onto the main road, and therefore, had to miss the RSPB's outing to the Ythan Estuary. Myself and my sister, Maya, took a short stroll anyway in Victoria Park and got one new year tick; Pied Wagtail. In the evening, the whole family went out for a walk in town, getting me Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare and Common Gull.

Day 3: 40

January 3rd was my first visit in 2025 to my local patch, Girdleness. I got many easy-to-get coastal birds from the largest car park, such as Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone, Great Black-backed Gull, Shag, Cormorant as well as a flock of 7 Whooper Swans flying North, a few Purple Sandpipers and a Rock Pipit. In the tall grasses and shrubs nearby, I heard my first Wren (finally!) and saw a female Reed Bunting. With my mum, I took a short walk towards south pier and the Torry Battery. We quickly got Eider and Black-headed gull, before jumping in the car to evade getting frostbite!

Day 4: 69

In compensation for the loss of birding on the 2nd, today, we went out on a road trip touring the North of Aberdeenshire. We started off by stopping at the Ythan Estuary, we parked at the Seal Beach Car Park. We walked to the beach and started scanning the many waders since it was low tide. Soon, we picked out some more Redshanks and Oystercatchers, a Little Egret, Red-breasted Mergansers, Goldeneyes, Grey Heron, Bar-tailed Godwits. As we walked to the Golf Hut, we got views of my lifer Grey Plover!!! As, we sat down in the hut, sheltered from the cold, we found more of the birds we had already seen, as well as Golden Plovers and an overhead flock of Pink-footed Geese. On the way back to the car, we walked through the Golf Course finding a Skylark along with Meadow Pipit, Rook and a flyover Snipe. In total, we got 13 new year birds, bringing our total to 53. While driving through the village of Newburgh, I finally got, as number 54, Starling.

Up the river a bit, we stopped at the Snub Lay-by, where we found a few birds such as Teal, Red-breasted Merganser, Grey Heron, Wigeon, some more Snipe as well as many, Lapwings, and some Mallards (at last!). To get back onto the A90, we followed the A975 before turning off towards Hatton. It turned out that following this small, icy road wasn't the best idea. As we shuffled along the small road, a sharp turn made us nearly end up in an open field. Luckily, however, we managed to turn back and caught glimpses of two Grey Partridges, a Hooded Crow, and a female Pheasant. Instead of taking the small roads that weren't gritted, we decided to follow the A975 until it rejoins the A90 near Cruden Bay. While still in trauma from the prior event, I spotted a Buzzard on a fence post by the side of the road. We were now at 63.

After driving a little longer, we arrived at RSPB Loch of Stathbeg. When we arrived, we were quite surprised to see only one other car in the car park. When we got out the car, we immediately saw a few Tree Sparrows at the bird feeders. Once we had walked up the stairs in the visitor centre, we quickly spotted the large, unmistakable Whooper Swans as well as a Great White Egret, a Greylag Goose, and between the many Wigeon, Teal and Mallard, 3 drake Pintails. As we scanned the many waders and waterfowl out on the pools, we spotted a few Dunlin and Snipe, too. After a little while, we saw, Daryl Short, the reserve warden for Forvie NNR. We pointed out the Pintails and headed off to the Dunbar hide. On the way there, we walked through some farmland, where we saw large winter flocks of Yellowhammers, Redwings, and Fieldfares. We didn't see much at the Dunbar hide apart from a few more Snipe as well as a single Little Egret.

Day 5: 74

Today was another cold day, and the afternoon was said to carry with it gale-force winds and heavy rain. We therefore thought of stick to around the city, and decided on St Fittick's Community Park, a wetland and woodland area just to the south-west of Girdleness. While walking through the woodland area, we heard, then spotted, two Goldcrests in some pine trees. As we left the wooded areas without finding our main target species, we moved on to the famous bridge where, in winter, Water Rail can be seen very readily coming out of the reeds in into the open. Already there, was another local birder, Sailaja, she said she had seen two of them fly out of the reeds when she arrived. While we were waiting, we spotted two Bullfinches, a male and a female, in a small tree. We also got excited when we heard some movement in the reeds only to discover it was not a Water rail but a Moorhen. Soon, our patience paid off, we got ridiculous views of a Water Rail feeding less than 2 metres away from our feet! On the way back home, we stopped at the Nellfield Cemetery to try to find the Waxwings that our friend Raymond had rung the day before. As we got out of the car, we saw a Song Thrush feeding on yew berries. We noticed the large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares and, as we were trying to find the entrance, we found a flock of Lapwings flying over the city! After waiting for about 15 minutes without luck, we called it a day and went home.

Day 1: https://ebird.org/tripreport/318733

Day 2: https://ebird.org/checklist/S207625738 ; https://ebird.org/checklist/S207665792

Day 3: https://ebird.org/checklist/S207812175

Day 4: https://ebird.org/tripreport/315880

Day 5: https://ebird.org/checklist/S208102416