Week 6

5 – 11 February 2025

During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the sixth week's recap. In one week we'll be on the Queen of the Hebrides, Islay! The number next to the day indicates my year list at the end of that day. Birds written in italics indicate year ticks.

Before you start reading, I would like to say that thanks to help from Mark Sullivan and other local birders, I confirmed ID the "mystery gull sp." from Week 2. According to them, this bird was most likely the Scandinavian Herring Gull, L. a. argentatus.

February 7 - Day 38: 100

Today was the first day of the holidays (for me anyway). I made the most of it by starting off in the morning with a quick stroll in Victoria Park for Treecreeper, which I still need. While I was at it, I put out some seeds and nuts of Stock Doves, since we want to ring them. Unfortunately, I didn't see any Stock doves and I didn't see any Treecreepers either. However, I did spot a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in one of the large trees in the park.

At lunchtime, we went to Girdleness to do some seawatching. We started in Greyhope Bay, seeing some Shags with the Cormorants on the South Pier and a Redshank, as well as many Oystercatchers. At the foghorn, I saw a raft of Eiders and 2 Guillemots sitting on the water. In the distance, I saw a small auk flying south, but I couldn't ID it to the species. It was smaller than a razorbill and very fast. I think that it was either a Puffin or a Little Auk. I also noted a couple Common Gulls flying around.

February 9 - Day 40:

Today was the RSPB outing to the Fraserburgh Coast. My dad and I left the house at 8:30 and got to the meeting site, Kinnaird Head, an hour later. We started seawatching, spotting a female Long-tailed duck and several large flocks of auks, presumably Guillemot. On the water, we found a few Razorbills and a pair of Great Northern Divers. After the group split up, we headed to try to find some "white-winged" gulls (Mediterranean, Iceland and Glaucous gulls) at Phingask Bay, while the others would visit Roseheaty.

At Phingask Bay I spotted a winter plumaged Puffin, near a couple of Red-throated divers, one of which, already moulting. On the rocks of the shore, we picked up many Rock Pipits and waders. Surprisingly, we also saw flocks of Wigeon, Mallards and Teal, normally freshwater ducks. Unfortunately no "white-winged" gulls at Phingask so we drove up to Sandhaven Harbour.

While waiting for the tide to go down at Sandhaven, we did a little seawatching from the harbour wall, spotted many Cormorants and Shags as well as a pair of Black Guillemots and some more Red-throated Divers. We walked back to the cars to have lunch and scanned the many gulls that had arrived without success. The other half of the group arrived and couldn't find anything either. In the harbour we did spot a Little Grebe, however. After lunch, our group went to Rosehearty since the others had seen many waders, while the other group would check Phingask again.

On the way to Rosehearty, I spotted my first Stonechat for the year from the car window. When we arrived, we found Sanderlings, Turnstones, Redshanks, Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers and many Dunlins feeding on the beach. Before long, Mark Sullivan called, saying they'd found an Iceland Gull at Phingask.

We rushed there, and I found the Iceland Gull with my scope! I managed to get a few digiscoped pictures from Mark's scope of this lifer before it flew behind a boulder on the beach.

Back at Kinnaird Head, we found some more Guillemots, as well as some Eiders and a few Gannets. No sign of any divers this time...

On the way back home, we couldn't resist a stop at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg. We met Sailaja, who also made a quick stop. At the feeders, we spotted a leucistic Blackbird and a Great Tit. Apart from some Lapwings, Golden Plovers and a few Dunlin. Suddenly, I saw a bright blue flash, a Kingfisher! I watched it catch and eat a fish and called my dad back. Before long, it came back and got another fish and ate it on a post right in front of the windows!

Later on, we decided to stop at St Mary's Chapel, mainly for Corn Bunting. When we arrived, we saw that Sailaja was here too, along with another birder, they thought that they might have seen two drake Smews. We told them that the SE corner is worth checking, since it was where we had seen it last time. Before long we found the Smew swimming more in the open, than last time with the other ducks. Along with the Smew, there were some Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Goldeneyes.

We later stopped at Blackdog seeing pretty much nothing except for a single Eider and a few Herring gulls braving the now rather strong wind.

Day 38: https://ebird.org/checklist/S212306527

Day 40: https://ebird.org/tripreport/329458