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