Girdleness Patch Birding Treasures

19 September - 3 October 2026

Girdleness 19/09

Today, we had a somewhat short seawatching session with Andrew, where we saw 3 Sooty Shearwaters, a patch tick for me, as well as an Arctic Skua and some Common Scoters.

Girdleness 26/09

One week later, I was back at Girdleness with Raymond to whoosh net some small finches (Goldfinches + Linnets). On our way in, we saw the two Pale-bellied Brent Geese, that Andrew found the day before, swimming near the rocks by Aberdeen Harbour.

We then went to Torry Battery, searching for the Lesser Whitethroat. We didn't see it between the Battery and the allotments, but did see an unusually late Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Fortunately, along with some Tree Sparrows (patch tick), Goldfinches and Linnets, we found the Lesser Whitethroat in the South Pier Sycamore.

We then set up the whoosh net and caught mostly Goldfinches and Linnets, as well as a 1 Starling, and 1 Skylark. We also saw a Wheatear by the lighthouse.

Loirston Loch 26/09

We then stopped at Loirston Loch, where I saw the Great Crested Grebes with their 3 chicks, as well as seeing my first Aberdeen County Shovelers, and my first Wigeons of the autumn.

Girdleness 27/09

The next day, we were back at Girdleness, this time hoping to get a photo of the Lesser Whitethroat, which I didn't have the camera for the day before.

We soon saw Mark Lewis and his daughter, and ended up staying with them for nearly the whole time we were there. While having a picnic, we saw an Arctic Skua, some Wigeon, and our last Arctic and Common Terns of the year, as well as a couple Kestrels on the way out, by the South Harbour. Sadly we didn't see the Lesser Whitethroat or the Brent Geese, which I was also planning on photographing.

Girdleness 30/09

During my Japanese lesson today, news spread of a MEGA at Girdleness - a Sykes's Warbler. When my lesson ended at 18:25, we jumped into the car and rushed over, hoping to see it before the sun went down. Fortunately, we arrived just in time, and got some nice views of the Sykes's Warbler, though the low light made the photos we got look quite bad, and very blurry.

Sykes's Warbler

Girdleness 01/10

Since I wasn't too happy how my Sykes's Warbler photos looked, especially side-by-side with one some of the other birders got, I went back, this time by bike, to see it and get some better photos.

When I arrived, the others said I had missed it by about 5 minutes. However, I was still feeling good about my chances as it was still only quarter to six. However, after 20, 40, 60 minutes, we did see a Lesser Whitethroat, but the Sykes's Warbler was nowhere to be seen. Until, just before I had to leave, it showed briefly give me a final opportunity to get some photos.

I was a good thing, too, as the bird wasn't seen again the next day.

Slightly better photos of the Sykes's Warbler!

Victoria Park 03/10

This morning, I step out the door and into the front garden, and thought to myself: "I'd better listen the call of Yellow-browed Warbler, to not miss one at Girdleness today". I opened Merlin and played the call. At that moment, I saw a small dark head with a yellow supercilium pop out of the holly bush in our garden - it was a Yellow-browed Warbler - a lifer!

I soon lost it but ran into the park to see if that's where it had gone. I soon heard it again, and eventually got eyes on it, though it was not posing out in the open as I had hoped. Soon, Raymond and Alex came, and we all managed to get some decent views as the original bird, joined by another flew around the rhododendrons in amongst the Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Song Thrushes and more!

YBW

St Fittick's Park 03/10

Before going to Girdleness, we decided to start at St Fittick's. We soon heard another YBW, and managed to track it down. We found some good bird activity, including Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Reed Buntings, and YBWs, so we decided to set up a mist net. Our first couple of catches yielded a Robin, and 4 Chiffchaffs, but just as we were about to pack up, we went back to the net and extracted a Yellow-browed Warbler! We got great views of it up close in the hand.

Yellow-browed Warbler in the hand 

Wilson's Phalarope - Meikle Loch 2026

Wilson's Phalarope - Meikle Loch

18 September 2026

Meikle Loch

Today, my dad and I woke up and headed up to Meikle Loch, on the Ythan, since a rare Wilson's Phalarope had been seen there since Wednesday. When we arrived, we saw a large van leaving with the man driving giving us a thumbs up, without exchanging a single word, we know it was there.

We joined Phil Crockett and another birder, who gladly let us see the bird through his scope. Despite it being just a spec on the North side of the loch, we could clearly see that it wasn't the same as the lapwings it was with and that it was clearly paler.

Very, very distant Wilson's Phalarope

Since it was very distant, we decided to walk round to try to get a better view. I saw it fly very briefly, but it landed right behind a Canada Goose, and we couldn't see it thereafter. We decided to head back to the car and hopefully stop at the Snub Layby to check the waders there.

When we got back to the car, the other birder, who had stayed, pointed out that the Wilson's Phalarope was in the water, just next to the car park. We got great views of it as it fed along the bank, though the photos I got were less good.

Wilson's Phalarope

The Wilson's Phalarope is a New World wader that was first described by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot, and named in honour of Scottish-born ornithologist Alexander Wilson (sometimes known as "the father of American ornithology"). The Wilson's Phalarope is one of 5 species of bird named in his honour and one of 3 species of Phalarope in the world - the other two being the Red-necked Phalarope and the Grey Phalarope, the former being a species we saw on Lewis in 2025.

Meikle Loch

We then stopped at the Snub, since Keith had seen Ruff and Curlew Sandpiper there the day before. We saw many Little Egrets, a few Ruff and many Greenshanks and Redshanks, but sadly no Curlew Sandpipers. Just as I had finished scanning, I spotted my first Whooper Swans of the autumn.

Whooper Swans

RSPB St Andrews Trip - September 2026 - Part 2

RSPB St Andrews Trip - Part 2

13 September 2026

Brownhills, St Andrews

Today, I woke up early to do a seawatch in Brownhills, where we were staying, since I had seen a good number of Gannets passing over previous days. I walked down to the cliffs, and found a good place to set up for a seawatch. Sadly other than Gannets, there wasn't very much activity, so I soon got distracted by a couple of Greenshanks at the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

Greenshank

View of St Andrews

With my attention moving back to seawatching, I noticed 2 Little Gulls slowly flying south, a very nice species to get on a seawatch. Continuing, I saw some very noisy Coal Tits, and some singing Chiffchaffs, which reminded me of springtime at Girdleness. I was then joined by my dad, who wad gone for a run, we soon headed back, but we did see a Grey Squirrel on the way, luckily a species that isn't very common in Aberdeenshire.

Fife Ness

We then headed to Fife Ness, where we joined my friend Felix, from Edinburgh. We decided to go for a seawatch, even though the conditions weren't amazing. Before long, we saw a couple Arctic Skuas, and many Fulmars and Gannets. I then saw another dark skua, which had quite a long tail, flying quite close in. I first shouted out Arctic Skua, not having Long-tailed as an option in my mind, but the other birder in the hide soon confirmed my suspicions, it was an adult Long-tailed Skua! We watched it as it flew South, and I managed to get some record shots.

Long-tailed Skua

The activity soon died down, with just a Common Scoter passing and a Knot and Ringed Plover being down on the rocks. There were several butterflies though, mainly Painted Lady and Large White, but also Red Admirals

Crail Harbour

We then drove to Crail Harbour, just near Fife Ness, where we had lunch, a panini for Felix, Maya, and I, as well as an ice cream to top it all off. In the café, we saw a Sabine's Gull, though we couldn't count it for our lists!

Sabine's Gull

Guardbridge

Before parting ways, we had a final stop at the Eden Estuary, where we saw many of the same species, as well as adding Greenshank, that we hadn't seen the day before here. After a long wait, the Kingfisher finally arrived, though it was more distant this time.

Nonetheless, it was a great end to our weekend in Fife and St Andrews and I can't wait to visit again.

Distant Kingfisher (Little Egrets behind)

RSPB St Andrews Trip - September 2026 - Part 1

RSPB St Andrews Trip - Part 1

12 September 2026

Eden Estuary

Today, we went to the Eden Estuary, with the rest of the Aberdeenshire Local RSPB Group to see what we could find. As usual, we arrived late, and the others had already made their way around the reserve. We walked across the golf course, where we saw a Jay, of which we got a terrible photo.

Jay

We continued walking, until we caught up with the group. We scanned the estuary and mudflats, finding some Curlews, Bar-tailed Gowits, Dunlins, many Shelduck, and, strangely enough, a few Stock Doves, too.

 

We kept going, soon spotting a year tick for me, a Grey Plover.

Grey Plover

Soon after, we had to turn back, seeing many Rooks on the golf course around us.

Rook

West Sands Beach

After this, we went to West Sands Beach, to hopefully walk to Out Head. At first, we saw a Wheatear, and got some great views of a pair of Stonechats.

Male Stonechat

Male Stonechat

As we walked towards Out Head however, it started pouring it down, so we headed back to the car, spotting another Wheatear on the way.

Cameron Reservoir

After lunch, we headed to Cameron Reservoir, in search of wildfowl. On the drive there, we saw a single Grey Partridge in a field, a nice addition to our list. 

At Cameron Reservoir we didn't see too much of great interest, there were a few Goldcrests, as well as loads of Little Grebes and Great Crested Grebes, with both species feeding chicks. There were also a few Tufted Ducks, and we saw a female Reed Bunting.

Surprisingly, I also got a year tick: Bullfinch! For some reason I either forgot to add or just haven't been paying enough attention to have added Bullfinch to my list this year.

Guardbridge

Our final birding destination of the day ended up being the Eden Estuary Centre, in the town of Guardbridge, North of St Andrews. After a lot of traffic, we managed to arrive, though we realised that we just missed a Kingfisher!

We scanned the many waders but found mostly Redshanks, as well as a few Black-tailed Godwits, and a flock of Knots. Flying above us were a couple of Ospreys, and a single Buzzard sat on a fence post in the distance. Before long, we heard the call of a Kingfisher, which flew down stream and landed on a fence post in the water.

Kingfisher fishing from a wooden post

After that, we went back home, before going into St Andrews for dinner with the others at Zizzi's. It turned out this would be the only event during the whole weekend that we would be on time for!

Some Autumn Migration at Girdleness

Rare Migrants at Girdleness

26 - 29 August 2026

Girdleness 26/08

On Tuesday evening, after returning home from school, I was delighted to open my new tripod, the RSPB Buzzard. Naturally, I had to give it a go as soon as possible, and with Cory's, Great and Sooty Shearwaters left, right and centre along the Aberdeenshire coast, I 6am seawatch before school was the perfect idea.

The next day, we were down at the 'ness and seawatching by 6:00. It started slow, maily with Kittiwakes, a few Gannets, which my aunt from France greatly enjoyed seeing. 

Eventually I noticed a dark silhouette, probably a kilometre out. From how it was chasing Kittiwakes, I was able to identify it as a dark morph Arctic Skua. Not much longer, I noticed a large diver flying S, despite the terrible light, I realised this was a Great Northern Diver, a fairly scarce bird round these parts, especially in August, but then again, this is the Great North after all! 

I bit later, I saw a stocky, dark bird flying, fairly close in, a Great Skua, a year tick. A few minutes later, Ian Broadbent arrived. In the last 20mins, we were treated to another Great Skua, again very close in, 3 Common Scoters, and a close Manx Shearwater. 

Girdleness 29/08

On Friday, Raymond offered to bring me to Girdleness to search for some migrants, since there had been quite a few good birds along the coast, at Collieston, Longhaven, Rattray, and St Combs/Inverallochy/Cairnbulg.

When we arrived, I went to check the South Pier for Shags. I counted 22, and a few more Cormorants. We looked in a few bushes for migrant passerines, but couldn't find anything. We decided then to look at the Swallows nesting in Torry Battery. We didn't find any to ring, though we did find a group of hibernating Small Tortoiseshells (16 in total) and a single Peacock.

We then saw a few birds, including a Whitethroat, and what we thought was a Yellow Wagtail.

Deciding to go to the foghorn for a seawatch, we noticed a Whimbrel, in Greyhope Bay, as well as a Curlew that it following. During our seawatch, we saw a single Red-throated Diver, and ridiculously distant Manx Shearwater. We also saw a couple Dunlins. With the cold getting the better of us, we eventually went to the cafe, seeing a juvenile Whitethroat on the way.

Later, only soon after arriving home, we got news of a Barred Warbler and a Wryneck, at Girdlness. Reluctantly, my dad, my two sisters, and I went back to look for these rare migrants. We found a big group of people and joined them.

People watching the Wryneck

Before long, I got some breif glimpses of the Wryneck, though it didn't take very long for it to perch up on a fence and show wonderfully.

Great views of a Wryneck

Then, we got a split-second view of the Barred Warbler, which darted across the bank. We waited for it to show, but were kept well entertained by the Wryneck and a Pied Flycatcher, both hanging around the fence.

Digiscoped Wryneck on the rocks

Digiscoped Pied Flycatcher

After some waiting the Barred warbler flew into a nearby bush, but only breifly before flying back across to the original row of willows it was skulking in. Fortunately, I managed to get some flight shots that I'm very happy with considering I basically just tried shooting randomly at the bird as it flew quickly.

Barred Warbler in flight

Barred Warbler in flight

Just before we left, we were treated by a final appearance from the Wryneck, giving some people their first view yet.

Wryneck perched on a rock

Wryneck perched on a rock

Solar Eclipse

11 August 2026

Today, when my mum came back from work, we got in the car and started scouring Aberdeenshire for a suitable place where we could watch the solar eclipse without any clouds in the way.

Somehow, we managed to go all the way to Fraserburgh without getting any views of the sun. As the clock hit 7pm, we parked in a random Morrisons in Fraserburgh and got nice views of the solar eclipse, as well as a few photos.

Photo of the solar eclipse

Birding in Hungary - Day 19

Birding in Hungary XIX

4 August 2026

Városliget

Today, after hearing Scops Owl the night before, I went back to the City Park in Budapest, hoping to get some views, before we had to leave back to Aberdeen at lunchtime. Sadly, although I did see a nice Wood Warbler, a flock of Bee-eaters, which came as a surprise.

Flyover Bee-eater

Wood Warbler

I also managed to see a Nuthatch, which came very close to me and I watched eating a fly that it had caught.

Nuthatch with a fly

Nuthatch

Just as we were leaving the park, I noticed a Cardinal Butterfly perched on a leaf, the last butterfly we saw on the trip.

Cardinal Butterfly

Birding in Hungary - Day 18

Birding in Hungary XVIII

3 August 2026

Városliget

Today, after arriving in Budapest in the mid-afternoon, my mum and I decided to head to the Budapest City Park (Városliget), after dinner, to search for some Scops Owls that had been seen during the day.

We brang with us a powerful headlamp that my uncle had, and, after playing the call, we heard a reply from a Scops Owl, a lifer! We managed to pinpoint it to a stand of London Planes, but didn't manage to find it. My mum saw what she thought was another owl when we were walking back, though I didn't see it.

Birding in Hungary 2026 - Day 17

Birding in Hungary XVII

2 August 2026

Csaba-tó

Today, I went out in the evening, to search for Long-eared Owl, since there is a roost in my grandparents' street, and I hadn't photographed them yet until now. Before long, I got eyes on one of the Long-eared Owls, perched in one of the trees. I took I few photos, but didn't want to disturb it too much, so I soon left

Long-eared Owl

I then found another Long-eared Owl as well as a Black Redstart, some Caspian Gulls and a couple Collared Doves.

Long-eared Owl

Csaba-tó

Later in the evening, my grandpa and I went out to the marshes, to have a final search for Nightingale, another species I hadn't seen on the trip yet. Before long, we heard a few Nightingales calling, and I managed to take an audio recording of one of them.

Birding in Hungary 2026 - Day 16

Birding in Hungary XVI

1 August 2026

Kékestető

Today, we decided to meet my second-cousins all the way up near Budapest, in the town of Hatvan (litteraly "sixty"). Since it was more than a 3-hour drive, only my mum, my grandpa, and I went.

When we arrived at their place, we made plans to head up to the top of the Kékes mountain, the highest in Hungary, though it would just barely get the title of a munro. When we arrived, we parked near the top, so it wasn't very much of a hike to reach the summit. We took a selfie in front of the cairn, and got tickets to enjoy the view from the TV tower, which was about 44m above the actual peak.

Monument marking the highest point in Hungary

Looking North from the TV Tower

After that, we went to have a picnic. While I was having my sandwich, I was happy to hear a couple Coal Tits, which are quite a rare bird in Hungary, only being found up in the highest mountains. I also soon heard a Middle Spotted Woodpecker, though only got very breif glimpses as it flew across the clearing we were in.

We then went for a quick walk around the nearby forest, though we didn't see much other than a Short-toed Treecreeper, and a Goldcrest, both restricted to upland areas in Hungary.

Birding in Hungary 2026 - Day 15

Birding in Hungary XV

31 July 2026

Kakasszék

Today, we visited one of our grandfather's friends, across the county border, in Csongrád. Near the carehome where he stayed, there was a lake, where I saw 3 Green Sandpipers, a couple of Common Sandpipers, as well as a large gathering of Rooks, and many House Martins nesting under the eaves of the buildings.

Birding in Hungary 2026 - Day 12

Birding in Hungary XII

28 July 2026

Kígyósi Nagyerdő

Today, my mum and I woke up at 5:00am to cycle down to Szabadkígyós, to look for Black Woodpecker and other birds.

Red-backed Shrike, an omnipresent bird

One of very few Hoopoes we've seen this year

When we arrived, we soon heard a woodpecker tapping on a tree near the path, but it simply refused to show itself. We kept walking seeing Syrian and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, but no Black Woodpecker.

Eventually, we reached a bit where an unofficial path went off, deep into the woods, without walking 50m, I heard the call of Black Woodpecker. I decided the best idea would be to walk straight through the thick foliage, full of upturned roots, brambles, bracken, and nettles, to reach a nearby clearing, where, after playing the call of Black Woodpecker for just 5 seconds, a large adult female landed on a tree a mere 3 metres from me.

Female Black Woodpecker

(females have a limited red patch near the nape)

Sadly though, my mum didn't get to see the bird before it flew away, but we did eventually get eyes on it again, albeit further away.

My mum's view of Black Woodpecker

As we rolled down towards the lookout tower, we started getting attacked by what we thought were flatflies, they were sort of like spiders but flat and had wings. They kept landing on us and crawling all over us! It was worth it however, since we did see my lifer Honey-Buzzard fly over. If you know what these strage insects were, you can post it in the comments, at the bottom of the page.

Honey-Buzzard

We then kept cycling, until we reached the lookout tower where we had a break. I spent some time photographing a male Red-backed Shrike, which was hunting for food for its chicks, which seemed to have just fledged.

Red-backed Shrike juvenile, from another family

Male Red-backed Shrike, on alert

We decided to go a bit further, to see what was beyond the tree line, we found another lookout tower, which seemed like it wouldn't be able to hold our weights for more that 2 minutes, as well as an Eastern Bath White.

After that, we started cycling back, but we decided to not go through the forest and instead go to look for Roller in the puszta/grassland. We saw some birds perched on some posts infront of us, which I dismissed as Red-backed Shrikes, before they flew away, revealing large white wing patches, they were Lesser Grey Shrikes! We got terrible views later of one of them, which landed not quite far away, and we also saw a female/immature Roller, on a haybale, as they always are.

Lesser Grey Shrike

(heavily cropped)

We then saw a Buzzard and, a good bird for these parts, Hooded Crow. Despite being a daily sight over in Budapest, it was the first time I had seen them here in Békéscsaba

Buzzard

Hooded Crow

Csaba-tó

We had a quick stop at the pools at Csaba-tó, where we saw a few cool birds, such as more Bee-Eaters, but the highlight was a patch tick Greenshank

Greenshank

Bee-Eater

Once back home, around midday, we saw many butterflies, including Queen of Spain Fritillary, nectaring the flowers in the garden.

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Unh spots of QoS Fritillary, reflecting the sunlight