Black-tailed Godwit Influx

31 Black-tailed Godwit was the highest count on Cotehill Loch so far, by "Cotehill Birder" yesterday, there was also a distant group on Meikle Loch first thing this morning with in excess of 20 Ruff also present. Good numbers of Snipe  in the Meikle and Slains area this evening and a single Ruff early evening on Cotehill. In addition there was a Green Sandpiper again on the Feu farm roadside pool.
Other birds include a Grey Wagtail about Kirkton this am and 2 Bullfinches near the Snub Ythan car park this evening.
A good weather system appears to be building in time for the weekend...perhaps some chance of some early passerine migration and seawatching.

Cotehill Loch gets busy

Finally the small edge on Cotehill Loch featured a number of waders today, including at one point 12 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Ringed Plover, a single Ruff and Dunlin. 4 Black-tailed Godwit also dropped into Feu Farm, but were only there briefly.
On Meikle in the fresh westerly winds there were 14 Ruff. Mid-afternoon the Little Egret was at the Waulkmill hide.

Ruff, Meikle Loch

Meikle Loch Waders

This evening there were at least 10 Ruff feeding actively around the shoreline at Meikle Loch, 6 Greenshank flew in as a flock and there was a single Knot looking rather out of place. Lapwing numbers remain high on the loch side and in nearby fields. Otherwise Pied Wagtail numbers seem to have increased substantially in the Slains and Meikle area, and there are various small flocks of Meadow Pipit roving about.

Red Kite

A long overdue Red Kite for the Collieston area (for me at least), which looked to be tagged, flew past fairly low at Kirkton, towards  Forvie Sands at 18.40.
Otherwise the Ythan highlights for me were a Little Egret, still down in the Inches area, and a good variety of common waders including Whimbrel and Ruff scattered the whole length. Meikle Loch had 4 Greenshank today, 3 Ruff,  1 Green Sandpiper and at least 2 Common Sandpipers, as well as at least 10 Dunlin.

Greenshank, Meikle Loch

Dunlin, Meikle Loch

Unbridled Madness at the Ythan Mouth!

Things kicked off a little bit at the Ythan this evening with news emerging of the Bridled Tern photographed at the mouth around 5.00pm...once news emerged and people started arriving the bird had gone...only to re-appear just after 7.00pm. Great scenes reminiscent of Chariots of Fire as local patch birders and even some from further afield  made their way gracefully across the sands. Fantastic second record of this species for the region!

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

There was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper in with Golden Plover opposite Waulkmill hide yesterday morning(CNG)-an early record for the region. Meanwhile Meikle Loch continues to host a good variety of waders with at least 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Green Sandpipers, 5 Ruff and 10 plus Dunlin visible first thing this morning.
The Collieston area is full of the new crop of the local breeding birds, with Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Stonechats all in good numbers round the village. A surprise yesterday was a Garden Warbler in the roadside willows, my earliest record for the Autumn season in Collieston.
Giving me a bit of a shock first thing yesterday were a few glimpses of a very worn, adult Sedge Warbler which appeared completely unstreaked in the field.
Better views yesterday evening resolved things, as shown in the rather poor image below.

Adult Sedge Warbler

The Terning of the Seasons

With post-breeding dispersal well under way, now's probably a good time to summarise the Forvie ternery's season. Just the one word required - fabulous. All breeding species have had an incredibly productive season, as evidenced by the huge numbers of fledged Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns currently littering the lower estuary.

Of course, such a gathering does attract the occasional passing scarcity, such as yesterday morning when a juvenile Black Tern and two adult Roseate Terns were present among their commoner cousins. Well worth a look from the Tin Hut on the golf course at the moment.

Roseate Tern among juvenile Sandwich Terns - photo courtesy LMS

 

Same again, with adult Sandwich Tern for comparison 

Also lots of passage waders on the go, including Knot, Dunlin and Sanderling in an assortment of plumages, plus Curlew, Whimbrel and Common Sandpiper going through. Finally, an unseasonable Long-tailed Duck and two redhead Goosanders completed the picture on a decidedly autumnal Ythan Estuary.