North meets south

A crazy couple of weeks on the patch has seen northern strays meet southern overshoots in bizarre fashion. Early April saw a fine but frustratingly elusive Great Grey Shrike in the Little Collieston / North Forvie area, and another Black Redstart on the Reserve. Then in late April it was possible to see both King Eider and Avocet on the estuary on the same day!

Avocets at Waulkmill, Ythan Estuary

Things then upped another gear, firstly with the big discovery (literally) of the Great White Egret on Cotehill Loch, which thankfully stuck around so Rosie and I could see it. It was still here yesterday (5th May) and has been seen on both Cotehill and Sand Lochs.

Great White Egbert

This was followed up on Tuesday by another stonking southern overshoot, this time a Hoopoe, which caused some language in the Reserve office as it flew past the window, grub in bill, Jackdaw in pursuit! It eventually lost its pursuer and flopped its way onto the Reserve, where it sadly went to ground and wasn't subsequently pinned down. Frustrating but exhilarating!

In other news, there has been a good passage of Whimbrel this week, including a flock of 30+ over Cotehill on Monday. They have been in evidence again this evening, with noisy small parties passing over the house.

Whimbrel on the move

Elsewhere, there has been a long-staying second-summer Mediterranean Gull at the Forvie ternery, where all the usual tern species are now back on territory. This Med Gull may be the same one sighted by Collieston Birder in the village back in January, but who knows? Anyway, it was joined today by a stunning full adult, though the two didn't seem to be interested in each other. Surely a future breeder in the Forvie gullery (where there are currently 1,921 pairs of Black-headed Gulls nesting).

Finally, there has been a small flurry of Lesser Whitethroat sightings, with one found by Collieston Birder in the roadside willows, followed by one at the Reserve office this morning, and then another in our garden this evening. With a promising weather forecast for the next few days, I hope we're reporting on more passerine interest soon...

Lesser Whitethroat - garden tick!