Aberdeen 27th June 2016
Eider & Ducklings at Ythan Estuary.
I arrived in great time on Monday morning and followed the instructions to Blackdog just north of Aberdeen however i could not find a decent path to get to the beach , i could see some birders in the distance but could find no way of getting to where they were from our currant position.
I decided to try my luck from Murcar links golf course , i parked up and went to see one of the greenskeepers to get permission to walk across the course , and they very kindly gave me a lift to the other birders , wow never been in a golf cart before ...lol.
I eventually reached MYr destination and joined 3 other birders who had already seen the AWW Scoter but the scoter flock was quite distant , this is going to be a real challenge at the range these birds were at , one chap was very good at picking it out however the rest of us were struggling , eventually the other birder got onto the bird again and this time so did i , thankfully it was quite obvious once you managed to get onto it but boy was hard to find , even at that range you could see all the features but sadly i never managed a photo .
King Eider.
I worked really hard scanning and re scanning the scoter flock for quite sometime but the flock was drifting further out with the tide , i saw the American White Winged Scoter twice quite well and was pleased with my views but would have of course liked to have seen it closer .
I decided to head off to the Ythan estuary for the King Eider thankfully this was much easier to find , i picked it out amongst lots of Eider on the opposite river bank , eventually it had a swim around and came quite close at times.
Having a feed.
King Eider.
A really enjoyable birding session here and a great days birding , many thanks to the Murcar links course greenkeepers for their help .
Allhallows 28th June 2016
Male Red Backed Shrike.
There had been a male Red Backed Shrike seen at Allhallows since last Sunday 26th June and i was hoping it would stick around until i had chance to have a look , thankfully it was still present on Tuesday 28th June and i headed over there to see it , what a cracking bird to see in this plumage , first one i have seen in adult plumage for a number of years.
Grey head & black mask.
Pink flush on breast & flanks.
Red Backed Shrike.
