Joined November 2018
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1,163 Photos and videos
Some excitement at St Fittick's Park this morning. Cuckoos are rare migrants here, normally juveniles in late summer, so an adult in June was unprecedented. Perhaps it was interested in this Reed Warbler, which was my first here for seven years.
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Very pleasing to see this unseasonal drake Scaup around the harbour mouth at Girdle Ness today. Probably the closest views I've ever had of one here.
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Whinchat is a scarce enough 'common migrant' at Girdle Ness these days that I'm always relieved to see one. I had that feeling with this bird that turned up in St Fittick's Park this evening. It's the only notable migrant I've seen here all month.
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I'll be at the ASA PeopleFest in Edinburgh this weekend. If you fancy getting outdoors, Jo Vergunst and I will be doing some sound related stuff around Holyrood Park (assuming it's not still on fire) on Saturday morning.
theasa.org/conferences/peopl…
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On Sunday afternoon, I'll be talking about 'Living in Unprecedented Times' at this roundtable event, featuring various others saying interesting things. I'll be talking about the Anthropocene, extinction and shifting baseline syndrome.
theasa.org/conferences/peopl…
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Lots of seabirds were brought close inshore to Aberdeen Bay by the southeasterlies today. The numerous Sandwich and Common Terns attracted at least four Arctic Skuas, which flew sorties around the harbour mouth for agile food grabs.
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This group of six Sanderlings paused their migration to the Arctic for a quick bath in a rock pool at Greyhope Bay, Aberdeen today.
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Black Guillemots are regular in Aberdeen's south harbour in spring these days. This one yesterday was a bit closer to the shore than usual. #SuperSeabirdSunday
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A fantastic research project in Torry and Yell, which I'm involved with.
The University of Aberdeen has been awarded funding through the Coast-R Small Grants Fund for a new research project examining how coastal communities are navigating environmental and energy transitions along the North Sea. abdn.io/2b3
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Still plenty of Wheatears passing through Girdle Ness. This was one of five today. Most look quite big, so are presumably heading northwest.
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Chilean Flicker took more finding than I expected but eventually I got close up to this wonderfully spotty woodpecker in the El Yeso Valley.
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Two high-altitude waders from Termas del Plomo. Grey-breasted Seedsnipe hardly looks like a wader at all, but the Magellanic Snipe hiding in the long grass was a bit more of a typical 'snipe'.
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Some quirky passerines from central Chile: Patagonian Tyrant from Altos de Lircay and Moustached Turca, Rufous-naped Ground Tyrant, and Scale-throated Earthcreeper from the El Yeso Valley.
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Some final photos from Chile in January. The migratory White-throated Hawk is sometimes hard to find in the temperate Andean forests where it breeds but I had splendid views of this one at Altos de Lircay.
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Sedge Warblers are arriving now at Girdle Ness and are singing vigorously. In eastern Scotland they seem to be happy in dry scrub as well as wetter areas.
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Any kind of 'Yellow Wagtail' is unusual at Girdle Ness, so I was pleased to find this female today. The blue-grey crown and white supercillium suggest Blue-headed but I don't know if it's possible to be certain. Views are welcome.
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We're still looking through fences at St Fittick's Park, but I suppose at least it reduces disturbance at the weekend. That might be why the burn hosted a Green Sandpiper today, the first I've seen here for many years.
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A Spot-flanked Gallinule at Mantagua, central Chile in January, showing off its strikingly thick legs.
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A Cocoi Heron getting fulsomely fluffed up at Mantagua, central Chile in January.
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