A Quickie

Just a quickie to mark the end of an era. Later this week I will no longer be a young birder in Aberdeenshire, as I move away and establish a new family base down in Glasgow. This marks the first of two ‘moves’ for me. In September I will be taking up my uni accomadation in Edinburgh, where I will be primarily based for the next four years. With that in mind, its time for a blog name change. I’ll get round to that when I can.

As to be expected during a move, things are too hectic for me to be able to update the blog properly for now. I have plenty to update, so when I have finally settled down elsewhere I will aim to get the following done over the summer:

• Updates on Costessey H.P.E and Norfolk birding
• Spanish Trip Report (will be slow progress…)
• Strathbeg volunteering in June 2013 account
• A post or two reflecting on birding in Aberdeenshire over the years

June 2013 was a great month for birding, holding a two week spell volunteering on the patch at Strathbeg, plus decent spells of patching down at Costessey. Late month, I was even jammy enough to be interrupted by a few odds and sods without wanting to be on a short, gloriously birding free trip to Holland and Belgium for a music festival and general visit. This included Ring-necked Parakeet in central Amsterdam, Woodlark in suitable habbo by the motorway towards Antwerp, Avocets on a pool near Schiphol, a couple of Marsh Harriers and shedloads of Egyptian Geese.  Woops.

So, that’s the lowdown folks. When I get the time, probably later this month, I’ll try and get the above stuff done. In the mean time, enjoy the summer.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Pre-Andalucia Update

Just popping in briefly, mostly to say that lots has been happening, and that lots lots more will be happening over the next month or so! A week and half down in Norfolk was productive on patch and elsewhere in the county, whilst during the same trip away birding was also done briefly in Nottinghamshire and Essex. This, in itself, is a lot to cover blogging wise, but the ‘blog-load’ is about to get a hell of a lot higher!

As the title implies, I am off to South-Western Andalucia, Spain, in the very short future. As part of the Scouting For Birds crew, I was invited in March to join Norfolk lads and very good mates Oliver Reville, Daniel Watson and James Knightbridge in Southern Spain, and didn’t hang back on the offer! As I write my excitement is at insane levels! On the cards are visits to legendary areas such as the Sierra De Grazalema, the Bonanza Saltpans and Gibraltar Rock, with possibilities of between 15-20 raptor species, 8 species of Sylvia alone, a whole range of  scintillating Spanish specialties and much, much more.  I won’t go into more detail, but  170+ species could be possible  in the 10 days we’re there (20th-30th April), , perhaps including our own self-found Spanish rare; optimistic yes but we hope! One thing is for sure, it will be a trip of a lifetime; a birding and photography paradise. I’ll aim to get a trip report done after the trip, but a warning in advance, the finished article may not appear for a few months, as there will be absolutely shed-loads to account for!

So, I think I’ve established that it will take me a hell of a long time to get up to date with the blog after this; but it will happen! I have my final ever school exams in May, which will hinder blogging progression quite dramatically. Combined with this I am moving out of Aberdeen altogether, establishing bases in Edinburgh and Glasgow as from June or July. The ‘Aberdeenshire Young Birder’ title will cease to exist in due course.  At the moment leaving what has been the source of my birding behind me seems intangible, but I know already I will really miss it. I’ll probably pay a wee homage to it at a future point in the blog hopefully, so expect to see a post on my overall birding experiences in Aberdeenshire at some point in the future.

With acceptance into the University of Edinburgh, Lothian will become the main focus of my birding. Maybe I will have to re-name the blog ‘Lothian Young Birder’. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it though does it? I will be aiming to find a patch near the city and to work it hardcore.. watch this space! With my dad moving down to Glasgow and therefore a good 50 miles away, birding will be more of a solitary affair than it has been in past years, but I will pop in and visit every now and then and hopefully find some decent underwatched habitat to work on the outskirts of the city. Trips to inner Hebridean islands such as Tiree, Mull and Islay also appeal massively for nearctics… as well as the resident specialities!

Basically, its all kicking off at the moment!  Aside from what the future holds for me, I have also managed a couple of photo publications in the last few weeks. Firstly, both my Sandhill Crane photos were used in the North East Scottish Bird Report 2011, the better known image being the front cover, albeit angled 20 degrees upwards. Given the angling of the photo, Harry Scott has done a superb job and I thank him greatly for his efforts and kindness in including both photos in the report. Furthermore, just three weeks on from the Black-throated Thrush bonanza, one of my images has been featured and published in the April 2013 issue of Birding World; many thanks to Steve Gantlett for this opportunity. In the Black-throated Thrush post I did, you will recognise this as the first of the eight images I used. Both images as they appear in their respective publications are below.

Sandhill Crane photo as the front cover of the North-East Scottish Bird Report 2011

Black-throated Thrush image in the April 2013 edition of Birding World

So, at least until the beginning of May, that’s it blogging wise for now folks. Be prepared for a barrage of blog posts when I get back, spread out over time though! On Saturday afternoon, I will be jetting Spain-ward. Bring on the spring, bring on Spain, bring on the future!

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Egyptian Goose at Meikle Loch – 2nd For Scotland And Regional First

A few weeks back I was delighted to receive news that an Egyptian Goose I had submitted to the NESRC back in 2010 was accepted under Category C as a first for the region and by the SBRC as a second for Scotland. Egyptian Goose records don’t normally scream seriousness in your face, but I’m glad to say this individual was an exception to that rule. A very interesting bird, as you’ll see below.

Egyptian Goose at Meikle Loch  – Circumstances and Description:

 On the morning of 27th March 2010 I decided to spend a few hours around the Ythan area, hoping to catch up with a Bewick’s Swan which had been found in fields in the Waulkmill area the day beforehand, and perhaps a few early migrants. After successfully tracing down the Bewick’s Swan and popping into Collieston, we headed down towards the estuary via Meikle Loch. As we drove down the track, I noticed a flock of Shelduck and something larger take off towards the back of the loch. Getting the binoculars up revealed a pale, stocky medium sized goose with cinnamon undertail coverts and gleaming white wing panels contrasting with jet black primaries. It dawned on me that, much to my surprise I was watching an Egyptian Goose.

I can remember exclaiming something along the lines of ‘What on earth is that doing here?’ as it powered into the distance. The Shelduck flock touched down at the very edge of the loch, but the Egyptian Goose continued into the fields behind. It hit us that this was may be all we were going to see of the bird in question, but to our relief it landed in the field to the left of the cottage, some 300ft away from where we were stationed. At this point were able to note the buff-grey head, chestnut eye patches and pink bill before it walked out of view behind a patch of conifers. A few tense minutes were spent hoping that it would reappear into view, and eventually it flew back onto the loch, detached from the other wildfowl and seeming entirely unable to settle. Within a couple of minutes it had flown high to the southeast; gone after no more 10 minutes of us arriving. It later became apparent that the bird had been seen on the Ythan by Waterside Bridge with Shelduck at 12:30pm, roughly an hour and a half after we had last seen it at Meikle. It would not be seen again in the region thereafter.

Alarm bells rang in my head that this may not be an escapee. Had this bird acted tame and settled I wouldn’t have even dwelt on this possibility. In reality I had been faced with a very mobile and flighty Egyptian Goose which had stuck around at Meikle Loch for no more than 10 minutes before moving south. Could this have been a genuinely migrating bird that had strayed from a self-sustaining population? I could only wonder. I soon became alerted that a mobile Egyptian Goose had been in Shetland the previous month. It was last seen there on 25th March at Exnaboe on the southern tip of the mainland, just two days before the individual at Meikle Loch was found...

An account posted the day after it was found can be seen here.

Status Of Egyptian Goose In Scotland – The Record In Context:

Of the occasional reports of this species in Scotland, most likely refer to escapees from wildfowl collections or those from the self-sustaining groups such as those in Norfolk, Denmark and the Netherlands. There have been several records accepted under Category E of roaming individuals in Scotland, including from Kinross, the Black Isle and West Lothian in the late 1970s and more recently in NE Scotland at New Deer in 2008, but it is unlikely that the published records so far accurately represent the frequency of this bird in Scotland (Valerie M Thom 1986, T&AD Poyser). Historically, a substantial Scottish free-flying population was kept at the Gosford Estate in East Lothian throughout the 19th century, with some groups from this population being noted to have wintered in Northumberland, where they were known as “spanish geese” by local wildfowlers, but failed to subsequently become established into the 20th century (J.T.R Sharrock 1976, T&AD Poyser).

The Shetland bird represented the first to be accepted onto Category C of the Scottish List due to its location and also the time of year. Late winter and early spring have been acknowledged as a period when this species are potentially on the move in England (Riddington 2011, SOC) and thus the Shetland bird was deemed as having the necessary credentials for a ‘wild’ bird from a self-sustaining population. Due to the ties in dates with this bird, the Meikle Loch individual has been accepted on similar grounds as a second for record Scotland and a first for NE Scotland.

Personally, I believe the evidence given points to this bird being the same individual as the Shetland one, given its outstandingly mobile nature and ties in dates with said bird…. Not that it matters too much; undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year.

Local Egyptian Geese in Norfolk, at Costessey House Private Estate in April 2012. The Shetland/Aberdeenshire bird could refer to an individual from this population moving with migrating Greylags.

References

British Trust for Ornithology, Sharrock, J.T.R. (1976) – The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, P.96-97

Thom, M. Valerie (1986), T&AD Poyser – Birds in Scotland

R. Riddington, Scottish Ornithological Club (2011) – Egyptian Goose in Shetland

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 Thanks for reading

Joseph