@inchgarthbirding
North-east Scotland Bird Recorder. Goes to Inchgarth Reservoir a lot. Occasional glimpse-catching flocker.
It’s International Tiger Day so any chance to revisit my photos from last year’s trip to India. The first sighting in Corbett NP, just a few metres from our open jeep, was an overwhelming and highly emotional moment that I’ll never forget #mammals
Willow Ermine adults emerging from webs at Inchgarth #teammoth
The Shark was a new one in the garden in Aberdeen this morning #teammoth
The road to nowhere led to the Edinburgh Playhouse last night. David Byrne is now in his 70s but looking and sounding fantastic with a completely unique show, almost 2 hours of total joy ❤️
Thanks John Holmes for alerting me to the Little Egret along the Dee at Inchgarth today - just my second here (after one in January this year) and only the third record here ever! #birdingscotland
A mam-moth 2,114 moths of 116 species recorded from 11 traps on Friday, taking over 8 hours to decant and record 😱 during surveys for Dark-bordered Beauty (of which we had 4) - thanks Helen, Mark and Annie for a great day on Deeside #teammoth
Denisia similella, a new micro for me from upper Deeside today #teammoth
Barred Straw was nfg, best of the rest (104/32) was a Plain Golden Y, with Clay, Rustic, Yellow Shell all firsts of the year for me in VC92 #teammoth
Map-winged Swift f. gallicus overnight in Aberdeen VC92 had me bamboozled for a while as it’s the first one of this form that I’ve seen #teammoth
A comparison of dark-morph Western Reef Herons ssp schistacea taken in Qatar, and ssp gularis from Sandy Haven on Saturday (see locations in ALT). Subtle differences in bill shape with the schistacea birds showing a more decurved tip to the upper mandible (breadknife vs dagger) #rarebirdsuk
Two new moths for me in VC39 Staffs this weekend; Heart & Club (with Heart & Dart for comparison) and Phycitodes binaevella. Codling Moth also, a really attractive micro #teammoth
Brussels Lace in the garden this morning- new moth for me. Locally distributed in Scotland and there doesn’t seem to be many Aberdeen city records for VC92 #teammoth
Anyone care to help with this fritillary from north/central Croatia last week? Heath or False Heath? Or something else? #butterflies
A few nice moths in Croatia and Slovenia last week but none more spectacular than nine-spotted moth. A Mother Shipton was also good to see #teammoth
Interesting Yellow Wagtails in north/central Croatia, essentially Ashy-headed cinereocapilla types with some having clean white throats looking like the real deal, but others having some yellow in the throat suggesting intergrades with other forms, presumably flava? #birds
Rock Partridge are supposed to be easier to find on Pag Island (Croatia) than virtually anywhere else in their range, but it still took me 2 hours of searching before locating a couple on the stone walls at Velo Blato #birds
The Dotterel at Rattray are the first lowland records in NE Scotland since 2019 (and the first I’ve seen anywhere since 2011) 😱 Nearby an Arctic Skua by the lighthouse was my first of the year. Almost as scarce was a sighting of KD Shaw on one of his old stomping grounds! #birdingscotland
Nice evening made better by my first 2 Inchgarth Swifts of the year. Also one earlier at RGU. Just my 3rd April record of Swift here (earliest 27/4/20) #birdingscotland
Highlights of some overnight trapping in VC91 near Banchory with Helen Rowe; Scarce Prominent, Brindled Beauty, Early Thorn and a lovely Herald #teammoth
Just the second Marsh Sandpiper for NE Scotland- the first was in 1990 so a long time coming. That hypodermic needle of a bill! #birdingscotland #rarebirdsuk
Bean Goose at Collieston today was interesting- long bill suggests Taiga and the amount of orange on the bill was masked by caked-on mud. Difficult to assess neck length as it was constantly feeding, but didn’t look especially long or short! #birdingscotland
At 944 pages + 2 volumes the new Birds of Fair Isle book will take time to digest. Spectacular achievement by @ijandrews.bsky.social @rogerriddington.bsky.social Paul Harvey, Will Miles @puffinpassion.bsky.social Now available for £85 + £7 UKp+p via bofi@fairislebirdobs.co.uk #birdingscotland #birds
Bumped into this brute of a Glaucous Gull at Inchgarth today, considering we’re just 6km from Aberdeen Harbour they’re ridiculously rare here- just my 2nd in almost 25 years and 3.5k visits 😱 also first Swallow of the year here #birdingscotland
A Beautiful Plume was a surprise find in my hallway last night, new for me here in Aberdeen VC92 #teammoth
Back home after a weekend away so the Inchgarth @webs-gsmp.bsky.social core count was done a day late, fortuitously coinciding with my new site record count of 32 Whooper Swans #birdingscotland . Flock included 2 immatures.
23 Whooper Swans (22ads, 1 imm) on the reservoir today, just 2 shy of my record count here. They flew out just after 5.30 #birdingscotland