Last week I was working from home so had the opportunity to get up to the patch at Ferry Hills early morning.
Clive Mckay  made his first visits so it really felt like autumn had properly started. Tuesday 30th saw a great start to the skua season,  the first skua of the autumn was a Long-tailed!

The bird gave great views as it headed inland, eventually passing right over us. This was just as well because it was in an interesting and challenging  plumage, a second calendar year bird, not the adult you might expect at this time of the year. It's slim, athletic shape and very buoyant tern like flight were always good pointers. Plumage wise it had retained some coarse barring on the underwing and rump which are useful features in Juvenile plumage.  The tail projection  was relatively long and fine, not the blunter peg like shape of a Juv. On the upperwing the lack of white, restricted to 1-2 outermost primaries was another good pointer.

Otherwise the visits this week have been fairly quiet, Tree Pipits had a good day on Wed August 1st with 28 over and the first 3 Great Skuas were recorded. A singing Grasshopper Warbler was recorded on Sat 3rd. Clive started the ringing season and caught a few Tree Pipits as well as Willow Warblers, another typical early autumn migrant:

 

Butterfly wise Painted Ladies have been nectaring on the Buddliea all week in our garden after the E coast invasion last weekend (Perhaps the biggest arrival ever in Scotland?). We have had up to 20.

Today, Sunday August 4th, a change of scene looking for passage waders at Valleyfield lagoons and the nearby mudflats at Torry Bay. Hoping for something scarce with the promising conditions, light rain and E wind, but in the end fairly routine. Nice views of 4 Common Snipe in the open. Also 9 Arctic Tern amongst Common and Sandwich Tern.