Monday 23 January 2012

Up and down the North East coast.

Youngest daughter's second day of her holidays was going up and down the North East Coast.  Due to the weather there are lots of things to see as birds get blown where they might not possibly want to be.


Great Black Backed Gull, still not mature.  Also a native.



This one, however, is an Icelandic Gull.





One of my favourite birds, Oyster Catcher.  Although these are in the proper place, by the sea, you might be interested to know about their nesting habits.  They prefer gravelly ground and flat.  So what suits them can actually be found on flat roofs!!  Aberdeen has many of them as it had a big building surge with supermarkets and industrial units etc . Aberdeen is one of two places in the whole world where Oyster Catchers can be seen nesting on roofs.  Indeed there is a chap in Aberdeen who you can contact should you find a baby that has fell off the roof and he will come and put it back!



Seals in the Ythan Estuary, just north of Aberdeen.



The Ythan Estuary.



Seals playing.  or possibly......



Two mute swans.


And a redshank.




As you can see - much better weather - altho "Its ay cold".


What you will not be able to see as it was too far out for a camera to capture was a Hump Backed Whale at Collieston, just North of Aberdeen and South of us.


We got it all here!

4 comments:

Christine Laennec said...

Wowee, a whale! I've never seen one here. I didn't know that the oystercatchers nested in so few roof-filled places. The University of Aberdeen has to accommodate them on the flat rooves, and be sure they have the wherewithal to nest. I always note the first day of the year that I hear the oystercatcher's cry. In Gaelic they say, "Bi glic!" (Be wise!) For some reason this is also the motto of the Norther Constabulary.

justjill said...

Christine you are so knowledgeable! There are often whales and porpoises and dolphins off our coasts. I will get you the web sites that alert you. So you can see a whale. This one is quite something, the hump backed, it has been around for some time. A week now. You can see its spume (?) top of its head and see it flapping its tail.

Christine Laennec said...

Ha ha so knowledgeable! My head is full of many useless pieces of information. I'd love to have the websites. Who knows, maybe the day will come when I can say, "Whales are approaching, see you in an hour!" and just take off! Enjoy your whale-watching.

scrumptious days said...

How wonderful, all that wonderful sea life, and then the whale.