Garden bird log for Banchory, Kincardineshire

This is a log of the more interesting species seen and heard in, and flying over, a suburban garden on Woodside Road, Banchory, Kincardineshire, Scotland (map). The garden is in an area of detached housing adjacent to terraced council housing. At the time of most of the records listed the nearest open farmland was about 100m to the north-west (but it has since receded to over 1km), and the nearest "wood" was a conifer plantation only just beyond that. The nearest open water is at the Loch of Leys and the River Dee, approximately 1 mile to the north and half a mile to the south respectively.

Annoted species list

Detailed records (spreadsheet) - updated 1/1/26

2026

[Personal note: after logging wildlife at this lovely garden for 59 years the list concludes with 70 bird species recorded. I may still add some historic records to the blog below when I find time.]

Swallows and Meadow Pipit again over on 12 September, and Red Admiral in garden at the bruised pears, they come every year.

Meadow Pipits over on 4 September.

Linnets calling over on 19 August.

Yet another new bird for garden with clear call over of Tree Pipit on 22 August, bird records benefitting from spending more time at the house this year, species number 70. Tawny Owl hooting on evening of same day.

Another new bird for garden with Barn Owl screech call logged at 00:10hrs, then receding to NE, on 8 March, species number 69.

Red Kite high over on 1 March.

Great Spotted Woodpecker was a new bird for garden on 14 January species number 68; fond memories of being taken by parents to see nest in woods south of the Dee at Blackhall, late 1970s.

2025

Redpoll logged daily 5-9 October and in November and December; last House Martins were 3 over W on 7 October, quite late in the year.

c.390 Jackdaws assembling for roost again at Dalvenie on 17 June, a corvid roost for many years/decades.

Blackbird with large juvs in nest in privet hedge 16 June.

Swifts over 15 June.

Linnet over on 3 May seems to be another species I never recorded here in the 1980s, species number 67

Chiffchaff in song on 12 April, remarkably this was a species I never recorded here in the 1980s, species number 66. Also 2 Buzzard over S.

2024

More Red Kite sightings, this one was soaring over Woodside Terrace on 28 January, attracted limited interest from gulls and corvids which are presumably very familiar with it. Such a delight to see there, a 6 kite weekend.

2023

Another year, another Waxwing, one flew over while I was working in the garden on 11 November.

Red Admirals feeding on fallen pears, 12 October, many of them over recent days.

Red Kite now regular over garden, seen by father, 12 April, and now "often daily".

2022

7 Waxwings in flight low over on afternoon 26 November, while helping parents with a bonfire, quite likely more in area as not seen perched, Fieldfare also present at apple trees. Happy memories of seeing Waxwings regularly in years gone by (1985-95 blog). From kitchen window view of an old Magpie nest (this species recorded only once in 1980s, still scarce 1990s, now resident and common).

2021

Tree Sparrows still resident, 5 May, a new colonist in recent years - no records by me anywhere in neighbourhood when resident c. 1980-1990.

2020

Red Kite - third for garden, circling high over on 12 January.

2019

Red Kite - second for garden, circling low over on 16 January.

2018

Tree Sparrows in garden 18 August - first recorded occurence, species number 65.

2016

c. 550 Jackdaws assembling for roost at traditional site in tall trees at Dalvenie, dusk on 2 July. 30 House Sparrows and fledged Blackbird in garden on same day.

2015

Red-letter day for parents with a Red Kite thermalling over, 29 March (first record in 48 years!) species number 64.

Tame just fledged Collared Dove in pear tree and 4 Swift over on 13 August.

2013

16 Waxwings just up the road on 4 April.

2010

First update for this garden for a while - Waxwing on bird table today (25/2), though looked in poor shape - presumably struggling to find food after arriving in the last month or so as part of the small late winter influx right down the east coast. Photos:Another bird in a garden elsewhere in Grampian is known from colour rings to be a returning bird, as reported on the BTO demog blog, here.

Another change from earlier years is that Magpie is now regular in the garden.

2005

50 Waxwings were again present on 28 March.

In week of 27 February all four thrushes were feeding in the garden (Redwing, Fieldfare, Song Thrush & Blackbird). The Fieldfare was coming to bread on a daily basis and was seen on the bird table on 2 March when snow was heaviest. It is much more able to hold its own with the resident Blackbirds which are vigorously defending "their" food source, and probably pretty annoyed about these various intruders. The Redwing, apparently shyer, spent more time skulking under the hedge, perhaps hoping to pick up scraps left by the larger thrushes.

Waxwings were back at the end of February, with 20+ seen 25-27 February, but a second-hand report of "200" up the road.

On 23 February a Redwing was present in the garden squabbling with Blackbird for scraps of bread under the bird table and in flight (and coming off worst). Snow was lying at the time. This behaviour may be unusual in the UK, though it seems to be perfectly normal for Iceland.

36 Waxwings showed up in the last week of January, including eight colour-ringed birds - all ringed locally by the Grampian Ringing Group, in Aberdeen (4), Aboyne (3) and Inverurie (1). All of the Aberdeen-ringed birds had also been seen subsequently in other places on Deeside, i.e. Aboyne (3) and Westhill (1). All but the Inverurie bird had been ringed on or after 24 December 2004.

Note on local Waxwings

These records prompted me to make a review of our Waxwing records in NE Banchory between 1985 and 2005 (birds also occurred in earlier years but I made no systematic records). A total of over 500 birds-days were recorded distributed over 14 out of the 21 years.

Strong regional correlation is shown with over 10 birds logged in Banchory in every year when peak flock size exceeded 100 in the North-East Scotland Bird Report (NESBR) region whilst in every year with regional peak flock size was below 10 no birds were seen. In the other years (10-100 peak flock size regionally) normally 1-10 birds were seen in Banchory. The ratio of local to regional peak flock size is fairly consistent at around 15%.

Most birds have occurred in Banchory in December with a linear decrease through to April (latest record 23 April 1985). No birds have been seen in October whilst birds arrived in November for the first time in 2004.

Birds have most often been found feeding on cotoneaster berries (frequency 65%), with gean, rowan, apples, hawthorn and rosehip visited in decreasing frequency. Rowan may actually be preferred but berries tend to be exhausted by the time the birds arrive, as are geans (cherries). Amongst the cotoneaster varieties, Cot. bullatus seems to be most favoured, followed by the taller Cot. simondsii and the hedge-forming Cot. horizontalis. The latter is the most common in the area, mainly on Raemoir Road, and has normally been the major food source exploited.

Study data is summarised in this linked spreadsheet.

2004

Herring Gulls, which in earlier years were an abundant visitor passing overhead to the local refuse dump, are now much reduced in numbers. An analysis of records from 1984 to date has shown a reduction to less than a quarter of the former population.

2003

Magpie again on 24 December. 2 Mallard over the same day.

2002

A Magpie was present during week of 17 November - confirming increased presence.

A couple of Treecreepers on our ancient pear tree on 17 September.

2001

Hooded Crow (or close lookalike) nearby on 22 December.

2000

4 Waxwings on 27 December.

1999

Male Chaffinch observed tapping for long periods on house/garage windows from early March through into May, presumably in aggression towards its reflection. Placement of a Snowy Owl picture in the relevant window detered it for 4 days, but tapping subsequently resumed at a reduced intensity.

1998

2 late Swifts in last week of August.

1997

2 Waxwings late March/early April.

1996

A Magpie was seen again at Christmas (all sightings up to this point being 23/12/84, 22/12/90, 23/12/93, 28/12/94, 26/12/96)

A female Blackcap was present end of March/early April. Common Buzzards were seen regularly soaring to the north in early April. A pair of Goosander flew N on 6 April (3rd record).

1995

Male Blackcap and 30 Fieldfare were present in late December.

1994

Hooded Crow recorded again on 26 December.

A male Blackcap was present in February.

1993

First record of Hooded Crow for the garden with a single S on 27 December - species number 63 [PS - hybrid not excluded, but an obvious bird].

1992

Five years after the breeding record, a Goldcrest was singing in the sitka spruce again on 19 April.

1991

Long-tailed Tits and Waxwings (17) were again present in December

A Tawny Owl was heard on 27 March - species number 62.

1990

Over 100 Pied Wagtails were seen circling over a presumed roost site.

The second Spotted Flycatcher for the garden was present on 4 September, just 2 calendar days later than first sighting in 1987.

A Common Buzzard was seen on 28 March - first for garden, species number 61 - and three were seen displaying on 5 April. A pair of Lesser Redpolls were also present end of March/early April. Buzzards and Lesser Redpolls were still present in July.

1989

Long-tailed Tits were seen in December and 300 thrushes (Fieldfare and Redwing) passed over on 18 December.

2 Goosanders overhead on 6 October (2nd record).

Male Lesser Redpoll in song during July - first record, species number 60.

3 Reed Buntings present end of March/early April first record, species number 59.

1700 Rooks and Jackdaws were seen in a roost flock during January.

1988

Golden Plovers were heard calling overhead during the night on 3 October (the day before I left to start university) first record, species number 58.

2 Goosanders circled over the garden on 5 September first record, species number 57.

Migrant Meadow Pipits were seen on 12 occasions between 24 July and 21 September.

A male Brambling was seen on 22 March, first record, species number 56, and Curlews were seen flying N on 24 March.

1987

A Spotted Flycatcher was present on 2 September first record, species number 55.

Migrant Curlews were sighted high overhead in July and both male and female Common Whitethroat in August.

A Yellowhammer was perched in our birch tree on 4 May - first record, species number 54.

Goldcrests bred in a tall Sitka Spruce tree in our neighbour's garden, being seen first on 26 February and last on 20 July. These were the first individuals of this species ever seen in the garden!

A Lapwing flew N on 14 March and Waxwings were present on 20 March.

A male Blackcap was seen in January, February and March.

1986

Between October and December 8 flocks of Greylag or Pinkfoot geese were sighted.

Migrant Curlews were seen moving south high overhead, the first being 11 birds on 28 June.

Swallows bred in a neighbour's porch and despite attentions of local cats a single bird fledged on 20 July. Willow Warblers were seen regularly with up to 8 birds in the garden on 7 August, when a Common Whitethroat was also present. 3 broods of young House Sparrows fledged as last year (c. 15 May, 27 June and 6 August).

Adult Cuckoo seen on 27 June.

A lost female Pheasant was observed walking down the road behind the house on 23 March.

Up to 8 Waxwings were present in January, February and March and on 15 March we watched them drinking from gutter above our back door while eating breakfast.

1985

A party of up to 15 Long-tailed Tits visited the garden at end of November and twice in early December.

30 Siskin were present on 18 September.

House Sparrows had a good breeding season with 3 broods fledged (c. 27 May, 12 July, 18 August). Blackbirds were also very successful with up to 35 individuals in the garden. Up to three Willow Warblers were also seen in early August.

Single Waxwing seen on 15 January and 1st year male Blackcap on 2 February.

1984

Magpie S on 23 December - the only individual seen during 1980's though birds present on farmland c. 1 mile to N.

1978

Active Blackbird nest in quince bush beside our front door, 13 May.

1976

Active Mistle Thrush nest in pear tree outside my bedroom window, 9 May.

[1967 - parents moved to house on Woodside Road.]

Annotated garden bird list for Banchory, Kincardineshire

This is a list of the species seen in, and flying over, a small garden on Woodside Road, Banchory, Kincardineshire, Scotland (map). Banchory has about 5000 inhabitants and is situated in the Dee valley, about 20 miles from the coast. The garden is located not far from the edge of the town, about half a mile from surrounding conifer plantations and open countryside.

The percentage of weeks that the regular visitors were recorded during 1985-1987 is included in brackets following the species name as an indicative measure of each species abundance; species which were only seen overhead are marked with an asterisk *.

1. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) (6%) * - occasionally seen passing overhead, mainly in summer
2. Pinkfoot (Anser brachyrhynchus) (5%) * - occasionally seen passing overhead on passage and rarely in winter
3. Greylag Goose (Anser anser) (7%) * - occasionally seen passing overhead on passage and rarely in winter
4. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (3%) * - occasionally seen passing overhead
5. Goosander (Mergus merganser) * - single record of a pair over in September 1988
6. Red Kite (Milvus milvus) * - occasionally seen passing overhead - new kid on the block, first in 2015 but now regular and exceeding other raptors
7. Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) * - occasionally seen passing overhead - numbers vary markedly from year to year
8. Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (11%) * - occasional spring/summer visitor
9. Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) * - very scarce visitor
10. Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) - single record of a female walking down road behind house, some distance from open country, in March 1986
11. Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) (48%) * - observed (and heard) overhead daily throughout spring/summer (Feb-Aug)
12. Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) * - once heard passing overhead at night
13. Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) * - observed passing overhead rarely
14. Curlew (Numenius arquata) (2%) * - observed passing south overhead in post-breeding disperal
15. Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) (63%) - common spring/summer visitor rarely seen in autumn/winter
16. Common Gull (Larus canus) (45%) - regular winter visitor, not seen in spring and early summer
17. Lesser Blackback (Larus fuscus) - very rare summer visitor
18. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) (93%) - present throughout the year with hundreds or thousands passing overhead every day of the year to and from feeding grounds at local rubbish dump and roost lochs or the coast (18 miles E)
19. Great Blackback (Larus marinus) (7%) - very small numbers regularly seen overhead with Herring Gulls which it accompanies to same feeding and roosting areas, mainly in winter
20. Feral Pigeon (Columba livia) (81%) - common local resident
21. Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) (33%) - irregular visitor throughout the year
22. Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) (38%) - irregular visitor throughout the year
23. Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) - seen once in late June 1986
24. Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) - heard at night very rarely
25. Barn Owl (Tyto alba) - first record in March 2026, screech call
26. Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) - first record in January 2026
27. Common Swift (Apus apus) (29%) - common summer visitor (May to August)
28. Swallow (Hirundo rustica) (30%) - common summer visitor (mid-April to mid-October)
29. House Martin (Delichon urbica) (25%) - common summer visitor (May to mid-October)
30. Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - regular overhead passage migrant in autumn
31. Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) - first record was a migrant calling over on 22 August 2026
32. Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrelli) (38%) - irregular visitor throughout the year, less common in mid-winter
33. Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) (5%) - regular winter visitor, observed in small numbers nearly annually
34. Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) (25%) - irregular visitor throughout the year, less common in summer
35. Dunnock (Prunella modularis) (92%) - common resident, present in small numbers throughout the year
36. Robin (Erithacus rubecula) (72%) - common resident, absent between early May and early August
37. Blackbird (Turdus merula) (99%) - common resident present daily with numbers sometimes swelling to several dozen at end of breeding season
38. Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) (10%) - uncommon winter visitor; observed coming to bread in hard weather
39. Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) (45%) - regular visitor, but rarely observed in autumn and mid-winter numbers tend to be lower
40. Redwing (Turdus iliacus) (1%) - uncommon winter visitor, normally only present during very hard weather, when has been seen coming to bread at bird table
41. Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) (35%) - irregular visitor throughout the year, sometimes breeding
42. Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) (3%) - scarce post-breeding migrant
43. Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (3%) - scarce winter visitor
44. Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) (19%) - uncommon summer visitor
45. Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) - not recorded historically but probably now regular, one singing April 2025
46. Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) (12%) - variable numbers occur from year to year, with breeding in 1987
47. Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) - very scarce migrant during autumn passage (e.g. September 1990)
48. Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) (3%) - uncommon visitor during very hard weather
49. Coal Tit (Parus ater) (72%) - regular visitor throughout the year, but lower numbers in some years
50. Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) (94%) - common visitor in small numbers throughout the year
51. Great Tit (Parus major) (88%) - common visitor in small numbers throughout the year though does not always breed locally
52. Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) (8%) - irregular winter visitor
53. Magpie (Pica pica) - formerly very rare visitor only observed in mid-winter, but now increasingly frequent in winter
54. Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) (89%) - regularly observed, often passing overhead with Rooks, throughout the year
55. Rook (Corvus frugilegus) (95%) - regular visitor throughout the year, also often observed passing overhead, sometimes in huge numbers (thousands) between feeding grounds and local roost sites
56. Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) (29%) - uncommon visitor throughout the year, though somewhat irregular in winter
57. Hooded Crow (Corvus corvix) - very rare mid-winter visitor, perhaps from nearby Crow's Nest amenity site; hybrid not excluded
58. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) (88%) - common visitor throughout the year though normally absent in mid-summer
59. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (100%) - common resident and local breeder observed daily in numbers of up to 20 by the end of the breeding season
60. Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) first record in August 2018, new to area
61. Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (98%) - common resident observed throughout the year and breeding locally
62. Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) - observed once in spring (March 1988)
63. Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) (85%) - regular visitor throughout the year though rather scarce in autumn; breeds locally
64. Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) (9%) - uncommon breeding season visitor
65. Siskin (Carduelis spinus) (85%) - common resident throughout the year, breeding locally
66. Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) - uncommon visitor spring to autumn
67. Linnet (Linaria cannabina) - first record in May 2025
68. Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (11%) - uncommon visitor mainly in spring and mid-winter
69. Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) - observed once in spring (May 1987)
70. Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) - 3 birds present for a few days in March-April 1989

Regenerating Scots pine in Glen Lui

Saturday 12 March took Michael and I to Glen Lui on the Mar Lodge Estate to do an outstanding pine seedling count on a plot my father can no longer get to. The trek in to the site takes you past a landscape of the ancient pines many of which are now on their last legs and the interest is in the rate of regeneration, starting with seedlings such as the one above. We also passed a team of workers doing "ring barking" in an adjacent plantation, a practice designed to thin the forest and thereby promote the growth and health of the remaining trees (as described in Gus's blog, and on the SRUC conservation field trip from last year).

Arriving at the plot we were thankful for GPS or we would have been struggling to find the remains of the pegs. Two Blackcock were flushed and flew to the adjacent wood, and droppings on the plot itself suggested they had been there and may have even been grazing on seedlings, though we could not prove either point. With young helper we counted a minimum of 285 Scots pine seedlings and 8 larch on the 4x15m plot, pro rata that is 5 million pine seedlings per 1km square, or 500 million per hectad - they are regenerating for sure! But the tallest was only 47cm, some may have been grazed.

No raptors were spotted and indeed the only other large birds on the BirdTrack list were a pair of Mallard, though we had seen flocks of Curlew, Oycs and the odd Lapwing on our way up through Glen Clunie. Most pleasing was the sighting of a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying across open moorland heading for the wood where the ring barking had been done, in fulfilment of Gus's prediction last year!

My father has handed over the further monitoring of sites in this valley to SNH, after 40 years of study so far, so in theory we won't need to go back. The long term study will now be written up, with the benefit of one final data point for the last site. On related topics, and perhaps of interest for any botanist readers, he has two recent publications on the impact of grazing and lack of burning (for 50 years) on the evolution of moorland vegetational composition, from a set of seven sites (on Deeside and in Glen Clunie) that I am very familiar with, having often accompanied him to them in earlier years, recording birds along the way. Note, only abstracts of these papers may be available outside institutional subscriptions.

[Photos (except 3rd last) copyright Michael C. Welch, aged 10 yrs]

Wknd 6-7 April

Been neglecting my Port Seton "patch" in favour of rookeries of late, so no surprise when last weekend heard of another good bird dug out by Keith when I was off duty, a drake Surf Scoter. Presumably one of same as had been seen on same patch of sea in 2010 and last year, those visits being well into May, there were also mid-April records in 2009 and 2010 for Gosford Bay. Finally got round to looking on way home from work Friday and was surprised to see two drakes there, not that far offshore c. 1km. Brief rising display then a chase round on the sea with lots of splashing; hope they impressed the single associating female scoter, presumably a Velvet but would have been nice to see closer! Then resumed diving. Exceedingly poor record shot showing two white napes below.

Called in again the following morning but by the time I arrived the action was all over, missed a juv Glaucous which had been on sea, flew to harbour and north. Also heard that a Great Northern Diver had passed. Mipit passage was well underway though, accompanied by Siskins and a single Pied Wag, a Shelduck flew east. My usual deserted corner of the prom had five guys with scopes and after half an hour one drake Surfie was detected amongst a small bunch of Velvets, probably a good mile offshore. Prior to that I had had a glimpse of white nape amongst 4 scoter much further out, not far below the horizon, but could not confirm - however the two had been present earlier.

Not aware at the time but the wintering drake Surfie had still been at Ruddon's Point on 2 April, so presumably our second drake is that bird - how did it find the other? I made a small chart of late spring Surfie records in the Forth which shows their patterns of occurrence, after a period of some stability more changes of late. All gets very messy when assessing under self-found listing rules, needed to be >10km from other sighting of same (OK, c. 22km), also >6 days since previous report, so strictly I could have added this in 2010 (20 days gap) but did not feel right!

Rest of Saturday back on rookeries, first young heard and some colonies still expanding, one small one also found abandoned. Still 15 Mute Swans at Rogarth.

Sunday - nearly 7 hours in Longniddry's Dean Wood (finally fixing the rope swing), hoping that Chiffchaffs might finally be back too - only one heard very briefly early afternoon, interestingly sang just once, then 10 seconds later a good distance north and not again, clearly a true migrant hurrying on.

Back to Friday, Pencraig rookery recounted at 36 nests and a decent one spotted at Monkrigg, not counted but 30+ nests. Also observed a presumed pair of Stock Doves performing a sychronised high flight for over a minute, rising and falling in parallel over a wood by the Tyne at Sandy's Mill, near Haddington, and finally descending to a large tree - this type of behaviour seems not to be included within descriptions of display flight in BWP.

Back to Thursday - out of the area on trip to Banchory, saw 16 Waxwings there at the top of Arbeadie Road, was lucky to detect them via hearing the trills of flock in a back garden as car windows were shut - a gentle call but can be far-carrying. Only Barn Owl noted was a casualty on central reservation of A90 at Nether Careston just south of Brechin. Also saw a juv Whooper Swan on Forfar Loch, no Sand Martins.

Earlier last week, a fresh Barn Owl casualty on A1 westbound, on the embankment opposite entrance to Queen Margaret University, sadly crushed.

Banchory trip

First trip "home" to Banchory in a long time, via the A90 where in Angus road-kill Tawny Owl, Barn Owl and Buzzard were spotted on the north verge within the 5 miles west of Brechin.

The Tawny was a rufous morph and of interest for ageing, as per photos this is not a juv (no sign of narrow subterminal bands), neither does it seem likely to be a 1st-summer (which typically retain some juv feathers) hence must be an adult, though it is also unusual not to see any sign of moulting feathers in August, i.e. regrowing or missing feathers. All primaries on the left wing seem present and correct. These photos can also be compared with those of 1st-summer and juvenile Tawnies discussed previously on this blog, credit to Henk Jan Koning who provided all expert advice and the additional photos there.

No birding in Banchory but we did a circuit of my old patch, the Loch of Leys, spotting Jays out in the scrub and an Osprey hunting the fish pond (mobile phone photo taken from moving car!); latter may be regular there now but is certainly an addition to my old "annotated species list".

Down at the Bridge of Feugh large salmon were leaping at 2 or 3 per minute (one visible to the right of photo below) and a Dipper flew upstream. A Swift was seen over Strachan.

Bird list for Loch of Leys, Banchory, Kincardineshire

This is a list of the species I've seen at the Loch of Leys to the north of Banchory, Kincardineshire, Scotland, about 15 miles from the coast (map). The loch is more of a bog since there is very little open water remaining. To the north and east are conifer plantations, with open farmland to the south and west.

1. Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) - single over West, 6 June 1987
2. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - several often present
3. Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) - single on the water, April 1993
4. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) - numerous, breeds - several pairs
5. Teal (Anas crecca) - regular, breeds
6. Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) - common resident, breeds
7. Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) - regular
8. Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) - regular mainly over farmland to south
9. Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) - common resident
10. Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) - formerly regular
11. Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) - regular but absent in mid-winter; perhaps 5-10 pairs
12. Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - common resident, breeds
13. Coot (Fulica atra) - common resident, breeds
14. Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - common summer visitor, from late February; breeds nearby
15. Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) - regular visitor
16. Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - regular visitor, probably very numerous but secretive
17. Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) - rodding birds seen on summer evenings, probably breeds in small numbers
18. Curlew (Numenius arquata) - regular visitor in small numbers, possibly breeds
19. Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) - former breeding colony
20. Common Gull (Larus canus) - regular visitor
21. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) - passes overhead commuting between Loch of Skene roost and Crow's Nest amenity site; day roost in fields to west
22. Great Blackback (Larus marinus) - passes overhead commuting between Loch of Skene roost and Crow's Nest amenity site; day roost in fields to west (up to 150 birds)
23. Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) - common resident
24. Stock Dove (Columba oenas) - uncommon resident
25. Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) - resident, presumably breeds
26. Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) - resident in small numbers
27. Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) - resident in small numbers
28. Skylark (Alauda arvensis) - regular visitor
29. Common Swift (Apus apus) - regular summer visitor
30. Swallow (Hirundo rustica) - former large roost (1400 birds, 1989); smaller roost in recent years (50 birds, 1998)
31. House Martin (Delichon urbica) - small numbers with Swallows at roost
32. Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) - small numbers with Swallows at roost
33. Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - common resident
34. Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) - uncommon summer visitor, breeds at east end
35. Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarelli) - uncommon visitor
36. Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - common resident
37. Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - common resident
38. Blackbird (Turdus merula) - common resident
39. Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) - common winter visitor
40. Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) - common resident
41. Redwing (Turdus iliacus) - common winter visitor
42. Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) - common summer visitor, breeds
43. Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) - uncommon summer visitor
44. Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) - common summer visitor, breeds
45. Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) - common resident, breeds in woods to north and east
46. Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - common resident, breeds
47. Coal Tit (Parus ater) - common resident, breeds in woods to north and east
48. Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) - common resident
49. Great Tit (Parus major) - common resident
50. Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) - uncommon resident
51. Magpie (Pica pica) - regular visitor; breeds near farms to west
52. Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) - common visitor, feeds at Crow's Nest to west
53. Rook (Corvus frugilegus) - common visitor, sometimes in large numbers in roost flights
54. Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - common resident, up to 100 birds feeding at Crow's Nest to west
55. Hooded Crow (Corvus corone cornix) - uncommon resident, regular individuals amongst Carrion Crows at Crow's Nest to west
56. Jay (Garrulus glandarius) - uncommon resident
57. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - common resident, formerly roosted in large numbers (>1000 birds, 1989)
58. Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) - common resident, breeds
59. Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) - uncommon visitor
60. Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - uncommon visitor
61. Siskin (Carduelis spinus) - common resident, breeds
62. Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) - uncommon resident breeder, larger numbers visit in winter
63. Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) - uncommon visitor, possibly breeds
64. Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) - common resident
65. Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) - common resident
66. Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) - common resident, perhaps 20 pairs

NB - another species reported from the site is Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella naevia) though I'm yet to see one there and I'm fairly sure there have been none in some years. Even rarer, a presumed Marsh Warbler was reported on 8 June 2008

Waxwings in the Banchory area

Some observations for 1985-2005

Waxwings in NE Banchory, Kincardineshire, Scotland

I recently made an analysis of our Waxwing records in NE Banchory between 1985 and 2005 (birds also occured in earlier years but I made no systematic records). A total of about 550 birds-days were recorded distributed over 14 out of the 21 years.

Strong regional correlation is shown with over 10 birds logged in Banchory in every year when peak flock size exceeded 100 in the North-East Scotland Bird Report (NESBR) region whilst in every year with regional peak flock size size below 10 no birds were seen. In the other years (10-100 peak flock size regionally) normally 1-10 birds were seen in Banchory. The ratio of local to regional peak flock size is fairly consistent at around 15%.

Most birds have occurred in Banchory in December with a linear decrease through to April (latest date being 23 April 1985). No birds have been seen in October whilst birds arrived in November for the first time in 2004.

Birds have most often been found feeding on cotoneaster berries (frequency 65%), with gean, rowan, apples, hawthorn and rosehip visited in decreasing frequency. Rowan may actually be preferred but berries tend to be exhausted by the time the birds arrive, as are geans (cherries). Amongst the cotoneaster varieties, Cot. bullatus seems to be most favoured, followed by the taller Cot. simondsii and the hedge-forming Cot. horizontalis. The latter is the most common in the area, mainly on Raemoir Road, and has normally been the major food source exploited.

Colour-ringed birds were seen in 1987 and total of 8 amongst a flock of 36 birds in late January 2005 as shown here.

All were ringed locally by the Grampian Ringing Group, in Aberdeen (4), Aboyne (3) and Inverurie (1). All of the Aberdeen-ringed birds had also been seen subsequently in other places on Deeside, i.e. Aboyne (3) and Westhill (1). All but the Inverurie bird had been rung on or after 24 December 2004.

Study data is summarised in this linked spreadsheet.