Bird watching:

Aberdeenshire makes up the north-east corner of Scotland, a large area including a very wide range of habitats.The habitat diversity, and the presence of many of Scotland`s speciality birds makes the region a magnet for birders visiting the UK. Here is a short list of the main habitats, and the key birds to find there:

Seabird Cliffs: granite and basalt, among the most spectacular anywhere, with Gannets, Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Shags and Fulmars in their thousands. The Bullars of Buchan, Longhaven Cliffs and Troup Head are fine examples. Troup Head is Scotland’s only mainland gannet colony with over 2,000 breeding pairs of gannets.

Cairngorm Mountains and foothills: (overlapping into Highland Region) & Native forests - Scottish Ptarmigan (endemic sub-sp.); Scottish Crossbill (endemic sp.); Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Golden Eagle, Crested Tit, Dotterel, Ring Ouzel, etc.

Coastal Passage areas: especially in the hot bed between Aberdeen and Fraserburgh, with good spots at Girdleness, Balmedie, Newburgh, Cruden Bay, Rattray and Loch of Strathbeg, these are essential places to visit whenever there is a south-easterly wind, April to June and again September to November. All of the regular passage birds can be seen, as well as good numbers of real rarities, and flooded pools in the Newburgh area are excellent for rare shorebirds. The North-east Scotland recording area holds the record for the most species of birds seen in 24 hours (in Scotland) and is second only to Norfolk for the UK.

Wildlife Spectacles: Loch of Strathbeg is an internationally important site for pink-footed geese with more than 50% of the world’s population passing through the area every year. Up to 20% of the world’s population can be found on the reserve at any one time. Every morning before sunrise thousands of geese gather in front of the Loch of Strathbeg visitor centre. Join RSPB guides in October and November for Goosewatch 2007 and witness the sight and sound of thousands of geese as they lift off into the skies above the reserve. Contact 01346 532234 to book. If you wish enjoy this spectacle outside the Goosewatch dates, please contact the reserve well in advance as the visitor centre is only open from 8am –6pm.

Farmland: not generally thought of as particularly good birding habitats! But the north-east still has good numbers of Corn Bunting, Grey Partridge, Lapwing, and several other breeding waders, in marked contrast to much of the rest of the country. In winter the areas around Loch of Strathbeg and around Newburgh play host to up to 40,000 Pink-footed Geese, while further inland similar numbers of Greylags spend the winter. There are also usually good numbers of Barnacle Geese, Wigeon, Teal, and Whooper Swans.

Fishing Harbours: The harbours of Peterhead and Fraserburgh are major fishing ports. This means that there is a wealth of Gulls, especially in winter. The resident Herring, Common, Black-headed, Great black-backed Gulls are augmented by arctic birds following the fishing boats. Glaucous and Iceland gulls are regular and Ross’s Gull arrives in most years and common, arctic and sandwich terns can be seen regularly along this coast.

Quail (Coturnix coturnix)	Grey Patridge (Perdix perdix)
Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)	Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)	Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Puffin (Fratercula arctica)	Little Tern (Sterna albifrons)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)	Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
Lapwing (Banellus indicus)	Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
Sanderling (Calidris alba)	Razorbill (Alca torda)