Scotland Day 9 - King of the Eider!

My trip to Scotland was coming to an end and what better way to sign off than visiting the River Ythan at Newburgh near Aberdeen to see my first full plumage male King Eider. The last bird I saw was at Appledore Devon in 2008 but the bird was in immature plumage.

On arrival the bird was resting on the far bank amongst hundreds of Eider. I was told by the warden that there was 3000 Eider that used this stretch of the river along with many species of wader and terns.

The tide was on the turn and as the water levels started to drop this provoked a mass jump into the water by all the Eider including the prize of the day. I drove the car round to an NNR site and took the 2km walk along the far bank to get some better pictures of the bird in all its splendour!

What a fantastic ending to a trip in which all bar one (Crossbill) of my target birds were seen. The Harlequin Duck was an added bonus although it took a couple of visits to find the bird.