Water Pipit tale, Green Sandpiper, Brambling and Puffins

   
An early morning trip today to try and get a photo of a Water Pipit, a bird I'd seen last Thursday at Murton which I didn't manage to ID, because I wasn't thorough enough. Graham found it on Sunday and paid more attention to it than I!

Unfortunately on arrival and when walking to the hide I may have flushed it as I walked along the path, I think some Wigeon saw me and the Pipit followed them in flight. I did get a second view of it out on the scrapes but it moved again and despite about another 2 hours looking I couldn't locate it.
The Green Sandpiper however was less skittish and fed on one of the nearer pools where I got some video, possibly the best I've taken of this species.
I moved to Montreathmont and got a single Brambling, but the scrub in front of the hide blocked a photo, it was wary anyway, as they always seem to be. Back at the car, just by the gate I flushed a Grey Partridge from my feet, a strange place to find a farmland bird.

Lastly, on a hopeful visit to Auchmithie I found my first two Puffins of the year, far out as the video shows.

Videos filmed while waiting in vain for the Water Pipits re-appearance, and Puffins.

Green Sandpiper, best yet?      Green Sandpiper, tightest zoom      Singing Dunnock, early morning      Puffins at 150 zoom

Green Sandpiper at distance using Nikon P1000

Bank Vole at Montreathmont Forest

Male Siskin, again!

Male Chaffinch

Frogs making new frogs

Some of the Black-headed Gulls have their full black hood whilst others have a bit to go to catch up

Carrion Crow trying to break off twigs for nest material

The first (I think ) Lesser Black-backed Gull at Keptie Pond this year, a second was nearby

Moorhen, I'm not sure what this display means, if it's a threat to the other one chasing it then it didn't work as it retreated

The hybrid paired with the hybrid Pintail, it's got the same green sheen as the drake and the yellowish legs