Day 3 of the North Atlantic Odyssey saw the Plancius arrive into Aderdeen, where we were due to pick up the rest of the mainly British passengers. We were due in port around breakfast time and I headed up to one of the bridge wings for our approach, as we had been briefed to expect a local welcome. Just outside the port, were at least two hundred and fifty Kittiwakes and about three times the number of Guillemots.
It was time for us to head into the harbour.
Unfortunately the main welcome committee hadn't shown up, but they appeared for our departure: which will be covered in a future Blog Post. We were called for breakfast just after we entered the harbour. The ship has laid on a couple of coaches to take us to the nearby Ythan Estuary and the cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan. This seemed a much better option that walking around Aberdeen. I had to do that once and wasn't enamoured by the city centre. Once the ship had cleared customs, we were called to disembark. This sole piper was there to greet us. Perhaps the other local pipers had headed off to cheer Scotland on in the World Cup.
After a twenty-five minute journey, we arrived at the Newburgh Inn on the South side of the Ythan Estuary. A site I remember well, having travelled to see my first UK Sooty Tern in the Tern colony in July 2018. It was a three quarter mile walk down to the sandy estuary. We walked down the car park track and onto a boardwalk, until we reached the final Seal viewing area. There is a Sandwich Tern and Arctic Tern colony about half a mile further upriver on the North bank of the estuary, but the colony is too far away for good photos. I decided against walking upriver to get closer. Both Tern species flew distantly along the channel to the sea, along with four Little Terns (which also breed locally).
There was a large group of Eider with fourteen Goosanders roosting over one hundred metres away on the sands on the North shore opposite our viewpoint.
The key attraction of the estuary was the Grey Seals. There is a big colony here with individuals basking at various points on the beaches on the North side of the estuary. Some of them were swimming past, while others were stopping and looking at us.
I walked along the beach to join expedition guide Esther who I travelled with to Antarctica in Jan 2023. At one point, this small Grey Seal pup appeared right next to the beach to have a look at Esther and myself. It was right in the tide line and a bit worrying that it was checking out the Southern beach where the public are allowed to visit, whereas the North beach seems to be reserved for wildlife.
At one point, a lot of the Terns started alarm calling. It didn't take long to spot the culprit: a fishing Osprey. Clearly, these local Terns had still not appreciated that Ospreys are never going to be a threat to anything other than a large Fish.
Finally, it was time to head back to the coaches. But we still had an afternoon visit to the Seabird cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan ahead of us. I will cover this visit in the next Blog Post.