Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Stunning images highlight wild birds who migrate to north-east nature reserve from near North Pole

Post Thumbnail

Stunning new images have highlighted the thousands of wild birds who migrate to a north-east nature reserve from near the arctic circle.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has revealed a series of photographs documenting the mass migration of wild birds from Iceland, Greenland and the Norewgian archipelago of Svalbard, near the North Pole, which arrive at Forvie Nature Reserve in Aberdeenshire.

Thousands of waders and wild geese call the north-east beauty spot their home over the autumn.

There are about 5,500 waders, including 12 different species, on the Ythan estuary at the moment along with a variety of other birds.

A Terek sandpiper graced the shores and sand at Forvie earlier this year – the second ever spotted in the north-east.

SNH Forvie reserve manager, David Pickett, outlined the best places to see the wildlife in action.

He said: “The best places to watch them are from the hide at Waulkmill or the two laybys that overlook the estuary north of Newburgh on the A975, where you can use your car as a hide and watch the undisturbed birds.

“There are also good views to be had by parking at the car park at Waterside and walking down the north side of the river on the Dune Trail.

“These fantastic viewpoints make the Ythan one of the most accessible birdwatching spots in Scotland for waders.

“The best time to watch these amazing waders is approaching high tide, as the water is moving the birds closer to you.”

SNH has also released images from nature reserves at Loch Leven, near Kinross, and Caerlaverock, beside Dumfries, to showcase the scale of the migration.

Stuart MacQuarrie, SNH’s head of nature reserves, added: “To see a flock of geese as they lift off from their night-time roost is one of Scotland’s greatest wildlife spectacles.

“It’s such a remarkable aerial display, made even better by the chorus of their high-pitched calls.

“These amazing birds migrate as far as 3,400 miles to reach Scotland for their winter feeding, before returning to more northern climes in the spring.

“And there’s plenty of time for people to come out to one of our nature reserves over the next few months and see this marvellous display for themselves.”

For more information about Forvie, as well as the other 42 nature reserves throughout Scotland, see www.nnr-scotland.org.uk