STONEFACTION BIRDING: 08/28/15

0195 : An Angus Circuit (19/8/15)

With Nat having things to attend to in Arbroath early in the morning, we agreed on an earlier than normal start to our usual Wednesday outing, even though it would mean me having to get out of bed earlier than I do to go to work. The difference is that I generally look forward to getting out birding, while work...... maybe, not quite so much. So a 0715 start it would be. The weather forecast was generally favourable and I would do a spot of sea-watching until Nat returned and then we'd decide where to head to do more birding.

Short Eared Owl

The earlier start threw up similar birds to get the list underway for the day with Woodpigeon, Starling, Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow the early birds. Unusually it took around 10 minutes until the first Herring Gull of the day put in an appearance. Oystercatcher was seen near Dawson Park. Rook and Buzzard were the only additions between Dundee and Arbroath. It was around 0750 when Nat dropped me off near the cliffs and I started scanning along the exposed rocky shore.

Redshanks, Black Headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns lazed around, some asleep, some slightly more animated. A few Turnstones picked around among the pools.A few Cormorants flew by, while a Pied Wagtail landed on the road close to where I was standing. The call of a Rock Pipit from below me, meant a bit of careful checking for movement among the small pools, but I succeeded in finding the bird after a few seconds. A larger flock of gulls and terns contained Herring Gulls and a few Kittiwakes, as well as 2 or 3 Common Terns. A flock of Curlews almost went unnoticed behind them, their brown colouration proving an effective camouflage against the seaweed draped rocks. A Great Black Backed Gull stood imperiously out on the water's edge.

Walking up the hill to the clifftop path I stopped to photograph a Goldfinch pair feeding on seed heads. Fulmars glided by close to the cliffs, making flight look effortless. The sea-watching was steady but relatively quiet. Cormorants headed upriver in small groups, mostly flying above the clifftop height. Common Gull and Shag were added, as were a few Gannets further out to sea. Swallows and House Martins streamed by in small busy groups, feeding along the cliffs and over the fields, catching some of the early morning insects as the slight mist began to lift and the temperature rose. A Red Admiral butterfly was a surprise, and a Meadow Brown posed nicely.

A slight surprise was a flock of Wigeon heading past out over the sea. Another, or possibly the same, group was seen a bit later also. More birds streamed past, including Oystercatchers, a Cormorant and Shag in formation and an Arctic Tern. A male Linnet perched on the barbed wire fence behind me. Nat messaged me to say that she was on her way, so as things were quiet I wandered back down the path a bit to meet her halfway. After a short but uneventful extra bout of sea-watching we discussed where to go for the rest of the day before deciding on visiting Montrose Basin in the hope of finding some migrant waders. A Grey Heron flew off across the beach as we headed back to the car. Jackdaws, unsurprisingly, were added as we headed north out of Arbroath.

We headed first for the Lurgies area of the Basin, a Sparrowhawk putting in an appearance in front of the car as we passed along the hedge lined road passing the Maryton steps.When we arrived at the car park, the tide was on its way out so there was plenty of exposed mud to scan for birds. There were large numbers of Canada Geese, easily a couple of hundred birds. In addition to these, there were plenty of Greylag Geese also. Chaffinch and Robin were near the car. Both Kingfisher and Greenshank were seen as we ventured out past the gate. A Common Sandpiper landed further upriver, and a flock of Lapwings flew over. Grey Herons, Redshanks and Oystercatchers were all dotted about, but the dead tree out on the mud only held a pair of Carrion Crows, rather than any Osprey.

A Goosander was out on the river and a Sand Martin passed over in addition to more Swallows, all heading inland. Little Grebe and Mallard could be seen further ahead, as well as a large group of roosting gulls. Unfortunately between us and them, there were a few cows on the track. Not only that, but the cows had calves with them, and off to our left in the field there was at least one bull. I wasn't keen on trying to get past the animals, knowing how dangerous cattle can actually be. Nat thought I was kidding about people being killed by the creatures but I did eventually manage to convince her that it might not be a great idea to attempt to pass (a sign later in the day warned of the danger of cows). We picked out a Little Egret and an overflying Osprey before heading back along the track to the car, adding a Wren on the way.

We headed along the road to Bridge of Dun for a short stop there. Swallows, House Martins and even a few Swifts including one with a white belly (I suspect just an aberrant Common) were hawking above the water and over the bridge, some swooping down to the water for a drink as they passed upriver and inland. A short walk along the river added Grey Wagtail to our list, a pair on the shingle opposite giving us decent views. The only other new bird here was a Greenfinch calling from a treetop before flying off. Having failed to check out the area up round the bend at the Lurgies we decided to head for the Wigeon and Shelduck hides next.Willow Warbler was seen in the trees on the first section of path, but it was generally rather quiet with not too much to see as we walked along in the sunshine. We headed towards the river and the Shelduck hide, stopping just past the reedbeds to scan over the top of the banking, where we could see a few Redshanks and a pair of Ruff feeding along the sand.

Ahead of us on the track I could see an indistinct shape. Even through binoculars it didn't appear to be anything other than perhaps a mossy rock. There were two small bumps on top which didn't seem to make sense. I asked Nat what she thought it was. She reckoned it was some vegetation. There was a bit of heat haze which wasn't helping so we walked on towards the lump. When it suddenly took off and flew off away from us the two bumps made sense. It was a Short Eared Owl, a thought which had crossed my mind, but which seemed a bit too fanciful for the location and time of day. As it flew off across the field it spooked a Snipe from near a small pool in the field, which gave us another species for the day. The bird landed on a fence post along from the hide and glared back at us. We took a few photos then moved slowly along the track towards the hide, hoping that the bird would continue to pose. Unfortunately the cows in the field decided to investigate us and their mass movement in our direction spooked the owl. Nevertheless we had managed to get some decent photos and a video clip of the bird.

After the unexpected bonus of the owl, we were treated to great views of a Cormorant attempting to swallow a rather large flatfish out on the river. It not surprisingly struggled badly before drawing the attention of a Great Black backed Gull as it passed the hide carried on the flow of the river. At least 3 Greenshanks foraged along the river bank upstream and while watching these I spotted a female Red Breasted Merganser with 7 ducklings, still quite small close in to the bank. We watched them swim across the river, fishing as they
went, before they hauled themselves out onto the pebbles opposite the hide. Scanning through the gull flock failed to add any other waders, so we set off back towards the car again.

It was rather warm and our food and drink was back at the car, so we decided against heading to the other hide. I picked out a pair of distant Buzzards to the north and a few minutes later was pleased to also add a Marsh Harrier quartering the fields to the northwest. yet another nice surprise. Rather than eat our lunch at the car park we decided to have it at the Lurgies car park instead. this would give us a second chance at checking out the Basin. We passed some House Sparrows on the way, and while Nat had something to eat and drink I wandered out to scan across the river again. Similar species as before could be seen. A pair of Kingfishers flew upriver towards me, before veering off up into the trees atop the banking opposite. A raptor crossing the basin turned out to be the same Marsh Harrier as earlier.

Weighing up our options for the remainder of the afternoon we settled on moving in the direction of Forfar. First stop was Balgavies Loch where the feeders were relatively quiet though we did add Blue Tit and Great Tit, while out on the water, both Coot and Moorhen could be seen, as well as larger numbers of Tufted Ducks. Murton, a bit further along the road provided us a few more species in the shape of Mute Swan, Gadwall and Teal, as well as Lesser Black Backed Gull and Shoveler. Among the large number of Lapwings at the bottom pool, were two Ruff, which gave us better views than the ones seen earlier in the day at Montrose Basin.

One last stop at Forfar Loch added an extra 4 species to the list for the day, though Magpie was heard but ultimately went unseen. The species which we did manage to see were Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Great Crested Grebe and Bullfinch. Unfortunately someone fishing at the sailing club spit meant there were no passing waders to be seen, so we headed for home, after another eventful and successful outing having seen 71 species in total.

Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Fulmar, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Short Eared Owl, Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.