Late June is still a bit of a quiet period for birding so it can be tricky trying to decide where to actually go at this time of year. There are still a few good birds around however. Aberdeenshire seemed to be the area to be midweek with a selection of 'exotic' ducks around - an American White Winged Scoter, Elvis the drake King Eider, an American Wigeon and also a Mandarin drake freshly returned from Norway. Unfortunately weekday traffic in Aberdeen city is a bit on the heavy side and progress through can be slow, so I figured it was likely a non-starter. However, Nat had other ideas and suggested we give it a go, but to wait till later in the morning to pass through Aberdeen. With this in mind we decided to first head for Montrose Basin to kill some time and maybe find something good.
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| King Eider |
Nat picked me up at 0800 with a fairly standard haul of birds around before we left Dundee - Swift, Blackbird, Lesser Black Backed Gull, House Martin, Starling and Woodpigeon. Heading up the A90 we added Buzzard. Nearing Montrose Basin from the north we added Sand Martin at Bridge of Dun, then Collared Dove and House Sparrow as we passed through Barnhead. Things were quiet at the Lurgies car park though we did find a small group of Long Tailed Tits in the bushes. A flock of Curlews passed overhead.
Out on the Basin we could see numerous white dots - Mute Swans, mostly distant, a Goldeneye or two, and a few fishing Common Terns. Shelducks were out on the mud and a Sedge Warbler showed briefly across the burn from us. A female Eider swam near the seawall just beyond the fence and a Common Sandpiper dropped in nearby for a few seconds before flying off again when it spotted us. A few Cormorants could be seen drying off on the far shore. We walked along the track northwards along the basin edge. Oystercatchers flew by and a couple of Goosanders could be seen in among the large flock of resting female Eiders on the other side of the water. Our first Osprey of the morning passed overhead - it was not to be the last.
A Yellowhammer perched atop a small bush was found by pinpointing where the singing was coming from. Swallows swooped over us, and our first Mallards were spotted. A trio of Grey Herons which were hidden from us by the bushes along the edge of the track suddenly took flight. A few Goldfinches popped into the trees ahead of us before flying off. Jackdaws noisily passed over, and a tiny recently fledged Willow Warbler showed well a few feet above us in a bush. Three Pied Wagtail juveniles rested on a large tree which was half-submerged in the river. On the same tree were at least four Common Sandpipers. A displaying Meadow Pipit parachuted down into the cow field and a Skylark headed upwards.
A male Reed Bunting sang from the top of a bush across the river and a few Linnets flew by, as did a male Chaffinch. Something disturbed the birds across the water and a number of previously unseen Redshanks, and Common Sandpipers circled around for a short while before alighting again, mostly on a dead tree. We walked back in the direction of the car and I noticed an Osprey above the basin. As I directed Nat onto the bird I spotted a second Osprey. With the two in close proximity, it turned out Nat was actually watching a third bird, and a few seconds later we found a fourth! They circled up on a thermal and we managed to get a few photos showing all four in one photo. Most likely a family group with the youngsters being shown where and how to hunt by the adults. Great to see.
A Song Thrush sang from a small bush of to our right and a Yellowhammer sang from the same bush, though we did manage to overlook it at first despite the bright yellow colouring. A Great Tit family foraged in trees further along the track. Carrion Crows and a single Canada Goose were spotted across the water before we made it back to the car to head back to the A90 and northwards to Aberdeen and beyond. A hovering Kestrel was spotted before we made it back to the main road and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew parallel to the car for a short distance as we passed the Wigeon & Shelduck hide car park. A second Kestrel was seen before we reached the A90. Herring Gulls, Rooks and Common Gulls were seen in the fields as we scooted up the dual carriageway.
We made it through Aberdeen rather quickly after a brief stop at Rigifa Pool at Cove where only a single Herring Gull was seen. Blackdog was to be our first stop in the hope of seeing the American White Winged Scoter offshore among hundreds, if not thousands, of similarly black ducks. With the light not particularly great and some choppiness to the sea it wasn't going to be easy to pick out. When the details you need to be able to see are a few centimetres across (the white 'hook' at the eye being a bit longer than on Velvet and the bill shape being a different shape and colour) it begins to look even harder unless the birds are really close in to shore. They weren't. We also weren't sure how to get to where we wanted to be, a bit to the south. We eventually scrambled down a steep sand dune then across a plank onto the beach before heading south along the tops of the dunes.
There were plenty of Common Scoters offshore but most of them were further south. A Kiitiwake and a few Sandwich Terns passed along the edge of the beach, as did our first Black Headed Gull of the day. We discovered that we were a bit further back from the water than we needed to be, being along the edge of the golf course rather than on the dunes in front of us. However a steep dune face and a small burn meant we had to make do with what we had. I heard a gull squawking loudly off to the north and turned to see an
Arctic Skua chasing a Black Headed Gull. A nice bonus bird and a lucky catch. As small groups of birds moved we were able to see Velvet Scoters more easily. The wind was making it difficult to keep the scope steady enough to see much detail so being able to watch where Velvet Scoters landed at least gave a little hope.
A Great Black Backed Gull flew by and among the Scoters I spotted a Red Throated Diver. A male Stonechat was found by Nat across the burn from our viewpoint. Having spent a fruitless couple of hours scanning through lots and lots of Scoters we decided to give up and head for the surely easier duo on the Ythan estuary near Newburgh, Elvis the drake King Eider and the American Wigeon drake near the Waulkmill Hide. A short time later we were greeted by a Magpie at the car park and a short chat to a couple who had also failed to see the White Winged Scoter confirmed that Elvis was still around. Off we went through the gorse to the beach.
There were as always plenty of Eiders on the river and resting along the opposite shore, but there appeared to be no sign of our target bird. Arctic and Common Terns flew by, some stopping to fish. I eventually spotted Elvis further upriver, and Nat at last managed to get King Eider onto her year list having missed the female on the Forth twice. We took some photos but I was distracted by a close Common Tern hovering above a small tidal pool near us which took no notice of us and gave great photo opportunities. With the King Eider safely 'in the bag' we headed for the Waulkmill Hide to try for the American Wigeon.
There was a couple in the hide when we arrived and they told us where to look which meant a lot less effort than might have been required. The
American Wigeon had its back to us and was asleep, alongside a few Eurasian Wigeon. There were Mallards, various gulls, Mute Swans, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Eiders and Lapwings also around. I found a Greenshank wandering around which gave us another species for the day. The views of the American Wigeon were rather distant and the photos I did get weren't worth keeping. We decided to head back to Blackdog for another attempt at the White Winged Scoter.
A Whitethroat and a Greenfinch were seen as we walked down to the beach and we discovered we didn't need to actually go up and down the dunes but were able to follow a narrow path around the base of the dunes. We also stayed on the beach and crossed a small burn which allowed us to be where we should have been earlier in the afternoon. As we got set up, the sun even put in an appearance and we were more sheltered from the wind. The Scoter flock was also closer in. However, within a few minutes the sun disappeared behind the clouds and we noticed that the birds were more settled with none actually flying, reducing the chances of picking out Velvets and prospective White Winged. This meant a lot of scanning and squinting before we gave up and chose to head into Aberdeen to try and find the Mandarin drake at Johnston Gardens in the city.
A Dunnock, a few Linnets and a Wren were seen as we headed back to the car along with a Sedge Warbler. Feral Pigeons were seen in Aberdeen but disappointingly there were only a few Mallards in the small park, though we did finally get Blue Tit for our day list before heading for home just as it started to rain. On our way home we received an ADBC grapevine text reporting a Spoonbill at Montrose Basin (our last trip to the Ythan the same had happened with Glossy Ibis dropping in). As we were just approaching Inveraldie and ths almost home we chose not to head for Montrose, hoping that the bird would hang around. It had been a very good day out despite only managing to see two of our
target ducks. We managed to see 70 species in total with 2 year-ticks
for me (in bold).
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Eider |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Osprey |
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| Pied wagtail & Common Sandpiper |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Redshank, Oystercatcher & Common Sandpiper |
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| Yellowhammer & Song Thrush |
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| Osprey |
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| 4 Ospreys |
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| Osprey |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Comon Scoter & Velvet Scoter |
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| King Eider |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Greenfinch |
Species seen -
American Wigeon, Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, King Eider, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Velvet Scoter, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
