Having not done much birding lately, I decided that on my day off this week, I really should make the effort to get out somewhere. Unfortunately, with wet weather early on and strong westerly winds the chances of finding anything new and worthwhile was rather slim. Deciding where to go with a decent chance of seeing many birds was also a bit of a challenge. In the end I decided to try Westhaven and the Craigmill Burn. With the tide on its way in, I hoped that there might be some waders passing through, but really wasn't holding out too much hope.
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| Jackdaw |
It was around 1225 when I finally made it out the door and headed for the Arbroath Road to catch a bus to Carnoustie. There were very few birds to be seen on the way down with only a few Herring Gulls and a single Carrion Crow to show for the 10 minute or so walk. A Blue Tit flew across the road while behind the bus shelter I could hear a singing Blackbird. Rather than wait another 10 minutes for a bus to Carnoustie I decided to take the earlier bus and head for a short visit to Balmossie first. Knowing that high tide was around 1415 I figured that there should still be some beach and maybe some waders. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
There were a handful of birds seen from the bus, though numbers of each were low single figures. Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Starling and Feral Pigeon plus a few more Herring Gulls and Carrion Crows added to the rather sluggish start to the day's list. At Balmossie I added House Sparrow and a flyover Goldfinch, while an Oystercatcher flew from atop one of the roofs as I neared the footbridge over the railway line. Out on the water I could see plenty of Mute Swans and a single Grey Heron stood in the shallows. A small number of Mallards completed the picture.
I walked down to scan along the beach. Out of sight from the path was a large flock of Carrion Crows which took flight before I saw them when a lone bird much further down the beach took off in alarm. The Grey Heron followed suit. There were no waders to be seen, though a few Swallows zipped by low over the beach. A dog decided to ignore its owner's repeated shouts and loud shrill blasts of a whistle to swim out in pursuit of the Mute Swans, who disdainfully swam further out. With little to see I hurried back to try to catch the Carnoustie bus. Traffic was very busy and I struggled to get across the road before the bus arrived. Thankfully the driver saw me waving to indicate I was trying to catch the bus and stopped, though there were a few passengers getting off anyway. Once I got across the road it was "Carnoustie here we come".
Jackdaws and Lesser Black Backed Gulls were seen in Monifieth along with an Oystercatcher sleeping atop one of the shops. Collared Dove, Chaffinch and Rook were seen while passing through Barry and Carnoustie, though the apparently life-sized, and rather realistic looking, Velociraptor in one of the gardens was the most unusual sighting from the bus. I got off the bus earlier than planned and walked down to the coast near the Leisure Centre. Things were very quiet. The bay was almost completely empty of birds with only a Cormorant quite far out and a flypast by a Black Headed Gull initially. A Painted Lady butterfly was a nice surprise, but it flew off before I could get a photo. House Sparrows and Starlings were coming down to the small burn outflow.
Further east I could see a large number of Eiders on rocks and also more further out on the water. A pair of Linnets flew past me. Further on, I stopped to scan through the Eiders, finding only a pair of sleeping Oystercatchers and more Cormorants, Much further offshore I picked up a single Fulmar heading east. Westhaven was just as quiet with only the House Sparrows and Starlings and a Swallow or two passing to be seen. No waders along the shore. There was still enough of a beach to walk along, so off I went. A pair of Stock Doves were seen flying round as I headed up to the egde of the grassy field so as not to risk spooking the birds from the beach. There were a number of Linnets in the grass, as well as a small charm of Goldfinches along the edge of the railway line.
Ahead of me down on the beach I could see a swan, a Whooper Swan, which Stuart Green had found a few days ago, lingering much later than usual, which is showing no signs of being an injured bird, which would have been the most likely explanation for it still being around at this time of year. In the same area were a number of sleeping Mallards, a drake Wigeon, a pair of Shelduck and a few Carrion Crows. Thankfully, I managed to skirt past the birds on the beach and along towards the mouth of the burn. Here Herring Gulls and Common Gulls were down by the water. Across the other side was a smallish flock of around 10 Sanderling, mostly in summer plumage. I sat and photographed the Jackdaws for a while before moving positions up to the base of the slope. A Pied Wagtail scurried around in front of me.
There were a pair of Mute Swans as well off-shore along with a sizeable group of Eiders, and a couple of Great Black Backed Gulls. Swallows and a few House Martins sped past me hawking for insects out of the wind, though it seemed to have dropped quite considerably. Walkers on the beach spooked most of the birds from the beach , including a previously unseen Goosander. The Whooper joined a couple of Mute Swans and slowly worked their way towards the end of the burn. I managed to see a single Gannet passing by well out over the sea, but unmistakable.
Eventually the swans came close enough and I filmed the Whooper preening out of the water, not very far away, though it was clearly still very wary. With the time nearing 1540 I decided to head back towards Carnoustie. When I stood up, the Whooper called quietly before taking to the water and heading out to join the Mute Swans among the Eiders, just offshore. Wandering back along the edge of the field I stopped to film and photograph a pair of Stock Doves in with some horses before a passing train flushed them. A Skylark foraged around nearby as well.
A pair of Collared Doves were on the seaweed strewn rocks at Westhaven but flew off towards the houses as I got closer. A Grey Heron was lurking in the rocks further west. A Sandwich Tern was seen offshore at Carnoustie before I headed up to catch the bus back to Dundee. I did manage to add a pair of Swifts, the only ones of the whole day, on the journey home but it was otherwise rather quiet. I did manage a photo of the garden dinosaur in Barry village and later when I got off the bus back in Dundee, bumped into my old registration teacher from secondary school who I managed to recognise despite a rather lengthy gap of at least 30 years since I'd seen her last. All in all, a worthwhile trip out even if the total for the day was only 38 species seen.
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Dog chasing Mute Swans |
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| Eider |
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| Cormorants (Sinensis race possibly) |
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| Shelduck |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Eider |
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| Cormorant |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Whooper Swan, Carrion Crow, Mallard & Shelduck |
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| Shelduck |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Wigeon |
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| Gannet |
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| Mute Swan & Whooper Swan |
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| Mute Swan & Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Skylark |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Collared Dove |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Sandwich Tern |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
