 | |
| Little Tern |
 |
| King Eider |
 |
| King Eider |
 |
| Juvenile Black Headed Gull |
 | |
| Arctic Tern |
 |
| Grey Seal |
 | |
| Common Eider |
 |
| Sandwich Tern |
 | |
| Grey Heron |
 | |
| Tree Sparrow juvenile |
 | |
| Blue Winged Teal |
 |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
 | |
| Guillemot and Puffin |
 | |
| Kittiwake, Razorbills and Guillemots |
Loch of Strathbeg is probably one of my favourite nature reserves as you never know what might turn up, and anything can and does from Caspian Terns to Bluethroats. Unfortunately the distance from Dundee makes it a reserve I have only been lucky enough to visit a handful of times. However, the presence of a Hoopoe a few miles down the road at Mintlaw tempted my pal, Jacqui Herrington into a trip northwards to try and get a colourful lifer for her 260th Scottish bird. With both Strathbeg and Ythan estuary within striking distance a plan was hatched to try and see some good birds.
We had planned tentatively to start early but the England v Italy World Cup match late kick off meant that we would instead leave around 0845, arriving at Strathbeg somewhere around 11am, hopefully with a Hoopoe on the list en route. Jacqui arranged to pick me up at our regular spot, so I left the house at about 0835. Most of the usual suspects were seen as I walked along the road - Starling, Blackbird, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, a rather noisy Oystercatcher and a Lesser Black Backed Gull or two. While waiting I also added House Martins, Swifts and House Sparrow then Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow as Jacqui arrived.
The road north was relatively quiet but so was the birdlife with only a few species seen between Dundee and Aberdeen. A Curlew flew across the road and a Buzzard drifted by, Jackdaws and Rooks were by the roadside in fields but overall there wasn't much to see. Mallard and Mute Swan were seen as we passed by Loirston Loch and a few Swallows swooped around. On the northern outskirts of Aberdeen we added Magpie and on the road into Newburgh we saw a few Pied Wagtails.
As the tide was quite low we had decided to pop in to the Ythan estuary first to try and see the local celebrity bird, Elvis the King Eider, a rather handsome drake who spends a large chunk of the year with the resident Common Eider flock. We also had the added bonus of Little Terns, a scarce species in Angus these days. Anything else would be a bonus. As we parked the car and got out armed with cameras and binoculars, a local lady asked us if we were here to see Elvis. Answering in the affirmative with a smile, off we headed through the dunes towards the mouth of the river. Swallows and House Martins were circling round high above the golf course with a few Sand Martins among the group. Black Headed Gulls glided over and a Great Tit flew ahead of us into the gorse.
On reaching the edge of the dunes we could see the river with a few hundred Eiders on the water and on the opposite shoreline. Arctic Terns and Herring Gulls flapped ad glided by. A few Oystercatchers foraged along the waters' edge among the ducks. Little Terns swept past at speed, their calls and size making them rather obvious among their larger family members, and giving me a year tick in the process. We both scanned through the ducks with Jacqui succeeding in locating Elvis first, near the far shore as he bathed and preened before waddling up the bank. We took plenty of photos of him with the Grey Seals coming to within a few feet of us to check us out, giving us yet another subject to photograph. Having twice seen the female King Eider on the Forth this year, the King Eider wasn't a year tick but it was my first opportunity to get close photos of a drake, my only previous sighting being a very distant bird off Burghead.
A Grey Heron with a fish in its bill flew upstream and we wandered along the exposed oyster beds to check out the Tern colony opposite. In addition to the Little and Arctics we also managed to see some Commons and Sandwich Terns also. A Cormorant flew over from the direction of the river mouth, and a Shelduck flew round behind us heading upriver. A singing Skylark high in the sky above the golf course was pin-pointed against the clouds, before a Ringed Plover took flight from the shoreline. Having decided to not spend too long at the Ythan we headed back for a few more photos of Elvis before heading back through the dunes to the car to head for Mintlaw. We added Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Wren, Sedge Warbler and Yellowhammer as we walked back along the sandy tracks.
We stopped just to the north of the village to scan the river in the hope of a possible Spoonbill but in addition to Mute Swan, Mallard and Shelduck the only new bird seen was Great Black Backed Gull. With some very precise directions to the garden where the Hoopoe had been seen we located the site, but the lady who had seen the bird and allowed access to her garden informed us that the bird had only been seen for a short while on the previous Wednesday. Slightly disappointed but not too surprised by the bird no longer being present we headed off towards Loch of Strathbeg via the back roads. More Pied Wagtails, Jackdaws, Pheasant, Starlings and Swallows were seen before we reached the reserve.
A few Swallows swept around the shed where the car park is located and Tree Sparrows could be heard chirping in the trees behind. The visitor centre was rather busy with around half a dozen other birders already in. Thankfully, one of them, Trevor Donaldson from Aberdeen (who had been the first birder I reached when I rushed back to raise the alarm about the Red Flanked Bluetail in Denburn Wood last October) recognised me and proceeded to tell us what was around. The list included a Blue Winged Teal - a lifer for both myself and Jacqui, which Trevor showed us with the benefit of having his scope already on the bird. A roosting Little Gull was also a nice bonus. An American Wigeon had also been seen but as with a previous visit it remained hidden while Jacqui and I were around. A drake Wigeon, a few Teal, Mallards and Common and Arctic Terns completed the list from the centre. I managed a few distant record shots of the Blue Winged Teal but the bird slept most of the time in the long grass with only a hint of the white crescent on the face visible.
We decided to walk to the other nearby hide, just in case there was anything interesting around. En route we were joined by a juvenile Tree Sparrow which flew along the path in front of us. A Blue Tit flew over and a Whitethroat sang from the bushes before giving a short display flight. From the hide we could see Oystercatcher, Jackdaw, Mallard, Mute Swan and Reed Bunting but it was mostly pretty quiet so we decided to head back to take the car round to the airfield hides. A few more Tree Sparrow youngsters posed for a few photos and a female Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over and landed on a dead tree.
We added Collared Dove as we passed through the village heading towards the old airfield where a stock car event was taking place. We managed to get lost slightly but worked out where we had gone wrong and headed along to the correct car park area. We had been tipped off about Sparrowhawk and Great Spotted Woodpecker nests by the track to the hide. We saw both but the Sparrowhawk nest was empty. The GSW nest was rather noisy although the tree didn't look big enough to have a nest chamber in it. An adult bird flew off as we approached. The wind was increasing so the hoped for Bearded Tits were going to be tricky and the Savi's Warbler which had been seen and heard from the hide even more so. Swallows and Common Terns flew by over the water. Distant Mute Swans and Cormorants plus Mallards and Tufted Ducks could be seen out on the water. A Bearded Tit flew by but too fast to get a photo. My first of the year. We did manage a few more sightings of these wee birds but they were very fleeting glimpses. Jacqui spotted a Greylag flying by. As there was some rain beginning to blow through we decided to head back to the car.
Rather than make one long journey straight back home we decided to make a short detour to the seabird colony at the Bullers of Buchan near Cruden Bay. From the car park we heard and then saw a Corn Bunting across the road in the vegetation. We walked down to the cliffs where we could see some of the breeding seabirds. A few Fulmars glided round over the bay, with Kittiwakes and a few Carrion Crows visible on the cliffs. A Razorbill was down on the water and a Herring Gull drifted by. More seabirds were on the cliffs at the next inlet, with a mixture of Fulmar, Kittiwake, Razorbill, Guiilemot (including a "bridled" bird) and Shag. I spotted a Puffin flying out over the water, and another in the water near a Guillemot. Unlike off Angus and Fife there were no Gannets to be seen. Great Black Backed Gull and Feral Pigeon completed the list here before we headed back to the car. A few miles further south our last new species of the day, Common Gull was seen in the fields by the road. Rook, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Swallow were all seen before we reached Dundee, with Swift, House Martin and a juvenile Carrion Crow seen as I walked back doen the road.
Checking online later we discovered that in addition to the Savi's Warbler and American Wigeon that had eluded us at Strathbeg, a Roseate Tern had shown up too. Had we somehow managed to connect with all three of us these what had been a very good day with 4 year ticks including a lifer for both of us, would have been an exceptional day of 4 lifers and 3 further year ticks in June (the quiet month)! Still, that would be getting greedy...
We saw 62 species in total (year ticks in bold) -
Arctic Tern, Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Blue Winged Teal, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Eider, Fulmar, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, King Eider, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Little Tern, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.