Dunlin
Having recently spent a fair bit of time birding in Fife and having a couple of days off work on holiday for an even longer weekend than normal I decided to do a spot of birding along the Angus coast for a wee change of scenery. A bit of walking interspersed with a few bus journeys would hopefully provide a variety of birds, with waders most likely and maybe some vis-mig overhead also. With reasonable weather forecast once again, I was up early to head out before 8am to catch the number 73 bus from Arbroath Road to my first stop at Balmossie.
I left the house at around 0745 picking up Woodpigeon first followed by Herring Gull. Blackbird and Feral Pigeon soon joined them on the list with House Martins around Stobswell primary school. Collared Dove was seen as I crossed the car park near Dura Street and Lesser Black Backed Gull was also added while waiting at the bus stop. A few more Woodpigeons, Herring Gulls and a Carrion Crow were seen from the bus as I headed for Broughty Ferry. Starlings and House Sparrows were noisily announcing their presence in the gardens on Balmossie Street and a Blue Tit flew from tree to tree. Visible migration was in evidence as had been the case the previous day with Swallows and Meadow Pipits passing westwards following the coast. A Tree Pipit provided an early highlight, its call noticeably different to the Meadow Pipits call. Down on the shoreline, Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Dunlin and Turnstones mingled together. Mute Swans and a few Goosanders were offshore. Black Headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Common Gulls shared the pebbles with the waders. One or two Curlews were also dotted about probing into the soft ground for something to eat.
Pied Wagtails foraged among the strandline seaweed being joined by a flock of House Sparrows which proved to be rather restless. A few Linnets joined the flock but were also rather flighty. Out on the river, I managed to spot a few Eider and a couple of Grey Wagtails passed over westwards. Further along the beach a mixed flock of Turnstone, Dunlin and Ringed Plover huddled together until the almost guaranteed dog disturbed them. Still more Meadow pipits passed over and a small group of Goldfinches flitted by. A Bar Tailed Godwit flew by just offshore, the first of the day. A few Carrion Crows milled around among the gulls and waders. From the east a Canada Goose flew by, a nice surprise, and I managed a few reasonable flight shots.
Another surprise was a small group of Rooks picking among the pebbles and seaweed on a small island in the Dighty Burn outflow. While Carrion Crows are commonplace here, Rooks are not. I heard a Sandwich Tern calling and spotted an adult and juvenile flying by a little out over the river. A Great Black Backed gull glided past while a Cormorant powered by in the opposite direction. I wandered along towards Barry Buddon spotting Wren and Song Thrush before I reached the caravan park at Monifieth. Another wader was added to the list when a single Sanderling was found among a few Ringed Plovers opposite the caravans. A single Kittiwake was roosting among Black Headed Gulls and Sandwich Tern on the beach as I neared the football pitches at Monifieth. Swallows and a few House Martins skimmed across the sand as they migrated through, while more Meadow Pipits and a few Tree Pipits and Grey Wagtails also followed them upriver.
A few Oystercatchers flew by and a Curlew popped in. A small group of Grey Plovers, some still in partial summer plumage eyed the approaching dog walkers warily before taking flight. A small group of Bar Tailed Godwits were a bit further along the beach and they too took flight before joining a larger roost just along the beach within the safety of the Barry Buddon zone. Another group of Godwits flew by with the flock also containing a Knot and a few Dunlin. Yet another Tree Pipit passed over among the almost continuous Meadow Pipits. Scanning across the bay I picked up a flock of Canada Geese on the shore round by the Barry Burn. Sanderling scurried along the water's edge, and a large amount of gulls which appeared to be mostly Black Headed Gulls were also dotted around. I suspected Little Gulls also but the heat haze and distance made confirmation impossible. As I headed back to Monifieth High Street to catch a bus to Carnoustie I added a Goldcrest and Robin to the day list.
A Buzzard on a telegraph pole was seen from the bus just before I reached Barry village. Starlings overflew as I wandered down to the beach at Carnoustie near the golf course end. Still more Meadow Pipits passed over while Pied Wagtails scurried around in small family groups on the short grass. A Grey Wagtail was feeding among the seaweed on the beach as a small group of Meadow Pipits took flight. Offshore Arctic and Common Terns were still around. Rather surprisingly a Collared Dove flew down to forage on the beach while Herring Gulls watched from nearer the water. I wandered along eastwards towards Westhaven scannning the rocks as I went. A Grey Heron and a pair of Knot were found near the water's edge. Starlings squabbled as they picked among the seaweed and a White Wagtail caught a few flies in between bouts of running around. A Carrion Crow flew in to land among the mixed Tern flock as I neared Westhaven. Sandwich Terns were in evidence here among the smaller Common and Arctics.
The sandy beach at Westhaven was rather quiet with only an Oystercatcher to be found down by the water. I headed back up through the car park to walk along the road to Craigmill Den. Only Jackdaws were seen on the way while the Den itself was quite quiet. Yellowhammer, Long tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Willow Warbler and Chaffinch were seen on my way up through the Den, while Wren, Blackcap, Blackbird and Mallard were added on my way back. A Buzzard circled up at one point. A Grey Heron strolled along the skyline in a stubble field as I hurried towards Easthaven in the hope of catching a bus to Arbroath before 1pm. Also in the fields were a few Meadow Pipits, two of which perched up on a hay bale to watch me pass by.
I reached Easthaven around 1240 or so and had around 15 minutes to wait till the bus was due to arrive. I decided I might as well wander down to check out the beach. his was to prove to be a good decision. A few Pied Wagtails ran around on the grass, and as I reached the edge of the beach another bird landed a little to my right and out on the beach. I lifted my binoculars to check it out. It had an obvious yellow tinge to the underside but instead of a grey back, it had an olive green-ish back. A Yellow Wagtail! Only my second ever and I grabbed a quick burst of photos before the bird flew off a short distance. I ran down the beach a bit so I could skirt round in a wide arc to try and get closer with the light behind me. I moved slowly trying to see the bird where it was foraging along the strand-line but before I managed to spot it again, it saw me and with a loud call it took off with a Pied Wagtail alongside it. As the bus was almost due and there was only one per hour I decided to leave the Yellow Wagtail and head to Arbroath for a spot of sea-watching from the cliffs. I hoped that the bird would not have gone far and that others might get the chance to see it (Alex Shepherd refound it later and even managed to video it).
When I reached Arbroath I wandered down to coast to walk out to the cliffs. More Pied Wagtails were seen, with a mixture of gulls and a few terns out on the rocks. Rock Pipit was the first 'new' bird seen and a bit of scanning out to sea produced a few Gannets heading northwards but it looked decidedly quiet. On reaching the cliffs there were still small groups of Swallows passing through. A Fulmar glided by a few feet from the cliff edge. Cormorant and Shag were both seen within a few minutes of sitting looking out to sea. Arctic Tern, Common Tern and Sandwich Tern passed by heading out to fish and also back in to roost. A Curlew headed west towards town. Common Gull, Black Headed Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull and Kittiwake glided and flapped by but there were no Skuas or Shearwaters to be seen, nor any Auks or anything particularly exotic at all. Oystercatchers headed back to the esplanade area as I walked back down the path. On reaching the end of the path, I spotted movement further along. A Wheatear was on the path and I managed a few photos before it flew up onto the drystane wall and dropped into the stubble field. A few Meadow Pipits and a group of Pied Wagtails were on the grass. I wandered up to check out Cliffburn Gully but it proved to be almost dead with only a few Linnets, Chaffinches and Blue Tits seen with the highlight being a Goldcrest.
I headed back down to the road to walk back to catch the bus back to Westhaven where a Curlew Sandpiper had been reported. Small groups of Starlings posed for photos on the sea wall and a Curlew in a rock pool appeared to be stirring up the water like a Little Egret. However it turned out that the birds foot was actually missing and the stirring was actually just the bird retaining its balance. There were lots of gulls on the rocks by the harbour with Great Black Backed Gulls and a few Little Gulls amongst them.
I managed to catch a bus to Carnoustie and walked back along the beach to near the burn where I found the mixed flock of waders on the sand. Dunlin and Ringed Plovers were obviously scurrying and feeding around on the sand, so I sat among the grass at the edge of the beach and waited for the flock to pass in front of me. The less cautious of the birds soon passed in front of me and I managed a selection of photos. However I couldn't see the Curlew Sandpiper. A Redshank and a Curlew were seen and I was joined by Gus Guthrie who had located the bird along the beach. He said it had actually walked in front of me and thought I would have some great photos. Unfortunately I had been concentrating on the plovers and Dunlin and had totally missed it. To make things worse we couldn't see the bird despite searching through the flock. Gus had to go to try and see the Yellow Wagtail and I had to go to try to catch the bus back to Dundee so I had to admit defeat. A few Wigeon flew in and a Shelduck was just offshore as I hurried back to the car park and along to the bus stop.
All in all a good day with the bonus of a year-tick. 65 species were seen (year-tick in bold) with 3 species of Pipit and 4 Wagtails -
Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Tree Pipit, Turnstone, Wheatear, White Wagtail, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellow Wagtail, Yellowhammer.
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