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| Greylag Goose |
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| Fieldfares |
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| Water Rail |
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| Water Rail |
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| Sparrowhawk (or Goshawk?) |
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| Fieldfare Flock (+ Redwing) |
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| Sparrowhawk (or Goshawk?) |
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| Sparrowhawk (or Goshawk?) |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Wigeon |
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| Greylags |
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| Greylags |
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| Swan Geese |
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| Black Headed Gull & Herring Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Velvet Scoters |
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| Cormorant |
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Grey Heron
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Having not been out for three weekends in a row I needed to get out and about somewhere this weekend. Provisional plans with my birding/photography pal, Steph Cowie, were made early in the week and with the weather behaving we decided to have a run around Angus in the hope of getting something unusual. Birds which had been seen recently in Angus included Great Grey Shrike, Bittern, Bearded Tit, Hen Harrier, Green Winged Teal, Black Scoter and Surf Scoter. Although it was unlikely to be the case that we would manage to see all of those we would have more chance if we at least tried for them, so a route was planned taking in the locations where the birds had been seen.
Steph picked me up at 9am, although an earlier trip round to the shops had already started off my day list with four species - Herring Gull, Redwing, Feral Pigeon and Starling. House Sparrow and Carrion Crow were added just before Steph arrived. Our first planned stop was Kinnordy so we headed up the A90 picking up Pheasant near Inveraldie. I suggested taking the 'scenic route' via Glamis to get to Kinnordy as this would give us the chance to try for the Great Grey Shrike which I hoped might still be around near Linross Farm. Blackbird was added to the list as we neared Glamis village with a field full of male Pheasants at the other side past the castle.
Driving along the narrow road to Linross we added Robin, Long Tailed Tit, Wren and Blue Tit. A Magpie flew ahead of us and a small group of Pink Footed Geese flew across in front of us gaining height. The first of two Buzzards on fence posts in a short distance took flight as we neared and just round a bend in the road a second bird did likewise. Not unexpectedly, though a little disappointingly, there was no sign of any Great Grey Shrike. As these birds tend to adopt a territory for their winter stay, I will hopefully get a chance to try for this bird again (or the Leuchars one). As we neared the junction to the road to Kirriemuir, Fieldfares and Redwings flew up from the trees and across the fields.
A quick stop in Kirriemuir gave me good views of a Blue Tit hunting for food along the wall of a building and some flyover Carrion Crows. Jackdaws were heard but not seen. There were a few folk in the hide at Kinnordy when we arrived and we took our place at the windows and started checking out what was around. There were plenty Greylags with Mallard, Teal, Tufted Ducks and Mute Swans the most obvious. A distant Buzzard was seen in the ploughed field across the far side of the reserve. More scanning added Coot, Wigeon, Moorhen and Goldeneye to the list. One of the others in the hide had mentioned flocks passing by looking like 'silver leaves in the wind'. This turned out to be a rather apt description which made perfect sense when the next flock through was seen. Fieldfares, their white underwings catching the sunlight and flickering as the wings flapped. A few Redwings also passed by, their calls more obvious than the seemingly mostly silent Fieldfares.
Another Buzzard was seen flying into the trees and a Reed Bunting flew past the hide. Steph managed to catch a couple of photos as a bird shot across in front of the hide. A Water Rail, not often an easy bird to see. Carrion Crow and Common Gull were seen next and Whooper Swan went on the list when I noticed that one of the birds which had had its head down earlier wasn't a Mute. More Redwings and Fieldfares passed by, mostly in flocks of around twenty or so birds but one flock numbered over one hundred birds. Something unseen spooked the Greylags on the water in front of the hide before the birds on the water off to the left also lifted. Maybe a White Tailed Eagle passing over? The Water Rail showed again for around a minute in the reeds to the right of the hide allowing us to get a few nice photos before it flew across to the other side.
Two Cormorants were perched on the dead tree in the water, un-noticed earlier. A Pied Wagtail gave chase to an unidentified smaller bird before dropping the smaller bird dropped into the reeds. Two Black Headed Gulls drifted over and two Goosanders flew past at speed. More Greylags dropped in. One of the others in the hide managed a photo of a raptor which flew up into the lone pine but which was hidden from view. It popped into view after a few minutes showing itself to be either a female Sparrowhawk or a small male Goshawk, with a rather strong-looking white supercilium. The majority view was that it was a Goshawk. I wasn't convinced. Having read that crows tend to avoid Goshawks like the plague, I didn't think it likely that one would perch close, keeping an eye on it. The fact that it was also in a lone tree, rather than perched in the middle of a forest, added to my doubts. I took plenty photos to study later at home to attempt to come to a conclusion.
The bird moved to a different perch and preened for a few minutes. A Siskin flew over calling loudly. A Woodpigeon flew north across the loch before I went back to keeping an eye on the hawk in the pine. It took flight towards the small group of pines before a Crow chased it apparently into one of the trees and we lost sight of it. This added to my doubts about the bird and a few minutes later when a female Sparrowhawk flew past low over the islands from the direction of the disappearing bird, showing quite a strong supercilium, I wondered out loud as to the likelihood that it was indeed the same bird. Despite the apparent confidence of the others that it was indeed a Goshawk none
of them put the news out via the ADBC grapevine, despite at least two
of them using the service. Gadwall was added to the list before we decided to head for Murton in the hope of seeing Green-Winged Teal having drawn a blank on the Bittern, Beardies and Hen Harrier.
Having eaten my lunch en route, I popped into the hide while Steph ate hers in the car. The pool in front was covered in Greylags. I did manage to find a couple of Pink Feet among them. A Jackdaw overflew. Steph joined me in the hide. I scanned across towards the other pool, where I could see Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Lapwing, Carrion Crow, Tufted Duck as well as Great Black Backed, Black Headed and Herring Gull. Far more variety than the pool we were looking at, so we decided to head down for a closer look. As we wandered slowly down, Steph stopped to photograph the Greylags from the lower angle and I wandered ahead a little. I happened to look up and saw a large bird flying towards us. It wasn't a Buzzard, the proportions were all wrong but it looked like a raptor, but what was it. It took a few seconds to 'click' as to what it was I was looking at. The bird circled above us, seemingly scanning both pools. By now, Steph had seen the bird too, and we both snapped away at the rather late, and totally unexpected, Osprey that was above us. Usually by November these birds are back in their wintering quarters either in Iberia or further south in Africa. It circled a few times before gliding off over towards the next loch behind the farm.
After the Osprey sighting, a few Woodpigeon passed high over. With a closer look from beside the locked (flooded) hide we added Goldeneye
and a single Common Gull. There were also a number of Starlings feeding
among the Wigeon and Greylags. A Fieldfare flew up and away from the
bushes. We managed to get some nice, close views and photos of the Greylags feeding on the grassy slope. Although the birds were wary at first they soon realised we weren't a threat and went back to feeding although the odd bird kept an eye on us instead. A Buzzard mewed somewhere to the north and I managed to spot it as it dropped into a field of cattle on the hillside. A Wren called from the vegetation by the path. Scanning again along the edges of the pool hoping for Green Winged Teal only added Grey Heron and Steph spotted a couple of (feral) Swan Geese feeding on their own further up the grassy bank.
As it was now after 2pm and the sun had more or less vanished behind the clouds we decided we should make tracks for Lunan Bay to scan offshore for the two American Scoter species that have been seen recently in among the flocks offshore before the light vanished completely. When we arrived at the car park a Buzzard was hanging in the wind above the trees off to the northwest. We found the tide almost all the way in, with hardly any sand remaining, so we scanned from the top of the dunes. The scoters were more distant than I'd hoped they'd be but we made the most of the capabilities of our equipment to try and pick out the birds. Common and Velvet Scoters seemed to prefer the company of their own kinds with the smaller groups tending to be all one species. The low light and the choppy seas made things rather tricky, with the strong wind not helping things.
We managed to add Long Tailed Duck, Red Throated Diver, Common Gull, Kittiwake, Black Headed Gull and Red Breasted Merganser despite the conditions. An Oystercatcher flew past calling loudly at head height in front of us. We wandered along the tops of the dunes, finding some of the edges having collapsed recently. Some more scanning added more Red Throated Divers and a few Eiders. A flock of small waders were lifted from their roost by dog walkers (most likely Sanderling/Dunlin/Ringed Plover). A small flock of Teal flew around offshore to the south. I suggested that we try Fishtown of Usan to see if we could maybe see Little Auk (Gus Guthrie had seen two in the morning as well as a Pomarine Skua) before the light went completely.
When we arrived at Fishtown of Usan, it didn't look too promising with nothing moving offshore. Undeterred we wandered along the stubble field to see if we could see anything from our raised viewpoint. A Curlew flew in to land on the rocks. A Meadow Pipit flew up from the stubble, but there were no birds passing offshore and none out on the water either. A Cormorant passed behind us. Two more Meadow Pipits did likewise. We decided to head back to the car. Two Great Black Backed Gulls were out on the rocks. Two further pairs of Cormorants overflew. Steph spotted a Grey Heron behind us heading off to roost. A large flock of Pink Footed Geese lifted from the fields a little further over and a final pair of Cormorants passed over southwards. A couple of Starlings were on the top of the ruined tower as we got in the car to head back to Dundee.
Nothing new for my year list seen, and none of the target birds seen at all, but we had the surprise Osprey sighting and decent photo opportunities with the Greylags, Water Rail and Osprey to compensate.
52 species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Velvet Scoter, Water Rail, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.