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| Great Northern Diver |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Redwing |
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| Peregrine |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Goosander |
The plan for Saturday was to get out and about and maybe add Red and Black Grouse to the yearlist with a trip up at least one of the Angus Glens. Having made plans with my photography pal, Wendy Clark (who is getting into birding slowly and has a life list of 120 so far) to try and get some nice landscape shots in addition to wildlife, the wild weather of Friday night looked like potentially causing problems to my provisional route plan. When Wendy arrived to pick me up she remarked that the Sidlaws were white which didn't bode well. However, things turned out (better than) ok in the end.....
I left the house at around 8.30 to pop round to the local shop to pick up provisions for the day's expedition around Angus, seeing Blackbird, Herring Gull and Carrion Crow before Wendy arrived. We decided to head for Monikie Country Park first where a Great Northern Diver had been found on Monday by local birder, Charles Rough, who has also been responsible for finding some very good birds at Riverside Nature Park (Red Backed Shrike and Blue Headed Wagtail to name two), where he is one of the regulars. The weather was overcast and quite windy but it wasn't raining and the forecast was for it to brighten up as the day went on. Passing Swannie Ponds (Stobsmuir Ponds) Mallards were the only definite addition. Travelling down the Kingsway we added Woodpigeon, and Collared Dove on a rooftop on Arbroath Road. Further on, a flock of Oystercatchers were poking around on the football pitches at Dawson Park.
Nothing else was added before we reached Monikie with the strong winds keeping most birds in shelter. There was more to see at the park however with Long Tailed Tits and Blue, Coal and Great Tits coming to the feeders by the Ranger's building, as well as a Robin. Black Headed Gulls and a few Common Gulls perched on the posts of the jetty on the main reservoir, with Mallards in their usual corner, looking for passing people with bread of which there were very few around. Out on the water, there were a few Goldeneye but no sign of the Diver. We walked along between the two main pools stopping to scan near the edge where possible, spooking a Grey Heron and a few Moorhens, unintentionally from close in to shore. Scanning over the water from a more exposed spot we did manage to see a black bird out on the water which turned out to be a Cormorant. However, some more searching did produce relatively distant views of the Great Northern Diver. A year tick for me and a lifer for Wendy. It swam back in the direction from which we'd came out of sight behind the island. We decided to walk back via the north pond, to get a few more birds for the day list. There were a couple of drake Pochard, some Tufted Ducks and Wigeon in addition to the more numerous Goldeneye.
We headed back towards the corner where the Mallards congregate to see if we could get better views of the Diver, adding Chaffinch, Blackbird and Woodpigeon en route. The Diver was swimming towards us but after a spot of preening and a typically Diver spot of wing flapping it turned around and swam away from us. A few dives took it far over to the south side close in to the bank. We walked along the raised bank to about the halfway point checking the lower pool, where a few Coots and Teal were, as we walked. A Song Thrush fed down on the main path, and a pair of Mute Swans could be seen between the jetty and the Mallards. A few Carrion Crows flew over as we watched the Diver swimming and diving repeatedly, all the time getting further away. I decided to try and see if it would come in closer at the far corner of the pond, but Wendy decided to head back to wait in the car out of the cold wind. Unfortunately, despite waiting for 10 minutes or so, the bird stayed quite well out on the water, so I headed back to Wendy waiting at the car park. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from tree to tree near the large wooden tower in the trees but there was nothing else of note.
We decided to head towards Forfar to see if the snow was any worse there. If it was we would avoid the glens and maybe try Kinnordy instead. Once again there wasn't much to see on the journey, except for a small group of Jackdaws in a field. Arriving at the top car park at Forfar Loch we found the path through the trees quite muddy and wet, so chose to walk downhill and back up via the path from the Leisure Centre. This was to prove quite fruitful with a large flock of Redwings being the undoubted highlight. Blackbirds rooted around in the leaf litter, and Chaffinches, Coal Tits and Blue Tits were quite actively feeding in the shelter of the trees. A few Woodpigeons clattered noisily out of the large trees by the water as we headed up to the wooden platform to scan the eastern end ofthe loch. A Wren flew across the path in front of us and out of sight and a Robin did likewise but wasn't quite as inconspicuous in the low branches of the bush it chose to land in. Goldfinches called from the bushes by the platform but were hard to surprisingly hard to see among the tangle of branches.
Out on the water a mixture of waterfowl swam - Coots, Goldeneye, four Gadwall, Mallards, Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks and closer in to the shore, two Little Grebes and a few Teal. A Magpie flew noisily past allowing us a few photos and a Grey Heron went in the opposite direction. On the small 'beach' to the right was a roosting flock of Oystercatchers with a Cormorant drying off amongst them. Another Cormorant was perched off to our left. A Yellowhammer called from the top of a small bush allowing Wendy quite close with her camera for a few photos. The Magpie flew on ahead of us, perching briefly up in a mature tree.
We walked along towards the sailing club spit, stopping and scanning where possible. More Tufted Ducks and Goldeneye were evident in small groups. A large raft of Goosanders were bunched up together out on the water and we counted around 60 of them, a mix of drake and ducks in a roughly 50/50 split. A Moorhen swam jerkily through the reeds untroubled by the two of us stood not far away. A few Feral Pigeons dashed over at speed, and over the fields a few Carrion Crows cawed noisily. Reaching the fork in the path down to the sailing club, I spotted a small flock of birds feeding on the ground by a puddle. They flew back up into the trees above as we got nearer. Looking through the binoculars I discovered my second year tick of the day - Lesser Redpolls. I had forgotten that Forfar Loch was a good place to find them, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to add them. Unfortunately a few anglers were fishing which meant the end of the spit was empty of the usual gulls, so we headed back to the car walking along the road allowing us to add House Sparrows and getting close views of Yellowhammer, Chaffinch and Blue Tit as well. A Redwing showed well just beyond the car and I managed a few photos before it hopped further in below the bushes and low trees.
We took a bit of a detour up one of the glens but found it very quiet with only a few displaying Buzzards and no sign of any Grouse at all, although Wendy took the opportunity to take a few landscape shots of the snowy mountains to the north. We headed towards Loch of Kinnordy next, receiving a text about an Iceland Gull just 10 minutes walk from home at Swannie Ponds, as we passed through Kirriemuir. The car park at Kinnordy was very quiet with just one car parked up. Unfortunately, so was the loch - with not many birds out on the open water, though round the fringes some were visible. Coot, Cormorant, Goldeneye, Mallards, Mute and Whooper Swans, Teal, Tufted Duck were dotted around in small numbers. An Oystercatcher flew past, piping loudly. From the swamp hide, Greylags could be seen feeding along the field edge with a few in the water. Further round some Wigeon were in with the Mallards and Goldeneye but there was no sign of a hoped for Shoveler. We walked back along to the East Hide where a Grey Heron in the reeds opposite was the only addition. We decided to try and see Brambling at the feeders before heading back to Dundee to try for the Iceland Gull. As we exited the hide a Buzzard circled above the field spooking a male Pheasant which ran downhill while another appeared not to notice at all. The usual mix of birds hurried in and out of the area around the feeders -Chaffinches, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Robins and Blackbirds but no Bramblings. Suddenly above the trees a flock of Rooks and Jackdaws noisily announced their arrival. I spotted a slightly slimmer bird above the group, but lost sight of it above the trees. A few seconds later I spotted what was probably the same bird - a male Peregrine. Probably what had put up the Rooks and Jackdaws in the first place. It glided over rather lazily giving us the chance to get a few photos. A fluffed-up Woodpigeon sat hunched in a tree above the path but we avoided walking below it and headed back to the car.
49 species seen (year ticks in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Northern Diver, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Iceland Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Redpoll, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pochard, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.