STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0148 : Here Comes The Rain Again (26/4/15)

0148 : Here Comes The Rain Again (26/4/15)

At this time of year a trip up the Angus glens can be quite productive in terms of species seen, compared to other times of year, with Spring migrants returning from their winter haunts and the glens full of breeding activity. For my latest trip out with my pal, Rhona, the glens were where we were going. With the weather to take a turn for the worse around lunchtime we only realistically had the morning to see what we could find.

Redstart

Rhona picked me up at our usual time and we were soon on our way out of the city northwards. Blackbird, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Starling and Woodpigeon starting the day list. Rook and Jackdaw were added as we headed up the A90 with the first Buzzard of the day seen on a fencepost soon after. A few Pheasants in the roadside fields as well as a handful of Black Headed Gulls and Lapwings were next to be spotted. Carrion Crow and a Blue Tit were added once we left the main road to head for our glen of choice.

A Grey Heron in flight away from us was soon followed by feeding Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush, as well as Chaffinch and some Swallows sweeping low over a grassy field. A Robin was by the side of the road a little further on. Soon the terrain began to look more 'glen-like' with hills beginning to appear. Oystercatchers appeared in the roadside fields along with Lapwings. A Jay landed not far from the road as we passed. A flock of Common Gulls in another field, and a few Feral Pigeons overflying were next. A Curlew was wandering around next to a large estate lodge building.

A Pied Wagtail scurried around in another field. A target bird for Rhona was Sand Martin and knew just the place to find them. She wasn't disappointed by the views we had of them by their nest tunnels and swooping low over the car. We pushed on, aware of the closing time window we had to work with, and as a reminder the grey skies overhead were not exactly looking overly promising.

The first Wheatear of the morning was seen in flight away from a drystane dyke as we passed, the tell-tale white of the tail showing well. A Great Tit was perched in another small roadside tree as we passed. An area where I have seen Cuckoos in the past was empty, rather disappointingly. A little further on we did find a few Red Grouse among the heather and perched on rocks near the road.

Rhona suddenly screeched to a halt, yelling and pointing at the roadside ahead of us on my side of the car. Woodcock, not one but two, right in front of the car. Unfortunately I had to photograph them through the windscreen before they flew off, so the photos weren't as good as I would have liked. Still, it was good to see them so close. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was next to be spotted by Rhona as we drove further into the glen. When we could drive no further, it was time to go for a walk.

Song Thrush, Meadow Pipit, Blackbird, Dunnock, Woodpigeons, Oystercatchers were all seen within a few minutes of leaving the car. Lesser Redpolls flew around overhead, sometimes displaying. A Common Sandpiper was on the burn, not unexpectedly. There were at least two, possibly three of the birds calling loudly from among the rocks. Three Mallard drakes were next. A Goldcrest was heard and then seen high in a tall conifer.

Having familiarised myself with the song of my own target species for the day, I knew immediately when I heard a bird singing that there was a Redstart nearby. A nice male too, perched in low branches and flying down to feed on the ground before flying back to its perch. It ventured closer as we stood and watched, eventually ending up in a nearby tree and I managed to edge close enough to get some reasonable shots.

We could hear Snipe calling but failed to see the birds, though I did spot a sleeping male Teal on the far bank of the burn. I did succeed in finding a Tree Pipit in a tree, although there were also a few Meadow Pipits dotted around. A second male Redstart wouldn't settle long enough for photos. Another target species for Rhona was Ring Ouzel and I spotted at least 3 birds together quite far up a hillside. However, my directions to get Rhona onto the bird were a bit too vague (when rocks are the only 'landmarks' it isn't easy to differentiate one rock from another), and it took quite a while until she succeeded in getting onto a pair of them.

Having seen both of our target birds we turned to head back to the car. We had another extended encounter with one of the two male Redstarts and this allowed me to get a few more reasonable shots. The rain was just starting to fall, and we chose not to loiter for too long. We did have cause to stop again soon after when I spotted a Woodcock in below the trees, staring back at us. After taking a few photos I realised there was a second bird a little off to the right. As I pointed out the second bird's presence to Rhona both birds suddenly took flight.

Another male Redstart showed quite well, but the rain began to get a bit heavier so we walked a bit faster back to the car, adding only a Coal Tit en route, and getting a bit wetter than ideal on the way. From the car we had close views of Meadow Pipit, Jackdaw, Chaffinch and Pied Wagtail feeding nearby in the rain. Having had something to eat we set off back down the glen. A brief stop added a Willow Warbler to our day list, but nothing else of note was seen. We then encountered a rather heavy hailstorm which turned the road a rather unseasonal white.

I had considered a trip to a second glen but the hail and the rather black and threatening clouds in that direction soon ruled that out. Having checked the weather forecast before leaving home, I knew the coast gave us the best chance of avoiding a soaking, so we headed towards Montrose. We stopped first at Bridge of Dun to watch the Swallows and Sand Martins hawking low above the river below the bridge. A single House Martin appeared among the birds, and we also saw a male Reed Bunting and a pair of Grey Wagtails. With the dark skies looming closer we hurried to The Lurgies for a quick look.

House Sparrows were seen on the way. Having parked the car we headed out to view the basin. The tide was out but there were good numbers of Eiders around, as well as at least one pair of Red Breasted Mergansers among them. Some late Pink Footed Geese were over the middle of the basin. A few Redshanks were dotted around. One or two Mute Swans could also be seen. I thought I heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling from the reeds but the arrival of the hail once again ensured that I didn't wait to hear it call again. Back in the car, the hail rattled off the roof and we had a loud rumble of thunder overhead too.

Arbroath was next, and we passed through yet another heavy hail shower on the way, the main road turning rather white and the noise of the hailstones on the car being loud enough to drown out conversation at normal volume. Thankfully when we arrived at the Arbroath cliffs the grey skies were still to the north. A pair of ringed Herring Gulls were stood on the wall, though I didn't realise that both were actually ringed at the time, concentrating on photographing the one with the yellow plastic ring.

A Cormorant was stood out on the rocks, wings held out to the sides. A Rock Pipit flew by. A Gannet was picked out against the dark skies out over the sea, the white wings and black wingtips contrasting with the strong blue-grey cloud. A Great Black Backed Gull flew by. We headed along to the other side of the harbour to see if we could find the Iceland Gull which had been in the area for a week or two. Initially we couldn't see it. It wasn't on the harbour wall with the Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls, or out on the rocks. Something made me look back over my shoulder at the building, and there was the bird sat on the roof.

I opened the car door and took a sequence of photos and some video though the bird wasn't doing anything at the time. Rhona got out to take a few photos and after a few minutes the bird got airborne, hanging in the wind and slowly edging forward before landing a short distance away. More photos were taken before we headed back westwards towards Dundee. We decided to stop at Easthaven on the way. There wasn't too much to see here, except a Grey Heron and a few Linnets and a couple of White Wagtails. Collared Dove was our final bird on the list as we passed through Carnoustie heading for home.

Despite the weather a very successful day out with 5 new year-ticks (in bold) out of a total of 60 species.

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Iceland Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Grouse, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redstart, Reed Bunting, Ring Ouzel, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Pipit, Wheatear, White Wagtail, Willow Warbler, Woodcock, Woodpigeon.