STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0189 : A Shore Thing (5/8/15)

0189 : A Shore Thing (5/8/15)

Although myself and Nat sometimes have clear plans for our Wednesday outings, sometimes we just 'make it up as we go along'. Sometimes these days seem to work out better, being full of surprises compared to the days when you have a target bird in mind and everything else is incidental, to a point. These days still produce surprises but if the target species is found then these tend to be relegated to a sort of secondary status. The rough plan for our latest outing was to head first to Usan for a spot of sea-watching, then spend the rest of the day exploring around Montrose Basin, visiting the various hides and viewing areas. However, once we got on the road, those plans changed.

Turnstone

Nat picked me up at our usual pick-up point and at the usual time. The first trio of species seen were all fairly standard fayre - Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Herring Gull. Lesser Black Backed Gull and an Oystercatcher by the roadside were next before we decided to head for Balmossie first. We were greeted by the usual House Sparrows and Starlings as we got out of the car to cross the footbridge down to the shore. There was plenty to see as the tide was most of the way in, meaning that the waders roosting would be close in to the path. There was a fairly narrow area of sand and rocks above the tideline and it was here that the majority of birds were congregated with fewer further to the west where the beach was more exposed.

Black Headed Gull was seen as we wandered down to the shore. There were a few more along the edge of the water along with Herring Gulls and a single Common Gull. Out on the water, there were plenty of Eiders with hundreds further along towards Monifieth. Cormorant flew by, and much further out, Gannet could be seen. Goosanders swam offshore along with a few Mallards and many more Mute Swans. A Great Black Backed Gull passed by. In addition to Oystercatchers there were Redshanks and Turnstones stood around, with a few birds feeding among the rocks and along the sand. A pair of Sanderling still in partial summer plumage put in an appearance. Curlew and Dunlin could be seen further along to the east and a Grey Heron flew by offshore. Linnets flew over as we headed back to the footbridge.

We drove the short distance along to the car park near Barry Buddon to walk across the football pitches to scan for Little Gulls, a speciality of the area at this time of year. A Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Greenfinch flew over in opposite directions. A Willow Warbler was spotted flying off further into the military site, the call giving it away. Scanning from the corner of the football pitches by the sentry box we could see a sizeable roost of gulls on the beach, but heat shimmer made detail hard to pick out, though the size of the birds indicated the likelihood that they were Herring Gulls. A Pied Wagtail flew by. I took a photo of the gull roost to see if I could pick anything out. What I didn't realise at the time was that the photo was a bit over-exposed and that in the Barry Burn were over 100 Little Gulls with at least 3 Grey Plover beside them! We didn't see either species at all anywhere else (or here).

Nat spotted a wader flock flying low across the water from Barry Buddon. Bar Tailed Godwit was the expectation but they turned out to be Knot, still showing a lot of orange on the belly. Out over the water, a Sand Martin and a Swallow soon after were seen before we gave up trying to find a Little Gull (not knowing that we had been looking at them, without actually seeing them). Carnoustie beach was our next stop. House Martin, Swift, Collared Dove, Jackdaw and Rook as well as Buzzard were seen en route.

Carnoustie beach was quieter than expected with Pied Wagtails being the predominant species scurrying around on the beach. Oystercatcher and Black Headed Gulls joined Herring Gulls and Starlings picking around among the washed up seaweed. A pair of young Dunlins were picked out and a Grey Wagtail flew in but didn't hang around for long. A Great Black Backed Gull youngster stood out on a rock and a handful of Sandwich Terns travelled by out over the sea. Westhaven was the next stop, with a single Bar Tailed Godwit and a few other waders and gulls down by the shore. A surprise was an overflying Fulmar heading west.

We decided that we might as well explore Craigmill Den as we were in the area. Walking in from the top end, it seemed very quiet, though we did eventually begin to add a few species - 2 young Song Thrushes, a fly-past young Dipper, a nice male Blackcap, Wren, Dunnock and a Robin. having reached the road we decided to cross the railway line to the beach to see if there was anything of interest by the mouth of the burn. A trio of Mallards and a drake Teal were in the burn as we crossed the road on our way to the level crossing. There were lots of Pied Wagtails on the beach, birds scurrying around wherever you looked,though none appeared to be White Wagtails. Reaching the burn two birds took flight upstream, landing on the far bank a short distance further away. A pair of Common Sandpipers and another new bird for the day.

We crossed the railway line again to walk back up through he Den to the car. We could hear a singing Yellowhammer and a bit of searching found it perched in the top quarter of a small bush. A Buzzard flew in and landed in one of the mature tees by the burn in the Den. As we walked back along the track I heard a calling pigeon, and as it wasn't a familiar call I suspected Stock Dove. A distant shape in the top of a tall tree turned out to be the culprit, and it was indeed a Stock Dove. We then chanced upon a nice bit of activity with lots to see, especially a family of Willow Warblers actively hunting among the branches of a few bushes and small trees by the path. Great Tit and Chaffinch were also added. Further on, Blackbird, Chiffchaff and Blue Tit were also added.

Arbroath was next on the agenda with a quick stop to look for Mediterranean Gull. Tree Sparrow and Kestrel were seen on the way there from the car. Kittiwake was seen out over the water along with various gulls, Sandwich Terns and distant Gannets. A quick stop along by the cliffs succeeded in adding just one new species -a Rock Pipit though there were plenty of gulls and Sandwich Terns and a handful of waders and Carrion Crows down among the rocks and pools. Pied Wagtails, House Sparrows and Linnets were also around in decent numbers. Auchmithie in the hope of a lingering Puffin was next, but Fulmars and Kittiwakes were almost all there was to see. A stop at the car park by the football pitch yielded a trio of Stock Doves among the House Sparrows and numerous Starlings.

We headed on past Boghead Farm where Tufted Duck and Little Grebe on the pool were seen during a ten second stop, along with Mallards. A mile or so further on, a female Pheasant and two youngsters wandered along the roadside by some cottages. We chose not to stop at Lunan Bay as the sky had turned rather black and rain was looking increasingly likely. We settled on Fishtown of Usan for a spot of sea-watching not too far from the car, rather later than intended. With the tide quite far out we clambered out across the rocks to look for somewhere to sit and watch the birds passing offshore. Nat had brought along two cushions for sitting on, which made for comfier viewing.

Kittiwakes, Gannets, Sandwich Terns all shuttled by in good numbers. Among them were also a few Common Terns and Arctic Terns. Out in the water Guillemot and Razorbill were both found bobbing around in the swell, while a few Golfinches flitted around behind us. With time increasingly against us we decided on a rather fleeting visit to the Lurgies area of Montrose Basin. We would have just about enough time to walk along the track to check for waders near the bend in the river, but not much more. Greylags could be seen distantly, and among the gulls downstream a single swan turned out to be a Whooper Swan. A Kingfisher flashed past, and a pair of Common Sandpipers flew off across the river.

Towards the bend we could see a mixture of birds on the pebbles including a few Canada Geese. A Greenshank flew off calling loudly as we got closer. A bird in the dead tree to the west looked a bit too slim to be a Buzzard but with its back to us resisted our efforts to ID it for sure. Photos later showed it to be a Buzzard. A Sparrowhawk swept low along the far bank and up and over the bank after failing to surprise a wader on the pebbles. A quick check further upstream found us a perched Kingfisher, although it was rather distant. There were no Green Sandpipers or Ruff, or anything else unusual that we could see, so we about turned and headed back to the car.

A Moorhen was a surprise down by the boggy corner by the bend at the small stream. Ducks flying upriver turned out to be a quartet of Wigeon, and a last scan found an Osprey perched on the dead tree out on the mud, eating a fish. Another species not noticed at the time was Shelduck, found on photos later at home. As we reached the gate at the end of the track, two Kingfishers skimmed low across the water before disappearing up into the trees on the opposite bank. We managed to finally add Feral Pigeon as we passed the harbour area at Arbroath. An attempt to add Coot at Swannie Ponds resulted in only a possible.

We ended what had been a really good day out with 77 species seen (and 3 unseen but photographed then identified later - in italics). Species seen - Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Greylag, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Gull, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.