STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0193 : Grouseless Glorious Twelfth (12/8/15)

0193 : Grouseless Glorious Twelfth (12/8/15)

For a few reasons, St Cyrus had been on the list of provisional Wednesday birding destinations for Nat and myself, but we had never quite made it there. With a reasonable weather forecast and nothing else around to distract us, we decided that we would head that way and see if we could find any of the things we were hoping to see - Lizards, Northern Brown Argus butterflies and 'pink' Grasshoppers. A late change of plan would mean a later than usual start but fingers were crossed for a good day out.

Stonechat

A slight communications breakdown meant I headed out at the usual start time in case Nat hadn't got my message about a later start. It was quiet bird-wise during the short spell I was outside. Only Herring Gull, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon were seen before Nat's text reply reached me confirming the late start. We got our day's outing underway at around 0915. Starlings, and a few Swifts started the list proper, with House Martins and Lesser Black Backed Gull added when we reached Clepington Road. We headed up the A90 planning to head for the coast around Brechin, then onto Montrose and then the short distance to St Cyrus.

Birds were in short supply on the way, with only a few Rooks, and a Swallow low over the roadside fields to start with. A Buzzard perched on a post was the first, but not the last, raptor of the day. Jackdaw and Collared Dove were seen as we passed through Brechin, with House Sparrow added as we reached Montrose. We arrived at St Cyrus at around 1020 to be greeted by Yellowhammer, Willow Warbler and Chaffinch in the trees behind the car park, and a Buzzard in the air. We set off along the track, looking for butterflies and interesting insects. One of the commonest of the micro moths locally was our first find, Udea Lutealis, one hiding among the grass.

A Peregrine flew off from the cliffs ahead of us, and a Stock Dove passed by heading at speed in the opposite direction. Gliding along in front of the cliffs was a single Fulmar. Our first butterfly of the day turned out to be a Small Heath, always a nice one to get. A Sedge Warbler skulked among the bracken further on, showing well at times with a beakful of insects but never quite long enough for a photo. A Kestrel glided over and a group of at least 3 Buzzards, possibly a family party of 4, appeared to have found something in a hollow among teh dunes, with the youngsters choosing to perch atop a small wind-sculpted bush, from where their loud mewing drew attention to themselves.

A small group of Linnets flew away from us, and a Blue Tit popped up in another bush further on along the track. I caught a glimpse of a Lizard as it scuttled off into the longer grass having spotted us, before I saw it. This served as a reminder to check any potential sun-traps for the small reptiles. We were treated to great views of a Stonechat perched on a Ragwort before a dog-walking couple spooked it by shouting to their dog as I was photographing it. A rather showy male bird a little further on gave excellent views and I even managed a rather nice video clip.

A few Meadow Browns and Ringlets flitted around by the side of the track as we walked on, with occasional views of the Peregrines, or the Kestrels or Buzzards drawing our eyes away from the ground. I stopped to look at two thin dark shapes in a small open area among the track-side grasses. The speed at which they vanished confirmed that they had indeed been a pair of Lizards basking in the sunshine. No photo opportunity once again. A Shaded Broad Bar moth was the next insect find. A small unidentified Wasp wandered over the surface of a small Puffball fungi. A Dunnock showed briefly off to our right.

I wandered up onto the top of a small dune to see where the sea was as I could hear Sandwich Terns calling loudly. Out on the water, a raft of Eiders could be seen offshore, while a Cormorant flew over them. A few Gannets passed by, while on the beach a few Sandwich Terns and Black Headed Gulls stood by the edge. Another Stonechat perched atop a small building, while skulking in a bush by the side was a Whitethroat, and a Willow Warbler too. With the sun shining and reasonable temperatures it was a pleasant walk, and with plenty to see all around us.

Ahead of us on the track, I spotted a small group of wagtails. Pied Wagtails, probably 4 of them, but with them was a bird that looked different. Less grey, more yellow-green with a pale yellow wash below the tail. I told Nat to get as many photos as possible, as I suspected it was actually a juvenile Yellow Wagtail. While snapping away, I was mentally noting as much detail as I could. It looked slimmer, slightly smaller, longer-legged and shorter-tailed and behaved slightly differently to the other wagtails. A Wheatear popped out from the longer grass but couldn't distract us from the prospective year-tick in front of us. Voices behind us turned out to be two women with small babies, out for a walk. Unfortunately, they were going to pass us, and keep going. The birds took flight before the pair got close and that was the last we saw of the Yellow Wagtail. Still, a very nice bonus bird.

As we neared the end of the reserve, I started to see Dune Robberflies hunting low above the sandy tracks. Scanning offshore found a Red Throated Diver, and we had a Meadow Pipit fly off from the side of the path. More scanning out over the water found a single Guillemot. We walked part of the way up the large staircase that headed up the slope, looking for Lizards sunning themselves, but drew a blank. I don't often pay any attention to plants, but Nat was able to tell me that the lovely wee red-orange flowers creeping around the steps was Scarlet Pimpernel, and is fairly uncommon. Next find was a small green, coloured fly with long legs, which checking the books later appears to be Meromyza Pratorum which is apparently widespread even though the range maps in the insect book I have has it absent from Scotland, though no doubt this is mostly down 6to few folk looking for it, rather than it not actually being around.

We had reached the end of the reserve, and this was the area we had been told was good for the Northern Brown Argus butterflies. Lots of chasing of butterflies in flight resulted in one possible, which I thought looked like a female Common Blue, which is what it turned out to be. A Grayling was a reasonable substitute, and we added Large White to the butterflies list here too. A butterfly which might have been a faded Painted Lady flitted past me at one point but I failed to get good enough views, or to catch up with it again, to confirm the identity.

There were lots of Cormorants in a small bay and stood around on cliffs and rocky stacks. I finally managed to spot a Lizard which didn't really scoot away at speed, instead only shuffling into a slightly less conspicuous position half-hidden behind some grass but still mostly visible. I took a few photos but the head is obscured by grass. As a record shot they will do, but I will certainly have to try for a better one at some point.We finally managed to add Blackbird to the list for the day when Nat spotted one in a bush.

We wandered around among the grass near the steps looking for the 'pink' coloured Grasshoppers which others have seen in the area. I've previously seen a pink-ish one at Barry Buddon, but we drew a blank, though I did find 3 grasshoppers together in a small open area, which appeared to be 2 different species. A Brown Chafer beetle was another interesting insect, as it tried to climb up a sandy slope, but kept overbalancing and falling back down. Why it didn't just fly to wherever it was trying to get to, I don't know. I found what looked like a faded Yellow Shell moth, and Nat found a Plume Moth. A Common Carpet moth was yet another moth for the day as we headed back along to the car park.

A few Goldfinches showed for us, while we managed to get the Stonechat, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat all posing in the same shot by the small shed. Another unidentified moth kept me occupied for a minute or two as I tried to get a photo before I caught up with Nat again. Up on the cliffs we could see the Peregrine again, with a male Pheasant balancing on the steep slope near the cliff tops. Having not taken any food or drink with us (not planning on spending quite as longs as we had) we were both feeling the effects of the warm sun and no sustenance, and our energy was flagging. A few Small Tortoiseshells added yet another butterfly to our list, while a Carrion Crow gave chase to a Buzzard with some prey item clutched tightly in a clenched talon.

Back at the car, we had something to eat and drink before setting off back down the coast, via an aborted attempt to visit Kinnaber. Instead we pushed on to Arbroath in the hope of adding a few terns and waders. Curlews out on the rocks were rather obvious, but the small group of roosting Dunlin and Ringed Plover just in front of us would have been very easy to overlook. Oystercatcher and a couple of Turnstones as well as a single Rock Pipit could be seen out among the seaweed and rocks. Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern and a few Common and Arctic Terns made up the nembers here. A quick stop by the harbour finally found us a few Redshanks, and a Common Gull. We added one final species at Swannie Ponds just before Nat dropped me off, Mallard.

An excellent day out, with plenty to see, even if we didn't succeed in getting 2 out of our 3 targets (and only record shots of the other), with the Yellow Wagtail being a fortuitous, but very welcome find. 53 species of bird seen in total and a decent selection of insects too.

Species seen (year-tick in bold) - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellow Wagtail, Yellowhammer.