With a Great Grey Shrike having been seen locally, a few days previously and an opportunity to get out and about with Nat on Sunday, there was really only one bird to try for. If our search was successful I would finally equal my best ever total for a year-list. In 2010, I managed to see 205 species. With my list having stalled a little recently, due to a bit of a poor turn-out on the Autumn migration, fingers were crossed.
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| Stonechat |
We had decided on a slightly later start than usual. 0900 on a Sunday though tends to be rather quiet on the streets and roads, so there is a good chance of seeing plenty of birds, and so it would prove. To start the list, a Robin sang from the building opposite, while Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon overflew as I walked round to meet Nat. From the car we added Carrion Crow and Jackdaw on our way to Clepington Road. A pair of Fieldfares flew across the road in front of us, the white underwing standing out well against the blue sky. A nice bird to get so early in the day. Rather than take the quicker main roads, we decided the back roads would give us a better chance of seeing more species. Starlings, Blackbird and Woodpigeons were seen before we left Dundee to head northeast.
We hadn't gone too far before we found our first Buzzard of the day. We had a few more Fieldfares fly past a bit further on. A skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew the car, heading in the opposite direction, possibly having been disturbed from one of the many stubble fields around. Rooks were next onto the list. A flock of Redwings gave us good views as they passed across the road in front of the car. A Blue Tit and a Wren were both seen as we drove along a single track road. Ahead of us we could see a rather thick bank of fog. Thankfully it was rather quickly burning off.
As we would pass the eastern end of Balgavies Loch, we decided it would be worth a quick stop and scan from the road. The fog had disappeared and Mallards, Tufted Ducks, a few Goldeneye and Coots, some distant Greylags and Mute Swans as well as a few Cormorants were all spotted in what was quite a productive few minutes. On we went, fingers still crossed that the forest would deliver. Great Grey Shrikes aren't particularly hard birds to see when they are around. They like to perch on top of trees and bushes where they have a good view of the surrounding area. They are also rather pale birds, mostly grey, black and white, so they will stand out at quite a distance. The bird had been seen initially perched on overhead wires. We slowed down to check along the length of the same wires, but there was no sign of the bird. A Chaffinch was perched on wires across the road though.
We decided to walk along the track which the wires crossed, in theory giving us a view in both directions along the wires. Further on there is an area where the bird (assuming it is the same one as has been seen in previous years) has been seen in the past. Along the track things were rather quiet with very little to see. A few Coal Tits and Goldcrests were buzzing around in the conifers by the track but they seemed to be at only one little bit. I heard the calls of Skylark somewhere overhead and managed to pick out the birds against the blue sky as they headed west above us.There was no sign of any birds on the wires, though the vegetation is rather high along the cleared area that holds the poles and wires.
Plan B then looked like being necessary, head on further and hope that the bird was visible in the more open area to the north. Unfortunately, the trees and bushes here are much higher than they were when the bird was seen around here in previous years and there is a rather limited field of view of prospective perches. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. A pair of Yellowhammers flew around. Nat spotted a pair of Buzzards over the trees to the west as they circled upwards, eventually one of them passing over high above us. Further up the track, a flock of Lesser Redpolls flew out from the trees and away from us. A late Meadow Pipit flew over, calling as it went.
With no sign of the Shrike, we reluctantly headed back down the track, with the intention of popping into the ADBC hide for a seat and a look at what was visiting the feeders. As it turned out, there were plenty of birds, but little variety. There were loads of Coal Tits, almost everywhere you looked there was one coming or going. There were one or two other birds around, a Blue Tit, a Great Tit, a few Great Spotted Woodpecker, and a Dunnock. A Wren gave us good views as it searched around below the feeders. A Green Woodpecker yaffled loudly from its usual haunts but as usual went unseen. There was no sign of any Jays either, but one or two Blackbirds could be seen high in the trees.
A quick double check up the track when we came out of the hide drew a blank so we headed back to the car. A rather nice male Bullfinch landed in the top of a conifer by the track giving us good views before flying off again. We could hear Crossbills high in the trees but the sound faded as the birds apparently flew off. A flock of Long Tailed Tits were in the trees by the road, and a Goldfinch was seen before we set off with the intention of a visit to the glens. I happened to mention that there is a former military installation within the forest, which was apparently an off-shoot of the famous Bletchley park listening post/code-breaking site. We decided to take a quick walk down the track to see the site, something I had done a few years ago.
It was a bit muddier underfoot along this track but again there didn't appear to be too many birds, until we chanced upon a flock of Long Tailed and Coal Tits which criss-crossed the track flying from tree to tree. We soon reached the corner of a large open field beyond which we could see the large radio mast and white coloured buildings that were the home of the listening post. A Jay flew across the corner of the field and into the trees. I spotted a distant Buzzard on a telegraph pole and a minute or so later spotted another pair circling distantly above the trees. While directing Nat onto the birds she spotted a flock of birds a bit higher. These turned out to be a flock of Golden Plover and they circled around for a few minutes.
We headed back to the car to resume our journey to one of the Angus glens where we hoped we would maybe find a few raptors given the decent soaring conditions. We stopped for lunch and discussed the species we hadn't seen so far, including Pheasant. A few miles further on we saw our first Pheasant of the day. Once we arrived in the glen we could see a few Buzzards gliding around along the ridgeline opposite. A Kestrel joined them briefly. A Red Kite glided into view, always a great bird to see, even if it was rather distant.
We stopped again a bit further on to once again scan the skyline and the hillside opposite. There was a Buzzard perched a lot closer but as they always do, it flew off almost as soon as we pointed cameras in its direction.There were more Buzzards opposite including a rather pale looking bird on a rock. Nearby were a mixed flock of Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares feeding on the ground. A few Red Grouse took flight from slightly further on. Nat was hoping for a roadside bird to pose nicely for photos. Eventually we did find one such bird and having found one, we then had a few others show reasonably well.
With time getting on a bit we turned around at the end of the glen to head back out again, rather than go for a walk. Kestrel and Buzzard were seen around here too, but nothing more exciting. On the way back we found a pair of Stonechats and passed a Red Squirrel caching nuts opposite an estate lodge. A few more Buzzards and Red Grouse were all we saw on the way back out. I calculated that we possibly had enough time left to make it to the western end of Montrose Basin to hopefully watch the geese fly in at dusk, so we set off in that direction. With the sky rather clear, there was a good chance that the light would be on our side.
We added Magpie, Common Gull and Collared Dove en route - the first of that trio showing just how widely the species has now (re-?)colonised Angus. We arrived at The Lurgies car park to find the tide was already most of the way in, but the water in the Basin was flat calm. A Kingfisher flashed past low over the water. There were a number of species visible on the water - Mallards, Wigeon, Mute Swans, a few Whooper Swans, lots of Shelduck but no sign of any geese. There were also a few gulls around including a Great Black Backed Gull - our first of the day. I spotted a white shape out on what was left of the exposed mud and as Nat was getting onto the bird it took flight and flew past, no doubt off to roost somewhere nearby. A Little Egret.
A pair of Teal were spotted close in to shore across the opposite bank and a Curlew called loudly as it flew by. We found a small group of Lapwings sleeping on the rapidly disappearing pebbled near the bend in the river while a Little Grebe dived nearby. There were a trio of Grey Herons roosting on the bank to the south of where we were. A single Pink Footed Goose flew in, quite far out across the basin. Above the fields to the south of the town we could see skeins of geese moving around but they showed no sign of any movement towards the basin. I heard Snipe calling from somewhere and eventually found a pair of them high above us, they flew passed another group of 5 birds.
A murmuration of Starlings appeared off to our left as we walked back along the track with the sun having disappeared behind the horizon to the west, sweeping round in an ever-changing mass of birds above the reedbed and around the trees beyond. Great to see, but no sign of the geese. We bumped into another birder and his brother-in-law who were also hoping to see the geese arriving back at the basin. We were all out of luck but the murmuration was nice compensation. We decided to take the quieter back roads back to Dundee rather than the main roads hoping that we might get an owl or two along the way. Not unexpectedly we drew a blank, but we did have a Woodcock fly across the road near the Happas junction on the A90, which was another nice bonus.
So, another good day out even if we didn't find the Great Grey Shrike with some rather nice birds around and a final total of 61 species. I've omitted to mention one of the species though. A case of leaving the best to last. Even without the Shrike I did manage to add another species to the year-list, equalling my previous best into the bargain. As anyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows I purposely don't publicise sites where I've seen particular species, mostly raptors but also one or two other species to avoid the possibility of increased disturbance. The bird in question this time was a rather nice bird to mark a milestone. Nat had spotted it just as I was about to take a look at what was probably a Buzzard, initially thinking it was just a pigeon but realising immediately that it was something else entirely and calling to me. Thankfully, I recognised the urgent tone in her voice and was even more thankful when I got onto the bird.
A
Goshawk, and a bit closer than my previous brief sightings. The
bird was clearly larger and more powerful than a Sparrowhawk, with a
completely different 'jizz'. After around 10 seconds we lost sight of
the bird as it flew over some nearby trees. A lifer for Nat and a very
welcome year-tick for me. Unfortunately, the photos I did get weren't
great, though marginally better than my previous best shots of the
species and good enough to see at least some detail of what I suspect
was probably a large adult female.
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| Redwing |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Robin |
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| Buzzard |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Kestrel |
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Red Kite
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| Buzzard |
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| Stonechat |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Starling |
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| Little Egret |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Lapwing |
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Little Grebe
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| Goshawk |
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Goshawk
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Species seen (year-tick in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch,
Goshawk, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Red Grouse, Red Kite, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
