With thousands of Little Auks being reported all the way down the east coast of Scotland and having only previously seen one of the species in the twilight grey gloom of a winter afternoon (albeit at very close range a few feet offshore at Usan) I had to weigh up my options. With howling gales and persistent rain driving the birds close in, I had to decide whether or not to venture out into the bad weather on the off-chance that I might find a Little Auk or ideally more than one, of my own and to also see it well enough for photos. Around 1330 I bit the bullet and ventured out. I had a vague plan to catch a bus to Balmossie and walk upriver to the Stannergate. Not the best day for a walk, granted, but possibly my best bet for some birding and a chance at Little Auk today.
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| Little Auk |
The only birds seen before I reached Arbroath Road to catch a number 73 bus were a few Herring Gulls playing in the strong winds above the buildings. Absolutely no other birds were seen or even heard. Not particularly promising. As the bus reached Broughty Ferry and the rain showed no signs of abating I changed my plan and decided I would instead walk down to Broughty Castle and use the building as a giant windbreak to scan out across the river. With a bit of luck I might even find an Auk in the harbour.
I walked down towards the castle from the bus stop. A pair of Pied Wagtails flew up from the path by the harbour and a single Black Headed Gull was swimming in the harbour. I looked around but there were no other birds to be seen in the relative calm water of the harbour. A small group of Herring Gulls were stood on the outer harbour wall. The castle proved to be an ideal windbreak and as long as I didn't venture too close to the water I was able to stay out of the wind and to a degree also the worst of the rain. I scanned out across the river. There were plenty of drake Red Breasted Mergansers bobbing around among the waves. A Shag was fishing just offshore to my left and a Cormorant was stood atop the small rocky island to my right.
A Common Gull glided by and I spotted a small dark shape in the water, slightly closer in than the Mergansers. It had to be! I quickly located the bird with the binoculars and sure enough it was a
Little Auk. The current seemed to be carrying it downriver so I put out a text on the ADBC grapevine in case anyone in Dundee fancied an 'easy' tick, rather than having to go further afield or one. Mission accomplished, and as easy as that. I still needed photos so I fished the camera out from the bag, complete with waterproof cover already fitted and fired off a few shots. I went back to scanning around for other birds and didn't notice that the Auk, or possibly even another one, had drifted in much closer, and it was only when a few Oystercatchers and Curlews flew by that I spotted the bird. Even better!
More photography ensued, and the bird eventually drifted right in close to the wall, allowing me the opportunity to shoot a short video clip on my phone and upload it to Facebook so others could see just how good the views were. The light wasn't very great for photography and even with the ISO bumped up and a slower shutter speed than ideal the photos were still on the dark side. They were however miles better than my previous Little Auk photo(s). A few more Curlews and Oystercatchers passed, and a few of the Mergansers were coming in a bit closer. Up on the castle a number of Feral Pigeons and Starlings suddenly took flight adding a couple more species to my rather short day list.
I was about to give up and start my walk back along the river and had actually walked away from the shore. I had one last scan and my binoculars landed on a different bird. A Grebe, but it had dived before I had ID'd it. I hurried back to the wall to watch for it. I had another brief glimpse of it but it was a fraction of a second. It may have been a Great Crested or possibly a Slavonian - there was nothing to judge the size against and the view was obscured by the swell. One that got away. A Carrion Crow decided fr some reason to fly out low across the river, and was struggling against the wind.
There had been a few gulls flying by throughout my visit but the next one I spotted wasn't one of the 3 species that I had already seen. It was smaller and daintier and with rounded wingtips and black underwings it had to be a
Little Gull, and it was. It dropped down to lift food from the surface of the water almost like a Storm Petrel a couple of times and the wind brought it closer in. The views were good but the slow shutter speed meant that good photos were a bit limited. Still it was the second little year-tick of the afternoon and a welcome one so early in the year. I spotted another 3 Little Auks further out in the river floating downriver on the outgoing tide. I managed a couple of photos of 2 together. I then realised that either the original bird, or another had drifted back in close again.
I spent the next while getting more close views and a few more photos. The bird attempted to clamber onto the seaweed covered rocks in front of the castle but the slippery surface and the incoming waves made it impossible. It spent a short while preening before I eventually decided that the light was reaching the 'impossible' levels and headed back towards the esplanade. A few Carrion Crows, a flock of Black Headed Gulls and Herring Gulls as well as a number of Mute Swans were in their usual haunt to the west of the harbour by the castle. The only other bird seen was a Cormorant fishing in front of the lifeboat station before I headed back into Broughty Ferry to catch a bus home.
A productive few hours birding in less than ideal conditions even if I did only manage 2 new year-ticks (in bold) among the 15 species seen.
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| Shag |
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| Little Auk |
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| Cormorant |
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| Little Auk |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Auk |
Species seen - Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Herring Gull,
Little Auk,
Little Gull, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Feral Pigeon, Shag, Starling.
