At the start of a new year I usually like to try and see as many species of bird in the first week or so if I can. Last year was an exception but having spent so little time birding in December I decided that I would again attempt to try and reach 100 species before having to go back to work after 6 days off. In theory that should give me plenty opportunity to reach that target. The one proverbial fly in the ointment however this year is a quite awful run of forecast bad weather with heavy rain forecast from the 2nd until the 5th at least. However, January 1st was forecast to be dry and with birding buddy Nat also keeping a year-list in 2016 she wanted to get her list up and running too, so with transport for a change on January 1st the scene was set for a record-breaking New Year's Day for me. All we needed was for the birds to show....
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| Waxwing |
With there being a few interesting species seen in Angus in the last days of 2015 I had a rather rough plan that would hopefully allow us to see plenty of decent birds. We decided on a 0900 start. As with previous years my first bird of 2016 was a Herring Gull when I opened my curtains. Leaving the house just before 0900 to met Nat I added numbers 2, 3 and 4. A Carrion Crow up on the chimneys opposite, a House Sparrow chirping loudly from the corner of a building and a Woodpigeon which flew up into a tree. We decided to head for Balmossie first. With high tide having been around 0730 there was a chance that most of the birds would still be relatively close in and that also hopefully we would get there before most of the dog walkers.
A Collared Dove flew up into the lower branches of a small tree by the Dura Street/Dens Road roundabout, but Nat wasn't able to take her eyes off the road to see it. A Starling glided over before we reached Arthurstone Terrace. While sat at traffic lights at the other end I spied a Robin perched atop a fence and pointed it out to Nat. A flock of Feral Pigeons flew up a bit further along the road. A flock of Black Headed Gulls wandered around on a football pitch as we drove past Craigie. We arrived at Balmossie just before 0925 and as soon as we got out of the car we heard a skein of geese heading our way. Two groups of Pink Footed Geese passed over. Crossing the footbridge across the railway line we could see that there were plenty of birds around with Bar Tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher immediately obvious.
We walked along to the Dighty burn mouth first. On the water were a few Goldeneye, Mallard and a few more Wigeon. Herring, Black Headed and Common Gulls stood around on the seaweed covered sands. A Cormorant flew past while not far offshore were a number of Eiders. Picking around on the beach were Redshanks and a few Curlews. Further scanning found Dunlin scurrying around among the other birds. I found a few Turnstones too, well camouflaged against the seaweed. A few Goldfinches flew round before dropping back onto the beach. Nat then found the next two species, both of which we figured we should be able to see here - a Great Black Backed Gull and a few Ringed Plovers.
We were now walking eastwards along the path hoping for a few more wader species. I did get a bit distracted by a slightly larger 'bird' flying around - an ex-US Army Cessna O-1 Bird Dog spotter plane from the Vietnam War era which flew across the Tay to swoop rather low over the sands at Tentsmuir from its base at Dundee airport. Only the second time I've seen the plane, and both times I was birding. getting back to the feathered birds I searched for and found a single Grey Plover. As expected, a bit further along there were a number of Sanderling scuttling along the water's edge. As we walked back towards the footbridge we heard and then saw a Pied Wagtail down on the sand and a little further on a pair of Rock Pipits. Back across the bridge we added Blackbird and I saw two Greenfinches perched distantly in a tree, but they flew off before Nat managed to see them. The only species of the whole day that only one of us managed to see.
A drake Smew had been seen earlier in the week at Monikie and with Pochard and Kingfisher possible - both good birds to get - it made sense to at least try for them. So off we went to Monikie Country Park, a few miles up the road. There was a bit of ice around so we had to watch our step. As we wandered down to the main pond a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over us and into the trees. On the water we could see Mallards, Mute Swans and Tufted Ducks. We bumped into local bird photographer, Adam Caird who hadn't seen the Smew but did tell us there was a Kingfisher around. While checking among the ducks I spotted the Kingfisher perched with its back to us on the island. There were a number of Goldeneye out on the water and I spotted what I thought was a Little Grebe but when I moved for a better view I couldn't re-find it. I did find a Coot and a couple of Moorhens though, both new additions.
On the Denfind pond were some Teal noisily whistling and a few Goldeneye. Despite more scanning around there was no sign of any Smew. The only white birds turned out to be distant Black Headed Gulls. We headed over to check the northern reservoir. A Blue Tit was spotted on the way and a Wren was heard but not seen. Not too far offshore were a trio of drake Pochards - 2 adults and what I assume was a 1st winter bird. Unfortunately they moved off a bit further. Also out on the water were Mallards, Goldeneye and Tufted Ducks. A pair of Little Grebes were also seen. A text message came in from the ADBC grapevine saying that the three Waxwings in Montrose had been seen again. We decided to head up there next. A Great Tit was added on the way back to the car park.
We headed down to the dual carriageway, Nat spotted a male Pheasant in a roadside field on the way. We discussed that we still hadn't seen any raptors when I spotted a Kestrel atop a telegraph pole. Seconds later we both spotted a Buzzard perched on a roadside fence post. We decided not to pop into Elliot, instead concentrating on getting the Waxwings which were less likely to be 'gettable' later. I mentioned the possibility of Jackdaw in Arbroath and we added 4 foraging by the road as wepassed through the northern half of the town. Further on towards Montrose we added another corvid to the list when we found fields full of Rooks.
We found the correct area in Montrose for the Waxwings but there was no sign of the birds. We did find a Dunnock perched high in a tree and Nat got her Collared Doves. As we searched around I spotted 3 birds gliding into the trees with the berries on them. As they looked a bit Starling-like I said to Nat "that's them" and sure enough it was. It was difficult to get a clear view for photos but at least we had seen them. They then flew off across the road into another tree which gave far clearer views, along with the first Chaffinch of 2016. We were joined by other birders/photographers - Alex Shepherd, Paul & Eth Jessett and Adam Caird once again. A large flock of thrushes flew past but the camera refused to focus and they went unidentified. The birds eventually flew back across to feed on the berries but it was still tricky to get clear views. A number of locals did stop to ask the reason for all the big lenses in one place. Eventually the three birds flew off westwards and we decided to head to the other end of the basin to try for Twite.
We passed a white van coming the other way being driven by Kirriemuir-based birder Gus Guthrie no doubt on his way for the Waxwings. We had something to eat at the car park before setting off along the muddy track to the area where the Twite are to be found, if you're lucky, in winter. A Grey Heron flew by, its call drawing my attention to it. A pair of high flying birds turned out to be Golden Plover and the lens once again decided it wasn't playing just at the wrong moment. A Mistle Thrush flew by as we crossed the old railway line. A flock of finches flew up from the area we were headed to but seemed to be mostly Chaffinches from the ones we could see perched in the bushes along the old railway line. We continued in the hope that they would come back. There were some people coming along the track from the other hide and another much smaller flock flew up as they passed before briefly dropping back into the small tree by the track. These were definitely just Chaffinches.
We could see Alex Shepherd walking back from the second hide so we decided to wait to see if he'd seen anything interesting down there rather than just head back to the car. When Alex arrived he told us there had been nothing to see. As we chatted I heard a bird calling that didn't sound like the Chaffinches. We spotted it circling round on its own. Alex managed a photo though I had trouble getting focus on the bird. As it flew off again its call changed to a more recognisable Twite call. Alex checked his pic and confirmed that it was as suspected a Twite. Mission accomplished again. A trio of overflying swans were Mutes rather than the hoped for Whoopers. A Wren was added on the way back to the car though it did play a bit of hide and seek with us first, singing loudly from cover then moving.
We decided to try the Lurgies for a quick scan of the basin. With the area having been quite badly flooded just before New Year we weren't certain we could get all the way there but we only encountered one large puddle that stretched right across the road, though we could see it wasn't deep enough to overlap the low grass verge. It was very muddy at the Lurgies and there were very few birds visible. The wind had strengthened and made checking distant birds a bit tricky. A pair of Teal were on the river. A few Redshanks picked around. Distant swans out on the mud were more Mute Swans. We did succeed in adding a trio of new species though with a flock of Lapwings stood around on the mud, some distant Shelducks near the Mute Swans and a Goosander downstream. A second bird may have been a Red Breasted Merganser but it flew off before I could confirm it. A small group of Goldeneye flew down the river and I grabbed a few photos.
With the light beginning to fade a bit we chose to try for Corn Buntings at Boghead Farm near Auchmithie. There was a flock of birds flying around but it was tricky to see much more than silhouettes, however we did eventually find that they were mostly Tree Sparrows, Linnets and Yellowhammers though there were also a few Goldfinches, Chaffinches and House Sparrows. No Corn Buntings or even Reed Buntings were apparent though. A Kestrel was spotted perched on a tree behind the house. Alex Shepherd joined us once more before we all headed back towards Arbroath.
We headed first for the cliffs but with a few anglers out on the rocks and a fair sized swell there weren't too many birds to be seen. We did add Shag to the list with a few flying by along with a few more gulls, mostly Herring Gulls. We headed next to Elliot but there was no sign of any owls or much else except gulls hanging in the wind above the golf course and a distant Kestrel perched on a telegraph pole. It was too cold and the wind was constant and very strong so we decided that our total of 62 species was good enough for the day and headed back to Dundee.
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Curlew |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Pochard |
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| Pochard |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Wren |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Kestrel |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Tree Sparrow & Chaffinch |
All in all a good start to 2016 with some very good birds in the mix - Waxwings, Twite, Pochard and Kingfisher especially. However, being January 1st everything is new.
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shag, Shelduck, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Twite, Waxwing, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
