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| Teal |
I spotted a camera sat on the window sill and asked the other birder if it was his. It wasn't. We left it where it was in case anyone came back looking for it, though if no-one did before we left we would drop it into the local police station. Out on the loch we could see a reasonable mix of species - Mallard, Mute Swans, Oystercatchers, Teal, Wigeon and Moorhen. Also on the bogbean islands were a decent number of Snipe. Nowhere near as many as in the Autumn but still at least 20+. There were a few Lapwings which were joined by a larger group which flew in a short while later.
Towards the far end of the loch we could see Goldeneye, Goosander, Greylag and Tufted Duck as well. The Rooks along at the rookery were making a lot of noise as they tend to at this time of year. Local birder Gus Guthrie joined us in the hide and I asked him if he had any idea whose camera it could be. He couldn't, but being local, he suggested writing a note in the book with his phone number and he would hold on to it to see if anyone got in touch, otherwise he would hand it into the police. (As things turned out, the camera belonged to another ADBC member and very well known local birder Bob McCurley who thought he'd lost it at Loch of Lintrathen and was delighted to get it back. So glad it was re-united with the owner and it must've been such a relief for Bob to get it back).
There wasn't too much happening out front so we all chatted away. It turned out that the birder who was there when we arrived was someone we knew of via a few Facebook groups - Tony Hilton. Another face put to a name, and another birder from Aberdeenshire to the growing list I've met from that part of the world. Tony and Gus both had to get back to work after their birding lunch so myself and Nat discussed where we could go after lunch. With the rain having stopped and the grey clouds being replaced by sunshine and blue sky I suggested heading to one of the Angus glens to try and get at least Red Grouse. Initially Nat wasn't keen as it looked like the sky was still a bit black along the hills. The sky was clearing more and more so after a few minutes we decided that it should be ok, and if not, we could always turn around and head somewhere else instead.
Nat headed out to the car to grab some lunch while I spent another 10 minutes in the hide. Something spooked the Teal and I watched them wheel around off to the left before I noticed a large bird just about to disappear out of sight into the reeds. I suspect it may have been the Bittern but it was a fraction of a second view with only the size registered. A Reed Bunting flew by and I wandered out to join Nat at the car. Blue Tit, Goldfinch and Chaffinch were all in the trees by the car park. Lunch finished we set off for our glen of choice. Starlings were added a short stance along the road from Kinnordy.
Things were rather quiet as we drove along the rather pot-holed road into the glen a while later. Obviously the weather conditions of late have not been kind to the road surface. A pair of Ravens lifted from a field ahead of us, gaining a bit of height. A new one for Nat for the year though I'd seen the species 2 days earlier at Tentsmuir. Always good to see them though. A few Buzzards circled up on a thermal into the blue sky. Another few appeared and circled up to join them. Nothing else was added, with no sign of any Red Grouse or even Black Grouse seen before we reached the end of the road and turned around to head back down the glen again. There were a few more Buzzards above the ridge-lines but that was as good as it got.
Driving back along the road we stopped a few times to scan for birds. Still no grouse were seen but there were a few groups of Buzzards circling higher. Above a large-ish wooded area I spotted a bird in flight, relatively high and speeding along into the strong wind. The topside of the bird was dark brown-ish with a pale underside. It clearly wasn't a Buzzard and it wasn't a pigeon either. It was a powerful flier and the only thing that it could be appeared to be Goshawk. Having seen the species in this particular glen in the past I was confident that this bird was also a Goshawk. I couldn't take the binoculars off the bird in case I lost sight of it and dared not attempt to get a photo while Nat didn't have the bird in sight. As I was attempting to give Nat directions to find the bird it tucked its wings back and went into a stoop before disappearing into the treetops. Another year-tick and a lot earlier in the year than last year's sighting of the species.
Ahead of us by the side of the road, Nat spotted a single Red Legged Partridge which slowly strolled away to join a second bird in the edge of a field as we passed by in the car. We could also see a number of Woodpigeons perched in the treetops of a large conifer plantation. We discussed our next destination though due to our later start time was increasingly against us. We settled on Forfar Loch as it gave us a chance of seeing Lesser Redpoll, a species neither of us had seen so far this year.
There were plenty of birds out on the water at the Leisure Centre end with Black Headed, Common and Herring Gulls along with Mallards, Mute Swans, Greylags, Coots, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Moorhen and a Little Grebe or two. As we watched a female Sparrowhawk swept across the loch and disappeared through the trees on the south side. We decided to walk along to the sailing club spit with the aim of adding a few of the smaller bird species we hadn't yet seen. House Sparrow, Coal Tit and Long Tailed Tit were our first few additions as we walked to the wooden viewing platform. Blackbird and Robin were next wth Great Tit soon after.
Greenfinch and Magpie were seen on the walk to the sailing club spit and a Cormorant flew over. We arrived at the spit to find that model boats were being sailed here so we headed back along the track. A Song Thrush flew across in front of us and as I was trying to get a decent view a Dunnock showed a bit closer to us. Back at the viewing platform, Nat spotted a nice male Bullfinch which flew over and landed in the trees near where I was standing. A nice way to round off the day's list. We headed back to the car and homeward.
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Lapwing |
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| Lapwing |
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| Lapwing & Snipe |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Tufted Duck & Coot |
47 species seen in a rather truncated day's birding with 3 new for the year-list (in bold) - Barn Owl, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bulfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Goshawk, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Raven, Red Legged Partridge, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.