At rather short notice I was given the opportunity to get out and about for a day's birding with Stuart Green of Angus Birdtours ( http://www.angusbirdtours.com/ and/or https://www.facebook.com/angus.birdtours/ ). Stuart, known in bird reports and elsewhere as SRG, is one of the foremost birders in Angus, with a string of great finds to his name including Bonapartes Gull, Sabines Gull, Balearic Shearwater, White Rumped Sandpiper, Bridled Tern, Bee-Eater, Red Rumped Swallow, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler and Collared Flycatcher - a number of which were county firsts. My birding 'skills', such as they are, are mostly self-taught, having never really had a more experienced 'mentor' figure to go out birding with too often, so the chance to ask Stuart a few questions about finding rarities and gull identification among other things was too good to pass up.
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| Yellowhammer |
We arranged to meet up at Forfar Loch around 0915 and I left the house at 0815 to walk the short distance to catch the bus to Forfar. It was a fairly typical set of species that started the list - House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Starling, Carrion Crow, Swift, followed by Lesser Black backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and Goldfinch while waiting for a bus that was eventually almost 25 minutes late. A Pheasant was added as the bus reached Forfar. As things worked out I was around 10 minutes late and met Stuart scoping Forfar Loch.
There weren't too many particularly interesting birds around, mostly wildfowl. Moorhen, Mute Swan, Coot, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Oystercatcher, Gadwall, Black Headed Gull and Mallard were all out on the water. A Magpie flew in and Sand Martins hawked above the water. Great Crested Grebes at a nest were seen before we set off for Montrose Basin to see if the Glossy Ibis pair seen the previous evening had stuck around.
A quick stop on the way gave us Jackdaw, Rook, Swallow and a Common Sandpiper that I overlooked but that didn't elude Stuart's sharp eyes. We headed next for the Lurgies hoping for a possible sighting across the river. Unfortunately the birds were proving elusive and we were to draw a blank. Eider, Goldeneye, Marsh Harrier, Shelduck, Shoveler, Linnet, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Red Breasted Merganser and Pied Wagtail were scant consolation, though Marsh Harrier is always a welcome sight. A stop at a different part of the Basin gave us Greenshank, Common Gull, Redshank and Curlew but still no Ibis. Another stop at a more wooded area overlooking part of the Basin gave us Wren, Sparrowhawk, Cormorant, Common Tern and Whitethroat. A calling Chiffchaff and singing Willow Warbler were both heard but too far away to see among the trees.
Next we headed to the coast in the hope of finding some rarities. A Willow Warbler sang nearby when we parked the car. Fulmars, Gannet, Razorbill and Red Throated Diver were seen offshore while on the landward side Yellowhammers, Meadow Pipits, a pair of Blackcaps and Chiffchaff were all seen. Stuart also spotted some Scoters offshore though as I was only using binoculars I managed to miss these too. On our way to our next stop on the coast we added Collared Dove. A Raven spotted by Stuart was a nice find when we stopped and below on the water we were able to see Guillemots, Razorbills and a single Puffin. There were more Yellowhammers but little else around though we did have nice close views of Skylarks lifting from the fields singing loudly.
Another coastal spot gave us a few more species with Buzzard, Great Tit, Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Robin, Dunnock and Goldcrest but again it seemed that if there were any rarities on this stretch of coast they were definitely in hiding. I spotted a Tick wandering up the back of Stuart's top and knocked it off - a timely reminder of the need to be aware of the chance of picking up one or two of these potentially nasty creatures while out birding. A bit further on along the coast we stopped again and during the course of our wander we added Sedge Warbler, Treecreeper, Song Thrush and a low flying Peregrine among other things. Once again rarities were noticeable by their absence. Lothian and Aberdeenshire seemed to be picking up a few good birds but Fife and Angus weren't despite the seemingly good easterly winds.
A final stop gave us good views of House Sparrows dust-bathing, while Swallows swept by inches from our heads. A Greenfinch at the top of a tree gave us another species for our rather large list for the day. A quick stop at Cliffburn Gully gave us close views of a posing Woodpigeon but not too much else, though a Willow Warbler in the trees did give a few final photo opportunities. Driving down to the waterfront Stuart spotted a trio of Whimbrel heading along in the direction of the cliffs but unfortunately the lens failed to focus and the shot was missed. It was however a welcome year-tick for me.
An enjoyable day out with plenty of bird-related questions asked and answered, plenty of good general birding discussion and plenty of birds seen. Corn Bunting, Raven, Peregrine, Whimbrel and Marsh Harrier are all good birds to get any day of the week. NOTE : Although this was a day's birding with Stuart, this wasn't actually a day's birding with Angus Birdtours, so shouldn't be taken as in any way indicative of what could be expected on one of Stuart's guided bird tours, or as any sort of review of Angus Birdtours. However, if I was a visitor to the area looking for specific target species in Angus (and nearby), or just a good day out birding I wouldn't hesitate to book Stuart for a guided tour. That was my opinion before going birding with him and it is certainly the case afterwards. The man knows his stuff.
Really good day out even if the rarities were elsewhere in the country, with a grand total of 77 species seen (though Stuart did get a couple that I missed that would take the total a little higher).
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| Shelduck |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting & Chaffinch |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Great Tit |
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| Great Tit |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Peregrine |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Willow Warbler |
Species seen (year-tick in bold) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Raven, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck,
Whimbrel, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
For more information on Stuart's guided birding tours see the website at http://www.angusbirdtours.com/
or Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/angus.birdtours
