With no real plan other than to get out and see some birds, my latest mid-week outing with Nat was pretty much just improvised as we went along. No real target species but if we happened to see anything "new" then great, if not we would probably still have a good day out regardless. And so it proved.
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| Black Grouse |
Nat picked me up just after 0800 and off we went, heading inland for one of the glens. It was fairly typical fayre initially with Woodpigeon, Herring Gull and House Sparrow before we set off then a run of fairly 'ordinary' birds before we reached the glen we were headed for. Carrion Crow and Lesser Black Backed Gull before we left Dundee then Rooks, Jackdaws and Pheasants all in fields. "Civilisation" added Blackbird, Starling and Blue Tit to the list and then we were back into the countryside again and the birds started to get a bit more interesting, though as it was a bit windy and not overly warm, birds were not as numerous as our last visit here.
There were plenty of Meadow Pipits on fence posts and by the road. A Buzzard circled up above a field, and a Kestrel was just a few hundred metres further on, hovering and hunting. Our first real surprise was a bird perched on an overhead wire. Not the usual Meadow Pipit or Wheatear, or even a Cuckoo or a raptor. Looking decidedly odd balanced on the wires was a rather plump 'Grey Hen' - a female Black Grouse. First time I'd seen one do this but a bit of online discussion confirmed that it isn't too unusual. A few Curlews flew up from among the heather. A large skein of Pink Footed Geese headed north - a wee bit of a surprise this late. A few Lapwings could be seen stood around on grassy areas near the road but surprisingly there were no Wheatear to be seen. A few Chaffinches were seen in trees and on our way back down the glen we saw a few Common Gulls.
We headed in a vaguely eastwards direction picking up Pied Wagtail and House Martins before we reached the car park for the Reekie Linn waterfall. We were looking for Dippers but found none. Instead we found a trio of Common Sandpipers on the river, one giving quite close views stood on a large sandstone rock in the river. A Great Tit flitted around in the bushes. Next we headed for Backwater Dam although we weren't expecting too much. Cormorant and Common Gulls were on the structure in the water near the dam, while an Oystercatcher stood by the side of the road. Mistle Thrush and Skylarks were in the roadside fields while Tufted Ducks flew down the reservoir as we pulled into the car park. A few Sand Martins could be seen hawking low over the water but there was little else. There were a few Common Sandpipers and Pied Wagtail at the dam.
We headed for Loch of Kinnordy next. Feral Pigeons and a Robin were spotted from the car near Lintrathen. A brief stop much further on gave us a Goldcrest in the roadside trees. Our first Swallow of the day zipped low over the road near some farm buildings. Mallards and Mute Swans were in a pool in a field. As we neared Kinnordy a Wheatear flew alongside the car for a few seconds on the other side of the barbed wire fence before landing in the field it was flying over. Minutes later we arrived at Loch of Kinnordy.
Siskins were in the trees at the car park. From the Gullery hide we could see an Osprey in the trees across the Loch, a few Greylags scattered around and a Redshank on the bogbean in front of the hide. Mallards, Tufted Ducks and Mute Swans could be seen dotted around while there were plenty of Sand Martins swooping low over the water quite close to the hide. More scanning found Shoveler and Teal out on the water. With no real Black Headed Gull colony on the Loch this year the species is a bit trickier to see here but a pair glided by before a few more passed over the rear of the Loch.
There were plenty of Pied Wagtails and carefully checking through them I eventually confirmed at least 1 White Wagtail among them, though there were a few other strong contenders among them too. A Moorhen arrived on the bogbean in front of us but didn't venture too close. Both Marsh Harriers took to the skies above the reeds for a short flight though I did manage to screw up the better photo opportunities on offer - (another bird - a 1st year male, was seen later in the day at another site). A Reed Bunting sang from the reeds as did a Sedge Warbler but only the former was seen. A Dunnock was on the path as we headed back out to the car.
The Local Nature Reserve at Murton on the other side of Forfar was our next stop. Rooks greeted us at the entrance and from the car park hide we watched a few Coots and Tufted Ducks out on the water. A walk down to the next hide gave us a Willow Warbler singing in the trees. Magpie was heard but not seen. Shelduck was seen from the hide while along at the screens we had reasonable views of a Little Ringed Plover before it flew off. A young Great Black Backed Gull was on the water with the Herring Gulls. Walking back to the car park we added Long Tailed Tit and Sedge Warbler as well as flyover Lesser Redpoll.
Next we headed to Balgavies for what was meant to be just a short visit, but ended up being more productive, and interesting/productive than we thought it would be. At the car park we spent a few minutes trying to see both Chiffchaff and Blackcap which were singing from the bushes. As we settled down in the hide a couple who were in when we arrived asked if we knew much about the local Ospreys. I said that it depended on what they wanted to know. It turned out that there was an Osprey perched up beside the nest with a blue leg ring and a satellite aerial on its back. I knew enough to know it wasn't one of the local pair so I took a few photos that would hopefully mean I could read the code on the ring and maybe find out some more info about the bird.
(Checking later at home I was able to read the code - it was either YB or YD. I googled both. YB came up blank, but YD was actually a male bird born and ringed/tagged at Balgavies in 2012 and whose transmitter had stopped working a few years ago. He had been seen last year on the Eden in Fife and in Senegal in January. So he had actually returned to where he had been born, which perhaps explains the lack of aggression shown by his mother on the nest as he perched close by. I posted the info online and the local paper's Angus editor asked to use the photo, but as the story didn't appear the following day - because of election coverage, I've no idea if it has been published at all).
A short while later another osprey appeared high above and dropped lower carrying a fish. YD flew off from his perch and the other bird (Green BF) landed in one of the trees off to the left of the island where it perched for a few minutes possibly eating some of the fish before flying to the nest. What we didn't realise at the time was that there was then a change-over with the other bird which had been sitting, taking the fish across to another tree on the shore and tucking into the fish. A Carrion Crow eventually spotted the bird and moved in closer. The Osprey eyed it warily. At one point the Crow flew at the Osprey touching down for a split second on its back, no doubt trying to get the Osprey to let go off the fish and drop it where the Crow could retrieve it from. This didn't happen though and after a few more minutes the crow gave up and flew off.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker popped into the feeders as did a Coal Tit. Out on the Loch, Nat spotted a Little Grebe pair and also Goldeneye. A Goldfinch popped in to the feeders and below them a nice male Lesser Redpoll fed on seeds alongside a Dunnock for a wee while. It was nice to get a fairly settled Redpoll in decent light. We next headed to Montrose Basin for a look at The Lurgies first. As we drove down the Maryton hill a Peregrine carrying prey went in the opposite direction. Out in the Basin there were lots of Eiders and a few Grey Herons were along the edges. There were a few Linnets among the Gorse and at the bend in the river we added Greenshank, Gadwall and Wigeon. We just had time to squeeze in a quick visit to Montrose beach but there were no Terns of any sort to be seen and our only addition was a few Guillemots in the bay.
We then headed for home with a decent list of 72 species with some nice photos though no new additions to my year-list but it had still been a very good day with some interesting birds seen along the way.
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Redshank |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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Marsh Harrier
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Osprey |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Osprey |
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Long Tailed Tit
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| Osprey & Carrion Crow |
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| Osprey & Carrion Crow |
Species seen - Black Grouse, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, (White Wagtail), Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wheatear, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
