I had no real plans for Sunday's birding other than a rather vague "I really should head out somewhere" feeling, and indeed I started typing up the previous blog-post when I got up in the morning, intending on getting that finished. I was around two-thirds of the way through it when Nat messaged me to see if I fancies heading somewhere. I suggested the Angus glens to try for Whinchat once again.
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| Skylark |
Nat arrived to pick me up at around 1015 and off we headed inland. The later start meant there were fewer birds around near my home with only Jackdaw and Herring Gull seen as I got into the car. Starling, Lesser Black Backed Gull, House Martin, Blackbird and Woodpigeon were all added as we headed out of the city and into the countryside. Carrion Crow, Buzzard, Swift, Swallow, Collared Dove and House Sparrow soon followed and then Rook.
Things were rather quiet when we reached our first port of call, though a Whitethroat on overhead wires was a new bird for this year at this particular location. Siskin and Chaffinch were next, seen in a stand of conifers. There were a few Meadow Pipits around, mostly on fence-posts and wires. A Kestrel hovered above a heather-clad hillside. A bird flew out from some trees and headed low over the heather. This turned out to be a Cuckoo. Not totally unexpected, but again, a new bird for this site, this year. There were still a few breeding Curlews and Lapwings around though it did appear that the numbers were down from our previous visit.
A few Lesser Redpolls flew around as we turned around to head back down the road. A bird on a fence-post by the side of the road wasn't the expected Meadow Pipit, but a rather nice and showy Skylark with a caterpillar in its beak, which it swallowed before flying off. An Oystercatcher flew across the road just before we found a pair of Stonechats on the fence by the road. A Common Gull circled above a sheep field further on, and our first Pheasants were in the field across the road from the Sheep.
Song Thrush and Goldfinch were our next additions as we headed for Backwater Reservoir. This can be a good place to see Whinchat but they are far from guaranteed. There were a few gulls and a Cormorant seen from the dam, as well as a Pied Wagtail. A Blue Tit showed further on, as we drove along the road. Nat spotted a bird perched on the wires ahead of us. The view through the windscreen was slightly distorted but it didn't appear to be a Meadow Pipit. I got out of the car for an unhindered view of what I suspected might be a Whinchat. Indeed it was, a nice male
Whinchat. Unfortunately it dropped into the heather below before I could take a photo.
There were a few Greylag Geese on the water and a small group of Mistle Thrushes foraging on the ground among the Sheep as we neared the car park. A Reed Bunting was heard and then seen, calling from a small bush by the water. We decided to have a stop for something to eat at the car park, and in addition to a Pied Wagtail, we had a Spotted Flycatcher show well on the wires nearby. Nat spotted a Sand Martin over the reservoir. We headed off again with only a vague idea of where to go next. With it being a Sunday and the weather bright and sunny, it was likely that most 'good' sites would be busy. With this in mind we chose not to go to Kinnordy, choosing instead to explore some of the narrow single-track roads in this area.
Unfortunately this didn't add a whole lot to our list with only Robin and Linnets seen, in addition to the more expected Woodpigeons, Pheasants, Buzzards and corvids. We did have close views of a Brown hare cleaning itself in a field but had to move on as a car needed past us on the single track road. We eventually decided to head for Murton in the hope that there might be some late passage waders to be found. When we arrived it was very busy with only a single parking space available into which we squeezed. We decided on an anti-clockwise circuit of the reserve instead of our usual clockwise route. Coots, Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans, Greylags and Mallards were all out on the water and Tree Sparrow was seen, unsurprisingly in the trees.
A wader across the far side turned out to be a Greenshank - not particularly uncommon, but slightly unusual for this particular site. Among the Greylags, I picked out a single Pink Footed Goose, as they lazed around in the small bay in front of the hide which sits overlooking the eastern end of the large pool. Buzzing in the hide turned out to be from a fully formed though thankfully still rather small wasp's byke. Outside in the trees we added Yellowhammer and Greenfinch in the top branches of the same tree. A drake Teal was by the edge of the water and a pair of Gadwall swam across among the geese. There were a handful of Black Headed Gulls around also. An autogiro from the small airstrip next door flew around and photos showed a small group of what appear to be Red Deer hinds on the hillside.
In among the trees we found a singing Willow Warbler and our first damselflies of the year - a few Azure Damselflies - my first ever in Angus (my only others being at Earlshall Muir in Fife). A Grey Heron overflew as we neared the viewing points for the second pool. As well as Oystercatcher and Lapwing, there was a Little Ringed Plover and a Redshank.The Greenshank though remained rather distant. With time approaching 1600 we called it a day and headed for home. A successful day, once again, with our target species on the list without too much difficulty.
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| Curlew |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Brown Hare |
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| Red Deer and Autogiro |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Wasps' byke |
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| Azure Damselfly |
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| Common Wasp |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Greenshank and Greylag Goose |
57 species seen, which given the locations visited and the time of year/day isn't too bad. Species seen (year-tick in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Curlew, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Ringed Plover, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Rook, Sand Martin, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck,
Whinchat, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
