Wednesdays seem to come around so quickly these days, which is no bad thing. June and July are a bit of a lull time for birding. The incoming migrants have mostly arrived, the waders on passage have more or less moved through, birdsong is starting to dwindle in quantity as breeding and then moult takes place with birds keeping a relatively low profile with the foliage on the trees and bushes adding to the difficulty in observing birds. This can mean it becomes a bit tricky to decide where to go birding, especially when still trying to add to a year-list. A species I've never seen anywhere is Reed Warbler, so with this in mind we decided to see if we could strike lucky by finding one among the extensive Tay reedbeds. This would potentially be a good bit harder than looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack (though needles don't tend to advertise their position by singing). The plan would be to pick a spot and stand watching and listening in the hope one would sing atop a reed stem. There was also the potential for a consolation Bearded Tit or two.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
With the wind light to start with but increasing as the day went on, we decided to head straight for Errol and the reedbeds after Nat picked me up at 0800. Swifts, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow got the list off to a decent start before we reached Kingoodie. A brief check of the bay gave us Mallards, Shelducks and Mute Swans. Further on along the back roads we added House Martin, Collared Dove and House Sparrow to the list.
Arriving at Errol around 0840, we wandered down Gas Brae soon picking up the first Yellowhammer of the day, followed soon after by a Great Tit at the small community garden. A pair of Grey Wagtails flew by, which was a slight surprise. Jackdaws picked around in the fields and Skylarks ascended above them. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew up into one of the large oak trees by the track. A few Rooks flew around back towards the village and a Blue Tit was seen in one of the smaller bushes.
We decided to head through the trees towards Port Allen and the large pools. There are a couple of points where it is possible to see reasonably large areas of reeds from above or at least eye level. We were distracted by the loud, insistent calling of what sounded a bit like a Great Spotted Woodpecker but despite searching where we though the noise was coming from we drew a blank and moved on again. A Chaffinch was the only new species added on our walk through the trees though we heard Song Thrush, Chiffchaff and Blackcap but saw none of the three.
We found a spot near the pools where we could see across some of the reeds. A potential Reed Warbler called from close by, but it vanished into the reeds before I managed a decent view. There were plenty of Reed Buntings and Sedge Warblers dotted around but despite plenty of calls that might have been Reed Warbler we failed to get any convincing views despite spending around 2 hours trying from the one spot. On the pools were a pair of Great Crested Grebes, a few Tufted Ducks, a Mallard family, a Coot, and a small group of Goldeneye. Also among the reeds were a few Wrens and a Dunnock.
A Swallow took a drink as it flew a few centimetres above the water. There were a few prospective glimpses of what might have been Bearded Tits flying above the reeds but we eventually both managed good views of an adult male
Bearded Tit with a bill full of food as it flew past. Unfortunately, neither of us managed any photos. An unindentified chat - either a Whinchat or a young Stonechat was photographed but the backlighting made identifying which it actaully was, rather difficult, so it remains one that got away.
Walking back through the trees after giving up on Reed Warblers, we heard a possible Jay but failed to see it. There were also a few calls which may have been young Tawny Owls but there was too much foliage on the trees to try and see them among the branches, assuming that is what they were. We heard another lot of possible woodpecker calls and with more time available to search properly we eventually succeeded in finding the source. A hole in a tree trunk around 10 feet up, mostly hidden from the track, and with a rather quaint bracket fungus 'canopy' above it seemed to be the source, and when an adult bird flew in with food, our suspicions were confirmed. A Chiiffchaff was seen among the hedges bordering the farmland to the north of the track.
A Song Thrush was seen as I attempted to see the Amsterdam-Dundee Flybe flight as it passed over Errol. The original woodpecker sound was investigated more thoroughly and this time we were rewarded with the sight of a fairly well-advanced juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker popping its head out of another nest hole. With no cover to hide us from view, we quickly moved on so as not to keep any adult bird from returning to the youngster(s) in the nest. Reaching the open area near the house at the bottom of Gas Brae we stopped to chat to two other visiting birders (from Loch Lomond area). A Grey Heron overflew, as did a trio of Greylags, and I had a brief glimpse of a male Marsh Harrier tangling, distantly, with a Carrion Crow. A Linnet flew past before we headed back uphill to the car.
A circling Buzzard towards the village, a fly-by Tree Sparrow around the community garden area and a singing Whitethroat among the brambles at the top of Gas Brae completed our morning list.. So, no success with the target species, but the bonus Beardie was 'in the bag'. We discussed our options for the afternoon, eventually settling for a few spots on the Angus coast. After lunch we headed for Balmossie from where we could see Goosanders on the outflow pipe further east towards Monifieth. A pair of Goldfinches landed on the seaweed on the shore. There were plenty of Mute Swans, and a family of Mallards were very easy to overlook among the small seaweed covered pebbles at the mouth of the Dighty burn.
Next we headed to Westhaven where a 10 minute stop added a few more species to our list. A Pied Wagtail on the beach, a large number of Eiders asleep on the rocks, Cormorants on the water not far offshore, a Black Headed Gull close in to shore and a Great Black Backed Gull much further out on the rocks. Some scanning well out yielded a small group of Gannets and while Nat helped guide me onto them, a Fulmar flew by in the opposite direction. Also out on the rocks I found a single Curlew. Surprisingly there were no obvious other waders around and also no Sandwich Terns. We decided not to walk along the beach to the burn as someone was already doing so, choosing to head for Craigmill Den instead.
A Pied Wagtail on the wires above the road greeted us, with another nearby on the derelict cottage. Things were relatively quiet with Blackbird and Song Thrush seen ahead of us on the path. A few birds were seen in the trees on the opposite bank of the burn and we eventually managed to spot a pair of Blackcaps. Blue Tits and Great Tits were also in the trees while a female Chaffinch was on our side of the water. We bumped into Jon Cook and Bob McCurley who told us they'd seen Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher. We succeeded in seeing the former but there was no sign of the latter. A juvenile Robin showed on the path a few feet from us at one point, while a family group of Song Thrushes were in the Hawthorns beside us. Goldfinches and Mallards were also seen. A Willow Warbler on wires across by the farm was our first of the day. Pheasant was heard but not seen, and a Rook fed two youngsters in a tall tree opposite.
Rather than head for home immediately on exiting the Den we decided to check out the pool in the field to the north of where the car was parked. Again a Pheasant was heard calling but wasn't seen. There were no birds to be seen on the pool but above it a pair of Sand Martins and a Swallow were hawking for insects. With the time now around 1600 we headed for home having managed once again to see 57 species including a year-tick (in bold) for both of us.
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Wren |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Blackcap |
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| Robin |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Brown Trout |
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| Pied Wagtail |
Species seen -
Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
