There have been very few midweek outings with Nat that have had to be cancelled owing to the weather, though a couple have been cut short. So, despite torrential rain for much of the day and even some thunder forecast, Nat said we had to get out and do some birding. Although I wasn't expecting that we would see much, there was always the chance that the weather would bring down some passage waders, or something more interesting. The wet weather would mean hides would be the order of the day, so we decided to head for Kinnordy first, then on to Murton, Balgavies, Montrose Basin and Lunan Bay.
 |
| Grey Heron |
Despite only having around 3 hours sleep having been up photographing/filming an overnight electrical storm from my living room window, I was ready for Nat picking me up at 0800. It wasn't raining but the sky was heavy and grey. Blackbird, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull and Woodpigeon were the first selection onto the list as we headed out of Dundee. Swallows over the fields, plus a pair of Mallards which flew across the road in front of us as we headed for Glamis, having taken the back roads were next. Rooks and Pheasant unsurprisingly followed with Collared Dove being the final addition before we reached the almost empty car park at Loch of Kinnordy. The ADBC chairman was leaving but he appeared to be in a rather grumpy mood, and the brief conversation seemed to be very abrupt. Perhaps the thunderstorm during the night had kept him awake. Still we did manage to find out from him that Osprey and Marsh Harriers were around.
The rain wasn't forecast to begin until around 1000, so we hopefully had a spot of dry weather to play with. A few Swifts were overhead the car park when we arrived. Once in the hide we spotted a trio of fledged Sedge Warblers being attended to by adults just below the hide window. A Great Tit was in the trees. Our first Osprey of the day hovered over the Loch but didn't dive, before being joined by a second bird. There were few birds on the water - only a number of Mallards, with an Oystercatcher or two visible on the overgrown bogbean islands. Way ahead of schedule down came the rain. It wasn't taking its time, being torrential. Soon enough we had our first flash of lightning and loud rumble of thunder, a few miles distant.
A Black Headed Gull flew by in the rain, and Nat spotted a Mute Swan and cygnet beyond the islands. I found a Moorhen, before we were joined in the hide by another, rather wet, photographer. The thunder grew louder as it came closer. Interestingly when the thunder was close the Mallard flock would bunch up out in the middle of the water, away from the islands, perhaps to lessen the chances of being struck by lightning. Not being in the habit of birding in thunderstorms this was behaviour I hadn't seen before. The sky darkened menacingly at one point, with the light levels being similar to dusk on a cloudy night at best. The rain got heavier again and we had some forked lightning visible within a few miles. There were a few rumbles directly above us but the storm eventually moved off to the northeast with the rumbles growing fainter, though the rain lessened only slightly.
Nat spotted a distant flock of Lapwings and the Ospreys were seen again but it was mostly Mallards and the Sedge Warblers that kept our attention. Water Rails were heard close to the hide but we never even caught a glimpse of them. Eventually the rain eased enough for us to move on to Murton. Rather than head into the car park hide when we arrived we hurried down to the hide at the other pool. Out front were a few Coots, a number of Lapwings and some gulls as well as a few Mallards and Oystercatchers. There were also a few Greylags and 3 Snipe rather distant. Unfortunately there were no other waders around. A Grey Heron caught a large frog and dipped it in the water a few times before swallowing it whole.
The rain got much heavier and it was then that we realised the hide roof was actually metal. Given that it was still thundering nearby this wasn't particularly reassuring. It was also quite difficult to be heard above the staccato sound of the hammering raindrops pummeling the roof. Nat spotted an Osprey hovering above the other pool, but not surprisingly it failed to dive for anything in the much disturbed water. With the light wind from the east, it was possible to stand at the door of the hide and see what was around outside. Blue Tit, Jackdaw, Reed Bunting, Sand Martin and Yellowhammer were all added despite the torrential downpour. There were also a few more Swallows and Carrion Crows seen.
Once the rain eased again we hurried back to the car to head onwards to Balgavies Loch. There were a typical selection of species coming to the feeders out front despite the rain, with Blue Tits and Great Tits being the most numerous. Trevor Donaldson from the Aberdeen RSPB was in the hide and we chatted away amicably despite the pair of us having had a rather public 'spat' on facebook last year. There were 5 Ospreys in the trees and a Robin appeared at the feeders. Goldfinches and Chaffinches dropped in as did a male and a female Great Spotted Woodpecker at different times, though both lodged their peanuts in the same niche in the post holding up the feeders.
Out on the water, in addition to the Mallards and Greylags were our first Tufted Ducks of the day. A Jay flew by a few times. Dunnock and Willow Warbler visited the feeder area and after a bit of scanning I added Cormorant to the list. There was a bit of activity up by the Osprey nest and I shot a short video clip of at least 3 birds together. With the rain finally stopping and the thunder rumbling way off to the north we decided to chance heading on to The Lurgies where we hoped to catch a few birds on the rising tide. We said cheerio to Trevor in the car park and headed on. We even saw our first blue sky of the day though it was short-lived with grey skies replacing it once again as we neared Montrose Basin.
Out in the basin, the tide was further in than we had hoped it would be but we decided we might as well have a walk anyway having been tucked up in hides all day so far. A bit of scanning found a single Canada Goose in among the Shelducks and Eiders, along with a single Grey Heron and Goosander. A Common Sandpiper flew by as we walked along the raised banking path, having carefully negotiated the gate with its active wasps' byke inside. A Red Breasted Merganser family with 7 ducklings dived for fish, as did a Goldeneye. Nat spotted two Treecreepers a little further on from a tree which held a couple of Coal Tits.
A Kingfisher flew out from the bank but seemed to return quickly though our view was blocked by bushes. Three young Pied Wagtails and around nine Common Sandpipers roosted on the dead tree, with another ten or so across on the banking on the opposite shore. Rather than heading for home as we had thought, Trevor had decided to join us and he scanned the group to check for any Green Sandpipers but there were none. A small group of Teal flew over. A Sparrowhawk was spotted perched on another dead tree across the far shore but it soon flew off. A few Common Terns flew by, and I found a pair of Linnets in a nearby bush.
As we headed back towards the car we spotted Redshanks near the Eiders and Shelduck flocks. A singing Song Thrush proved harder to find than it should have, its back being hard to see against the background of trees and bushes. Trevor had seen a Little Egret in the ditch off to our right on his way along the track, but we failed to find it. Sandwich Terns gave us another species though before we headed round to the visitor centre. A Little Grebe was in one of the reedy pools out front and I finally added Starlings to our list. Unfortunately there wasn't a great deal else though I did think I had a possible Arctic Tern amongst the Common Terns at the raft, but it landed out of sight at Rossie Spit.
After a chat to one of the girls in the centre we decided to head for Lunan Bay in the hope that the scoter flocks might be back again. The short walk to the hide gave us a few more species for the day - House Sparrows, Feral Pigeon, Greenfinch, Whitethroat and Fulmar, as well as Linnet and Dunnock. Nat found a Yellow Shell moth as we neared the hide. There were plenty of gulls around on the beach and we added our first Kittiwakes of the day among them. We did find a few small-ish groups of Velvet Scoters out in the bay, and these were carefully scrutinised just in case the White Winged Scoter from Aberdeenshire had relocated, but if it had, we couldn't tell. There were a couple of Red Throated Divers not far offshore also.
Nat found Gannets further out and small groups of these and gulls and terns could be seen hunting around in various parts of the bay. I spotted a Shag near one of the divers before we noticed that there were waders on the beach. Sanderlings, Dunlin and a Ringed Plover were all found feeding on different parts of the beach. An adult Great Black Backed Gull joined the rest of the gull roost and our first Common Gulls of the day were discovered hiding in plain sight amongst the Kittiwakes etc. Out in the bay I finally found a few auks which proved to be Guillemots. With the time around 1800 we set off down the coast headed for Arbroath. A bird on a wire near the Ethie Mains road proved to be a Corn Bunting, with another and a Tree Sparrow both hopping around on the road in front of the car.
A Skylark lifted from a field near the Auchmithie junction. A Rock Pipit was on the wall in front of us as we turned towards the cliffs at Victoria Park in Arbroath. Nat spotted a House Martin hawking around near the car as I scanned across the rocks on the shore. A single Turnstone could be seen out by the water's edge, while we eventually managed to find a Curlew. A bit nearer however was a nice Whimbrel, though it did take a bit of effort to clinch the ID 100%, though it looked to be far smaller than the Curlew further away. It didn't stay long before flying off along the shore to the east.
A Buzzard, our first of the day was on the grass verge by the dual carriageway near Hatton. A quick stop at Westhaven gave us nothing new and we had similar luck at Carnoustie. With a rather ominous sky building to the west and a running commentary on where lightning was happening from my pal, Garry and the Lightningmaps.org website, we headed for home after a surprisingly fruitful and enjoyable day out. In almost 12 hours we had managed to see an unexpected 82 species. A few minutes in the door and the heavens opened once again with the thunderstorm right overhead, with lightning strikes reported just a short distance up the road from home. Thankfully it was a rather short storm and the sun came out once again as the storm moved inland to the north and east.
 |
| Black Headed Gull |
 |
| Osprey |
 |
| Osprey |
 |
| Osprey |
 |
| Osprey |
 |
Forked Lightning
|
 |
Sedge Warbler
|
 |
Snipe
|
 |
| Common Gull, Kittiwake & Black Headed Gull |
 |
Yellow Shell moth
|
 |
| Whimbrel |
 |
| Whimbrel |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Whimbrel, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
