Through a combination of lack of motivation and a spot of lingering illness I had missed out on birding midweek. Nat was also further south than usual, on a birding trip to boost her British list, which it appears she did in some style with a number of species I've never seen added. On the plus side this means that should we encounter any of them when we are out and about, there will be little doubt as to what we are looking at (though most are quite distinctive anyway). With nothing planned for Saturday, Nat asked if I fancied getting out and about. Of course I did. We settled on a day out around Angus, with early migrant waders, the hoped for targets.
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| Dunlin & Little Ringed Plover |
Nat picked me up at 0800 and off we went. Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Swift got the list started. We headed first for Forfar Loch, hoping to get there before the dog walkers arrived in force. Starlings and more Feral Pigeons were seen as we drove into Forfar and a single Greylag Goose was on the grass as we drove by the Leisure Centre on our way to the 'top' car park. A Pied Wagtail scurried across the road as we turned off the main road. We walked through the trees to the wooden platform to scan across the Loch. There were a few Great Crested Grebes and Coots around, plus Mallards, Little Grebes and a few Gadwall, though these were easy to lose among the eclipse plumage Mallards. A few Sand Martins zipped low across the water hawking for insects.
Herring Gull and Black Headed Gull were both added but the numbers of both were very low, which is unusual. A Willow Warbler was spotted in the bushes to our left and a Grey Heron flew in and landed somewhere off to our left. Goldfinches were in the trees as we headed west along the road and a pair of Lesser Black Backed Gulls glided over. At another opening we could see that there were high numbers of Mute Swans on the Loch, but things looked less promising for there being much hope of waders at the Sailing Club spit with most of the pebbles underwater. Nonetheless we headed along there anyway.
I spooked a Mallard female and a single duckling when I stopped to check the wooden jetty. A Dunnock and a Woodpigeon were in a small bush. A Moorhen swam along close into the far shore. Along with a few gulls down by the 'spit' were a few Oystercatchers and a single Pink Footed Goose. No Common Sandpiper or anything rarer however. We headed back towards the car. A Robin appeared on the path ahead of us and we managed to see an overflying Siskin drop into the trees nearby. A Blackcap sang from the trees by the path and when it moved to another tree I got a brief look. A singing Sedge Warbler proved elusive.
We decided to head for Murton next, though it looked like we would arrive before the reserve was actually 'open'. However, as the gates were open in we went. A Buzzard had been seen on the short drive out from Forfar. The pool in front of the car park hide was almost empty with only a couple of Coots and a Black Headed Gull to be seen. A Sedge Warbler popped into the open briefly and a Cormorant overflew. We could see Lapwings and a few other distant birds at the other pool so headed in that direction. A Great Tit and a Blue Tit shared a small tree by the track and a Song Thrush flew low across in front of us.
A single Ringed Plover wandered along the water's edge and a small family group of Coots swam away as we stopped to scan from one of the viewing points. I spotted a Great Spotted Woodpecker over the trees behind us, but Nat didn't manage to get onto the bird before it landed in one of the trees hidden from our line of sight. A male Yellowhammer was perched on a fencepost and was unphased by us wandering by. A ringed Mute Swan was on the pool round the track near the airstrip gate. A Lesser Redpoll called as it flew over and a quick check on our way back to the car got us a trio of Shoveler youngsters. Before we set off for Balgavies Loch I counted a trio of Buzzards behind the cafe and another over the golf course.
On the way to Balgavies we added a pair of Collared Doves and a House Sparrow then Nat spotted a Swallow that I missed. A few seconds later I saw a pair on my side of the car anyway. At the car park at Balgavies I watched a juvenile Chaffinch being fed by a male before we headed into the hide. Nat found one of the juvenile Ospreys halfway down the nest tree and I found a second bird surprisingly low down near the water in front of the trees on the north shore. On the water among the Greylags and Mallards were a few Tufted Ducks.
A Wren foraged a few feet in front of the hide, and we had good views of a rather tame Jay, which fed at the feeders despite a considerable amount of chatter from three elderly ladies next to us in the hide. A Coal Tit popped in, and a male Reed Bunting sang from the reedbed behind the feeders. A female Great Spotted Woodpecker also visited the feeders and we watched it slot a peanut into a small niche in the left hand post of the feeder frame and peck at it before going back for another peanut and repeating the feat.
With high tide around noon we headed next for The Lurgies. House Martins and a few more Swallows were seen near one of the farms by the road on our way towards Montrose. Arriving at The Lurgies we discovered that the tide was quite well in but we could see that there was still some pebbles above water and birds stood around on them. We carefully negotiated our way past the Wasp's nest in the gate. There were a few Eiders out in the Basin, plus a single Red Breasted Merganser, with more Eiders hauled out on the bank near the Shelduck hide. A number of Shelduck and a single Canada Goose plus a Grey Heron were also seen here. A Goldeneye dived for fish in the river in front of the roosting birds.
There were a large number of Redshanks roosting along the edge of the pebbles along with a few Herring Gulls and a Black Headed Gull or two. A bit of scanning added Common Gull to our list. A few Linnets flew out from the bushes by the track as we tried to get a better view of the waders on the pebbles. A bit of movement caught my eye and we had our first few Common Sandpipers of the day (we eventually counted more than 15 of the birds in the area). Among the Redshanks I found a few Dunlin still in breeding plumage. A few Common Terns joined the gulls, and a trio of Sandwich Terns dropped in soon after. Also on the patch of pebbles closest to us were an adult (female?) Little Ringed Plover and a single youngster. A few young Pied Wagtails flitted around and we eventually had decent views of more Dunlin, including a single youngster before the tide covered those pebbles, sending the Little Ringed Plovers off high to the west and out of sight. A Great Black Backed Gull landed among the gulls scattering the closest birds as it did so.
We headed back to the car for some lunch and to decided where to go next. We eventually settled on heading to the hide at Lunan Bay to check the bay just in case the Scoter flock had turned up with a Surfie among them. A Kestrel greeted us as we got out of the car, hovering nearby. House Sparrows were around by the houses and a Dunnock was perched on a rooftop. From the hide we could see a group of Kittiwakes among the other gulls (mostly Herring and Black Headed but also a few Commons). There were also plenty of Sandwich Terns and a single Common. Nat spotted Gannets out over the water as I checked the gull flock.
A Meadow Pipit showed well in front of the hide for a few seconds. There were no Scoters to be seen but I eventually found a summer plumaged Red Throated Diver and a short while later a second scruffier individual. Beyond the Divers were a number of Guillemots. Despite checking through them there were no Razorbills to be seen. A Shag was found but things were still pretty quiet in the bay. Heading back to the car we added a pair of Fulmars circling round by Redcastle. A Goldfinch and Greenfinch shared the overhead wires and a Whitethroat sang from the field.
Auchmithie was our next port of call. A chunky small bird on wires on the way was a Corn Bunting, another addition to our day list and always welcome. At Auchmithie I spotted 3 Puffins out on the water, with Nat finding another group of 10 closer in. Fulmars and Linnets were also seen from our spot at the northern end of the village. We headed next to Arbroath finally adding Rook and Jackdaw to the list as we passed some school playing fields. Things were pretty quiet down by the cliffs with only a few Curlews added to our list for the day. A possible Rock Pipit caught my eye but disappeared out of sight before I could confirm it. Linnets on the rocks and more gulls finished off our list. With time getting the better of us, we decided against stopping at Westhaven or Monifieth.
An enjoyable day out with some nice birds among the 81 species seen, and some nice photo opportunities, especially the waders at The Lurgies.
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Jay |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Dunlin, Common Sandpiper & Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover & Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin & Common Sandpiper |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, 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, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
