Having had some good fortune and nice photos from the new D500 at the weekend I was looking forward to getting out and about with Nat on Wednesday. With nothing too interesting around we would have to search for our own 'good' birds. This wasn't a problem as it is always good to find something interesting when out and about. The weather forecast wasn't brilliant but if we were lucky we would probably be able to avoid the worst of the wet weather by heading inland first then working our way in a more or less easterly direction.
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| Black Throated Diver |
Nat picked me up at 0800 and off we went. Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were seen on our way out of Dundee. Heading for our first area well inland we picked up a few more species on the way. Swallows, Carrion Crows, Blackbird, Collared Dove, House Martins, a Greenfinch calling from a roadside wire and a few Swifts above the small town we passed through on our way to higher ground. Low cloud seemed to render our prospects rather poor, but once through the grey curtain we even found some blue sky above, albeit fleetingly. In addition, there were a number of Mistle Thrushes on overhead wires across a field, and a Chaffinch and Willow Warbler in the roadside bushes.
Further on as we passed a wooded area a Jay overflew the road calling loudly. Past the woods we reached more open ground where Meadow Pipit numbers soon increased with birds flying up from the roadside at regular intervals. A Goldfinch landed on the fence by the road, and a Starling was perched on wires. Slightly less expected was a pair of Magpies, one on each side of the road. We stopped by some conifers nearby and watched a Goldcrest foraging among the needles. A Robin showed lower down in the same tree.
Stopping again to scan across the open country we spotted a pair of Blackcock (male Black Grouse) hunkered down among the vegetation. Once we had exhausted our prospects in one direction we turned back to head back towards where we had come from. A young Pheasant wandered along the side of the road, and a flash of black and white as a bird launched itself off a fencepost as the car approached gave us a Wheatear for the list. We had heard a Buzzard earlier, and we managed to see the bird circling above a field on our way out again. A few Common Gulls, a Pied Wagtail, some Jackdaws and Rooks and a hedge full of House Sparrows were all seen before we reached the bridge at Reekie Linn to search for Dipper.
Unfortunately, only a Grey Wagtail and a few overflying Gulls and Rooks were seen from here, so we headed on to investigate one of the larger local lochs. Things looked rather quiet with only a Cormorant to be seen as we drove along the road. However, a bird on the water wasn't just another Cormorant, but a very nice summer plumaged
Black Throated Diver. A year-tick for me, and in a plumage that I didn't have any photos of as a nice bonus. Most likely a bird dispersing from a highland loch at the end of the breeding season on its way to the open water at the coast. Nearby we added Kestrel, Siskin and a family of Mallards and Mute Swans as well as a single Little Grebe and a few low flying Sand Martins.
We bumped into the local RSPB group's Graham Smith nearby and having failed to get my text message alert to send told him about the Diver. Unfortunately, it had vanished in the intervening period. A Pair of Ravens were another nice bonus bird before we set off for Loch of Kinnordy. An Oystercatcher was in a roadside field on our way to the reserve. Things were very quiet from the hide with vegetation possibly hiding any number of birds among the greenery. Thankfully the tree outside the side window made up for the lack of birds on the loch, with Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Wren, Treecreeper and Willow Warbler all foraging around a few feet from the window. A few Mallards, Greylags and Lapwings were all that was to be seen on the water, although a Grey Heron flew in and landed on one of the islands.
We headed next to Murton on the other side of Forfar. A Yellowhammer was seen just outside of Kirriemuir. At the reserve we wandered down to the lower hide to check for waders. A few Coots were on the main pool, with a lot of Greylags and Lapwings at the other. A juvenile Whitethroat was seen in the bushes by the track, and Lesser Redpolls overflew. A few Tufted Ducks were on the water, with a single sleeping Snipe, a pair of roosting Gadwall and a single Teal added before we moved on to Balgavies Loch to see what else we could add to our list for the day.
As expected, the Osprey family were very noticeable, with birds sitting around on various trees, and an adult flying in to join them at one point. At the feeders we added Coal Tits and Dunnock. After lots of searching I spotted a distant Moorhen before we set off for the Lurgies at Montrose Basin. The tide was much higher than expected so we were set for a bit of a disappointment with regards seeing many waders. There was a large Eider creche near the burn mouth. Common and Sandwich Terns could be heard and seen fishing over the river where it joined the Basin. A Common Sandpiper was flushed from the bank twice.
Across the far side we could see Shelduck and Black Headed Gulls with the Terns. Also out on the water we found a Red Breasted Merganser family. A Song Thrush and a few Linnets were added before we hurried back to the car to escape an incoming rain shower. We drove round to the visitor centre next. We'd heard about a White Rumped Sandpiper being seen the previous day in a pool near the centre. With a bit of luck it would still be around. There were waders at Rossie Spit, mostly Redshanks and Black Tailed Godwits plus Oystercatchers. The small pool had a juvenile Dunlin wandering around on it. After a while a slimmer greyer looking wader, bearing a superficial resemblance to Temminck's Stint showed very briefly. I suspected this was the
White Rumped Sandpiper, so I called to Nat to come and view it through the scope, which she did. Unfortunately it then vanished behind the vegetation which blocked our view of most of the pool*.
We decided to head outside to try for a different angle. We found an open view of the pool from between the houses, but a heavy rain shower sent us scurrying back to the car and the visitor centre again before we had the chance to set up the scope. We watched carefully again from the centre and were joined by another couple of birders who did likewise. After a while we decided to once again try a different view. I knew it was possible to get down through the tree which might give a reasonable, albeit lower, viewpoint. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the bird on the pool. With the tide rising we headed round to view Rossie Spit from the other side of the river. Unfortunately, the sheer number of Redshanks roosting made attempting to sift through them nigh on impossible.
We decided to head in the direction of Lunan Bay. As the sky was looking rather threatening, we would decide nearer the location as to whether or not to stop. As it happened a very heavy rain shower was working its way eastwards so we chose to continue on to Arbroath. Near the cliffs we added Curlew, a single Turnstone, a few Kittiwakes and a Great Black Backed Gull. We stopped off briefly at Easthaven where we added a fly past Fulmar and a few Arctic Terns, before calling it a day and heading for home.
* With regards the White Rumped Sandpiper, at the time of our attempts to see the bird, we had not seen the photos from Harry Bickerstaff who found the bird, so we weren't completely sure of what it was we were looking for, beyond a few illustrations on apps, or in bird books. Later that night, I finally saw the photo of the bird. There were distinct similarities between the two but also appeared to be some differences. Distance from the pool and quality of light may both have played their part in the apparent differences. The bird was reported again on Thursday and Nat saw a bird identified by some as the White Rumped Sandpiper on Friday. However, a good birder I know was watching the pools from within the trees at the same time as the bird was reported and saw only Dunlin. Nat reckoned the bird she'd seen on Friday was different to Wednesday's. On Sunday, a Little Stint was initially reported as being the Sandpiper. Having watched numerous clips of WRS and looked through lots of photos I'm satisfied that the bird I saw on Wednesday was the White Rumped Sandpiper, so it is on my year-list, and my life list.
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Rook |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Black Throated Diver |
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| Black Throated Diver |
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| Black Throated Diver |
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| Black Throated Diver |
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| Black Throated Diver |
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| Raven |
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| Small Heath |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Snipe |
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| Gadwall & Greylag Goose |
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| Osprey |
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| Siskin |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Common Tern |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Moth sp. |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Cormorant |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Eider |
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| Moth sp. |
A pretty good day out despite the confusion over the Sandpiper with 80 species seen in total (year-ticks in bold) -
Arctic Tern, Black Grouse, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit,
Black Throated Diver, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wheatear,
White Rumped Sandpiper, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
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