The continuing easterly winds had swung slightly making the Angus coast look a better bet for finding incoming migrants on Wednesday. For the usual weekly outing with Nat, I suggested the Angus coast, but she wasn't particularly keen. However, with diminishing returns from my 3 day run at the Crail area and unfinished business with regards checking the suitability of sites from Saturday, I managed to persuade her that it did actually look the better option.
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| Buzzard |
Nat picked me up at 0800 and off we went. Feral Pigeon, Starling and Herring Gull giving a rather slow start to the list with Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon a bit further on. We headed up the A90 to Brechin then cut across country to Montrose. Our only addition along the way were a few Lapwings in a field and some overflying Pink Footed Geese near the Basin. We checked out the small park beside Tesco in Montrose which has turned up decent birds in the past, but it was very quiet probably as a result of the light rain shower. We did still manage to see Goldfinch, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Cormorant (overflying), Goldcrest, Robin and Song Thrush while Blue Tit was heard but not seen.
Our next planned stop was the area near Mains of Usan, so off we went. Eiders on the river as we left Montrose and Rooks in a field behind Ferryden gave us another few birds for the list. The walled garden appeared to be empty except for a small bird which shot out a bush and over the wall before it could be identified. A Meadow Pipit flew over. Further on we explored a bit of the wooded area but Goldcrests once again were the most numerous species. More Pink Footed Geese overflew and a Tree Sparrow showed well on wires by the big house driveway entrance. A Yellowhammer was the next addition and there were 3 Moorhens on the pond. A Grey Wagtail overflew and a Chaffinch was seen on our walk back to the car. A Great Spotted Woodpecker eluded us, though we heard it call from in the trees and a Buzzard showed well perched out on a branch behind the walled garden.
A trio of young Pheasants was in a stubble field on our way to Fishtown of Usan. We decided to check the stubble field first and there were plenty of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits but no obvious Lapland Buntings or similar amongst them. Offshore we spotted Curlews and Black Headed Gulls on the rocks along with Herring and Great Black Backed Gulls. A single Grey Heron roosted among them. A few Guillemots and a pair of Common Scoters headed south. Common Gulls and Gannets were also spotted out over the stormy sea. Checking the area down towards the beach added Dunnock (no Siberian Accentor here either), Rock Pipit and Wren. A Redshank flew low over the rocks.
I wanted to check the area beside Boddin as the gorse along the cliffs looked like they might have potential from looking at Google Earth, but having never visited I had no idea how accessible they were. As it turned out, with crops planted in the small field bordering them, there was no means of checking the area properly. There were plenty of Cormorants on the rocks along in front of the cliffs and a Wren was seen, but little else. Our next planned stop was the gully running down to the coast from Braehead of Lunan, which we had found earlier in the year while out exploring.
A few Redwings overflew as we walked down the side of the field, and there were Goldcrests in some of the trees. Robins were the predominant bird as far as we could see on the opposite side of the well vegetated gully. I did spot something different in an Elder, which turned out to be a Blackcap. From the bottom end of the track beyond the railway line we checked the sea finding a few Velvet and Common Scoters. A single Red Throated Diver was among the small group. Walking back up the track a few Swallows flew past headed south.
We stopped off at the car park at Lunan Bay for a spot of lunch, watching Greenfinches and a few House Sparrows among the rosehips as we ate. A short wander around after lunch only added Great Tit and a few more Blue Tits, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds and Wrens were seen. We decided to head to the ADBC hide for some seawatching next as we would be sheltered to a degree from any rain. A strange call on our walk down turned out to be Harris Hawk in a cage in a garden.
There were plenty of gulls on the beach but only Kittiwake was different to what we had already seen elsewhere. Velvet and Common Scoters were out in the bay in small groups but the swell made it difficult to scan through them in hope of finding a Surf Scoter amongst them. I did find the winter's first Long Tailed Ducks in a small group close in along with a pair of Goldeneye. There were a few Guillemots dotted around and a single Razorbill. I found a Red Throated Diver and a few Shags relatively close in. Nat decided to head back to the car for a cup of tea to warm herself up. I had another 20 minutes of seawatching finding a single Scaup among the other ducks close in to shore.
With time increasingly against us we decided on a short stop at Arbroath waterfront. Nat spotted a Turnstone on the rocks and a Ringed Plover. There turned out to be quite a few Ringed Plovers dotted around. I scanned through the gulls on the rocks and checked for other waders as Nat spoke to Jim Smith from Dundee Naturalists Society. A Rock Pipit and an Oystercatcher were the only additions before we called it a day and headed back towards Dundee. A large flock of Golden Plovers and a smaller group of Lapwings finished off our list for the day. Despite the promising conditions migrants had been rather few, but with no text alerts from Fife, it hadn't proved to be the wrong choice.
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| Cormorant |
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| Tree Sparrow |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Pheasant |
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| Skylark |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Skylark |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Blackcap |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Common Scoter & Razorbill |
56 species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Long Tailed Duck, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Scaup, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
