As with most of the year so far, Wednesday was forecast to be wet and windy. Not great conditions for birding, or for being outside in general. However, with the winds being strong and easterly seabirds were being blown in from out in the North Sea. Having seen plenty of evidence of this in the shape of the numerous Little Auks on Monday and Tuesday I was keen to get out again to see if there were any more surprises to be seen, maybe a Grey Phalarope or a Skua or two. Nat was hoping to get the chance to add a lifer in Little Auk too. We arranged a 0900 start and planned to head further up the coast and work back down to Broughty Castle rather than the reverse.
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| Brent Geese & Herring Gulls |
Nat picked me up at 0900 and we set off. There wasn't much to see on the way, Carrion Crow on the Kingsway, Black Headed Gulls at Dawson Park and a Blackbird near Monifieth. We decided to change the plans slightly with a quick stop at Arbroath, just to the west of the harbour so we could get the Little Auks on the list early. There were Herring Gulls and Starlings milling around on the grass along with Oystercatchers as we turned in off the main road. Within a few minutes we had our first Little Auk of the day, low across the waves eastwards. Picking around on the shore were a few Redshanks and
Purple Sandpipers. Great Black Backed Gulls and Common Gulls drifted by on the wind and we found a few Red Breasted Mergansers fishing close in.
With the main target bird for the day already 'in the bag' we set off northwards for Usan, one of the best sea-watching sites in Angus, although with winds from the east there was very little shelter to be had. We added Jackdaws by the side of the road in Arbroath in the same place as we'd seen them on the 1st. Rooks were in the fields near Montrose. Nat spotted 3 geese landing in a field as we took the minor roads to Usan. Stopping the car, these proved to be Pink Footed Geese. A Buzzard flew off from the roadside as we passed just a minute further on.
Arriving at Usan we found the shoreline coated thick with foam and the wind blowing bits of it up the hill towards us at times. Just offshore were a few Kittiwakes picking food from among the foam. We sheltered behind a small wooden shed which cut out some of the wind. A few Little Auks passed further out. I had a short wander to see if I could find a more sheltered spot and succeeded though the view wasn't quite so good. A Kestrel appeared hovering above the hill behind us. A few Cormorants flew by and a Rock Pipit did a passable impression of a Starling strolling around near us, looking very dark in the gloomy low light.
A few grapevine text messages came through - a Grey Phalarope just along the coast a little at Mains of Usan and Brent Geese at Arbroath. A short while later we had a pair of pale-bellied
Brent Geese overfly heading south. A nice bonus. A few extra species were added -
Fulmar and Shag before we decided to head along the coast to try for the Phalarope. A pair of Purple Sandpipers were seen on the rocks across the far side of the small bay. When we arrived at Mains of Usan farm there were a few other birders around but no sign of the bird. We scanned around despite the conditions. A few Curlews were in the fields with Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers could be seen along the shoreline.
After around 20 minutes we decided to head to Montrose Basin visitor centre for a bit of warmth. Nat spotted a male Pheasant in a roadside field and I spotted a flock of thrushes which gave us our first
Fieldfares of the year in another field, having flown down from a tree. Unfortunately when we arrived at the visitor centre it was closed so we headed to Ferry den to eat our lunch instead. Red Breasted Mergansers, a Great Black Backed Gull and a few Eiders kept our attention while we ate. We decided to try again at Mains of Usan but once again there was no sign though there were a few more folk looking. Instead we headed to Lunan Bay, but decided against stopping as the rain was blowing in in sheets. Boghead Farm was next but we didn't stop there as birds seemed to be in very short supply with a single Chaffinch the only identified bird. We did succeed in adding Collared Dove on the way as well as Woodpigeon and House Sparrow as we neared Arbroath for a brief few stops.
The Brent Geese that had been reported earlier were feeding on the grass at Victoria Park among a flock of gulls ad Oystercatchers. Interestingly these all appeared to be dark-bellied birds unlike the pair we'd seen earlier. We added a Pied Wagtail near the harbour and had decent views of a Little Auk and 2 Mute Swans in the harbour before heading back to Broughty Castle. The light was much poorer than earlier and the rain was fairly constant too, so we didn't spend long there either. Red Breasted Mergansers were the most numerous birds out on the water and we did see a single Little Auk floating downriver. A Shag with a blue leg ring (coded FHL) was on the rocks just offshore along with a second Shag, 2 sleeping Cormorants, a Curlew, an Oystercatcher and they were joined by a pair of Turnstones. Possibly the same Common/Harbour Seal from the previous day swam around just below us, surfacing at one point with a large bit of what appeared to be tinfoil in its mouth.
Only 34 species seen, but 4 more additions to the year-list among them (in bold) taking my total to 75 before having to go back to work. Not bad considering the conditions that have been prevalent at the start of 2016 meaning that a lot of regular birding spots have been off-limits.
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| Kittiwake |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Brent Geese |
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| Brent Geese |
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| Brent Goose |
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| Shag |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Great Black Backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Herring Gull & Brent Geese |
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Brent Geese, Oystercatcher & Herring Gull
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Auk |
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| Little Auk |
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| Shag |
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| Curlew, Oystercatcher, Cormorant & Shag |
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| Common/Harbour Seal |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull,
Brent Goose (pale bellied AND dark bellied), Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider,
Fieldfare,
Fulmar, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Little Auk, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose,
Purple Sandpiper, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Starling, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
