Having birded for an average of around 10 hours each day for the previous 5 days, I was beginning to flag slightly. However, the sun was still shining and there were still birds out there that I had yet to see, and still had a good chance of seeing. Woodcock and Whinchat were 2 main targets I'd yet to connect with, although it is still early in the season for Whincat and Woodcock can be chanced upon at almost any time of year in the right habitat and conditions, so even missing out wouldn't be a particularly bad thing. The Angus Glens give an opportunity to encounter both species, with a little bit of luck, so with another chance to get out with Nat, we decided to head once more into the Glens, but first we would attempt to see the Glossy Ibis which had been roosting at Montrose Basin for a few days, though where it was feeding during the day was still a mystery.
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| Mistle Thrush |
A slightly later than normal departure of around 0815 didn't make any significant difference to the species we saw on the way to our particular Glen of choice. Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Carrion Crow were followed onto the list by Starlings, Lapwings, Rooks, Collared Dove, Oystercatchers, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and Buzzard as we tried a different short-cut along the quieter roads. We found a rather large pool with plenty of birds around the edges. Hoping for a Wood Sandpiper I scanned through the birds. Black Headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Coots, a Cormorant, some Greylags, a distant Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallards, a Pied Wagtail, some Sand Martins and a sleeping Shelduck but no Wood Sandpiper, not even a Common Sandpiper. Still a very decent haul and a site to try again sometime.
We continued on and a short while after we watched House Martins and Swallows sweeping over the car. A Yellowhammer sang nearby. We headed for the car park to walk out to the Shelduck Hide. A Wren and a Blackbird flew low across the road in front of us. The walk out to the hide began with us hunting for a singing Blackcap, which I hoped might even be a Garden Warbler, but when seen was confirmed as just a Blackcap. There were also Blue Tits and a Robin around in the car park. A little along the path a butterfly caught my eye and turned out to be another Speckled Wood (following on from my Fife sighting the previous day) - a rare butterfly for Angus. Feral Pigeons, Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat were next though the strong-ish winds seemed to be keeping a lot of birds in cover again. Meadow Pipits, Reed Bunting and Jackdaw all called, alerting us to just where to look for the source.
There were a few Mute Swans in the fields and a few Eider ducks resting on the banking along the path, which was very muddy. There were a pair of Shoveler in the Mill burn outflow at The Slunks, along with a few Redshanks and Mallards. Linnets and Skylarks overflew before we wandered into the hide where Ron Mitchell and Harry Bickerstaff sat, looking like they hadn't seen the Ibis. Sure enough, they hadn't, though it had been seen earlier that morning. Still there were other birds to see. Ron pointed out a flock of Ringed Plover and Dunlin among the pebbles and mud across the river. A Red Breasted Merganser flew by. Scanning around found a few Greenshanks further downriver and also a Great Black Backed Gull. A distant raptor turned out to be a Marsh Harrier, confirmed as it flew closer.
We eventually decided to move on at around 1100 and headed back to the car to drive to our chosen Glen. Needless to say, a few minutes up the road from the car park, a text came in reporting the Glossy Ibis at the hide. Given that it is at least a 20 minute walk to the hide, there seemed little point in turning back to make the long walk to no doubt draw a blank, so we continued on until we reached the Glen. A Song Thrush was in a field and a Red Kite was spotted gliding along near the road, though it drifted away from us when we stopped. Further on, we found a few Mistle Thrushes in a different roadside field. Pheasants seemed quite numerous.
We had decided to head on to the end of the Glen and to go for a walk in the hope of at least finding Whinchat while Woodcock remained an outside possibility. Nat also 'needed' a couple of the species that I had already seen in the Glens - Spotted Flycatcher and Cuckoo. A Goldcrest picked around in the trees near where we parked the car, while there were several Siskins flying over, and indeed their calls would be
heard along most of our walk every few minutes. Lesser Redpoll also overflew. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen in the trees.
A strange call warranted some investigation, and as I searched for its source I was aware of a bird flying past me and then the sound of splashing from the nearby burn. I turned and saw something flapping in the water so I grabbed a couple of quick photos. As the water was a bit deep for a bird to bathe in, it seemed odd behaviour. A proper look however showed the reason. It was a very recently fledged Mistle Thrush which had just discovered that water isn't a solid surface to attempt to land on. It was afloat and attempting to propel itself to the bank. I quickly shed my camera bag, binoculars and camera and grabbed my monopod from the bag. I extended it to its full length and attempted to steer the bird in closer to the bank sdo I could pick it out. The current got a hold of it and it sped off downstream a bit before a rock slowed its progress. From here I was able to shepherd it in to the bank and standing on a rock myself I was able to reach down and lift out one rather wet young thrush.
The adult Mistle Thrush had flown across the river and called constantly. As the youngster was starting to shiver and was probably in a bit of shock given its adventure we attempted to dry it off with some tissue. I found a hollow beyond the fence, and away from the track and the burn and put the bird down. Having done so, I noticed that there was a sunnier spot a short distance away, so I relocated the bird to there, hoping that the sun would soon dry it off and the adult could return to it. Having done that we continued on after picking up my camera gear etc. We soon added a few more species - Willow Warbler, Common Sandpiper, Chaffinch, Redstart and Tree Pipit as well as Great Tit, Common Gull and Grey Wagtail.
Having seen Twite here a year ago I was just about to mention them when I heard the distinctive call and 3 of the species flew by, heading uphill. Some scaning around the hillside found a single Wheatear while Nat spotted a pair of Ring Ouzels, though they were a bit distant. A Wigeon was a surprise addition, as was the flyover Merlin. A Dipper on the burn was rather more expected. The drive back down the Glen unfortunately failed to add anything else of note, with no Cuckoos, Whinchats or Woodcock to be seen. With Nat having things to be home for, we called it a day with a decent day total of 69 species seen.
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| Brown Hare |
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Redstart |
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| Redstart |
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| Ring Ouzel |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Swallow |
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| Mistle Thrush |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Dipper, Dunlin, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenshank, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Merlin, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redstart, Reed Bunting, Ring Ouzel, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Tree Pipit, Tufted Duck, Twite, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
