0342 : A Carnoustie Collection (22/10/16)

The winds for Saturday looked favourable for bringing in more migrants to the Angus coast, so I decided I would get up early and head out although I was undecided just how far up the coast to start my searching. When I woke up it was raining heavily but looking at the forecast persuaded me to take a chance and get out as there was a chance that the rain would bring anything passing down at the coast and into shelter. Once the rain abated, the birds would feed up and possibly move on. Hopefully I would be in the right place to find something good.

Dipper

Slightly later than intended I headed out the door at about 0845 to walk down to Arbroath Road to catch a 73 bus. Starlings and a Blackbird started off my list for the day in a low-key fashion. Feral Pigeon and Herring Gull were added on the way to the bus stop and a Blue Tit flying across the road and a Carrion Crow attempting to eat a bit of what appeared to be Mars Bar next to the bus shelter gave me another couple of species. From the bus I added Woodpigeon, Collared Dove and Black Headed Gull before the bus reached the far end of Monifieth. Rooks and Curlews were added between Monifieth and Barry village with a Pheasant and a Stock Dove seen in the field on the outskirts of Barry.

I decided to chance the golf course and potentially Barry Buddon (if the range wasn't active) in the hope that the winds from the east had brought some birds in overnight. As I walked down the western edge of Carnoustie I saw movement across the field and watched 2 Roe Deer clambering up the far bank of the small burn. A flock of House Sparrows were in the bushes along the side of the road. Cutting along the track towards the access road into the camp I was met with a nice mix of birds with lots of activity all around. Coal Tits, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, overflying Jackdaws, Jays, and Carrion Crows plus a Wren, Great Tits and a Robin in the bushes with Skylarks high overhead and more House Sparrows plus a few Blackbirds was a nice way to start things off. A few Woodpigeons and 4 Collared Doves on overhead wires by the road added to the plethora of birds around.

I was pleased to find the red flags were not flying and that the gate into the camp across the railway was open. A Common Gull glided over and another Jay headed north inland. Walking on to near the Yeomanry Ponds a Mallard duck overflew. A few minutes further on found a flock of Goldfinches in the trees. I could hear Redpolls too but failed to pick one out among the birds I was able to see in the treetops. There were a few Blue Tits and a Treecreeper, plus at least a couple of Goldcrests in the same area of trees.

I reached a fork and decided to take the 'north' road (I'd have said it was more easterly) A distant Buzzard was being harassed by a Carrion Crow as it perched in the tops of some conifers. I could hear Long Tailed Tits and eventually managed to see some of the flock moving through the trees. Another bird heard before it was seen was a nice male Bullfinch. A Great Spotted Woodpecker landed in a small-ish tree on the golf course giving me decent views. Pied Wagtila, Meadow Pipit and Skylark were all seen along the edge of the road and the golf course. I could hear the sea just beyond the banking when I reached the end of the road I was on. I chose to go left to see if there was somewhere I could scan the water from.

A Stonechat was in the long grass and I found an opening by a sentry box at the edge of the camp. From here I could see Common Scoters among the waves in small groups. A Cormorant flew past and a Long Tailed Duck went in the opposite direction. A pair of Oystercatchers were next to fly past. More scanning found a Red Throated Diver among the waves and a pair of Rock Pipits dropped into the rocks by the edge of the golf course. I spotted a trio of Gannets flying east quite distantly. I wandered off the camp and along the edge of the golf course stopping to check the small mixed gull roost of Common, Black Headed, Herring and a single Great Black Backed Gull.

Near the leisure centre I scanned the shore picking out a few Oystercatchers among the rocks. I found a couple of Turnstones  well camouflaged among the rocks as well as a number of Redshanks and Ringed Plovers. There was a single Eider offshore and a Curlew flew along the shoreline. Further on I heard my first Grey Heron of the day and turned round to see it about to land among the rocks. As I neared the small car park at Westhaven I could see Dunlins and Bar Tailed Godwits by the water's edge. There were birders scanning from the car park (a few I recognised from having met them in the past) and we had a brief chat about what else had been seen. They'd had Knot and Golden Plover at Monifieth. Just as they were packing up to move on to Eliott a Red Breasted Merganser sped by offshore.

I walked on out the road to check out the trees around Panbride House, but they were relatively quiet except for the Rooks and Jackdaws. I managed to find a route into Craigmill Den that didn't involve the rather risky muddy steep slope where the boundary wall of the grounds met the Den. Things appeared rather quiet in the Den but I took my time allowing the Linnets on the wires to get used to me being there, though small groups took flight before settling back again. There were a few Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings with them. Well to the north I spotted a flock of Golden Plover looking like they had been spooked from a field. There were a few Blackbirds, Blue Tits and Wrens around but no sign of any Chiffchaffs or Blackcaps. Despite the favourable winds it appeared that there were only a few Skylarks on the move.

Near the footbridge at the top end I chanced upon the Dipper and was able to grab a few shots in very poor light by the bridge. The bird flew a short distance into a better lit area and I was able to get close when the bird was underwater and succeeded in getting a series of rather nice Dipper shots before the bird moved a little further on upriver. I headed back down the Den adding a Grey Wagtail by the weir and Tree Sparrows, Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit on the wires. There were a few Goldcrests around but no Redwings. I had a brief chat to the home owner who I'd also talked to just before I'd got soaked the previous Sunday by the heavy rain. As I left the Den to head for the level crossing I heard a Kingfisher call from the other side of the road and crossed over to look over the side of the bridge. Sure enough there was the Kingfisher which spotted me and flew off below the bridge and up the river. Another nice bird to get.

The tide was still quite far out and the majority of the birds were quite distant, across the other side of the burn. A small flock of Wigeon and Mallards flew in. A Stonechat showed near the house and as I turned to walk back the white of a Wheatear's tail caught my eye as it flew up into the longer grass. It looked like it was about to land on a fence post but it didn't. I hurried back up the track to scan along the edge of the field but there was no sign of it. I had one other brief view of it as it once again flew up off the beach, some distance away, but despite lots of searching I failed to refind it. Given that all sorts of Wheatears have been turning up down the east coast, it could have been something good, potentially a lifer for me. It may well have just been a 'Northern' but I'll never know for sure. It went on the list as Wheatear sp.

A shower of rain came on and I tucked myself close in to the sandy bank to try and keep myself relatively dry. Once it had gone off again I continued on, adding a few more Stonechats as well as Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits on the beach. A Magpie was in trees by the houses at Easthaven. I checked the bus times to plan my next move. With the sky looking rather heavy and with showers forecast for the next few hours I weighed up the options.In the end I caught the bus to Arbroath after having to shelter from another shower, adding Tufted Duck and Coot at Keptie Pond before catching the X7 coach back to Dundee.

A pretty decent day with some good birds but once again a poor showing on the migrant front. I still managed to see 65 species in all, and was pleaseed to get some nice Dipper shots for a change, even if the ISO had to be ramped up to ISO2000.

Jay

Buzzard & Carrion Crow

Bullfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Skylark

Common Scoter

Long Tailed Duck

Red Throated Diver

Stonechat

Great Black Backed Gull

Curlew & Oystercatcher

Yellowhammer

Linnet

Great Tit

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Dipper

Grey Wagtail

Goldfinch

Meadow Pipit

Linnet

Meadow Pipit

Mallard

Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wheatear sp., Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

0341 : Half And Half (19/10/16)

 Owing to other commitments, Nat was unable to meet me for our midweek outing until after 0900, so we arranged to meet at Riverside Nature Park, see what was around, see what was reported from elsewhere and then assess the best options for the rest of the day's birding and take things from there. I had intended to head to the park early but ended up running a bit late, so didn't get the early start I intended.

Pied Wagtail

It was around 0850 when I did eventually get out the door. Birds were few and far between with only a Carrion Crow to show for the walk down to Dens Road where I managed to catch a number 22 bus into the city centre. I was going to jump on a number 5 but the number of road closures around the west end meant I was better sticking with the 22 despite it meaning a long-ish walk to the park. I messaged Nat to let her know I would likely be a bit later than 0930. From the bus I added Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon and also Blackbird. Walking down past the Botanic Gardens I heard and then saw a Mistle Thrush fly off.

Entering the park I managed to see a few species despite my haste - a Robin on a fence, a few Starlings over towards the airport, a Carrion Crow flying over and a Chaffinch near the car park. Nat was running late too and only beat me by a few minutes. There were still Pink Footed Geese flying out from Invergowrie Bay. Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull and Woodpigeon passed overhead. We discussed a plan for our walk around the park. We decided to try for Snipe first and headed for the boggy area. A Blackbird was picking around among the bushes.

I wandered into the rather overgrown and rather marshy area. I hadn't gone too far when the first bird lifted off, silently. A Jack Snipe from close by. A second bird followed which turned out to be a Snipe. Further exploration resulted in another 2 Snipe taking to the air before I wandered back to drier ground. A Wren showed in the bushes in front of me. A small group of Goldfinches flew in to bathe below the bushes and a Song Thrush flew out from the same bushes.

Buzzard Wood proved to be rather quiet with only Dunnock and Blue Tit seen. Our first Goldcrest of the day was in the trees behind Buzzard Wood. A few Siskins flew over as we wandered back towards the car park taking a rather circuitous route. A Yellowhammer pair and a party of 4 Tree Sparrows flew westwards over the hill. A Coal Tit flew into the buddleia bushes near the bend in the path to the west of the car park. Once again the tide was 'wrong' with lots of exposed mud and the birds mostly distant well out in the river. There were Redshanks and Teal relatively close to where we were viewing from, with Curlew, Mallard and Oystercatchers a little further away.

Nat spotted a group of Dunlin some distance away just before we bumped into Ian Ford. We chatted for quite some time adding a number of good flyover birds at the same time - Redpoll (possibly Common/Mealy), Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark and Bullfinch as well as a Sparrowhawk flying low up the burn being harassed by the local Carrion Crows. I spotted a distant Cormorant fly down the river. Despite the tide being out, myself and Nat headed next to the hide. A few Jackdaws and Feral Pigeons were around in addition to the gulls, but little else was seen except a flyover Pied Wagtail.

The Lochan added only Mute Swan to our list, though there were also Teal and Mallard here. Long Tailed Tits were seen as we walked back round to the car park for a spot of lunch before deciding where to go next. After some discussion we decided to stick to the coast and headed first to Balmossie. As we passed through Broughty Ferry I spotted a Buzzard circling to the north near Reres Park. House Sparrows and Starlings were very visible when we arrived at Balmossie and despite the tide still being quite far out we were able to add a few new species - Bar Tailed Godwit, Eider and Wigeon, Common Gull and Oystercatcher in addition to others already seen earlier such as Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Curlew, Cormorant, Redshank and Dunlin. A Grey Wagtail landed briefly and Nat spotted a Grey Plover which I managed to get a video clip of before it was flushed by a jogger with a spaniel off the lead who, completely oblivious to all around, put the entire gull and wader roost skywards as she crossed the burn on foot.

With all the birds in the air we decided to move on again. Rooks and Collared Dove were added as we headed to our next stop at Easthaven. There were Pied Wagtails aplenty around, some near the car park and even more on the beach among the heaped up seaweed washed up by the continuing strong easterlies. A few Swallows passed westwards. A few Greeenfinches were in the bushes at the end of the car park along with a Robin. Nat spotted a Turnstone out on the rocks and a small flock of Linnets circled round. We next wandered round past the houses adding Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow and Wren before we reached the beach again to walk back to the car park. We could hear Pink Footed Geese and searched for them before discovering them much closer and much higher than we had expected. A Grey Heron was discovered among the rocks along with a Great Black Backed Gull.

Next we decided to pay Craigmill Den and the mouth of the burn a visit. A Pheasant was seen from the car as we headed north out of Easthaven. Wandering down through the Den we added Goldcrests, a few Chaffinches, a large flock of Linnets on the wires again and Nat spotted a Chiffchaff across the other side of the burn. Another bird lurking among the leaves turned out to be a Wren a bit higher in a tree than normally expected. I spotted a Stock Dove flying over and we also had Meadow Pipit pass overhead. In addition to the Linnets on the wires there were a couple of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers. A Redwing flew out of a tree across the far side of the burn along with a few Blackbirds. A Grey Heron flew up the burn and the local Buzzard mewed loudly as it flew through.

The gull roost didn't seem to hold anything different to what we had seen already and there were a few Mallards around offshore. One or two Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Curlews were found by scanning around. A Stonechat was in the long grass near the house and a Rock Pipit popped down onto the beach near us before we headed back up the Den to the car. A Sparrowhawk shot through at pace and disappeared up and over the trees at the far side before I could get a photo. The Buzzard appeared again and I did succeed in getting photos of it. We had heard Dipper a few times and Nat spotted it in the burn near the weir. I was able to get a few photos and we added Dunnock to the list before we headed for home around 1600.

A decent, if unspectacular, day out in 2 halves. 38 species seen in the Nature Park, and 52 outside the park (65 in total).

Jack Snipe

Snipe

Song Thrush

Dunlin

Redpoll (sp.)

Pink Footed Geese

Pink Footed Geese

Pink Footed Geese

Species seen at the Nature Park - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Herring Gull, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercather, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redpoll sp., Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Grey Plover

Bar Tailed Godwit & Oystercatcher

House Sparrow

Linnet

Goldfinch

Buzzard

Chiffchaff

Wren

Grey Heron

Curlew

Stonechat

Wigeon

Redshank

Rock Pipit

Bar Tailed Godwit

Goldfinch

Buzzard

Dipper

Dipper

Species seen elsewhere - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackkbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.