Having been up during the night feeling ill, I stayed in bed rather than trying for Kingfisher and Dipper locally before getting up at around 1000. I had made provisional plans to head up to Kinnordy and Lintrathen with Jacqui, so when she messaged me to see if I was still on for heading out, I decided to risk it, despite still feeling way less than 100%. I figured that as we would only be out for a maximum of 4 hours that I would hopefully get through it, and get some new birds for the year-list into the bargain.
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| Teal |
We arranged to meet on Albert Street at about 1200, so I headed out around 1150. A Black Headed Gull made a pleasant change to Herring Gull as first bird on the list for the day. A Magpie was next, and then the Herring Gull made an appearance. Feral Pigeons, House Sparrows, Blackbird and Carrion Crow were added as I walked along Dundonald Street. A Pied Wagtail landed in the car park as I passed and a Goldfinch overflew while I waited for Jacqui.
We headed up the A90 spotting a flock of Pink Footed Geese in stubble fields and more in the air. I mentioned
Kestrel as a possibility and Jacqui spotted one hovering above the roadside ahead of us, which was handy. We decided to take the 'country' road towards Lintrathen where we hoped to get American Wigeon and Green Winged Teal. A Buzzard was seen on a fencepost as we searched for the usual
Pheasants on a stretch of road where we always see them. They were proving elusive until Jacqui spotted a male in a stubble field. Another year-tick. I suggested we take the Linross Farm road, as it can be good for geese and other things.
Soon enough we started to see birds. A Robin flew across the road before Jacqui spotted a field full of Fieldfares and a Mistle Thrush or two. There were Pink Footed Geese in another field and more in the air. A large flock of finches and buntings seemed to be mostly
Yellowhammers, Goldfinches and Chaffinches with a few Linnets, and a single Greenfinch. When we reached the end of the single track road we needed to get our bearings and work out where to head next. Once we set off again, a trio of
Red Legged Partridges ran across the road in front if us. Another nice chance encounter. There were a few Jackdaws in a field before we arrived at Lintrathen.
On the walk to the hide we encountered more finches in a flock - mostly
Lesser Redpolls but also a number of
Bullfinches. Jacqui picked out a couple of
Reed Buntings too. Out on the Loch there were hundreds of birds. Mostly Wigeon, but also Coots, Mallards, Mute Swans, Teal and
Goldeneye. I had brought a travel scope with me but it really wasn't up to the task. I did manage to find a single female
Pochard among the throng, and had a possible for the American Wigeon but it was asleep and I managed to lose it when I tried to get the camera onto the bird (I think I managed to get this bird in a couple of photos but they are inconclusive.
A
Greylag flew in. Jacqui decided to head back towards the car while I scanned through the flock again and I would catch her up. I did manage to find a
Little Grebe but no Green Winged Teal, which was disappointing, but as it is only 2nd January, there is still plenty of time to get them both on the 2017 list. We headed next for Kinnordy, picking up
Rook near Kingoldrum. Kinnordy didn't have much of a varied selection out on the water, though we did add
Whooper Swans, Tufted Duck and Goosander. We had a wander along to the feeders in the hope of getting a few of the smaller birds I hadn't got on the 1st.
We could hear
Tree Sparrows as we got closer, and sure enough there were plenty around. A family group of
Long Tailed Tits were on one of the other feeders. There were Chaffinches feeding below the feeders, along with a Robin. Blue Tit, Great Tit and
Coal Tits came and went at the feeders as we stood and watched. There was nothing added from the East hide though we had decent views of a Whooper Swan just off the end of the reeds. We then walked along to the Swamp hide where a drake Teal was in the channel to the right of the hide, giving us nice photo opportunities. I eventually managed to find a drake
Gadwall among the Wigeon. A Cormorant flew over and as we walked back to the car park a Starling was seen.
We had a quick check through the birds at Forfar Loch, adding Redwing as a pair flew over as we got out of the car, and a trio of Moorhens by the water's edge, as well as Woodpigeon. The light was fading rapidly and there was nothing obviously different in among the gull roost, so we headed for home having seen a total of 49 species, including 17 new for the year (in bold).
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Wigeon & Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Wigeon, Teal & Mallard |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Teal |
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| Greylag Geese & Mallard |
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| Wigeon & Gadwall |
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| Great Tit |
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| Herring Gull |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit,
Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Coal Tit, Coot, Cormorant, Fieldfare,
Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw,
Kestrel, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet,
Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan,
Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose,
Pochard, Red Legged Partridge, Redwing,
Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Rook, Starling, Teal,
Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck,
Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon,
Yellowhammer.
