Wednesday past was the first of three days off work using up some of my remaining annual leave for 2016-17. Nat hadn't seen the Glaucous Gull at Arbroath, and I was hoping that the Iceland Gulls which had been around were still around somewhere. We had no set plan for what to do, or where to go after Arbroath, though any year-ticks for both of us were likely to take priority. Nat arranged to pick me up at 0820, and I made it despite only having around 4 hours sleep, meaning I was a bit tired.
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| Crossbill |
Herring Gulls were seen as soon as I stepped outside, and a few Black Headed Gulls were swooping around with other Herring Gulls as we headed towards Arbroath Road. Carrion Crow and Woodpigeons were added before we saw Oystercatchers and Curlews with more gulls on the football pitches near the Claypotts junction. A skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew the car, heading inland, as we neared Arbroath. We headed first to small car park overlooking the harbour from the west side, and scanned from inside the car.
Redshanks, Cormorants, Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls were all rather obvious. I spotted a Turnstone wandering along the stepped breakwater. I had scanned through the gulls but within minutes Nat had found the Glaucous Gull, which hadn't been where it now was when I'd started checking. A year-tick for Nat in the bag and quickly. We drove round to Danger Point next to check the birds there. A few Jackdaws were sat on the chimneys and a Starling called from a TV aerial. A pair of Eider were out on the water. A couple of Rock Pipits flew through below us as we looked through the gulls. When we had checked them all we wandered along to see if the Glaucous Gull was still where we'd seen it earlier.
I managed to not notice it (I blame the lack of sleep) but Nat pointed out that it was where we'd seen it. We took some photos of it on the water where it had been flushed to along with the other gulls, by someone walking along the top of the breakwater. It didn't stay there too long, joining the other gulls around a fishing boat that was heading out to sea. We hurried back to the wall in the hope of eye level flight shots. These didn't happen, but the bird did hang in the wind just above us as the boat sailed past. There were Feral Pigeons around on some of the roofs as we walked back to the car, and a few House Sparrows were seen around the lobster creels on the jetty.
We decided to try to get Corn Bunting for Nat, so we headed for Boghead Farm. There were a few Jackdaws and a Rook near the shops that we passed on our way north. Unlike on Sunday, there were no birds around at the Cattery/Kennels but thankfully there were a few Corn Buntings at the farm. There were also plenty of Yellowhammers, a few Reed Buntings, some Goldfinches and a Chaffinch or two. As I was getting back into the car, I spotted a skein of Greylags fly behind the houses, but they had gone by the time we got out onto the road, due to passing traffic.
Next, we decided to see if the Grey Partridges were in their usual spot on the road to Inverkeillor. We stopped to scan through some Fieldfares in some mature deciduous trees by the road. There were also a few Linnets and a couple of Corn Buntings with them. Moving on, we found the Grey Partridges just where we expected to, though it took Nat a few seconds to spot their heads just above the growing crop. With Nat having already added 3 new species for her year-list, we decided to head for Montrose Basin next. Unfortunately the road down to The Lurgies was under repair so we chose to continue to see if we could find Twite instead.
At Bridge of Dun, there were 4 swans in the field near the river. These turned out to be 3 Mute Swans and a single young Whooper Swan. Nat spotted a Kestrel perched atop a JCB as we crossed the second bridge on our way to the car park. There were Blue Tits and Great Tits, as well as a Robin hanging around at the car park. Things were quiet on the walk out to the feeding station where the Twite are ringed every winter. A couple of birds flew up as we approached. These were Chaffinches rather than Twite. A few Meadow Pipits, a pair of Wrens and a Reed Bunting were all we had to show for our walk.
As we crossed the old railway line, I looked along to the west and spotted something white. A Stoat, in ermine, standing up on its hind legs peering into the weeds at the side. We ducked in behind the gate and waited to see if the Stoat would continue its hunting in our direction. It did. Unfortunately, after 3 or 4 short sprints followed by it disappearing into the undergrowth to hunt, it eventually noticed us and disappeared again, this time it didn't re-appear. A really nice wee bonus to get, and I even managed a few photos of it coming straight for us.
After lunch we decided to head for Montreathmont Forest in the hope of finding Crossbills and maybe a Green Woodpecker. As we got out of the car there, a trio of male Bullfinches flew over. Things seemed very quiet as we walked along the widened track, the vegetation at both sides having been ripped up/flattened down. There were plenty of Coal Tits in the trees and I heard what sounded like Crossbills but couldn't see them. As there had been another car parked, we chose to not visit the hide. Instead we wandered further up the track. Surprisingly there were no raptors of any sort around.
A Siskin and a Great Spotted Woodpecker did fly over, as did a pair of Mistle Thrushes as we headed back down the track to the car. Not too far from the hide a few birds suddenly appeared in the young trees on our right. Fortunately for us, these weren't the expected Chaffinches. They were
Crossbills, at least 2 males and a female. One of the males perched out in the open for a few minutes before the whole group flew off. As we neared the car, I heard Long Tailed Tits off to our left and after a little bit of scanning I found the small group foraging in the trees not too far away from the track.
Balgavies Loch was to be our next destination, but just as at The Lurgies we found that we were unable to gain access, as work was being carried out at the car park (or nearby). We decided instead to head for Monikie for a brief visit. Although I wasn't expecting too many additions we did succeed in getting a few new birds for our day list despite the brevity of our visit. Goldeneye, Coot, Little Grebes, Mallards, Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Duck were all added along with a couple of Stock Doves seen flying to the north of the park. There were only Black Headed Gulls around the jetty, and no sign of any Common Gulls or Moorhens.
Nat had to be home relatively early so we headed back to Dundee and succeeded in spotting one final surprising omission as we passed Eastern Cemetery - the local Buzzard circling up above the Arbroath Road. We ended the outing on 54 species, 1 of which was new for me, while Nat had at least 6 new additions, making it a rather productive day out.
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| Glaucous Gull |
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| Glaucous Gull |
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| Glaucous Gull |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Mute Swans & Whooper Swan |
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| Kestrel |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Wren |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Stoat |
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| Stoat |
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| Stoat |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Little Grebe |
Species seen (year-tick in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting,
Crossbill, Curlew, Eider, Fieldfare, Glaucous Gull, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Partridge, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Siskin, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
