Having had a successful day on Saturday, I hoped to keep the momentum going on Sunday. My original plans fell through so I had to decide where else to go and what species to 'target'. I decided I would head to the Montrose area, in the hope of a Tern or two, and maybe something else passing offshore in the easterly winds. On the way home, I would drop into Carnoustie and walk along to the Craigmill Burn in the hope of maybe picking up a Whimbrel.
 |
| Eider |
I was out the door at around 0755 to walk to the bus station to catch the 0815 X7 bus to Montrose. It was a fairly typical selection of birds seen en route with Herring Gull, Starling, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove and Woodpigeon, as well as Carrion Crow seen before I reached the bus station. A calling Oystercatcher flew over the buildings in the Seagate as I crossed the road, one of a pair I suspect is breeding on a flat roof somewhere around the City Centre.
Once on the bus there wasn't too much to be seen passing through Dundee that I hadn't already seen on my walk. A few House Martins were seen over the houses at the Claypotts junction. A field held a number of Woodpigeons, Stock Doves and Rooks as well as a male Pheasant. Jackdaws and House Sparrows were seen in Arbroath. On reaching the bus stop near Ferryden I had a wander along the track below the railway bridge to see if there was anything of note in the Basin. A small charm of Goldfinches flew over as I wandered along. A few Linnets lifted from the pebble beach. Out on the water were a number of Eider not too far offshore. Oystercatchers wandered along the beach.
Across the water a trio of Mute Swans slept. There was a pair of Shelduck swimming along a narrow channel close to the beach. A Curlew fed out on a sandbank further out. A number of Cormorants could be seen stood out on another sandbank further out in the Basin. A few Herring Gulls and a Common Gull wandered around along the water's edge. A Grey Heron flew in towards the pools by the visitor centre. More scanning found a few Red Breasted Mergansers. A Song Thrush sang loudly from the wires behind me and a Chaffinch flew into the same tree where a Chiffchaff could be heard calling from, but not seen.
I set off for Scurdie Ness lighthouse, stopping to photograph the Goldfinches feeding on the grass verge at the traffic roundabout. Reaching the end of the harbour I added a Great Black Backed Gull stood down on the beach. A pair of Mallards were close in to the opposite bank. The wind was rather strong and cold and was in my face. A Skylark was seen in one of the fields just to the east of the village. A Yellowhammer male flew ahead of me along the road. Down in the river I was able to see a number of Guillemots as well as Cormorants and Eiders. Across the river there were a number of Herring Gulls, but no sign of any Terns of any species, which was disappointing.
I spotted a Red Throated Diver in the surf off the beach, and a pair of late lingering Long Tailed Ducks were picked up in flight rather distantly. A few Meadow Pipits showed well perched on fenceposts eyeing me nervously as I passed. I think they were probably nesting among the crops on the other side of the fence. A Reed Bunting landed on the road in front of me as I neared the lighthouse, and a rather damp looking female Wheatear landed on the wall. Offshore I could see Gannets passing, so I decided to find a spot for a bit of sea-watching. The wind seemed to be coming from the southeast so I found a hollow which offered some protection from the cold wind and scanned from there.
There were a number of Kittiwakes, Common Gulls, Cormorants and Red Throated Divers passing at varying distances as well as Eiders. A trio of Turnstones flew round towards the mouth of the river before I decided to seek another perch. I chose the grassy slope behind me, and set off towards a bit that seemed to offer a chance of some shelter as well as a raised viewpoint. Another Wheatear flew ahead of me and a Meadow Pipit picked around behind it on the grass. Offshore I added a few Fulmars as well as Guillemots and Razorbills to the list. A Rock Pipit called from out on the rocks.
I found a spot on the slope where I was at least partially sheltered from the wind and the higher viewpoint did make a difference to how far out i could see. There were more Divers passing which photos showed to have only been Red Throateds. A trio of Common Scoters were a nice surprise. A Pied Wagtail landed down on the grass in front of me before disappearing down into a hollow. Along to the south a Buzzard hung in the wind. I tried to find more shelter from the wind using rocks on the shore. A Ringed Plover didn't seem too pleased by my approach so I found a spot out of its line of sight which also kept the wind off me to an extent. The Ringed Plover turned out to have been ringed - a blue ring and a yellow flag.
I scanned to the north towards the mouth of the river and did a double take. Along with the Common Gulls hanging in the wind at the mouth of the river was a fully summer plumaged adult Little Gull. A nice surprise, and certainly the first time I've seen the species this far north in Angus. A few Kittiwakes made up the rest of the flock, and they picked food from the surface of the water while hanging in the wind. I took a number of photos before deciding to head for the Basin visitor centre and a seat out of the cold. As I made my way up the slight slope from the lighthouse, ahead of me, I spotted a pair of Grey Partridges fly off out of sight.
The sun decided to come out around now, which was slightly annoying, given how cold it had been while I was sea-watching. Across the river among the gulls were a surprise pair of Teal, possibly resting up for a wee while out of the wind in the relative calm of the edge of the beach. Unfortunately a dog walker spooked everything and off went the Teal again. Some of the gulls landed on 'my' side of the river and I decided to scan through them. As I did so I was very pleased to find a nice
Whimbrel among them, my first of the year. I wouldn't now have to visit Westhaven on the way home. A pair of Wheatear were in the field beside the track with one giving rather nice close views. I also had nice views on reaching the village of Dunnock, Goldfinch, Swallow and House Sparrow.
As I was passing the small hairdressing salon, an older lady who was having a cigarette while leaning on the railings asked me if I was a terrorist. Apparently the harbour authority had asked her to report anyone taking photos of the harbour with a big lens - she just asks them if they are a terrorist. We chatted for a while mostly about the wildlife in the local area before I continued onwards for the visitor centre. I added Blackcap to the list in the trees at the foot of the hill just past the railway bridge though a singing Willow Warbler eluded me. A text message came in saying there were Brent Geese out in the middle of the Basin, which is quite an unusual species for here, though they were likely feeding up before continuing onwards back home to breed.
I arrived at the visitor centre and headed in to see what I could add to my list for the day. The Sand Martins were an easy add, and a Great Tit was on the feeders. The Brent Geese, which I was able to see were Pale Bellied Brents were easily found. Two pairs of Pintail still in the Basin near the Black Tailed Godwit flock were a surprise. Greenfinch visited the feeders and I chatted to one of the young volunteers. A few ADBC members popped in and I had a chat to them too. An elderly American lady asked me about some of the birds at the feeders and it soon turned into a lesson in how to identify some of the birds which were around. She was very pleased with all the species myself and the young volunteer girl were finding for her, and was pleased when she left later that she had seen 19 species of bird from her seat. We could have added some more for her but the more distant birds would have been tricky to direct her onto.
I also had a chat to a young lady from the Newcastle area and ended up staying much longer in the centre than I had originally intended to, though it was certainly no hardship and my legs especially were very thankful for the chance to not have to walk anywhere. Out on the water I found a few Goldeneye as well as the remnants of the winter Scaup flock, another surprise so late in the Spring. A single Black Headed Gull gave me another bird for my list. A Blue Tit showed nicely just outside the open window. A bit of commotion out on the Basin with all the gulls and the Brent Geese taking flight had me scanning around for the reason. I soon found an Osprey which proceeded to dive and came up with a large flatfish. Needless to say the gulls continued to mob the bird before it disappeared off in a southwest direction, mo doubt to find somewhere a little quieter to enjoy a meal.
I had a chat to the other young volunteer who I'd chatted to about waders earlier in the year, and told her I'd succeeded in seeing Water Rail that day after I'd popped down to the Bank of Scotland hide. A Moorhen and a Pheasant visited the feeders, along with Woodpigeon and a pair of Collared Doves before a bit more commotion out in the Basin had me looking for, and finding, another raptor. This time the culprit was a Peregrine and we were able to watch it circling round gaining height before something else caught our attention. As I was trying to find a Redshank, which unusually there appeared to be none whatsoever around, I spotted a small flock of Dunlin over by Rossie Spit which landed on the far shore near where I'd stopped in the morning to scan from.
We also managed to find at least half a dozen Guillemots out in the Basin, possibly the same birds I'd seen in the river mouth earlier in the day. A Coal Tit was one final addition from the Centre before I decided had better head back towards town to try and catch my bus home. I arrived a bit earlier than necessary so detoured back to the same spot as first thing where I did manage to see the calling Chiffchaff. There was nothing added on the way home from the bus but a grand total of 70 species for the day including a single year-tick (in bold) made it a worthwhile trip with some nice photo opportunities as well.
 |
| Herring Gull |
 |
| Eider |
 |
| Shelduck |
 |
| Song Thrush |
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
| Great Black Backed Gull |
 |
| Herring Gull |
 |
| Blackbird |
 |
| Song Thrush |
 |
| Skylark |
 |
| Linnet |
 |
| Herring Gull |
 |
| Guillemot & Eider |
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
 |
| Wheatear |
 |
| Reed Bunting |
 |
| Kittiwake |
 |
| Red Throated Diver |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Gannet |
 |
| Fulmar |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
| Wheatear & Meadow Pipit |
 |
| Common Scoter |
 |
| Ringed Plover |
 |
| Ringed Plover |
 |
| Red Throated Diver |
 |
| Pied Wagtail |
 |
| Little Gull & Common Gull |
 |
| Eider |
 |
| Little Gull & Common Gull |
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
 |
| Teal & Herring Gull |
 |
| Whimbrel |
 |
| Whimbrel |
 |
| Wheatear |
 |
| Dunnock |
 |
| Swallow |
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
| House Sparrow |
 |
| Common Wasp |
 |
| Eider |
 |
| Brent Geese & Eider |
 |
| Tree Sparrow |
 |
| Osprey & Herring Gull |
 |
| Guillemot |
 |
| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Linnet, Little Gull, Long Tailed Duck, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Scaup, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Wheatear,
Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
