Having not been out birding last weekend or mid-week I wanted to get out and about on Saturday morning. With 2 Spoonbills having been seen at Montrose Basin, I had something worth getting up early for. I just needed them not to go anywhere before I could get there. With rather warm temperatures and then thunderstorms and torrential rain forecast, I knew I needed to try and go for them. Having mentioned that I was intending to try for them on Facebook on Friday evening, I received a message from Facebook friend John Clark saying to let him know if I was headed for Montrose.
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| Ringed Plover |
I headed out around 0655 into what was already a bit of a humid morning. House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Woodpigeon were quickly onto the list, followed quickly by Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Magpie, Swifts and Herring Gull. Blue Tit, Starling and Lesser Black Backed Gull rounded off the initial batch of species before I got on the bus. From the bus I was able to add a few more species with House Martins, Oystercatchers and Jackdaws between Dundee and Arbroath. A Robin at the bus station in Arbroath gave me another. Swallows, Rooks and Skylark were the final additions before I made it to Ferryden. Having messaged John Clark on the way up, I had arranged to meet John's wife Gail nearby. The big plus was that I would not be faced with a 3 mile or so walk round the Basin.
Chaffinch and Pied Wagtail were seen on the way round to meet John at Maryton Steps. John was further round in the Basin when we arrived and with Gail having seen the Spoonbills earlier, she knew where to look to try and find them. There were plenty of Eiders and Herring Gulls dotted around, as well as Shelducks. So much white. There was also rather a lot of heat haze despite the time. To add to the difficulties the sun was more or less still in the eastern sky, so behind the area of the Basin where we were looking. There were a few Common Terns fishing and a number of Mute Swans and Grey Herons around also.
Thankfully,
Spoonbills are quite distinctive and I managed to find one without too much difficulty, given the conditions and distance. A Cormorant looked as if it was trying to hide them as it stood with its wings out, in front of the Spoonbills. A pair of Sandwich Terns went past. Black Headed and Common Gull were added as well. I found a Red Breasted Merganser and a Curlew and John spotted a Great Black Backed Gull. We headed round to Rossie Spit where a couple of Goosanders lounged by the water's edge on the mud. After a bit of discussion and breakfast for John and Gail we decided to head to Mains of Usan to see if we could find anything interesting there.
Stopping by the trees just before the gates to the big house we were able to add Tree Sparrows, Yellowhammer, Wren and Great Tit as well as a Sedge Warbler. A possible Garden Warbler was heard singing but we failed to see it. The pond held Tufted Ducks and Moorhens. Things were otherwise rather quiet with a few Linnets around the farm area with Pied Wagtails also. Goldfinch was also spotted.
Next we headed further along the road to Fishtown of Usan. A male Kestrel gave us great views as it hovered near the car. I heard a bird song that I recognised from my seat in the back of John's Range Rover. It was a Corn Bunting. As it was a bird that John hadn't photographed we stopped to look for it, finding it perched on an overhead wire. I was able to photograph it through the open window, while John got his through the open sun roof. A second Corn Bunting appeared and bothe birds flew off together. We headed down towards the beach area.
There were a few Sand Martins and Swallows circling around and a couple of drake Eiders on the beach. Offshore I picked up a number of Kittiwakes passing northwards. A Rock Pipit and a pair of Ringed Plovers were among the rocks along with a few House Sparrows. Linnets were rather numerous. Razorbills and Guillemots added to the passage offshore. Myself and Gail ended up hunting among the vegetation for insects, finding lots of tiny micro-moths, and a probably Silver Ground Carpet moth, as well as a small grasshopper. There were numerous flies of various types and an ichneumon wasp species as well as a wolf spider with egg sac. I spotted a Gannet over the water, and a Mallard drake zipped past. The Kestrel came back round over the bay and a couple of Skylarks put in an appearance.
With John and Gail having to get home for their dog around lunchtime they dropped me off in Ferryden so I could walk out to the lighthouse at Scurdie Ness. On the way back down from Usan, John had spotted a Buzzard fly off a fence low across a field. I thanked John and Gail for the morning and set off for the lighthouse. Things were relatively quiet in the river and disappointingly there appeared to be no Terns of any sort commuting back and forward to feed off the river mouth. I was hoping to maybe find a Little Tern but the complete lack of Terns made this even more unlikely.
A Kestrel was ahead of me along the path, hovering at intervals and then as I got closer moving off ahead of me again. There were a few Meadow Pipits seen along the fences. Across at the beach I spotted 5 Greylag Geese, one of which had a white leg ring on its left leg and a metal one on the other. A dog walker spooked them and they flew off towards the Basin. A few Eiders and Cormorants shuttled seawards and back. The kestrel eventually caught what looked like a small vole and headed off south. Things were rather quiet offshore when I got settled on the small worn concrete square just south of the lighthouse.
I scanned and eventually found a party of Guillemots on the water. Most movement was happening further out. There were some Gannets visible, but even the numbers of these was low. One or two Fulmars were seen, giving passable Shearwater impressions. A small string of Common Scoters headed north. A few Rock Pipits caught my attention nearby. As I scanned the waves I spotted a couple of fins breaking the surface. Dolphins. There were at least 2 pairs and a few minutes later what appeared to be another couple headed south. A few Common Terns did appear and a Red Throated Diver was found on the water but it dived as I was about to photograph it. I found a wader sleeping on the rocks to the south and set off to try to ID it. A Ringed Plover scuttled away across the rock pools as I picked my way across the rocky shore.
Following the Ringed Plover which had a yellow flag and a couple of rings on its legs I found a roosting group of mostly Ringed Plovers. There was a Dunlin in the pools, and another couple on the rocks, as well as a single breeding plumaged Turnstone. The initial sleeping wader appeared to be a lone Sanderling in breeding plumage (identified from photos) though I was unable to refind it, from the different angle. A female Eider was resting on the seaweed near the water. I headed back towards Ferryden slightly disappointed a the lack of interesting movements offshore. There was the usual mix of 'garden' birds around the village, while Swifts sped round above. A Dunnock was the one addition to the day list.
In case the Spoonbills had relocated to Rossie Spit I checked the area from the path along towards teh visitor centre, but drew a blank. Things were very quiet at the centre with only Eiders nearby. There were distant Mute Swans, and some Oystercatchers at Rossie Spit. Tree Sparrows, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Blue Tits and Great Tits were seen around the feeders, A Moorhen with a youngster was on one of the pools. The Common Terns were busy around the breeding raft but by 1510 I was beginning to flag having had such an early start. I headed for the bus picking up a Chiffchaff in the bushes by the steps down to the centre door but nothing else. An extra 20 minute wait for the bus didn't add anything extra and neither did the bus ride back to Dundee.
A reasonably decent day out with some nice photo opportunities and I did manage to record 67 species including the one year-tick (in bold) as well as a new micro-moth (unidentified so far).
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| Spoonbill, Herring Gulls & Grey Heron. |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Silver Ground Carpet |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Linnet |
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| Micro-moth sp. |
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| Swallow |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Linnet |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Cormorant |
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| Kestrel with Vole(?) |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Bottlenose Dolphins |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Dunlin |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Common Gull |
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| Moorhen |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush,
Spoonbill, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
