Having read on Twitter that the Arbroath Black Tern had actually been seen on Saturday afternoon around high tide, I decided that I would head for Arbroath for high tide with fingers crossed that the bird would once again put in an appearance. As I was in the process of getting organised, Jacqui messaged me to see if I was out birding. I told her I was heading out and after a short discussion we decided that she would pick me up and we would try for Roseate Tern at Westhaven and then try for the Black Tern. If we were successful with either we would probably try for Curlew Sandpiper around Craigmill Burn outflow.
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| Little Gull |
I headed out at around 1125 to walk to the arranged meeting point. Herring Gull and Woodpigeon were the only birds seen. Once underway, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw were soon added. House Martins were seen near Carnoustie and a Grey Heron was stood in the roadside fields between Easthaven and Westhaven. We wandered down to the beach and found a spot to sit in the sunshine where the light wasn't too much of an issue to scan through the terns out on the rocks. A Cormorant and a Great Black Backed Gull were atop the wooden poles offshore, while a mixture of Common and Sandwich Terns were out on the rocks along with a few Kittiwakes. A couple of Eiders were on the water and there were a number of Gannets passing further out.
Despite the wind being in our faces it wasn't cold. A small flock of Starlings and a smaller group of House Sparrows foraged on the shore. A lone Turnstone was stood out on a rock. There were a few Redshanks dotted around. A single Common Gull picked around in the seaweed with a group of Black Headed Gulls. A small group of Common Scoters headed west and a short while later a flock of Wigeon did likewise closer in to shore, with a single Mallard alongside them. What looked like a shearwater turned out to be a back-lit Fulmar. A few minutes later I did succeed in picking out a Shearwater, a Manx Shearwater heading east at speed. A Red Throated Diver followed a little later. The tern numbers on the rocks in front of us increased slowly and I checked regularly for Roseate Terns, but had no luck.
A small flock of Teal repeatedly took to the air before settling back on the water again. There was some disruption from the rising tide to the large numbers of gulls and terns on the rocks off to the east, but numbers of birds moving nearer to us were rather minimal. A few Goosanders flew past. A Curlew settled among some of the terns. A group of Dunlin skimmed low over the water towards Carnoustie. We waited until around 1320 before heading for Arbroath, adding Pied Wagtails on the beach as we walked back to the car.
We arrived at Arbroath harbour, and parked beside the multitude of camper vans currently occupying the stretch beside the pumping station building. A small group of mostly Common Terns and Black Headed Gulls were down on the exposed mud in the harbour at the foot of the slipway. Among them were a couple of ringed birds - a Black Headed Gull with a yellow ring (2AR5) and a Common Tern with a black ring (6.61). Also in the group were a rather ill looking Arctic Tern and a pair of adult Little Gulls. A Rock Pipit foraged along the water's edge. There were lots of terns moving offshore though the wind was far stronger now and it was hard to hold binoculars and cameras steady.
Jacqui edged closer for photos while I watched from farther back. We decided to head along the front to the west to check around the back of Gayfield football ground and Jumping Joeys. A juvenile Little Gull was among the flock of gulls just offshore and it did a passable impression of a Storm Petrel as it danced on the surface of the waves below us. The sun had disappeared behind the grey clouds which had rolled in and the temperature had dropped. As we headed back along towards teh harbour there were a number of growing flocks of terns massing on the shore with Turnstones foraging among them. It was difficult to scan through them but there was no obviously darker bird among them. A few Oystercatchers flew by.
What I did find though was an unexpected juvenile Mediterranean Gull stood on a rock behind the bulk of one of the flocks. A nice surprise but not the hoped for year-tick. A flock of Red Breasted Merganser headed east over the harbour. I sought shelter from the wind by peering out from the ends of some of the camper vans but there was still no sign of any Black Tern or Roseate Terns, though the conditions were not helpful in the slightest. We decided to head along towards the cliffs. Watching from the car we spotted a distant Arctic Skua and a passing Manx Shearwater. Despite the conditions, Jacqui suggested we head up onto the cliffs to try sea-watching from a higher vantage point.
There were birds on the move, mostly Gannets and Kittiwakes, with a few other gulls and terns. Jacqui spotted a skua in close and I managed to get a series of photos. A short while later a different skua came in relatively close. The first bird looked quite heavy and had a short tail projection which looked quite squared off. The thought was probable Pomarine Skua and I reported it to the ADBC grapevine as such. The second bird was darker and seemed more typical of Arctic Skua. Later at home having checked the photos and books, both birds appear to have been Arctic Skuas, though there is still a slight element of doubt to the IDs. A Razorbill bobbed around among the waves. After around 30 minutes of sitting at the cliff edge facing into the wind we walked back down to the car with a Sparrowhawk zipping up from the direction of the sea and heading inland over the field as we did so. Back at the car we decided to call it a day and headed for home, adding Magpie to the list in Dundee.
A decent afternoon's birding despite the lack of success on both target species with Manx Shearwater, 3 Arctic Skuas, 3 Little Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull to show for our efforts among the 42 species seen.
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| Common Scoter |
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| Fulmar |
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| Gannet |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Wigeon & Teal |
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| Cormorant |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Teal |
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| Little Gull & Common Tern |
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| Little Gull, Common Tern, Black Headed Gull & Redshank |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Common Tern, Turnstone, Black Headed Gull |
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| Common Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull & Little Gull |
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| Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull & Little Gull |
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Little Gull
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| Herring Gull |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Arctic Tern & Mediterranean Gull |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
Species seen - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Little Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Mediterranean Gull, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sandwich Tern, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
