Having had another weekend where I didn't make it outside for any birding at all, I decided I really should make an effort for my midweek day off. Unfortunately, Nat was otherwise occupied, so I would be using public transport to get around. There was a chance of snow inland and that coupled with potential targets meant that the Angus coast would be my choice, specifically Montrose Basin in the hope of Water Rail, Greenshank and maybe Little Egret, then Arbroath for a reported Iceland Gull near the cliffs as well as Coot at Keptie Pond. With Stuart Green finding unseasonal Little Gulls off Westhaven recently, I decided I would finish up there if time allowed. I figured at least 4 new year-ticks would make the effort to get up early and out into sub-zero temperatures worthwhile.
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| Iceland Gull |
Unfortunately, I slept in. Some quick checking of the Traveline Scotland app when I did get up suggested that I could still get to Arbroath if I caught a bus at around 0845 on Arbroath Road. I headed out eventually at around 0835 with around 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. This meant bursts of jogging interspersed with walking as quickly as possible on the frosty/icy patches. It also meant that I didn't have time to stop to look for birds. I did still manage to see a few - Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Herring Gull. Robin, Redwing and Blue Tit were heard but not looked for. I made it to the bus stop in time to catch the bus, which given my rush, was rather inevitably late. This did mean I was able to add a Magpie and a Black Headed Gull to the list. It was while waiting that I discovered that the bus I was about to get on continued on after Arbroath and actually stopped at the Montrose Basin visitor centre. Result!
Unfortunately it was a single decker bus with filthy windows which meant that birding on the hour long journey was largely curtailed. I did manage to add Woodpigeon and Starling as we headed out of Dundee, then Jackdaws in Arbroath and a couple of Mute Swans and my first
Coot of 2018 at Keptie Pond with unidentified gulls and ducks stood on the ice. I arrived at the closed visitor centre at around 0955 and headed down to the Bank of Scotland hide which was open, and empty. I wasn't surprised to find no-one else around given that the ponds were 95% frozen over and it was bitterly cold.
There were small skeins of Pink Footed Geese heading off from the basin in all directions. Off to the left was a large flock of mostly Pintail, though with a few Wigeon and even better, a few
Shoveler. An unexpected bonus year-tick for me. Scanning around added Eider, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Shelduck. I spotted a bird land in the grass by the pool to the left of the hide. A quick check found a Snipe's head showing among the grass. Another appeared from somewhere minutes later and I had decent views of both. More Wigeon were feeding along by the fenceline and no doubt out of sight down on the shore. A Cormorant flew past, well out over the choppy water.
An adult Great Black Backed Gull drifted past. A pair of Mallards flew off to the east before two groups of Scaup headed west past the Pintail flock. Among their numbers was a single, and rather unexpected but very welcome, drake
Pochard. Yet another year-tick. More scanning found Common Gull, Black Headed and Herring Gulls, a small flock of Mute Swans and a couple of Goldeneye. A drake Red Breasted Merganser bobbed along near some Eider and the first Redshank of the day flew past towards Rossie Spit. Movement down by the nearest pool caught my eye but the flight style had seemed quite fluttery in the split-second glimpse I'd had. A minute or so later and the mystery was solved as a nice young female Kingfisher flew out and landed on a frost-covered log lying at the end of the pool, right in front of the window I was looking out.
Despite the vegetation getting in the way a bit I did manage some decent photos. A nice wee bonus bird to get, but it wasn't a Water Rail. I mumbled something to myself about letting it be a Water rail next. When the Kingfisher flew off I spotted movement among the reedy edges of the same pool and a quick check found a nice
Water Rail picking around. The light was quite poor but I was able to get a few record shots. It was obvious that there was no sign of any Little Egrets so I decided I would head for the bus at around 1120, giving me 20 minutes travel time available. A Grey Heron flew up from the reeds and headed off over the trees. A Turnstone flew in and a drake Teal was seen with a skein of Pink Footed Geese before I packed up.
With no-one around in the car park I was able to add a few extra species - Great Tit, Chaffinch, Tree Sparrow, Blue Tit and Goldfinch. I popped down the banking in below the trees for a brief scan over Rossie Spit. Among the Curlews, Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Shoveler, Wigeon and Mallards was a single
Greenshank. I thought it was going to be one that got away but there it was, a nice surprise. Back on the path I was able to see Black Tailed Godwits as well as a few more Shoveler, a small-ish flock of Teal and a few more Mallards. House Sparrows were flying around near the bus stop and the bus arrived just a few minutes late.
Once I got to Arbroath I headed for Keptie Pond to confirm my Coot sighting from earlier. I also decided I might as well check the bushes in case there was any chance of last year's Siberian Chiffchaff being around. The pond was mostly frozen over though there was some unfrozen water around the island. There were plenty of Black Headed Gulls as well as Herring Gulls around. Mallards, Tufted Ducks and a small group of Wigeon were also seen as was a Grey Heron, at least 7 or 8 Moorhens and a few Coots. A pair of Dunnocks picked around in the bushes where the Siberian Chiffchaff had been seen last year as did a Blackbird. A Robin was heard but not seen, as was a Wren.
Woodpigeons and Jackdaws were seen overhead. A surprise find among the Tufted Ducks was what looked like a female Scaup, but photos show it to be more likely a young drake. I made the most of the chance to photograph it anyway though never quite got the side-by-side shot I was hoping for. I headed down the hill past the hospital towards Pleasureland to walk along the front with the wind behind me in the hope of finding the Iceland Gull. A single Herring Gull and a handful of Rock Pipits were among the rocks to the west of the cinema, but things were very quiet offshore.
A few Herring Gulls and not much else were seen as I headed east. Reaching the area just to the east of Gayfield football ground, I found a few waders roosting on the shore - Curlews, Turnstones, Redshanks, Purple Sandpipers and Oystercatchers. A few more Redshanks were feeding on the grassy area behind me. The breakwater held Cormorants, a few Herring Gulls and one or two more Turnstones. There was one other birder there who I asked if he;d seen much. He'd been looking for the Iceland Gull along by the cliffs and had drawn a blank. Not what I was hoping to hear, but nothing ventured, I continued eastwards.
Heading out along the road towards the cliffs and Victoria Park I found a few more Turnstones on the shore as well as a small mixed flock of Ringed Plover and Dunlin. There were hardly any gulls to be seen which did make checking those that were around a little easier. There was some activity towards Cliffburn Gulley but it was only Herring Gulls I could see. A Rock Pipit that flew across the road away from me turned out to have a metal ring on one leg. Needless to say I needed to try for photos to be able to read it. Surprisingly I did manage to get the whole ring read from my photos - a UK ringed bird VC31653. Chris McGuigan is looking into finding out where it was ringed for me.
I spotted a distant raptor circling above the fields towards East Seton farm, and photos showed it to be a Kestrel. It did eventually come closer as it hunted over the scrubby slopes running along the north side of the park. A Shag was seen passing by offshore. With nothing much else happening I decided not to continue all the way along to the cliffs, choosing instead to head up the slope to the path at the top and the area where the Iceland Gull had been seen in previous days. As I wandered along the path I caught sight of an oddly coloured gull banking round to land on the stubble field beyond the trees which were blocking my view. It had to be the bird. I hurried on until I was able to see the bird without any trees in the way. Sure enough,
Iceland Gull.
I crossed the grassy area for a better look. There were a few other Herring Gulls in the field which the farmer was in the process of ploughing. I took a few photos before the birds took flight as the tractor approached and ended up having a close flypast from the Iceland Gull before it settled again in the field. There were a few Skylarks and Rock Pipits as well as a larger flock of Linnets further over in the field. When the Iceland Gull next took flight it joined the other gulls, gliding along the top of the slope into the wind before circling round to do the same again. Again the views were rather close ones, but the positioning of the sun was far from ideal meaning the bird was mostly back-lit in my photos.
A couple walking dogs stopped to ask if I'd seen anything unusual and I told them about the gull which had decided to vanish. Thankfully it reappeared and I was able to point it out to them before I headed back towards the town centre and the bus station via a rather unnecessarily circuitous route (use map next time!). This did however result in me being in the right place at the right time as a
Peregrine (my first of the year) swept overhead and landed on a building I happened to be passing. Out came the camera and I spent a couple of minutes watching the bird as it looked around for potential prey before it flew off again. A really nice bonus year-tick and brilliant photo opportunity.
By now, time was rapidly getting the better of me and I had to hope I wouldn't have too long to wait for a bus to Carnoustie. Thankfully this proved to be the case and after around 10 minutes I was once again on a bus and headed west. A Collared Dove was on a lamp post when I got off the bus at the eastern end of Westhaven. I found the quickest route down towards the shore. There was nothing to see out on the water and only a couple of Redshanks on the grass. The sun was getting lower in the sky as I headed for Westhaven and the Craigmill Burn outflow. A nice surprise on the beach was a single Grey Plover which I was careful not to spook and managed to get probably my best, and closest, shots yet of this usually very wary species. Having passed the bird, and a few Turnstones I headed down onto the seaweed strewn sand.
Ahead of me I could see a mixed roost of waders, so I stopped. Redshanks, Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling and Ringed Plover. Unfortunately, they chose to fly off out over the bay after 20 seconds or so of eyeing me suspiciously. I took the opportunity to hurry past where they had been in the hope they would quickly re-settle, which they did. I could see gulls out on the water but they were too far away in the fading light to see much, so I headed further along the shore. More Turnstones picked around among the seaweed. I stayed as far up the shore as I could, so as not to spook the birds if at all possible. This worked with most though one or two did choose to fly off.
By now, the sun had disappeared behind clouds near the horizon and the temperature had dropped a little further. This made scanning through the gulls trickier than I liked. They appeared to be Black Headed Gulls, but one with black on the wings caught my eye and photos showed it to be the hoped for
Little Gull. A Cormorant was out on one of the poles and a few Eider were seen well out over the water. I headed up off the beach to walk along past the horse fields and out to the mouth of the burn and the gull roost I could just make out ahead. I successfully avoided disturbing the Curlews, Redshanks and Oystercatchers along the shore but a couple of walkers coming back along the beach had the opposite effect.
A Mistle Thrush was heard ahead of me, and was eventually seen. A small flock of Oystercatchers in the field moved off away from me as I passed and a number of Rooks were seen in the trees around Panbride House. The gull roost was mostly Herring Gulls, a few Great Black Backeds, a few Commons and Black Headed Gulls. In addition there were a few more Grey Plover, some Wigeon and Mallards and assorted waders. There was a single Eider further out on the water though no sign of any Divers. With the light now getting gloomier I headed back towards Westhaven and Carnoustie to wait for a bus back to Dundee.
A very successful and enjoyable day out, with lots of unexpected right place/right time encounters among the 61 species seen. I managed 8 year-ticks (in bold) among that number, which was much higher than anticipated. All in all, I'm glad I made the effort to get up and out, even if my fingers were rather chilly at times, despite my gloves.
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Pintail & Wigeon |
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| Shoveler |
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| Snipe |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Wigeon |
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| Scaup & Pochard |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Snipe |
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| Wigeon |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Water Rail |
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| Water Rail |
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| Greenshank |
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| Curlew & Shoveler |
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| Scaup & Tufted Duck |
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| Scaup & Tufted Duck |
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| Scaup & Tufted Duck |
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| Moorhen |
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| Herring Gull (& Moorhen) |
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| Wigeon & Mallard |
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| Coot |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Cormorant |
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| Purple Sandpiper & Oystercatcher |
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| Purple Sandpiper |
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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| Ringed Plover (& Dunlin) |
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| Starling |
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| Redshank |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Kestrel |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Redshank |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Wigeon |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Sanderling |
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| Turnstone |
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| Sanderling |
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| Little Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Rock Pipit |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull,
Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit,
Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow,
Iceland Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Linnet,
Little Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Peregrine, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail,
Pochard, Purple Sandpiper, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Scaup, Shag, Shelduck,
Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone,
Water Rail, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
