The Angus glens aren't the easiest of places to get to using public transport so I have to take any opportunity I can get to visit for the summer migrants that breed in the local uplands. With the exception of raptors which usually amounts to a Buzzard or two and maybe a Kestrel, they can be a good place to see a variety of species that take a bit more luck to encounter on the coast. Late April is still a few weeks short of what I think is the best time to visit, but circumstances meant that this mid-week's outing with Paul was potentially the only time I'd get to the glens anytime before June, so we arranged to head for 1 or 2 and see how our luck went. With a bit of luck we might pick up a few year-ticks.
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| Black Grouse |
It was a relatively early start with a 0730 pick-up arranged so I was out the door at 0715 for the 10 minute walk to meet Paul. It wasn't a particularly large list by the time I arrived at our meeting point, just a few seconds behind Paul. I'd only seen Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Blackbird, though I'd heard Coal Tit and Goldcrest too, but hadn't spent any time looking for them. Things weren't any more promising as we headed north with the only addition being Carrion Crow. We headed in to Forfar to take one of the minor roads to our particular glen of interest. This did mean a lucky catch of a Snipe flying across the road and into a field and some Jackdaws and a Starling or two.
Further on we added Rooks, Pheasants, Skylarks, Dunnock amd Swallow. A Yellowhammer was seen by the roadside before we stopped to view a large pool. A Black Headed Gull, a few Common Gulls, a couple of Lapwings and a Pied Wagtail were around the edges. A Willow Warbler sang from the trees behind us. On the water were a few Tufted Ducks, a few Teal, a Little Grebe, a single Moorhen and a Coot. A few more Swallows zipped over and there was a small active flock of Sand Martins over the far corner. I happened to glance up and got a surprise. A Swift was flying around. I snapped a few poor photos and both myself and Paul had our first year-tick of the day.
Further on, a pair of Goosander were seen down on the water below a bridge we crossed. As we neared the glen our first Buzzard circled above a small wood. An Oystercatcher was near the roadside and a Jay flew up from a little further on before landing in a tree, though our view was obscured by branches. A trio of Mallards were seen in flight as we entered the main part of the glen. Chaffinches seemed to be everywhere and a Wren flew low across the road. A few Curlews flew up from another field. The first live Rabbit (following a few roadkill ones) was in another field. Mistle Thrush and Meadow Pipit were seen before we found our first Red Grouse of the day, stood atop a fence-post by the road. It was unperturbed when we stopped alongside and took some photos before moving on again.
A Wheatear a little further on played a bit harder to get, flying on a short distance to another fencepost each time we stopped. I did eventually manage a few photos though. We parked up at the end of the road and set off for a walk a bit further into the glen. Common Sandpiper was heard from the burn. A distant Kestrel was seen hovering above the distant hills. Goldfinch and Goldcrest were seen in the trees along with the first of many Willow Warblers. A few Song Thrushes hopped around alongside the path and a Mistle Thrush landed in a field. Lapwings, Curlews and Oystercatchers were in most of the fields alongside the track.
There were a few Lesser Redpoll flying around and we had brief views of 1 which looked quite pale. Blue Tit was seen in trees next to the track and a possible Redstart was heard but not seen. A Stock Dove flew over before a Red Squirrel spotted us and ran to hide from us, though it did peek out from behind the tree trunk to keep an eye on us. Long Tailed Tits flitted through the trees before Paul spotted a herd of Red Deer on the hillside behind a large house. A few House Martins were spotted as the landscape opened out a little. We eventually managed to see a pair of
Common Sandpipers by the edge of the water before we scanned the hillsides in the hope of picking up a Ring Ouzel.
I found a pair of Wheatear but things didn't look promising until a bird flew in and landed near a large rock. A quick check and we had our
Ring Ouzel. A second male appeared from somewhere and chased off the other bird before returning to the area around the large rock. A few more Meadow Pipits showed before we decided to head back to the car. A Reed Bunting male was found perched in a tree next to a Willow Warbler and a singing Robin was found just after we spotted a pair of Dippers on the burn. Coal Tit and Great Tit were added to the list and as we neared the car again we stopped to look for a Greenfinch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker we could hear. The former was seen but the latter proved elusive.
An unexpected drake Wigeon flew past before we added Siskin to the list. We went exploring up a track into a wooded area to look for Redstart and Tree Pipit. A possible Tree Pipit was seen, but not for long enough to confirm the identity before I heard a singing
Redstart. It took a lot of searching but I eventually managed to track the bird down perched on a branch singing and we both had good views. We headed back to the car to drive further back down the glen to another place that might be good for Tree Pipit. A shower of rain meant that we spent a few minutes in the car from where a Tree Pipit was heard singing, reasonably close, but it had moved on by the time the rain stopped.
Frustratingly, we seemed to be being led by a Tree Pipit away from the road and we failed to see it before it moved off further than we wanted to go. Instead we followed a dirt track back to the road to walk up a small hill to the car. As we were a few steps on our way I heard a
Tree Pipit displaying, and managed to spot the bird, which Paul also managed to get onto. It showed on wires for a few seconds before another display flight. Another year-tick in the bag. One of the birds we were hoping for was Cuckoo but we hadn't heard or seen any at all. We decided to try a different glen.
On the way to the second glen we checked a flock of gulls in a field and added Lesser Black Backed Gull to the list. A pair of Ravens were seen distantly in the second glen - the only ones of the whole day (and raptors in the glens were limited to just a handful of Buzzards and a couple of Kestrels), and Red Grouse peppered the roadsides giving us some great views as we passed. Much further on, Paul got another year-tick when we chanced upon a nice male Black Grouse not far from the roadside. I was able to get some decent photos despite the bird being on the wrong side of the car. A Grey Heron flew over us in the rain a the end of the glen road and it followed us down most of the way back to the start of the glen. We stopped again for photos of the rather wet Black Grouse but other than Red Grouse and Meadow Pipits there wasn't much else to see, though a single Buzzard did fly over the car at the end of the glen along with a flock of Jackdaws.
Our next planned stop was around the Montrose area, either at the Lurgies or at Ferryden with Terns and seabirds the hoped for targets at the latter and wildfowl and waders at the former. A pair of Brown Hares were encountered on one of the single track country roads but both diverted off the road before I was able to get photos. House Sparrows were seen around a farm we passed through. We decided to drop into the Lurgies. Arriving at the car park we saw a number of Redshanks and a Little Egret almost immediately that we got out of the car.
Paul found a small flock of Black Tailed Godwits on the mud and I added a pair of Greylags, plus Shelduck and a Great Black Backed Gull. There were also a few Teal and Mallards around. I happened to glance up just in time to see an Osprey hovering above the river rather close by. It flew even closer before heading down into the main part of the Basin where it upset the gulls. There were a few Mute Swans down by the bend in the river while on the pebbles and mud a small mixed group of Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails picked around. A small skein of Pink Footed Geese landed in the fields to the northeast but a few minutes later flew back across the Basin.
A Greenshank was spotted behind the swans in company with a few Redshanks. As we walked back a pair of Dunlin flew off across the river and past the hide. A Goldeneye female was found as we neared the car park once again. A quick stop at Ferryden resulted in zero terns of any species though there were a few Eiders around in the river and a Gannet and a Cormorant were seen out over the bay. By now it was around 1700 so we headed inland to try Auchmithie to get Puffin for Paul's year-list. We added Collared Dove and Tree Sparrow by a garden on the way.
From the cliff tops at the end of the village at Auchmithie we managed to see around 8 Puffins, plus a number of Razorbills more distantly. A few Fulmars glided round as well as Herring Gulls. Out over the bay were a few Cormorants and Shags as well as Kittiwakes. I spotted 2 Rock Pipits chasing each other near the harbour and a Grey Seal offshore but with the time around 1750 we called it a day and headed for home.
A very successful outing with 87 species of bird seen including 5 year-ticks (in bold) for me and a few extra for Paul. We also managed to see 5 species of mammal, though there was a lack of any butterflies around.
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| Swift |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Wheatear |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Ring Ouzel |
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| Wheatear |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Dipper |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Redstart |
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| Redstart |
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| Tree Pipit |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Mute Swan, Greenshank & Redshank |
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| Redshank |
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| White Wagtail |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Wheatear |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Puffin |
Species seen - Black Grouse, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull,
Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Raven, Razorbill, Red Grouse, Redshank,
Redstart, Reed Bunting,
Ring Ouzel, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow,
Swift, Teal,
Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Wheatear, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Brown Hare, Grey Seal, Rabbit, Red Deer, Red Squirrel
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