A Sooty Tern had shown up late on Friday night at the Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire but with the bird having been seen earlier in the week on the Farne Islands for a very short time I thought that it was unlikely the bird would linger into the weekend. I decided to take a chance on the bird heading back southwards and perhaps dropping in to join the terns around the South Esk at Montrose and Ferryden. I would also attempt to squeeze in a visit to The Lurgies, roughly a 4 mile walk from the bus stop. I was undecided which to do first with the high tide times not being particularly helpful. I decided on an early start with the 0720 bus to Montrose and a decision to be made en route as to where to go when I arrived.
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| Dunlin |
I headed out at around 0655 to walk to the bus station. Herring Gull, Woodigeon, Feral Pigeon and Blackbird were seen on the walk though things were rather quiet. From the bus I was able to add a few more species on the way out of Dundee - Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow and Black Headed Gull. On the road out towards Arbroath another few species were spotted - Starlings, Pied Wagtail and Swallow. Oystercatcher and Jackdaw were seen in Arbroath and on the way to Montrose House Sparrow and House Martin joined the others on the list.
Arriving at the Ferryden roundabout just under an hour after having left Dundee I wandered round to check the tide state at the Basin behind the railway bridge. A Goldfinch flew over and a Starling and Woodpigeon shared a telegraph pole perch. Common Terns shuttled back and forward over the Basin and a Grey Heron lumbered over. Scanning out over towards Rossie Spit I was able to see Curlews, Oystercatchers and Redshanks opposite. Out on the water were lots of Eiders and there were distant Grey Seals hauled out on a sandbank. A Linnet pair landed nearby but didn't linger. More scanning of the wader roost found summer plumaged Black tailed Godwits and Knot as well as some Dunlin. A single Goosander preened among the smaller waders.
Common Gull, Dunnock, Sandwich Tern and Buzzard were also seen before I set off for Scurdie Ness lighthouse and a spot of seawatching for a few hours. A Rabbit was spotted on the traffic roundabout. Passing the harbour I paused to watch some Swifts racing around above the houses. A Skylark lifted from the fields to the south of the path and a young Willow Warbler showed well among the fenceline vegetation. A Yellowhammer and a Meadow Pipit gave me a few more ticks for the day before a Great Black Backed Gull flew out to sea. Rock Pipit and Whitethroat were added as I neared the lighthouse. Offshore HMS Montrose was turning to line up for a trip into the harbour for the weekend.
I settled down on the concrete square where I tend to sit when Seawatching here. Visibility wasn't brilliant but it was warm and dry. Ringed Plover were seen out on the rocks and offshore Common and Sandwich Terns could be seen. A Cormorant flew past. A Guillemot was seen on the water not too far offshore. A Kittiwake flew past quite far offshore and a little later I spotted a manx Shearwater heading north, low over the waves. Razorbill and Gannet were other distant additions while Arctic Tern was seen much closer in to shore. A pair of Mallard drakes moulting into eclipse plumage flew straight towards me at speed, passing low overhead. House Martins and wallows circled round behind me, while a few hundred Starlings congregated on the grass behind me. Scanning through them found plenty of ringed birds but no Rose Coloured Starlings. A Dunlin gave me close views in a small rockpool.
Common Scoters headed north and a Puffin was seen heading south at the same time as a second Manx Shearwater. A Reed Bunting showed on the wires near the lighthouse. A Fulmar and a third Manx Shearwater were seen before I decided to pack up and head back towards the visitor centre at the Basin for a quick look, spooking a small flock of Linnets that were feeding along the edge of the rocks first. Rooks and Jackdaws flew up from the fields as I walked back. There were plenty of butterflies on the wing mostly Small Whites but also a few Common Blues, Meadow Browns and a Small Tortoiseshell. A small moth proved tricky to ID as it kept its wings facing away from me as it attempted to hide among the grass before It was spookedby a hunting Ichneumon Wasp.
At the visitor centre I first popped into the empty Bank of Scotland hide. Things were quiet out front with a young Moorhen being chased by an adult the only action of any sort, though a distant Osprey hovering to the west was seen before I packed up to head up to the centre for a short visit. Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow and Collared Dove were seen around the feeders. Mute Swan and Shelduck could be seen out in the Basin. I set off on the walk to The Lurgies around 1310 expecting it to take me between 45 minutes and an hour. The estimate proved to be accurate. Birds were in short supply on the walk round with Greenfinch, Woodpigeon, Buzzard and House Sparrow the few sightings.
Alex Shepherd stopped as he was passing in his car to tell me the Little Stint that had been seen earlier in the week was possibly still around. I hoped that it would prove easier to see than the ones last year at The Wilderness in Fife initially were. Arriving at The Lurgies at 1355 I stopped to scan across the Basin. Lapwings and Greylag Geese were picked out but things looked relatively quiet. A few Common Sandpipers and a flyover Osprey were seen as I wandered along the track. Among the bushes at the bend I found Jonathan Patullo and ADBC chairman, Gus Guthrie searching among the waders. There was no sign of the Stint but hunting around did add Pink Footed Geese, Snipe, Greenshank and Stock Dove to the list. A second Osprey, Green BF from Balgavies Loch, also attempted a spot of fishing. The Dunlin that were around were caefully scrutinised but none of them could be turned into a Little Stint.
Although I was offered a lift back to the visitor centre by Jonathan I declined in the hope I might see something new on the walk back. A Sparrowhawk was the only addition on the way back. I had around 45 minutes to kill at the visitor centre and added Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Sand Martin to the list. I chatted to a novice birder from Dundee, Nadeem, who it turned out lives somewhere close to me and I was able to give him a few tips as to where might prove productive for birding. The walk back to the bus stop and the journey back to Dundee proved quiet with nothing new added.
Although the weather hadn't fully cooperated in the morning for my seawatching I still managed to see a total of 70 species for the day, though nothing new. I walked around 10.6 miles (not including the walk to/from the bus station in Dundee) which although tiring in the heat is easy enough to do in milder Autumnal weather, so will no doubt be done again over the coming months.
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| Oystercatcher, Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Oystercatcher, Redshank, Knot & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Common Tern |
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| Buzzard |
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| Starling & Woodpigeon |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Dunlin |
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| HMS Montrose |
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| HMS Montrose |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Common Tern |
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| Starling |
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| Goosander |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Swallow |
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| Mallard |
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| Linnet |
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| Guillemot |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Curlew |
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| Cormorant |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Gannet |
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| Swallow |
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| Common Tern |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Swallow |
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| Cormorant |
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| Starling |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Starling |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Skylark |
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| Eider |
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| Rook |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Grey Seal & Eider |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Buzzard |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Osprey |
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| Snipe |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Dunlin & Black Headed Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Swift |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Razorbill, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Skylark, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
mammals seen - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
