Monday was a local holiday here in Dundee and I intended to get out birding. I'd made arrangements to get out and about with Susan with a trip up to Aberdeenshire and the Ythan estuary for Spoonbill and maybe Crane our main focus. Knowing that Susan also needed Mediterranean Gull and we both still needed Little Stint for our year-lists I decided on a few stops on our way up the coast. This also meant that traffic in Aberdeen was likely to be quieter than around morning rush hour. The downside was that we would have less time to spend around the Ythan area.
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| Black Headed Gull |
It was a later start than either Saturday or Sunday with an 0800 pick-up arranged. I headed out at just after 0745. The walk down to meet Susan was quite productive and got the list for the day off to a reasonable start with Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Swift, Pied Wagtail, Carrion Crow and Blue Tit all seen along the way. We headed first for Arbroath adding Magpie and Swallow to the list before stopping at the waterfront in Arbroath to try for Mediterranean Gull at one of the usual areas where the species is often seen in Autumn.
There were Sandwich Terns offshore with Black Headed Gulls roosting on the pebbles. A few Redshanks and Oystercatchers could also be seen. A Curlew flew past and a Common Gull drifted by. With no luck here we moved slightly further east towards the harbour adding Jackdaw and a Lesser Black Backed Gull before we left. Linnet was the only addition here so we made a quick detour along towards the cliffs. Turnstone, Grey Heron and some Gannets offshore were seen along with a few more Herring Gulls and Curlews but there was no sign of any obvious Mediterranean Gulls.
Montrose Basin was our next stop and we were able to add House Martin, Starling and Rook on the way to The Lurgies. Little Stint was our target species here. As we scanned from the end of teh burn we were joined by another birder. This was Fiona McLean who Jacqui knew from her school days and had gained some local knowledge of where to look around the west from in a phone call before Sunday's outing. Fiona asked how we'd done and I was able to tell her we'd managed 2 of the target species. Fiona was also looking for the Little Stint but had only managed "possible" views so far.
Lapwings, Common Sandpiper, Great Black Backed Gull, Mute Swan and Greylag Geese were all added before we walked along the track for a better view over the pebbles at the bend in the river. A Sedge Warbler sang from the reeds behind us. A few Dunlin were seen and a small group of Pink Footed Geese could be seen on the opposite shore. A surprise was an overflying Great Spotted Woodpecker. A pair of Stock Doves flew past and Redshanks and Greenshanks could be seen over at The Slunks. A few Mallards were spotted along with a few roosting Goosander. A distant Cormorant was on the dead tree out on the mud. There were a few female Eider quite far upriver.
More scanning gave us Ringed Plover and Snipe as well as a family party of Red Breasted Merganser and a Common Tern. Brief views of a tiny wader which photos showed to be the
Little Stint were had as it rested by the Redshanks and Greenshanks on the western side of The Slunks before it disappeared further back into the group. Because we weren't sure that this was the bird, we hung around for high tide in the hope that we would get confirmation, or better views. While scanning I found a nice bonus
Ruff, another year-tick for us both. A small group of Black Tailed Godwits were found still showing the orange breasts of summer plumage. There were plenty of butterflies flitting around near us - Green Veined Whites, Large Whites, Small Whites, Meadow Browns and Small Tortoiseshell. A pair of Little Grebe, and adult and a youngster, were added as we walked back to teh car to move on again.
Coot and Tufted Duck were seen as we passed Loirston Loch on the outskirts of Aberdeen. An hour later we were at the Waulkmill Hide on the Ythan estuary. Susan spotted a couple of Shelduck and I found the
Spoonbill relatively quickly. A Buzzard was on a fencepost. Not knowing if the Rosy Coloured Starling was still around at Bullers of Buchan or not we decided we might as well have a look as we were in the area. It was slightly further on than I remembered but we were able to add the cliff nesting birds - Guillemot, Razorbill, Kittiwake, Shag, and eventually a Fulmar, as well as a Raven and a few Puffins. There was a small flock of Starlings around one of the gardens but no sign of the Rosy. Common Blue, Dark Green Fritillary and a Ringlet added to our butterfly list for the day.
We headed back down to the Ythan, still hoping for Cranes. As we wanted to be back through Aberdeen vefore rush hour hit we only had a short window near the mouth of the estuary. Grey and Common Seal were seen here as well as rather leucistic female Eider. A few Arctic Terns passed by. House Martins flew in and out of the nest on the shed behind us. As I scanned I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be quite a dark bird as it vanished behind the dunes opposite. I scanned along hoping the bird would reappear above the ridge but it failed to do so. The thought that it might have been the Sooty Tern previously seen briefly a few days earlier, though not since crossed my mind but was soon dismissed, at least until I got home to find that the Sooty Tern had been reported back at the Ythan around 1720. One that got away?
A Yellowhammer perched atop the hut at the car park before we hit the road southwards again. We made it through Aberdeen relatively quickly given the time of day and squeezed in a stop at a bone dry Rigifa Pool. A Sparrowhawk was seen over the road but we had no further additions on the way home.
Despite the few 'dips' I still managed to add 3 new species to my year-list (in bold), and a new butterfly species for the year too.
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| Redshank, Greenshank, Carrion Crow, Lapwing, Little Stint, Dunlin |
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| Redshank, Greenshank, Dunlin, Little Stint, Carrion Crow |
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| Snipe |
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| Dunlin |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Redshank, Ruff |
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| Ruff & Greenshank |
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| Ruff |
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| Snipe |
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| Eider, Lapwing, Dunlin, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Great Black Backed Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Woodpigeon, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Greylag Goose, Spoonbill |
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| Razorbill & Kittiwake |
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| Razorbill & Shag |
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| Fulmar & Herring Gull |
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| Eider & Common Seal |
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| Sandwich Tern |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe,
Little Stint, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Raven, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rook,
Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Snipe, Sparrowhawk,
Spoonbill, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Common Blue, Dark Green Fritillary, Green Veined White, Large White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Samll Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Mammals seen - Common Seal, Grey Seal.
