On Thursday I had to leave work early to be home in time in case an arranged 'evening appointment' arrived at 1600 (that's not evening!). However, the appointment was cancelled so I made some rather short-notice arrangements with Jacqui to attempt to see the Roseate Terns at Westhaven found by Stuart green of Angus Birdtours and the Black Tern at Rossie Spit, Montrose Basin found by Simon Ritchie. Around high tide appeared to be the best for both species and with high tide around 1730 or so we decided to try Montrose first then head down to Westhaven. As Jacqui had to be home for 2000, we would have roughly an hour at both locations to try for 2 year-ticks for me and a Scottish tick for Jacqui (the Roseate Tern).
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| Arctic Tern |
After a very quick turnaround at home I headed out to meet Jacqui to head for Montrose. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon seen on the way, with Mute Swan, Coot, Black Headed Gull and Mallard seen as we passed Swannie Ponds. Carrion Crow, Swallow, Goldfinch, Starling, Jackdaw, Great Black Backed Gull, Collared Dove, House Sparrow and Woodpigeon were all seen between Dundee and our arrival at Rossie Spit where the Black Terns had been seen the previous few days.
House Martins and Swallows swept low along the beach as we scanned into the sun. The wader roost opposite appeared to be Oystercatchers, Dunlin and Redshanks. There were also Common, Sandwich and Arctic Terns plus Black Headed Gulls nearby. A Grey Heron roosted further up the bank. There were a few other birders looking including the finder of the birds. Of the birds howevere, there was no sign. There were plenty of Hoverflies around, part of a rather obvious invasion from the continent of 3 species. Linnets were on the wires behind us. Common Gull flew past and I found a Common Sandpiper working along the far shore. A single Goosander was in the roost. Eider were plentiful in the Basin. A Turnstone flew in with some Redshank, and a party of Shelduck dropped in, just before a trio of Cormorants passed overhead.
We were now running slightly behind schedule and though the sunb disappearing behind the clouds did make scanning through the birds much easier we drew a blank and headed south towards Arbroath. Pied Wagtail was spotted when Jacqui stopped for chips at the Bell Rock chipper in the town. Unfortunately the shop was very busy giving us a rather more hurried attempt at the Roseate Terns than ideal. However, things were relatively quiet out on the rocks. There were Sandwich, Arctic and Common Terns as expected but there were no obvious Roseates. A Little Gull flew past and what was maybe the same bird was later spotted peeking up from behind a rock.
A Kittiwake passed by offshore. Among the terns and Black Headed Gulls, I found a Black tailed Godwit and a few Knot. A flock of Lapwing flew high over as we packed up to head back home around 1915. A Lesser Black backed Gull was added as we headed through Carnoustie. We finished on 37 species for our rather short outing and with terns the main focus it wasn't surprising that we didn't see more. A worthwhile attempt, even if it was rather against the clock. As it turned out both sites produced the goods after we left with both targets being seen by others as the tide receded.
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| Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns, Black Headed & Common Gull, Redshank |
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| Cormorant |
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| Redshank |
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| Redshank |
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| Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns, Redshank, Oystercatcher & Goosander |
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| Eider, Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns, Black Headed Gull |
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| Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns, Black Headed Gull |
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| Sandwich & Arctic Terns, Oystercatcher |
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| Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns, Black Headed Gull & Oystercatcher |
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| Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns, Black Headed Gull |
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| Knot, Black Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Common, Arctic & Sandwich Terns |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Arctic, Common & Sandwich Terns, Oystercatcher, Black Headed Gull |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Redshank, Common Terns, Little Gull |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Gull |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Dunlin, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Starling, Swallow, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
