While seawatching with Roy recently, he mentioned that he didn't really know much about the birding sites along the Angus coast, so we provisionally arranged a day's birding on the coast. Tuesday was the day decided upon, though with continuing strong winds from the west I didn't fancy our chances of seeing too much of interest. However, as the main reason was to let Roy see where places were this wasn't a major problem. Any good birds seen would be a bonus.
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| Little Stint, Redshank, Sanderling & Turnstone |
As Roy was coming from Lothian a 0930 start time was decided upon so I headed out at 0925 to meet Roy nearby. A Magpie, Herring Gull and Carrion Crow were all seen before we got going. Our first stop would be Arbroath to try for the Curlew Sandpiper for Roy's year-list before we headed up the coast to Montrose before working our way back down again. Blackbird, Woodigeon and Starling were seen on the way to Arbroath. We arrived there at 1000 and looked over the wall at the pool where the bird has been seen regularly but it wasn't there.
I could see birds further along the beach, looking like Dunlin. There was a good chance if the bird was still around it would be near these. Black Headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Rock Pipit and some passing Meadow Pipits were all seen before we found a spot where we could scan through the waders but far enough back so not to disturb them. We were able to confirm that they were Dunlin. The light was rather harsh and the birds were largely back-lit but I eventually managed to pick out the Curlew Sandpiper and got Roy's scope onto the bird for him. As he watched it a Grey Heron flew over and a pair of Knot looked like they were going to land before continuing on westwards.
We added Jackdaw, Sandwich Tern, Gannet, Swallow, Eider, House Martin and Lesser Black Backed Gull as well as Great Black Backed Gull and Redshank before we headed up the A92 to Montrose Basin. Buzzard was added along the way. To show Roy the main spots around the Basin we took the long way round to the Lurgies, pointing out the various spots on the way. House Sparrows were seen along the way. We walked along the banking at The Lurgies which gave us Greenshank, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Black Tailed Godwit and Curlew. Cormorant, Common Gull, Lapwing, Linnet and Mute Swan were seen at the top end but overall it was very quiet with hardly any waders seen. Red Admiral and Small White butterflies were a surprise given the strong winds. Some distant Greylag Geese, Wigeon and Shelduck were seen before we arrived back at the car.
Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Robin were seen at the car park before we set off for Mains of Usan. Goldfinches were seen here but we chose not to stop as things looked very quiet. Next was Fishtown of Usan where we walked along the stubble field to see what we could see out on the water. A Painted Lady butterfly was noted and Feral Pigeons were round the ruined tower. A Grey Heron and a few Great Black Backed Gulls were on the rocks while offshore a few Guillemots could be seen. A Grey Seal swam by but out over the sea things looked very quiet. A few Sandwich Terns fished just beyond the rocks.
Our next stop was at Boddin where we decided to walk down to the Lime Kilns to try a spot of seawatching out of the wind with the building, hopefully, providing a windbreak. A Wheatear was seen on the walk down and a Kestrel was hunting near the ruins. A Red Throated Diver flew into the bay, struggling against the wind a bit. There wasn't a lot happening though we did see a few more Gannets and Sandwich Terns as well as Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemots and Razorbills plus Eiders and various gulls. A second Red Throated Diver flew by, much further out. We moved on again this time to the car park at Lunan Bay where Greenfinches were feeding on rosehips and bathing in a puddle where they were joined by a Dunnock.
From the wooden viewing platform we were able to see Common and Velvet Scoters out in the bay. A few Red Throated Divers were just offshore. Kittiwakes and Common Terns were seen in addition to Cormorants, Shags, Razorbills and Guillemots and a few distant Gannets. Our next stop was Auchmithie, via Boghead Farm but there was no sign of any Corn Buntings or Grey Partridegs along the way. Things were quiet in the gulley and offshore with more of the same, Fulmars and Gannets offshore and Cormorants perched high of the cliffs to the north. Rook was sen on the way into Arbroath. Unfortunately, the tide was already well in and our hoped for second chance at better views of Curlew Sandpiper had to be abandoned.
We tried the high tide roost near the harbour but only managed a handful of Turnstone, a few Ringed Plover and a pair of Purple Sandpipers. The Purple Sandpipers were a welcome year-tick for Roy. We headed along to Easthaven next but failed to add anything before heading along to Westhaven where we met Stuart Green in the car park. He'd just sent me a message to tell me he'd found a Little Stint and a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull but my phone had slipped onto silent and I hadn't noticed but our timing was perfect anyway.
The three of us watched the Little Stint feeding among the seaweed further along the beach before we wandered down to get a bit closer. As well as the Little Stint there were Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Dunlin, Pied Wagtail, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit and Sanderling all feeding together while a large group of Black Headed Gulls along with a few Mallard fed just offshore. We succeeded in not spooking any of the birds and settled down to watching the birds feeding before calling it a day at around 1640 and heading back to the car. The Mediterranean Gull dropped in just as we were about to leave giving us another good bird for the day. Collared Dove and Sparrowhawk were seen on the way back to Dundee where Roy dropped me off at the same place where he'd picked me up, before heading back home happy with the day's haul.
I managed to see 67 species of bird which was more than I expected to, and the 3 species of butterfly were definitely unexpected. The single mammal species was neither really expected nor unexpected. All in all a decent enough day's birding with the main reason for the day comprehensibly covered and a couple of year-ticks for Roy a nice bonus. Getting good views of the Little Stint was probably my highlight.
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Knot |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Little Egret |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Heron & gulls |
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| Common Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Cormorant |
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| Greylag Gosse & Cormorant |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Wigeon & gulls |
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| Lapwing |
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| Greenshank |
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| Razorbill |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Common Tern |
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| Razorbill & Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Kestrel |
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| Common Scoter & Velvet Scoter |
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| Common Tern |
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| Red Throated Diver & Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Dunnock & Greenfinch |
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| Cormorant & Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Purple Sandpiper |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Redshank, Little Stint, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Pied Wagtail, Turnstone & Starling |
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| Litle Stint |
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| Ringed Plover, Pied Wagtail, Turnstone, Little Stint, Redshank |
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| Ringed Plover (Sanderling & Pied Wagtail) |
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| Sanderling |
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| Little Stint & Sanderling |
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| Redshank, Little Stint, Sanderling, Turnstone & Dunlin |
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| Starling |
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| Mallard |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull & Mediterranean Gull |
Species seen -Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Stint, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Purple Sandpiper, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Wheatear, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies seen - Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Small White.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal.
