Last Sunday afternoon, Stuart Green found a Shorelark at Barry Buddon army training range near Carnoustie. Unfortunately it was mid-afternoon which in December is almost sunset so there was no chance to try for it. Even if the weather had been suitable on Wednesday live firing was scheduled at the ranges so access wasn't possible meaning that Saturday would be the first chance for anyone else to see the bird. Although there are also at least 2 Shorelarks in Lothian just now, I had no easy way of getting these on Saturday so the Angus bird would be my main target. I decided I would get to where the bird had been seen as soon after sunrise as public transport would allow.
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| Shorelark |
I headed out into the darkness at 0715 to catch a number 73 bus to Barry village and from there walk out around a little over 3 miles to where Stuart had found the bird on the beach. A Blackbird was in a small tree and Herring Gulls were seen from the bus stop barely visible in the gloom. A Carrion Crow pair flew over as I got on the bus. As the sky lightened I was able to add Pink Footed Geese lifting from near the burn as the bus passed Balmossie and a Black Headed Gull which flew past the bus as it waited by Tesco in Monifieth. A Jackdaw was seen in flight a little further along the road and Rooks were seen near the caravan site.
It was just after 0800 when I alighted from the bus and set off for the ranges along the western edge of Carnoustie. A Kestrel flew up and hovered above the field edge and a flooded area in the field held a number of Mallard. A few Woodpigeons were in the trees by the burn. Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll and Starling were added as I walked along the road into the MOD site. A distant Buzzard flew along the line of trees across a firing range spooking a tree full of Woodpigeons which flew off in panic. A few Curlews were seen next and a Coal Tit was heard but not seen. By now the sun had risen and I added a Blue Tit and a Rabbit before 2 Meadow Pipits flew over.
It was just after 0900 when I reached the beach a little further to the south from where Stuart had found the bird. This was intentional as I wanted the sun behind me, knowing it would be low in the sky. Squinting into the sun is never a great idea and I didn't want an inconclusive view of a bird flying off. Things were quiet on the sand, though by the water's edge were a few Cormorants, a Curlew and a few Oystercatchers. The Curlew spotted me and flew off before I clambered down onto the beach from the dunes. I walked a short distance and stopped to scan, then repeated this cycle a couple of times until I saw a small bird scurry out onto the beach ahead of me. A quick look through the binoculars confirmed I had my
Shorelark.
I attempted to give the bird room so it was comfortable enough to go back to where it had been before I arrived and moved down towards the water. The bird scurried a few more metres then flew off out towards the water and round to the west though I lost sight of it against the water so had no idea whether it had flown back or not. As I have lots of close Shorelark photos from Tentsmuir a few years ago, my plan had been to head round the beach to the lighthouse looking for Pipits, in the hope of finding a Water Pipit, though my expectation levels were minimal. Oystercatchers, a Common Gull, a Great Black Backed Gull, a few Eiders and a small flock of Bar Tailed Godwits were all seen but no Pipits of any description.
A few hundred metres on I was aware of a bird scurrying along parallel to me and stopped to find it was the Shorelark. It stopped too having spotted me again and flew off, this time back towards where it had been originally. I continued on to the lighthouse and headed back inland. A Kestrel flew by and landed on a pole some distance away. A Curlew flew up from a shooting range. I passed a few walkers on their way out and eventually met a birder, Alex Shepherd who was on his way out to try and see the Shorelark. We chatted for quite a while noting Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Meadow Pipits before we headed off in opposite directions again.
I detoured in towards the ponds and found a small flock of Teal and some Mallards on the scrape pool. Heading back towards the railway line I added Chaffinch and a Magpie. Jay were heard but not seen. Things were a little more active by the houses and stables to the north of the railway line and I was able to add House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Coal Tit, Redwing and Dunnock, as well as a few more Woodpigeons, Blackbirds and Blue Tits. A Song Thrush was seen as I headed along the muddy track to Carnoustie and a Robin was added as I waited for the bus to Arbroath in Barry village.
I had considered heading to Montrose Basin from Arbroath but decided to go with my original plan which was to walk back along the coast towards Carnoustie in the hope of finding a Water Pipit. My expectation levels were rather low but it was relatively mild and was still only mid-day. The battery on my mobile phone however was rapidly draining which isn't handy when it doubles as my 'notebook' for my sightings courtesy of my copy of Bird Journal app. A small flock of Ringed Plover and a couple of Dunlin were by the water's edge. At the burn a pair of Mute Swans were seen swimming up towards the bridge and a Redshank flew in the opposite direction. A Grey Wagtail was heard but not seen.
A Stonechat showed on the fence by the railway line and a Reed Bunting was seen in flight as I headed along the track before I detoured out to the wooden platform overlooking the beach. A Red Throated Diver was seen heading west, rather distantly and another (or maybe the same one) was seen a little higher heading east a minute or so later. Otherwise things were very quiet offshore. Looking back towards Arbroath I spotted a Short Eared Owl hunting distantly over the golf course, with a couple of photographers in attendance. It eventually flew west along the railway line and gave me reasonable views before heading back towards the clubhouse area again. (I wasn't intending on mentioning the specific location of this bird as they tend not to get much peace from photographers when locations are made public, but as Rare Bird Alert (& Birdguides?) reported the bird yesterday I guess it is now in the public domain, so no real point in trying to bolt the stable door now the horse has gone. If you stay put in one spot Short Eared Owls will usually at some point come and check you out, and it is a lot less tiring, for the photographer and the harried bird(s) than chasing them around).
Further on a Pied Wagtail was seen down on the beach before I found a small flock of Oystercatchers and a Purple Sandpiper roosting. Not too far on a small flock of Grey Plover, a single Knot and 3 Dunlin were by the water's edge. I remembered having seen a post on Twitter about a washed up Basking Shark corpse and I was able to smell the strong rotten fish smell from a good distance away downwind. Although I knew it was quiet a sizeable fish, I was surprised by the bulk of what remained above the sand (I think the tail has been buried by blowing sand) and took a few photos. I think there was still roughly at least 12-15 feet of shark visible. The tide was coming in quite fast by now and I continued along the top edeg of the dunes so as not to disturb any birds down on the beach.
I passed a couple of Turnstones before I had to head down onto the beach because of erosion of the track along the top. Ahead of me I could see there were birds on the beach so I stopped for a look. Within seconds a trio of runners appeared along the dune edge flushing the lot, mostly Redshanks and gulls. One Redshank remained but didn't linger long. Moving on again I found a flock of 29 Teal not far offshore, and a little further round there were plenty of Wigeon on the water. The fields across the railway line held a flock of Oysteractchers by the small pool and the Redshanks flushed from the beach had joined them. A small party of Linnets flew round before heading inland.
I eventually managed to find a few Rock Pipits on the beach along with a Grey Wagtail and a few Pied Wagtails searching among piles of seaweed on the beach. The birds foraged below the path while I took a few photos. Within a minute or so a dog ran along the beach flushing the lot. The owner a little further behind seemed to contemplate catching the dog but decided not to bother. I continued on towards Easthaven which I could see ahead of me. A few more Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails, plus a small flock of Sanderling, a few Turnstones and a Wigeon or two were seen before I headed to the bus stop. As I had around 10 minutes to kill I decided to photograph the Pink Footed Geese in the field across the road from the village which I'd seen from the bus to Arbroath earlier. Thankfully, they were rather settled and even a trio of cyclists on their side of the road didn't bother them at all. From the bus I added a Sparrowhawk over Carnoustie and a Pheasant in a field opposite the caravan park.
I decided to try Balmossie though I reckoned I had already seen most of the likely species. I decided to get off the bus at the western end of the caravan park at Monifieth to walk along to the Dighty and then to catch the bus home from there. A Linnet and a Rock Pipit with a green ring on one leg and a metal ring on the other were both seen, though frustratingly the Pipit disappeared before I managed to get the camera out of the bag. A few Feral Pigeons were seen flying over and a drake Goldeneye was seen out beyond the gulls on the water. A few Black Headed and Common Gulls rested on the wooden groynes. A female Goldeneye swam out at the burn mouth. Checking the roosting Redshanks, Dunlin and Turnstone on the other side of the burn I found a ringed Dunlin and was able to get a readable code from it (white U1C). I suspect the bird is from a Polish ringing scheme, as were a couple of similarly ringed Dunlin seen last year at Barry Buddon with Stuart Green and Chris McGuigan. As it was now after 1500 and the light was fading fast I headed for the bus and home.
A successful twitch with a year-tick (in bold), and a less successful hunt for a rarity of my own also produced a total of 60 species of bird and 1 mammal.
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| Bar Tailed Godwit & Oystercatcher |
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| Shorelark |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Kestrel |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Magpie |
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| Tree Sparrow |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Stonechat |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Mallard |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Cormorant |
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| Short Eared Owl |
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| Short Eared Owl |
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| Short Eared Owl |
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| Short Eared Owl & Oystercatcher |
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| Short Eared Owl |
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| Grey Plover, Knot & Dunlin |
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| Oystercatcher & Purple Sandpiper |
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| Basking Shark corpse |
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| Teal |
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| Redshank |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon & Teal |
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| Linnet |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Common Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Redshank |
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| Dunlin (U1C) & Turnstone |
Species seen -Bar tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrek, Knot, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling,
Shorelark, Short Eared Owl, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Mammals - Rabbit.
