With only a few potential birding days left of 2018 for me, I'm still mildly hopeful that I might be able to add 1 or 2 of the 'missing' species for the year in those remaining days. To do that I need to actually get out and about. I arranged to get out and about on Saturday with Jacqui and we decided to try Montreathmoint Forest in the hope that the Great Grey Shrike which was seen in November was still around somewhere. With decent weather forecast there was a chance that if it was, it would be visible. Fingers were crossed, though expectation levels were rather low.
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| Purple Sandpiper |
I headed out at around 0945 to meet Jacqui nearby. Herring Gull, Starling, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Blue Tit were seen on the short walk. When I met Jacqui she pointed out a Mistle Thrush and a Fieldfare sharing a nearby tree before we set off northwards. A Black Headed Gull was added near Caird Park. Rooks were seen in decent numbers on the way up the A90. A Magpie was seen in a tall tree as we headed into Forfar. On the road out the other side of the town we added Pheasant and at Rescobie Loch Coot were seen. There were also a variety of ducks - probably Tufted Ducks and Goldeneye but the glare off the water made them difficult to identify definitively from the moving car. Woodpigeons and Chaffinches were seen as we neared Montreathmont Forest.
Things were relatively quiet as we headed down the track though a Bullfinch male did show ahead of us as we reached the area near the hide. A flock of Yellowhammers were seen in the top of one of the trees behind the hide - at least 11 birds. A small flock of Skylarks flew over, and we found a party of Long Tailed Tits in the trees at the top of the slope. A Crossbill was heard but not seen. Further on where the path peters out what was likely a Woodcock was flushed but our views were blocked by trees. Coal Tits were seen carrying food to cache again. We lingered for a while but there wasn't much more activity though a flock of at least 14 Bullfinches in a single tree was a nice bonus.
On the walk back to the car a Robin and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were seen. A flock of Fieldfares flew over as we were about to leave for Montrose Basin. A Buzzard was seen on the way there and I missed a raptor being mobbed by crows that Jacqui spotted passing over the car. At the Basin I popped into the visitor centre to pick up a copy of the Angus & Dundee Bird Report 2013/14 which has recently been published. Not being a member of the ADBC anymore meant that there were none of my photos featured this time, though I could definitely have offered better than some of those chosen as well as some of those of species I personally found in 2013 & 14. Hard to believe that there are seemingly only 4 photographers in the ADBC these days, though perhaps not all that surprising given the haemorrhaging of members in recent years.
I joined Jacqui in the hide after a short chat to Alison O'Hara in the centre. With the tide well in there wasn't too much to see. A Little Egret was around the pools in front. A pair of Moorhens and a few Teal were also noted. Out in the basin a few Red Breasted Mergansers could be seen as well as a pair of Mallard, and some very distant Pink Footed Geese. There were large numbers of ducks at the northern side of the Basin but the light didn't help trying to ID them. A flock of Dunlin flew in to Rossie Spit and a Great Black Backed Gull flew past before we decided to move on. Coal Tit and a Grey Heron were seen on the way back to the car.
We decided to take the back roads to Arbroath via Boghead Farm. Blackbirds and Blue Tits plus probable Linnets were seen and a Collared Dove was noted near the Ethie Mains junction. A Buzzard on a fencepost flew off as soon as we stopped to take a photo, as they invariably seem to do. At Boghead Farm there were lots of birds around. The majority appeared to be Corn Buntings with at least 50 counted from photos later at home. There were also Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings, Tree Sparrows, Goldfinches and Chaffinch.
Heading onwards to Arbroath we added Oystercatchers at Victoria Park and a large number of gulls on the sea just offshore - apparently all Herring and Black Headed. We headed along to the other side of the harbour to see if the Black Redstart I found on Wednesday was still around though it hadn't been reported since. My suspicion was that it would be. We walked along to the rear of Gayfield football ground to walk back along towards the harbour with the sun over our shoulders rather than squinting into the sun. Rock Pipit and a Grey Wagtail were seen on the rocks and the wader roost held Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatcher and at least 3 Purple Sandpipers.
As Jacqui had things to do at home we didn't have time to hang around but we decided to quickly check the harbour before leaving for home, though we were already behind our intended schedule. On the breakwater were Great Black Backed Gulls, Cormorants, a large flock of Redshanks, a few Turnstones and at least 50 Purple Sandpipers. A bird popped up on the rocks behind us with the glare of the low sun almost directly behind it. Thankfully it was still possible to see the red-brown tail feathers quivering to confirm it was the hoped for Black Redstart. We walked back up the slope to get a better look with the sun behind us but couldn't see the bird despite being out of the bird's line of sight on our walk back up the ramp.
We did add a couple of Pied Wagtails and another Grey Wagtail plus a few Rock Pipits as we tried again from a higher viewpoint around the top of the ramp. A pair of Grey Herons landed on the breakwater. Jacqui had fleeting views of the Black Redstart a few times from the path above the beach but it wasn't perching for more than a second in any one spot so no photos were taken. Ideally we would have sat on the rocks quietly and waited for the bird to show but as we were now around 20 minutes behind our planned time for being on the way home we had to call it a day. Alex Shepherd apparently managed to see the bird using that method around 45 minutes after we had to leave.
A good day out with a nice variety of birds seen and good numbers of some of the less common ones too. I managed a total of 48 species and Jacqui managed a couple that I missed as well. Can't be too disappointed that the target species wasn't found as it was always going to be a bit of a long shot but it was good to be able to confirm that Wednesday's Black Redstart was still around. Hopefully it will linger into January for the sake of the 2019 list....
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| Bullfinch |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Skylark |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Dunlin |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow & Yellowhammer |
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| Reed Bunting & Chaffinch |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting & Reed Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Yellowhammer & Reed Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Yellowhammer & Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting & Goldfinch |
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| Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow & Corn Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Turnstone & Purple Sandpiper |
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| Purple Sandpiper |
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| Purple Sandpiper & Turnstone |
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| Purple Sandpiper |
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| Curlew & Oystercatcher |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Great Black Backed Gull, Cormnorant, Redshank, Turnstone & Purple Sandpiper |
Species seen - Black Redstart, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Little Egret, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pink footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Skylark, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
