At this time of year there is still a rather limited amount of useable daylight to play with so it pays to get up and out early and stay out all day. For Wednesday's outing with Paul we decided to try to squeeze in as much as possible and to try not to waste too long at any particular site. If we managed to see our target species we would move on quickly. If we didn't, we wouldn't spend too much time trying. Hopefully this would allow us to both add a number of species to our year-lists. I arranged to meet Paul at Guardbridge. From there we would head to St Andrews then possibly Morton Lochs then north of the Tay to Carnoustie, Monikie, Kinnordy, Montrose Basin and Arbroath.
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| Ring Necked Parakeet |
I headed out at around 0745 to catch the bus to Guardbridge. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were seen in the gloom. From the bus I added Rook, Jackdaw and a skein of Pink Footed Geese. I arrived at the hide a bit earlier than I had intended to. There were birds to be seen however with more Pink Footed Geese leaving their roost out on the mud and heading off to feed. Around the feeders I added Tree Sparrows and Blackbird. Scanning around found Curlew, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Mallard, Woodpigeon, Redshank, Lapwing, Dunlin, Black Tailed Godwit, Magpie, Robin, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Oystercatcher before I was joined by Paul as a Great Black Backed Gull flew past.
We headed off to St Andrews and the golf museum car park to scan out over the bay. I was hoping that we would have better luck as the light improved compared to the other end of the day as our previous attempts had been. Fulmar, Eider and lots of Common Scoter were seen before Paul managed to find some
Scaup in the flocks using his scope. Long Tailed Duck, Cormorant and Velvet Scoter quickly followed. A few minutes later Paul managed to get me a second year-tick with
Great Crested Grebe. A Greenshank was found among the rocks at the base of the cliffs behind us. A young Peregrine stooped at an adult bird as they passed over us with the adult landing on the cliffs. Shortly after this distraction, Paul managed to find the Surf Scoters. A few Rock Pipits flew around before we headed out towards Out Head.
The plan was to scan from just round at the point of the dunes back into Balgove Bay in the hope of seeing the Brent Geese that winter there. Stonechat was seen in the dunes and a pair of Slavonian Grebes were seen upriver from where we were scanning from. There were plenty of distant Oystercatchers and a few possible Brents but we couldn't be certain so they didn't go on the list. Bar Tailed Godwits, Skylark and Starling were noted on the walk back to the car. Pied Wagtail was seen as we headed back along the road to the town. House Sparrow, Buzzard and Pheasant were all seen on the way to Carnoustie. We had decided to miss out Morton Lochs for Bramblings as we were already a bit behind schedule.
Collared Dove was seen as we drove through Monifieth and a Sparrowhawk flew across the road in front of and above the car as we travelled along Barry Road in Carnoustie. We sat in the car in the lay-by by the park entrance and watched for any movement. Great Tit was seen before I spotted the
Ring Necked Parakeet drop in to check out a hole on the trunk of a nearby tree, giving us both good views before it actually clambered into the hole. With another target safely added we headed back down the road where we encountered Stuart Green turning into the street we were leaving, though the low sun made it impossible to recognise him with any certainty. The text message seconds later querying if I was twitching again soon cleared up the mystery.
Monikie was our next stop with a reported
Green Sandpiper over-wintering again. Thankfully it didn't take too long to find. It was feeding along the edge of a stony area at the island pond though as usual it was very wary and we gave it plenty of room. Grey Heron was also added and we heard but didn't see the Kingfisher. Wigeon, Teal, Coot, Goldeneye, Moorhen, Little Grebe and Mute Swan were all noted before we once again headed back to the car and onwards to Kirriemuir and Loch of Kinnordy beyond. Brambling was the main target though there was an outside chance of Bittern and maybe Barn Owl too. I also hoped I might get Gadwall and Paul was hoping for Shoveler.
Goosander, Whooper Swan, Mute Swan and Greylag Goose were spotted from the Gullery Hide before we set off to the Swamp Hide adding Goldcrest and Siskin on the walk there. Things were quiet on the water with most birds asleep round the edges though a pair of Shoveler gave Paul another year-tick. There was no sign of any Gadwall though. A Wren showed in front of the hide. A pair of male Bullfinches were in the trees behind the hide. Goldfinch and Coal Tit were seen at the feeders before we moved on again. This time we were headed for Montrose Basin with Twite our first target. Redwing and Yellowhammer were spotted from the car on the way.
Long Tailed Tits were in the trees at the car park and a Song Thrush was spooked from by the path. A Stock Dove was seen in the field alongside a Woodpigeon. As we neared the usual site for Twite I checked the small bush and sure enough 3 Twite were perched in the top of it. On the path below the bush we added another 7 or so plus a few Goldfinches. Back to the car and round to the Bank of Scotland hide next where Greenfinch was seen in the car park and a Little Egret flew past in front of the hide. No Kingfisher or Water Rail but we hadn't any time to waste so off we went again for Arbroath.
Purple Sandpiper and Turnstone were roosting on the breakwater with Redshanks, Cormorants, Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls but there was no sign of the Black Redstart. I suggested we try where I had seen the bird on the previous Saturday and we headed there next. Lots of Rock Pipits and Starlings were scanned through before we managed to find the Black Redstart being her customary shy self. Among the Rock Pipits was a Norwegian ringed bird (Yellow L56). Sanderling and Ringed Plover were noted before we headed for the Elliot reedbeds to try for Short Eared Owl. Reed Buntings and hundreds of gulls offshore were noted but no Owl. We did add a Kestrel which flew in and landed on a pole before heading back to the car.
A largely successful spot of racing against the clock. We managed to see 84 species of which 4 were year-ticks (in bold) for me and Paul succeeded in getting a few more than that (12) including a lifer (Ring Necked Parakeet) taking his list to 107. There should still be plenty for me to add before January is up and I'm hopeful that the weather is kind when I have the opportunity to get out and look.
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| Scaup & Common Scoter |
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| Common Scoter & Great Crested Grebe |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Long Tailed Duck & Scaup |
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| Common Scoter & Surf Scoter |
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| Stonechat |
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| Skylark |
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| Ring Necked Parakeet |
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| Ring Necked Parakeet |
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| Green Sandpiper |
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| Green Sandpiper |
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| Black Headed Gull & Common Gull |
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| Green Sandpiper |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Goldeneye, Wigeon & Teal |
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| Teal, Mallard & Wigeon |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Shoveler |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Woodpigeon & Stock Dove |
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| Goldfinch & Twite |
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| Goldfinch & Twite |
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| Goldfinch & Twite |
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| Goldfinch & Twite |
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| Little Egret |
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| Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Redshank, Purple Sandpiper & Turnstone |
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| Rock Pipit (Yellow L56) |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Sanderling & Dunlin |
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| Curlew |
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| Kestrel |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit,
Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover,
Ring Necked Parakeet, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling,
Scaup, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Slavonian Grebe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Surf Scoter, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Twite, Velvet Scoter, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
