On Tuesday evening just as I was trying to decide where to go birding on Wednesday I received a message from Roy in Lothian asking if I had any plans as he was still needing to see Spotted Redshank and Green Woodpecker for his year-list, along with a few others that he could potentially get in Angus. As options were rather limited for new year-ticks for myself I agreed to a day out around the local area with him. A 0915 pick-up was arranged to allow Roy time to drive through from the outskirts of Edinburgh.
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| Corn Bunting |
I headed out slightly early figuring that if Roy was even slightly early we would gain a few extra minutes of birding time. Herring Gull, House Sparrow and Feral Pigeon were seen before Roy arrived a few minutes early. Our first stop would be at Riverside Nature Park to try and find the Spotted Redshank. Although high tide had only been a little over 30 minutes previously it hadn't been a big tide so there was a good chance that there would be enough exposed mud for us to be able to scan through the waders.
Arriving at the park we quickly noted Carrion Crow, Blackbird and Magpie followed quickly by Woodpigeon and Robin as well as singing Skylarks as we headed first towards the Lochan and then to the hide to overlook the bay. Great Tit and Song Thrush were next onto the list with a trio of the latter following each other about. A Chaffinch was seen in the bushes near the Lochan. A few Teal and a pair of Moorhen were on the Lochan itself. A pair of Oystercatchers overflew and a small group of Goldfinches were seen sharing a tree with a pair of competing Song Thrushes trying to out-sing each other. A trio of Reed Buntings together and another singing a little further ahead were a slight surprise.
A pair of Yellowhammers showed well and a Goldcrest picked its way along the line of the hedge as we neared the hide. Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Oystercatcher and Shelduck could all be seen in the bay but despite lots of scanning we were unable to find any sign of the hoped for Spotted Redshank. A Cormorant and a Grey Heron were seen on the pipe along with a few Jackdaws and a couple of Curlews were found on the mud among the other waders. As the tide receded further small pockets of Redshank disperesd further away complicating our search for the Spotted Redshank amongst them.
A Bullfinch showed in the trees at the hide before we worked our way along the fence line overlooking the bay. Although this helped a little with regards the lighting conditions the result was still the same - no Spotted Redshank. A flock of Long Tailed Tits gave us decent views before we headed back towards the car park. I spotted a Sparrowhawk in flight which headed for the houses to the north. There was nothing else new seen on the walk back to the car park and we set off for our next stop, at Arbroath to try for the Black Redstart.
From the car we were able to see a few Rooks, a hovering Kestrel and a few Starlings before we got caught up in a bit of a traffic jam caused by roadworks on the road into Arbroath. Things were very quiet around the harbour area when we eventually got there with a single Rock Pipit and a Pied Wagtail seen in the area we were hoping to find the Black Redstart. A few Oystercatchers, Redshanks and a Ringed Plover were feeding on the exposed beach in the harbour while a few Herring Gulls roosted on the breakwater.
We headed off after a while towards Boghead Farm to try for Corn Bunting, a species Roy hadn't seen last year. We drove slowly along the road from the Auchmithie junction but there were hardly any birds at all to be seen. When we reached the farm we spotted a small flock of birds in a roadside tree. Closer to us were a few House Sparrows. The birds in the tree were mostly Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers though there were also a few Chaffinches and Reed Buntings too. Another year-tick in the bag for Roy following on from the Black Tailed Godwits at Riverside.
Next stop was Montreathmont Forest to look for Green Woodpecker. Pheasant and Buzzard were both seen on the way there. As we parked alongside another car a pair of Crossbills flew over and landed in the tree above us. A few of the occupants of the other car walked on ahead of us with a small dog. We decided to head along to Murton to look for Green Sandpiper and come back later when things were a bit quieter. Greylags were seen in a field as we passed Balgavies Loch. Arriving at Murton we found Doug Milne just about to head off and had a short chat. He told us where the Green Sandpiper had been showing a few minutes before which saved us a bit of time searching.
Heading into the car park hide I found the Green Sandpiper at the far end of the pool with Teal on the water in front of it. There were plenty of Wigeon visible on the next pool over and a Dunnock sang briefly in front of the hide. A small flock of Lapwings were roosting along at the far corner of the water. We headed down to the next hide where Coot, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye and Mallard were noted. A rather ragged Peacock butterfly which had probably woken from hibernation was trying to get out of the windows so I managed to catch it and let it go. Mute Swans were in the smaller pool around the corner from the hide. I heard a Raven calling and seconds later spotted it heading north over the reserve.
We headed back to Montreathmont to try again for Green Woodpecker. This time things were quieter on the path but there were also few birds to be seen. A pair of distant Linnets were a surprise and Coal Tits and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were the only other additions though a male Bullfinch was also seen. We decided to head back to Arbroath to try again for the Black Redstart having drawn a blank on the Green Woodpecker. Great Black Backed Gull on the breakwater and a few Eiders well offshore were spotted but again there was no sign of the Black Redstart. I suggested trying where I'd refound the bird around New Year. We decided to give it a go. More Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails were seen and a lone Dunlin was seen on the beach but there was again no sign of the Black Redstart. We headed back in the direction of the car.
There were even more Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits than before mostly catching flies. For some reason I decided to look back towards where we'd just walked from and happened to see a bird fly up to grab a fly before landing again. The low sun made it difficult to be sure but I thought I'd seen a flash of orange from the bird's tail. It's fly-catching technique also semed to differ from the Pipits and Wagtails. Sure enough it was the Black Redstart and we sneaked closer for a better view. As we watched the bird a few locals asked what we were watching and we were able to point out the bird to them and explain what it was, with a mother and her young daughter in particular taking an interest. The bird gave Roy another year-tick for the day taking him to a nice round 120 for the year from his target of 200. With time now around 1700 we headed for home after a relatively successful day.
Another decent day out with 60 species seen. Nothing new for my year-list but relative success for seeing most of Roy's target species (he added Green Woodpecker on Friday at Portmoak Moss). The Black Redstart was nice to catch up with again and in yet another different location, so it appears to be quite wide-ranging.
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Redshank, Dunlin, Black Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull |
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| Cormorant, Herring Gull, Redshank, Carrion Crow |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Skylark |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Yellowhammer & Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Crossbill |
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| Teal & Green Sandpiper |
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| Wigeon |
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| Black Headed Gull & Green Sandpiper |
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| Raven |
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| Raven |
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| Wigeon, Starling, Lapwing & Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull, Lapwing & Oystercatcher |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
Species seen - Black Redstart, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterfly seen - Peacock.
