During Saturday afternoon's birding with Adam and Lainy there was some discussion about the possibility of doing some birding together on Sunday. Nothing concrete was put in place but it was agreed to see what Sunday's options were on Sunday morning, with an early start not on the cards. When a message came in from Lainy on Sunday morning I suggested a trip to one of the Angus Glens. This would give me a chance at a few species for the year-list as well as showing them what can be a relatively productive area in May and June though much quieter at other times for a variety of reasons.
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| Red Grouse |
A pick-up around 1100 was arranged and I waited outside for a few minutes noting Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Starling before we headed up the A90 towards our destination. Buzzard and Rook were spotted before we cut off the main road to take the minor road route to the glen. As I was in the back of the car I missed the bird that ran across the road in front of the car. Lainy thought it had been a Red legged Partridge - a species I still needed for the year, so Adam stopped the car and we got out to see if the bird was still around. We hadn't walked very far when the bird broke cover and flew off across a field.
Red Legged Partridge was indeed what it was. Oystercatcher, Common Gull, Lapwing, Yellowhammer and Mallard were all spotted on the final stretch before we reached our destination.
Once we reached the glen, Lainy and I went for a walk while Adam sat in the car doing a spot of work. Jackdaws were seen distantly around a crow trap with at least 1 bird inside. Not a great way to start a visit but a highly visible sight indicative of the amount of killing (some legal and some illegal) that goes on in the uplands of Angus. There were Lapwings over the hillside and a few Rabbits, including a few all black ones. A Wheatear and a few Chaffinches were noted before a distant Kestrel was added to the list. A male Reed Bunting sang from an overhead wire. A Stock Dove flew past and a Lesser Redpoll followed suit but in the opposite direction. A few male Pheasants were noted, suggesting a new revenue stream for the area. Odd that Mountain Hare are culled in the glens as they supposedly spread Ticks yet even more birds that will spend most of their life on the ground in the same areas where Ticks thrive are then introduced en masse, obviously spreading Ticks as they go.
A few Meadow Pipits perched on fenceposts by the road watching us warily. A line of trees was full of Willow Warblers, some singing, others chasing competitors away. What sounded like a distant Grasshopper Warbler had us detouring up into a field where we drew a blank. A moth flew past but didn't settle anywhere nearby so no identification was possible. We were then joined by a slightly 'over-friendly' (or maybe I'm too cynical?) young gamekeeper type on a quad-bike curious to know what we were looking for. We mentioned the Grasshopper Warbler and then were regaled with the news of the Curlews and Lapwings which apparently were breeding further on. I resisted the temptation to ask about our chances of seeing raptors. He then roared off up the hill, having a sneaky wee look back at us, as we headed back down to the road.
A male Blackbird was seen and a few Sand Martins flew over. A pair of Grey Wagtails were spotted while we were trying to locate a calling Long Tailed Tit which we never did manage to find. We headed back to the car to move on to the next section of the glen with slightly different habitat. A brief stop gave us a few Red Grouse among the heather and some distant Ravens over a hillside. Moving on again we spotted a male Stonechat by the side of the road with food in its bill, so likely close to a nest. A few Swallows were next onto the list as Lainy and I scanned a hillside for what we thought might be a Ring Ouzel singing. A Cuckoo was also heard calling from some distance away. We failed to see either before we set off again.
A male Whinchat was another year-tick for me as it posed nicely on a rock. The Black Grouse were in their usual spot with at least 8 males seen. We wandered down to the burn where we spooked a trio of Common Sandpipers, giving me another year-tick in the process. Moving on again we added Pied Wagtail and a Red Squirrel by the roadside. On the way back down the glen we stopped to watch a Snipe atop a telegraph pole before a car stopped beside us for no obvious reason and a family got out spooking the bird. Further on we stopped to photograph a Red Grrouse on a rock. A female wandered across the road and we had closer views as she set off down the slope. I took some photos of the male Whinchat perched in a bush before we headed back towards the car.
I noticed that one of the male Red Grouse had decided to perch on a fence-post by the road and we slowly walked towards the bird, on the opposite side of the road, stopping to take a few photos then gauging the bird's body language before edging closer. Eventually we stood just a few metres from the bird, still on the opposite side of the road, which gave us great views in the sunshine. It eventually dropped down off the fence and wandered through the heather to stand on a rock as we walked back to the car again. A Great Black Backed Gull and a Grey Heron flew over before we stopped again to try for the Cuckoo we'd heard earlier. Lots of scanning proved fruitless though the bird did move further down the glen unseen. A Red Kite drifted over and a few Curlews milled around.
We stopped again to try and find the Cuckoo before being distracted by a Green Hairstreak butterfly found by Lainy which allowed us great close views as it wandered around slowly on the heather waiting for the sun to come out from behind a cloud to heat it up. I spotted a male Goosander down in the burn, swimming downstream with its head under the surface looking for fish. We drove on again and I almost missed a bird in flight going in the opposite direction, noticing it just seconds before it disappeared behind the car. It was unmistakeably a Cuckoo and another year-tick for me. With the time now after 1700 we headed for home, stopping briefly where we'd seen the Red Legged Partridge earlier but failing to see it again.
Another enjoyable and productive spot of birding with 4 year-ticks (in bold) among the 43 species seen. In addition 2 species of mammal and another new species of butterfly for the year were seen. The fence-post posing Red Grouse was a nice highlight too and gave us both some nice photo opportunities. It was also good to get photos of the Green Hairstreak butterfly.
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Buzzard |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse & Curlew |
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| Rabbit |
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| Raven |
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| Raven |
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Buzzard & Raven |
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| Mallard |
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Lapwing |
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| Lapwing |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Wheatear |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Black Grouse |
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| Snipe |
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| Snipe |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Kite |
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| Red Kite |
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| Red Kite |
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| Buzzard |
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| Goosander |
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| Green Hairstreak |
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| Green Hairstreak |
Species seen - Black Grouse, Blackbird, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull,
Common Sandpiper,
Cuckoo, Curlew, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Grouse, Red Kite,
Red Legged Partridge, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Wheatear,
Whinchat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterfly seen - Green Hairstreak.
Mammals seen - Rabbit, Red Squirrel.
