With Autumn migration already underway and having had the best part of the past 2 months 'off' from birding I decided I should really make some effort to finally get my year-list moving again on Saturday. With Stuart Green having found Roseate Tern at Westhaven earlier in the week and Arctic Skuas being seen off the east coast recently I had 2 prospective target species to aim for. The weather forecast was to be overcast but warm so I decided not to bother with a jacket which was to prove to be a costly mistake.
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| Common Tern & Roseate Tern |
I wanted to get to Westhaven for around high tide which was before 1100 so I headed out to catch a 73 bus just before 0945 with the bus due at about 1000 or so. Swift, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and Starling were all noted within the first few seconds. Further on I added Swallow and House Martin to the list as well as Lesser Black Backed Gull and a singing Chaffinch. House Sparrow and Goldfinch rounded off the pre-bus sightings. From the bus I added Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Rook and Sand Martin before arriving in Carnoustie at around 1045.
There was plenty to be seen down by the shore though it was a relatively small high tide meaning the birds were a little bit further out than ideal. I quickly noted Arctic Terns, Sandwich Terns, a few Common Terns, Eider, Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher. I was distracted by a Six-Spot Burnet moth and also a Meadow Brown butterfly. A Pied Wagtail appeared on the grass behind me for a few seconds. Moving down onto the sand I found a number of pristine looking Painted Lady butterflies flitting around - the vanguard of another large influx over the next few days. I added Mallard, Dunlin, Turnstone and Common Sandpiper before my first target bird hove into view before landing on the rocks among the other Terns. A rather nice adult
Roseate Tern, and next to it on the rocks was a previously unnoticed juvenile.
A Great Black Backed Gull flew past and I was joined for a short chat by another birder, Martin, whose house overlooks this section of shoreline. After a short chat he realised he'd left eggs on to boil and hurried off to attend to them. I added a Goosander as I wandered along towards Craigmill Burn mouth to check the gull roost. House Martins were landing on the beach ahead of me. At the burn I added another 2 butterfly species - Small Tortoiseshell and Ringlet. I spotted a Lapwing's head peeking up from behind the rocks. A few Linnets landed on the sand nearby and a Cormorant flew past. The gull roost was predominantly Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls with a few Common and Black Headeds amongst them.
I became aware of a pair of dark looking birds approaching from offshore and quickly got my binoculars onto them. Skuas, a pair of
Arctic Skuas at that - target species number 2. One seemed to be a realtively young bird with a very pale looking head and the other seemed to be a dark morph bird, possibly an adult. They chased an Oystercatcher together before having a go at a few Terns before successfully stealing a fish from a Sandwich Tern. More scanning along the shore found a single Bar Tailed Godwit and a single Stock Dove dropped in. A young Kittiwake flew by and much further out I spotted a Gannet. I was walking back along the beach towards Westhaven when the terns all took flight. The culprit was a young female Peregrine and she flew off low along the edge of the rocks upsetting everything but failing to capitalise on the resultant turmoil.
A little later I spotted a Peregrine again which turned out to be a different bird - photos suggest a young male from last year moulting into adult plumage but still showing a lot of brown on the uppers and spots below merging with the barring which was beginning to come through. A Grey Heron was added when I sat on the beach near the wooden 'jetty' and a Mediterranean Gull was found among the Black Headed and Common Gulls closer in. A small flock of Common Scoters were picked up offshore and a Great Skua was noted low over the sea heading north-east. Wandering along further I found Stuart Green scoping out over the sea. Stuart found a very distant Great Skua, as well as a Shearwater that was too far out for me to pick up with binoculars. A young-ish Gannet was noted along with my first Fulmar of the day before Stuart had to head off again.
I ventured out among the rocks to try and get a better view of the terns out by the water's edge. In doing so I managed to add a fly-by Velvet Scoter, a Whimbrel and an adult Little Gull. A pair of Great Skuas drifted overhead, upsetting the terns again but resisting the temptation to cause more havoc. The Roseate Tern adult was also refound before I wandered back in to the beach. With the birds mostly rather distant I decided to head for home around 1640. I failed to add anything new from the bus on the way back to Dundee or on the walk back home from the bus stop.
I managed a total of 51 species including 2 year-ticks (in bold) among the total. 4 species of butterfly and 1 moth were also noted. I also succeeded in getting rather sunburnt with long spells of unexpected sunshine throughout the afternoon, with my right arm in particular taking the brunt of it and reminding me why I usually remain well covered up if I do venture out during the warmer days of summer. I won't be doing that again anytime soon though. Lesson learned.
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| Eider, Arctic Tern & Sandwich Tern |
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| Arctic Tern & Oystercatcher |
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| Six-Spot Burnet |
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| Meadow Brown |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Arctic Tern, Redshank & Sandwich Tern |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Sandwich Tern, Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern, Sandwich Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern & Roseate Tern |
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| Roseate Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Turnstone & Common Sandpiper |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Curlew & Black Headed Gull |
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| Small Tortoiseshell |
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| Ringlet |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Lapwing |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua & Sandwich Tern |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua & Sandwich Tern |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Peregrine & Arctic Tern |
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| Peregrine |
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| Curlew |
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| Curlew |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Herring Gull |
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| House Martin |
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| Black Headed Gull & Common Gull |
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| Great Skua |
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| Cormorant |
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| Common Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull & Mediterranean Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Great Skua |
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| Great Skua |
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| Great Skua |
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| Arctic Tern & Roseate Tern (partially hidden) |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern |
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| Roseate Tern |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Gannet |
Species seen -
Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Mallard, Mediterranean Gull, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook,
Roseate Tern, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies seen - Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell.
Moths seen - Six-Spot Burnet.
