My original plan for Wednesday was to twitch a Migrant Hawker dragonfly at Trottick Ponds here in Dundee, having been informed of the insect's presence by Fiona McLean who had been in the area to see it and had diverted by to Kilminning in the hope of seeing the Little Bunting on Tuesday. However, a message from Roy on Tuesday evening asking if I could help him see Roseate Tern and Yellow Browed Warbler meant a change of plan. I arranged to meet Roy at around 0930 and then head for Westhaven. A message on Wednesday morning from Roy let me know that Carolyn Hargest was also coming along and that they were running a little later than planned. We got underway around 0955.
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| Arctic Skua |
A rather wet Westhaven did eventually produce a Roseate Tern for all to see along with a few marauding Skuas offshore. However as we were by this time soaked through we decided to head for Arbroath to try for Black Tern at the harbour and the Cliffburn Gulley Yellow Browed Warbler. Unfortunately we failed on both species though we did have some good views of the Terns and more Skuas. By mid-afternoon we hoped the rain at Westhaven would have finally abated and headed back to look for the Panbride House Yellow Browed Warbler (another Stuart Green find) but we failed to even hear it. I suspected the bird was no longer there (in fact there were 2 though not where we were looking) so we headed back to Westhaven for another short spell of seawatching before calling an early halt to proceedings just before 1600. A decent enough day with
Long Tailed Skua the best bird seen and a surprise late Swift over Arbroath.
Dundee - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Grey Wagtail, Magpie.
Dundee to Westhaven - Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Collared Dove, Rook, Buzzard, Swallow.
Westhaven - Redshank, Turnstone, Cormorant, Great Black Backed Gull, Dunlin, Curlew, Red Throated Diver, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Kittiwake, Arctic Skua, Gannet, Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Roseate Tern.
Arbroath - Swift, Barnacle Goose, Razorbill, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Rock Pipit, Great Tit, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Grey Heron, Eider, Long Tailed Skua.
Westhaven - Peregrine, Goldcrest, Bar Tailed Godwit.
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua & Guillemot |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Kittiwake & Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Roseate Tern, Common Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Roseate Tern |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua & Long Tailed Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Long Tailed Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Barnacle Goose |
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| Common Tern |
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| Swift |
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| Swift |
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| Barnacle Goose |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Arctic Skua & Long Tailed Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Eider |
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| Long Tailed Skua(?) & Common Tern |
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| Long Tailed Skua(?) & Common Tern |
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| Oystercatcher, Common Gull & Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Buzzard |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Peregrine |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
52 Species seen (year tick in bold) - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Barnacle Goose, Bar tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Linnet,
Long Tailed Skua, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Roseate Tern, Sandwich Tern, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
*Skua IDs are not all 100% confirmed, and may be inaccurate.
