 |
| Pink Footed Goose |
We set off first for the reedbed at Elliot where Jack Snipe was the target species. Having failed to get one with Paul a few weeks ago, I wasn't too confident but with daylight in limited supply I hoped that we would maybe be slightly luckier this time around. A few Snipe flushed as we wandered along the edge of the pools, and as a flock of Mallards took off a pair of Jack Snipe also departed from their hiding places, before dropping back into cover. A good start. We then had a quick check for Purple Sandpiper for Matt near the harbour but the tide state meant they were unlikely to be seen and we drew a blank.We headed on next to the wood where Ian and I searched for Woodcock recently with some success. Unfortunately we were out of luck there despite a lot of searching.
Our next stop was at Lunan Bay for a scan through the Scoters in the hope of picking out the Black Scoter. Matt had a possible contender but the light was once again rather flat and we were unable to clinch the ID to get it on the list. Matt did see a Slavonian Grebe and a few Velvet Scoters that I failed to get onto. We explored the back roads to Montrose in the hope of a goose flock to search through but apart from a few small skeins seen in flight it was a fruitless search. A quick stop at the visitor centre was made to pick up provisions before we set off round to the far side to try for Twite. I thought we might have to walk out to the Wigeon hide as Paul and I had done, but we were in luck as a flock of around 30 birds were perched on the wires just beyond the old railway line route. This saved us a bit more time.
A trip up the Glens in the hope of adding Black Grouse had been part of the plan. I thought that we might run out of light before we reached Backwater Dam where Great Grey Shrike was the target but I remembered that Black Grouse can sometimes be seen at Backwater so we decided to try there for both. A Weasel ran across the road in front of the car near Kinnordy. Unfortunately we were out of luck at the reservoir and saw neither target bird despite much searching. A flock of at least 30 Bullfinches feeding on heather was a nice bonus. We stopped off at Lintrathen to scan through the wildfowl on the water. There were plenty of birds but nothing out of the ordinary hiding among them. With limited daylight left we headed onwards to Kinnordy to try for Brambling around the feeders.
Once again we were out of luck and there wasn't too much variety around though we did add a few new species for the day there. We finally called it a day around sunset and headed back towards Dundee via the Glamis road in the hope of an Owl sighting - Matt had seen a probable fly across the road near Brechin but Susan and I didn't see it and no definite ID was decided upon. I ended the day with 68 species, Matt had seen another 3, plus the Owl species, and we had heard Raven and Great Spotted Woodpecker taking us to a combined total of 74 species - just one short of my prediction made early in the day of 75 species. The Twite and Jack Snipe were new for both Susan and Matt so it was a successful and enjoyable day out despite the dips. Once again very few photos were taken with the scope and binoculars taking priority over the camera.
Species seen Dundee to/and Elliot - Blackbird, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Redwing, Linnet, Rock Pipit, Jack Snipe, Snipe, Stonechat, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Eider, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, House Sparrow.
Arbroath to/and Lunan Bay - Grey Heron, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove, Buzzard, Fieldfare, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Woodpigeon, Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Mallard, Pink Footed Goose, Tree Sparrow, Mistle Thrush, Magpie, Reed Bunting, Starling, Yellowhammer, Red Throated Diver, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Long Tailed Duck.
Lunan Bay to/and Montrose Basin - Pheasant, Rook, Goldcrest, Twite, Wren.
Mammals - Roe Deer.
Montrose Basin to/and Backwater Reservoir - Teal, Wigeon, Bullfinch, Kestrel, Greenfinch, Sparrowhawk.
Mammals - Weasel.
Lintrathen and Kinnordy - Long Tailed Tit, Coot, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Whooper Swan, Jay, Greylag Goose, Goosander, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Moorhen.
Additional birds seen by Matt - Slavonian Grebe, Song Thrush, Velvet Scoter (& Owl species).
Heard only - Great Spotted Woodpecker, Raven.
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Twite |
 |
| Pink Footed Goose |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Common Gull |
 |
| Goosander |
 |
| Whooper Swan & Mute Swan |
 |
| Mute Swan |
 |
| Goosander & Mallard |
 |
| Lapwing |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Twite, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Roe Deer, Weasel.