It can be a bit tricky to add anything new to the year-list in December so this midweek's outing with Paul was geared towards getting him at least a few year-ticks before he heads back offshore for most of the rest of the month (though potentially there is still a chance of Glaucous Gull and maybe something rarer out there). An enforeced later start than normal wasn't much of a problem given that daylight doesn't kick in till after 0800 at this time of year anyway. I arranged to meet Paul between 0845 and 0900 and we would head for a few sites around Angus.
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| Crossbill |
As I waited for Paul I watched 100s of Fieldfares pass overhead, possibly from a roost in Baxter Park, or maybe further afield. There were a few Redwings and Mistle Thrushes involved as well and I thought I heard (and saw) a possible Waxwing fly below a flock at one point. When Paul arrived we headed first for the Kingsway to see if Sunday's Waxwings were still around. We turned down the one way street that runs along the front of the houses parallel to the dual carriageway and just a few trees in, we spotted 2 Waxwings perched atop the tree. Success! This was fortunate as there were no others seen along the rest of the road or in the trees we'd seen them in on Sunday. Next target was Great Northern Diver, potentially off Carnoustie. We drew a blank there but added some decent enough species to the day list before a brief stop at Westhaven.
Elliot Reedbeds was our next stop after Westhaven with Jack Snipe the hoped-for species there. We flushed around 10 Common Snipe as we searched the pools and swampy areas where the water wasn't too deep but not unexpectedly drew a blank on Jack Snipe. As we got back to the car I happened to turn around and spotted a bird perched atop a tree in the garden behind. Raising the binoculars I found another Waxwing. A second bird was in a tree close by but soon joined the first one before they both flew off westwards. Lunan Bay was next to try for the Black Scoter but the light was against us, and we didn't waste too much time trying. Montrose Basin for Great White Egret was next on the list so we headed up via Braehead of Lunan towards the main road. A small flock of birds were perched on the wires across the road by a single house on a bend. Unbelievably they turned out to be yet more Waxwings - 15 in all! Typically I only had the P900 with me which meant that my photos were little more than record shots.
There was no sign of the Twite flock near the feeding station on the walk out towards the Wigeon Hide at the Basin. The path out was very muddy but thankfully not really waterlogged. Most of the birds were rather distant from the hide but a flock of at least 50 Twite flew around out front. I picked up an Egret in flight to the south but disappointingly it was a Little Egret. Five minutes later though I found the hoped-for Great White Egret wandering along behind a fenceline before it disappeared into a ditch but not before Paul had added it to his year-list. We decided to try Montreathmont Forest in the rather forlorn hope of Goshawk and unsurprisingly failed to see any raptors there though a Raven and a few Crossbills plus a flock of Redpoll and Siskins were seen. With the sun already setting we called it a day and headed for home having seen 64 species of which 2 were new for Paul's year-list.
Species seen - Dundee to Carnoustie - Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Starling, Carrion Crow, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Magpie, Black Headed Gull, Waxwing, Woodpigeon, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Common Gull, Buzzard, Stock Dove.
Carnoustie to/and Elliot - Rock Pipit, Redshank, Turnstone, Wigeon, Grey Heron, Dunlin, Long Tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Eider, Linnet, Mallard, House Sparrow, Great Black Backed Gull, Snipe, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Red Throated Diver, Sanderling, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Reed Bunting, Moorhen, Little Grebe.
Lunan Bay to Montrose Basin - Rook, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Jackdaw, Pheasant, Shag.
Montrose Basin (Wigeon Hide) - Shelduck, Twite, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Great White Egret, Black Tailed Godwit, Pink Footed Goose.
Montrose Basin to/and Montreathmont Forest to Dundee - Kestrel, Robin, Siskin, Crossbill, Coal Tit, Jay, Lesser Redpoll, Raven, Coot, Goldeneye.
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Twite |
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| Twite |
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| Twite |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Lesser Redpoll & Siskin |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Raven, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Turnstone, Twite, Waxwing, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
