Despite having been birding every day since January 1st I was determined to continue that streak on Saturday the 5th. Having broken the 100 mark the previous day I was keen to continue adding new birds to the 2019 list. I had set myself the target of seeing as close to 120 species in the 6 days before having to go back to work on the 7th. It was always going to be a tall order to reach that number but I was determined to reach as high a number as I possibly could. The 5th would also be my first "lone mission" of the year relying on public transport and my feet to get me around rather than birding with friends by car. With some birds I'd yet to see still around in Angus it would be another early start and a whole day's birding till after sunset.
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| Kingfisher & Prawn |
Although it wasn't as early a start as the previous day, I was out by 0800 to walk to the bus station to catch the X7 to Montrose. Herring Gull and Blackbird were the pre-dawn sightings on the way. I managed to catch the bus despite having wrongly thought it was an 0820, rather than 0815, departure. Just as well I walk quickly. As the sky lightened it was possible to add more birds from the bus - Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull, Pink Footed Geese, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Jackdaw, Starling and Pheasant. None were new for the year but it was a reasonable list.
Reaching Rossie Island I headed round to check the Basin. A total of at least 26
Shoveler, a few Wigeon, Mallards and Teal were roosting in the narrow channel through the mud. Redshank, Oystercatcher, Curlew and Shelduck were seen on the mud. A Sparrowhawk glided over heading for the visitor centre area. Out on the water I was able to see Red Breasted Merganser, Pintail and Eider. Behind me I noted House Sparrow and Collared Dove. A Great Black Backed Gull flew past. More scanning found Goldeneye and a Grey Heron. A small flock of Feral Pigeons flew over. As I set off to walk up to the visitor centre a Buzzard flew over and landed in one of the trees near the road. As I reached the area it flew off again, landed in another tree then flew again as I got closer.
Across the road a small flock of Blue Tits and Long Tailed Tits fed among the trees and a Wren scolded from a scrubby patch of brambles. A Chaffinch flew up into the trees on my side of the road. A Great Tit was seen minutes later. Alison O'Hara who was on her way to work at the centre caught up with me as I dawdled along and we chatted along the remaining distance about birds. I headed down to the Bank of Scotland hide to try and see Kingfisher and Water Rail. The hide was empty but there was little to see out in front. A couple of Moorhens were seen in the grass and a Little Egret flew past following behind a Grey Heron.
I heard a
Kingfisher calling but couldn't see it. A short while later I saw it fly in and land on a branch in the pool in front of the hide. Another year-tick for me. I was able to watch the bird fishing for over 30 minutes and photographed it catching and swallowing 2 Common Prawns. A Robin perched out by the shore and a couple of young Pheasants wandered by. With no sign of any Water Rail I headed up to the visitor centre for a higher perspective to try and find Greenshank for the list. Dunnock and Greenfinch were both seen around the car park. After a few minutes scanning from the centre I had my
Greenshank in among the ducks and waders along the shoreline to the west.
It was relatively steady birding from the centre with Mute Swan, Tree Sparrow, Bar Tailed Godwit, and Black Tailed Godwit all added. With no obvious further additions to be had I hurried off to catch the bus (adding Redwing on the way) to Arbroath where I hoped to re-find the Black Redstart which despite the apparent beliefs of local birders I reckoned was still around somewhere as there was no obvious reason for it to move on (other than the disturbance). There was plenty suitable habitat close by with less possibility of being disturbed every few minutes. My guess was that I was likely to find the bird among the rocks behind Pleasureland and the Cinema and the beach in that area as the seawall would largely discourage walkers.
Rook was added from the bus and I decided to try Keptie Pond for Goosander first on my arrival in Arbroath. Tufted Ducks and Coot were added but there were no Goosander on the partially frozen pond. I headed down to check the harbour. A Kestrel flew from the war memorial (?) and hovered by the road. At the harbour I added Turnstone, Cormorant, Rock Pipit and Pied Wagtail as well as some Purple Sandpipers roosting with Redshanks on the breakwater. Cormorants and Great Black Backed Gulls roosted on the top ledge.
There was no sign of the Black Redstart where it had been seen up until the morning of the 1st and it was hard to be sure if there was any fresh signs of having used favoured rocks to perch on. I decided to head west anyway. My final destination would be the golf course to try for Short Eared Owl. I was correct with my belief that the
Black Redstart was still around when I found it in an area busy with Starlings and Rock Pipits and a single unexpected Stonechat. There were also Pied Wagtails around. I found a spot to sit and watch. I was hoping to find a Water Pipit among the Rock Pipits but everything was at best Scandinavian Water Pipits with lots of individual variation between birds. A few Sanderling and Turnstones were seen on the beach closer to Elliot.
I received word from Stuart Green that the Parakeet had been seen in its usual place in Carnoustie and I let him know that the Black Redstart was still around too. I had enough time to try Carnoustie if I was able to add
Short Eared Owl before around 1450. Nearing the golf course, a Kestrel perched atop the lamp posts by the road and hovered over the railway line. I decided not to go into the golf course, instead choosing to scan from near the roundabout. This did actually result in some success with a Short Eared Owl seen and photographed along the northern edges of the course, though obviously distantly. With another target ticked I caught the bus to Carnoustie. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Parakeet in the 15 minutes or so I was able to linger. I did add Stock Dove and half a dozen Grey Squirrels though before heading down to the main road to catch the bus back to Dundee.
The light was fading rapidly and a party of Lapwings were seen from the bus near Monifieth with Curlews and Rooks nearby. I decided to get off the bus on the Arbroath Road and walk up through Eastern Cemetery to Swannie Ponds despite the dusky gloom. There was a very slim chance I might get Fieldfares in the graveyard and I was hoping to add Goosander at the ponds. As expected the graveyard was very quiet. The bottom pond was still quite busy with the usual mix of birds though most of the gulls had gone elsewhere to roost. No sign of any Goosanders though. The top pond however was a different story. There were 7 drakes and 1 duck
Goosander and I had my 6th year-tick of the day. Happy with my day's birding I walked the rest of the way home.
Another really good day with 62 species seen (year-ticks in bold) and 2 mammal species. I missed out on Water Rail, Fieldfare and Ring Necked Parakeet but it was still a very successful day. Interestingly, the Black Redstart was seen on the pitch at Gayfield by Martin Scott when Arbroath scored sometime after 1600. That seems to confirm my suspicion that the bird roosts in the football ground somewhere, probably at the back of one of the stands.
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| Shoveler |
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| Wigeon & Shoveler |
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| Shoveler, Redshank & Teal |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Shoveler |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Buzzard |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Little Egret |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Pheasant |
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| Kingfisher & Prawn |
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| Robin |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Pintail, Wigeon, Mallard & Redshank |
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| Greenshank, Redshank, Rook, Oystercatcher |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull & Moorhen |
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| Oystercatcher & Curlew |
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| Cormorant |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Sanderling, Turnstone & Starling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Stonechat |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Short Eared Owl |
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| Kestrel |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit,
Black Redstart, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye,
Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel,
Kingfisher, Lapwing, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Purple Sandpiper, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shelduck,
Short Eared Owl,
Shoveler, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel.
Almost forgot to post pics of my wee pal, the Black Redstart....
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
