I wasn't feeling particularly motivated to get out and about on Wednesday. The temperature was still below zero so most open water was frozen over, other than rivers etc, limiting the options a bit. It was bright and sunny thouugh which was one plus, meaning that photography opportunities would hopefully be slightly better than of late - if I could find some birds. By the time I got out of bed though I'd reduced my options a bit further. I decided my best bet for picking up anything new for the year-list was to head along the coast and check out the gull roosts at Balmossie, Craigmill and Elliot. It was almost lunchtime when I headed out.
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon started the list with Blue Tit and Woodpigeon seen on the walk to the Arbroath Road to catch a bus to Balmossie. From the bus I added Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Magpie. I got off the bus just before Balmossie so I could walk along with the sun behind me which I hoped would also give me a better chance at some of the waders. A Coal Tit was seen by the path as I wandered down to check the shore. Oystercatcher and Starlings were relatively plentiful. Curlew, Grey Plover, Sanderling and Ringed Plover were feeding on the sand along to the west. The Eider flock were well out in the middle of the river. Redshank and a few Bar Tailed Godwit were then added along with Common Gull, Black Headed Gull and a small flock of roosting Dunlin.
I scanned through the gull flock at Balmossie adding Turnstone and Great Black Backed Gull plus a few Goldeneye but there was no sign of any remotely exotic gulls. Great Black Backed Gull was as close as I got. A small flock of Goldfinches flew over. I headed back to the main road to catch a bus to Carnoustie but found I had a bit of a wait until the next bus was due so chose to walk towards Monifieth in the meantime. This added House Sparrow to the list and a Goosander flew up the Dighty further on. I discovered I'd left my watch at home which meant having to take out my phone and switch it on anytime I needed to see what time it was. I definitely much prefer the convenience of wearing a watch.
I caught the bus around 1250 or so and decided to head for Elliot and work back from there as the bus was going to Arbroath anyway. Jackdaw and Lapwing were noted en route but overall things were very quiet. A skein of Pink Footed Geese were heading westwards to the north of Elliot when I got off the bus. I wandered down to check the shoreline. I ended up sitting on the pebbles photographing the variety of Rock Pipits feeding among the seaweed and trying, once again, to find an Angus Water Pipit. Needless to say this was unsuccessful again. I noticed a call from the Rock Pipits that I hadn't heard before and eventually was able to see when
it was being used. It seemed to be used when 1 bird was chasing another - an aggression call (a sort of abrupt 'choop/chup' sound), and later at home I discovered that an aggression call was indeed what it was known as. Pied Wagtails were the only other birds other than Starling seen feeding among the seaweed.
I wandered along towards the burn mouth but the numbers of gulls were still quite low and there was nothing of note among those that were around either. A few Cormorants were the only birds I could see out over the sea. I could see a photographer over at the golf course so crossed the level crossing to see if there was anything around. It turned out to be Ron Mitchell from Montrose and we stood and chatted for a while. A Stonechat was seen nearby but there was no sign of any Short Eared Owls over the golf course. A pair of Mallards circled overhead and a pair of Mute Swans were seen on the ice at the reedbeds. We were joined by another couple of birders briefly, one of who spotted an Owl hunting near the railway line but a good bit away from where we were stood. It threatened to come a bit closer but swung back again, before crossing the railway line to hunt over the reedbed.
I decided that as the sun was getting low in the sky I would walk along the track so that if the bird was hunting over the scrub, or the reedbeds the sun would be on the bird, rather than behind it. I spotted a Snipe put up by the owl having been alerted by hearing its alarm call. A Song Thrush was seen on the railway line fence as I set off. The owl was alternating between the golf course and the reeds. On one of its passages between the two it gave me a nice close fly-by though the camera which had been playing up all day naturally chose this time to be awkward meaning that although I got a few photos I missed the best of the opportunities.
A Teal drake was in the small burn and a Meadow Pipit flew over. The owl landed on one of the marker posts at the edge of the golf course and I managed a few nice perched shots. Once the bird resumed hunting I headed back along the track slowly as the sun set behind the fields to the northwest. The bird then landed on a closer post so using a Gorse bush as cover I sneaked close enough to be able to peer through the branches at the edge of the Gorse and to get some reasonable (though 'noisy') photos of the relaxed bird without it noticing me. Once I'd taken a few photos I kept low and headed back away from the bird, leaving it undisturbed atop the pole before I headed along to the bus stop for a 20 minute wait for the bus home.
Not the most inspiring or productive afternoon's birding with only 40 species seen but some reasonable photo opportunities though the low sun hindered as many as it helped.
 |
| Grey Plover |
 |
| Ringed Plover |
 |
| Herring Gull |
 |
| Common Gull & Dunlin |
 |
| Great Black Backed Gull & Herring Gull |
 |
| Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull & Redshank |
 |
| Herring Gull |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Pied Wagtail |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Pied Wagtail |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Pink Footed Goose |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Pied Wagtail |
 |
| Rock Pipit |
 |
| Stonechat |
 |
| Song Thrush |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Teal |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
 |
| Short Eared Owl |
Species seen -Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sanderling, Short Eared Owl, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
