Paul was able to get out for an extra day's birding this week coinciding with my week off work. Our original plan was for a trip up the Angus Glens on Monday but as Paul would need to be home for 1700 we changed it to Tuesday instead where we would be able to finish up when we felt like we'd done enough birding instead. The Angus Glens would give us the most potential new species for both of us, so we decided to head there. My 3 main targets were Woodcock, Ring Ouzel and Spotted Flycatcher with Paul needing virtually all of the summer migrants that call the Glens their home for the Summer. We decided on an early start with Paul picking me up at 0630.
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| Wheatear |
A new rendezvous point closer to home for me was arranged meaning I didn't have to leave quite so early as before. I was out the door around 0620 for the 5 minute walk along the road. Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Starling, an unexpected singing Chaffinch and a few Feral Pigeon were all noted before I met up with Paul. We headed up the A90 adding Blackbird, Rook and Swallow before turning off towards the Glens. Yellowhammer, Jackdaw, Collared Dove, Song Thrush, Red Legged Partridge, Curlew, Pheasant, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Black Headed Gull and Mallard added a bit of length to the day's list along the way. Rabbit was noted as our first mammal of the day.
We headed into the Glen proper. Willow Warblers were numerous in the roadside trees. We hadn't gone too far before I picked out the shape of a
Woodcock among the trees. We stopped and reversed back for better views as the bird stood still and watched us as intently as we watched it. Target number 1 on the list. Great Tit, Lapwing and Wheatear were seen before I spotted a Cuckoo in flight being chased by a Meadow Pipit. The Cuckoo landed briefly in the top of a nearby tree partially obscured by foliage but flew off again within seconds. A pleasant surprise a little further on was a female Redstart perched at the side of the road. Unfortunately it didn't hang around long enough for me to raise the camera but it was nice to see. A Red Squirrel was watched coming up out of a ditch that Paul had spied it running into.
We parked the car at the end of the Glen road and went for a walk. Robin, Lesser Redpoll, Song Thrush (along with a youngster), Siskin and Blue Tit were seen before we had gone too far. Green Veined White, Small White and Orange Tip butterflies were flitting around. We stopped to look at some Red Deer lazing around on a hill with House Martins crossing our field of view. A pair of Common Sandpiper and a pair of Dipper were on the burn. My second year-tick, a
Spotted Flycatcher, was in some trees by the track though views were initially rather fleeting but we made up for it on our walk back later. A Red Grouse was picked out along the ridge line of a hill opposite.
Paul flushed a Wigeon while I was finding a
Ring Ouzel male singing from the top of a conifer. It had flown onto the hillside behind before Paul caught up with me again. We did manage to see the bird again and a second male allowed closer views as it hunted around on the grassy slope near the track. A Common Gull glided along before a Peacock butterfly landed on the track beside us. A trio of Buzzards, our first raptors of the morning and the only ones we were to see in the whole Glen were seen circling up as the temperature rose. Walking back to the car with all 3 of my targets in the bag we discussed possibilities for the rest of the day. Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, Dunnock and Goldcrest were all seen before we made it back to the car.
We had decided to head for Murton where Paul could hope to add Little Ringed Plover to his list. Sand Martin and Swift were welcome additions on the way. A roadside pool that we chanced upon proved quite productive with 2 Ringed Plover, 4 Little Grebe, Coot, Tufted Duck and Greylag Geese all new for the day's list. Reaching Murton around 1230 we quickly noted Shelduck, Mute Swan, Gadwall and a Little Ringed Plover from the car park hide, along with a Roe Deer. Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Whitethroat were seen on our short walk round as far as the airfield bend. Buzzards soared to the northeast with a single bird heading towards us. From the car park a very high flying Red Kite with apparent wing damage in addition to more natural moult was picked out against the blue sky, another nice surprise. Magpie was added as we drove out from the car park.
Next stop was Loch of Kinnordy. Here we were able to add 2 Ospreys hunting over the Loch at the same time, a male Marsh Harrier, Wren, Moorhen, a family of Mallard ducklings with their mother, a Lesser Black Backed Gull passing by and a Redshank among the Lapwings on the Bogbean islands. A few Large Red Damselflies were seen on the walk along to the Swamp Hide where Shoveler was the only addition. Tree Sparrow was an expected find at the feeders before we set off to Loch of Lintrathen. A Bullfinch was in the trees by the hide while a Great Crested Grebe was the only new bird. Backwater Reservoir was to be our last stop and a Sparrowhawk circled up over the road as we made our way there. Another Osprey and a few Buzzards were seen here along with a pair of Cormorants and a pair of Stonechats but the area was rather quiet as it often is. On the way back to Dundee we added our first Ravens of the day around a hill north of Alyth. Otherwise it was a typical mix of corvids and Woodpigeons mostly before Paul dropped me off back in Dundee and headed homewards having discussed our plans for the following day.
A pretty decent day out though the high temperature did make it slightly hard going at times as neither of us is a particularly big fan of hot sunny days or great at handling the heat those days produce. We finished the day with 78 species seen, including 3 year-ticks (in bold) as well as 5 species of butterfly, 1 of Damselfly and 4 of Mammal. Well worth the early start.
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| Woodcock |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Swallow |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Siskin |
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| Red Deer |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Ring Ouzel |
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| Buzzard |
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| Ring Ouzel |
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| Ring Ouzel |
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| Ring Ouzel |
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Curlew |
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| Woodcock |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Swallow |
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| Buzzard |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Swallow |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Red Kite |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Mallard |
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| Moorhen |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Large Red Damselfly |
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| Osprey |
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| Oystercatcher & Common Sandpiper |
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| Pied Wagtail & Mistle Thrush |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Raven |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Gadwall, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Grouse, Red Kite, Red Legged Partridge, Redshank, Redstart, Reed Bunting,
Ring Ouzel, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler,
Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Damselflies seen - Large Red Damselfly.
Mammals seen - Rabbit, Red Deer, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer.
