The weather once again put paid to this midweek's planned outing as originally planned. Paul and I had provisionally agreed to head north to Speyside and the surrounding area this Wednesday but a forecast for heavy rain and thunderstorms made it sound like a rather bad idea. The Angus coast looked relatively dry in the morning coinciding with the tide receding from around 0800 which luckily for us was perfect for our new plans. We would start at Westhaven in the hope of perhaps finding a passing Black Tern among the increasing number of Roseates (11 found by Stuart Green on Tuesday!) as the tide turned. From there we'd head to Arbroath for another try at Black Tern, then to Lunan Bay where there was a slight chance if we'd had no luck previously. Usan next for an unseasonal Iceland Gull followed by Montrose Basin for Ruddy Shelduck for Paul and then another attempt at Murton for Mandarin for me. After that we'd see how the time and weather were doing.
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| Black Headed Gull & Mediterranean Gull |
I headed out at around 0710 to meet Paul. Starling, Herring Gull, Blackbird, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Swift and Collared Dove were noted on the 10 minute walk. We set off eastwards adding Common Gulls and Oystercatchers on the Douglas football pitches followed soon after by Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Black Headed Gull. Goldfinch, House Martin and House Sparrow were seen before we reached Westhaven. A Cormorant was stood on one of the wooden poles offshore, a flock of Eider drifted on the sea and Common and Sandwich Terns flitted around.
A Curlew flew past as a Great Black Backed Gull drifted over and a Pied Wagtail picked around on the beach. Paul managed to pick out the first Roseate Tern of the day in flight. As the tide seemed slow to recede we decided to head along to Craigmill Burn mouth for a look there. Linnet, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Arctic Terns, Turnstone and a few Rabbits were seen before I picked out a passing juvenile Mediterranean Gull. Reaching the burn, a few Swallows and Sand Martins whizzed by heading along the coast. A Dunlin dropped in on the opposite bank and Paul spotted some Goosander offshore. A wagtail took flight from across the burn. Photos were rather inconclusive and looked a decent shout for a Yellow Wagtail when viewed on the back of the camera. Opinions on twitter pointed towards Grey Wagtail, which would be slightly more likely. However, further investigation by myself concluded that it was indeed a Yellow Wagtail.
A Common Sandpiper flew off along the beach and a Grey Heron was seen further on. Continuing back towards Westhaven we noted Mallard, Kittiwake, a Whimbrel and a Knot. Stuart Green was scanning offshore and found a pair of Roseate Tern out on the rocks. We had a chat before finally deciding to continue on to Arbroath. (Stuart found a total of 9 Roseate Terns once we'd left - 4 adults and 5 juveniles). Jackdaw was noted on our way into Arbroath. We stopped off behind the cinema where we found a 2cy Mediterranean Gull on the water and a Rock Pipit near the harbour. We also had a chat to Alex Shepherd who was photographing the gull a little further round the seawall before we headed on to Lunan Bay.
There was a rumble of thunder as we stood by Red Castle scanning the gulls and terns on the beach by the river mouth. There was no sign of any Black Terns unfortunately. A closer rumble of thunder and the start of a rain shower sped up our departure from the top of the hill by the ruin. Mute Swans were on the river and Paul found a Guillemot out in the bay. Pheasant was heard but not seen. Next stop was Usan where a Willow Warbler was in a tree by the track down to the beach. There was no sign of any Iceland Gull out on the rocks though a Ringed Plover was found among the gulls. A Fulmar flew past before we headed for Montrose Basin visitor centre.
Things were relatively busy in the Basin with plenty of Lapwings strung out along the shore, a few Greenshanks, Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Curlew. Tree Sparrow, Great Tit and Blue Tit visited the feeders. An Osprey was eating a fish perched on a fencepost towards Rossie Spit. We asked if the Ruddy Shelduck was still around and immediately Joanna(?) found the bird in the scope with a few young Shelduck feeding along to the west. A young female Kingfisher landed on the duck nest tunnel in one of the pools and a Pheasant wandered around below the feeders. Red Breasted Merganser and Goldeneye were added on the water. Grey and Common Seals were hauled out on a sand bank in mid-Basin. A Coal Tit was seen near the feeders before we set off westwards again.
As it was still raining we decided against stopping at The Lurgies and headed for Murton as originally planned. Rooks were seen on the way. At Murton a Snipe was a new species for the day as was the Dunnock singing to the right of the car park hide. There were lots of Greylags on the pool along with a Common Sandpiper and plenty of Lapwings. A Teal was found among the geese. As the rain had surprisingly stopped we headed for the other hide where Gadwall was added to the list for the day. A pair of Lesser Redpoll flew over. The pool by the airfield held a "monster" duck (possibly a Rouen Clair cross?) which seemed almost Greylag sized though there was nothing to compare it against. As always there appeared to be some Mallard in the mix but what else was in there I have no idea. A Roe Deer was seen by the pool before we headed back for another quick look from the original hide. A Common Blue Damselfly was the only thing new however.
We decided to head back to the coast for some sea-watching but it was obvious Paul was feeling rather tired so I suggested we call it a day a bit earlier than planned. Instead we chose to head in the direction of the coast and see how the weather was. As it was still raining we headed for Arbroath Cliffs to try some seawatching from there. Other than a single Gannet there was nothing to be seen. A quick stop at the harbour produced an unexpected Common Sandpiper but nothing else. The gull roost behind the cinema had an adult Mediterranean Gull and 3 Little Gulls in the mostly sleeping flock. The sky over Dundee and Fife looked very dark and ominous as we then headed back towards home but thankfully we arrived too late to see the torrential downpour that had just passed over.
A surprisingly productive sort of day with some decent birds found including Roseate Tern, 3 different aged Mediterranean Gulls, a Whimbrel, Osprey, Kingfisher and the Ruddy Shelduck among the 69 species spotted. We also somehow managed to avoid the bad weather that caused all sorts of problems across the country (especially further northwest where we'd planned on going). I also discovered at home that I had somehow switched the camera settings from RAW to jpeg which thankfully wasn't as big a problem as it might have been.
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| Roseate Tern & Common Tern (?) |
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| Redshank |
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| Common Tern & Sandwich Tern |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Turnstone |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel & Black Headed Gull |
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| Roseate Tern, Arctic Tern, Common Tern & Curlew |
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| Mediterranean Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull & Mediterranean Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Kittiwake, Black Headed Gull & Sandwich Tern |
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| Herring Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Ruddy Shelduck & Shelduck |
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| Ruddy Shelduck & Shelduck (& gulls) |
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| Greylag Goose & Snipe |
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| "Monster" Duck (Rouen Clair?) |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Gadwall, Greylag Goose & Lapwing |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Tern, Arctic Tern & Sandwich Tern |
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| Mediterranean Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Gull, Sandwich Tern & Black Headed Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Gull & Black Headed Gull |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey(?) Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Mallard, Mediterranean Gull, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Roseate Tern, Ruddy Shelduck, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Snipe, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
Damselfly seen - Common Blue Damselfly.
Mammals seen - Common Seal, Grey Seal, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
