On Tuesday evening I pondered where to go birding on Wednesday. It was a straight choice between Musselburgh for a Pectoral Sandpiper or Lunan Bay in the hope of Iceland Gull and Black Tern. I reckoned that the Pectoral Sandpiper was probably the safer bet but the journey to get there involving train, then bus then a walk wasn't particularly appealing on a weekday. The tide times at Lunan Bay weren't particulary brilliant either with the tide already on its way back out by the time I would be leaving home. A bus at 0705 and a 2 mile walk would mean I would arrive around 0830. I hoped that this would mean I would avoid most of the dog walkers even if it meant the birds would likely be further away.
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| Sanderling |
I was up early and made it out the door around 0645. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Starling, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, an unexpected lone Swift, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Blue Tit and Robin were seen on the walk to the bus station. The bus journey was less productive but I still managed Oystercatcher, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Swallow, Black Headed Gull, Cormorant, Great Black Backed Gull and House Sparrow as well as Rabbit and Roe Deer. I reached Inverkeillor a little before 0800 and set off along the road towards Lunan Bay. Things were quiet with Swallows around the derelict farm buildings in good numbers but very little else except a Pied Wagtail, a Whitethroat and a Linnet pair seen on the walk to the bay. A Silver Ground Carpet moth was also noted. Thankfully things picked up when I reached the track down to the beach at Lunan Bay.
A Willow Warbler showed among the Gorse and a flock of House Sparrows flew around by the road. The field had a number of birds feeding on the seed heads of the umbellifers - Whitethroats adult and youngsters, Blue Tits, a Blackcap female/youngster as well as more Willow Warblers feeding on the insects. Dunnock, Chaffinch, Yellowhammer, Greenfinch and juvenile Robin fed down on the track. The bushes along the fenceline produced Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Blue Tit, a male Blackcap and a surprise juvenile Sedge Warbler. A Wren flew across the path and a trio of Song Thrushes were perched up on the wires. A Fulmar circled around Red Castle and a Jackdaw plus a Stock Dove flew past. There was also a steady stream of mostly Herring Gulls leaving the bay. I could easily have spent a lot longer by the track which was as productive a short stretch as I've seen in many a year.
There was a pair of Mute Swans on the river and a relatively small flock of gulls and terns on the sand by the mouth of the river with others further along the beach. A quick scan gave me Arctic and Common Terns as well as a few Sandwich Terns. Herring Gulls, Great Black Backed Gulls, a few Common Gulls and a lot of Kittiwakes made up the rest of the flock as far as I could tell. Within minutes a dog walker sent the whole lot skywards to land with the others further along the beach. I managed to get another look at them before the same dog walker flushed the lot again. This time they headed for the southern end of the beach.
I wasn't feeling particularly great and was already worried that I might have to call it a day and head for home. However, I decided to take a chance and set off along the beach southwards. There were a few Kittiwakes and Terns in a small group on the beach so I stayed along the top edge of the sands so as not to disturb them. Unfortunately the return of the dog walker who flushed them earlier saw them all depart while one of her dogs came up for a bark and a nosey at me. Offshore I spotted a few Eiders and a pair of Common Scoters. Further along the beach I stopped to photograph a small flock of Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover feeding in a small stream on the beach.
A few Sand Martins with nest holes along the edge of the dunes flew over me and a Swallow zipped southwards over the dunes. A group of 5 Greylag Geese out over the bay were a surprise. A Meadow Pipit flew over. I was getting closer to the large gull flock down on the shore near the end of the beach when I spotted another dog walker coming down onto the beach. He and his dog then headed for the water's edge and it appeared he was likely to reach the flock around the same time I would. I stopped to scan so that I would at least have some chance of finding something good before everything went skywards again. I failed to find anything before I heard "Max, get the birdies!" and the dog ran towards the flock putting everything up.
This did nothing for my mood and I was feeling increasingly unwell. I trudged wearily back along the beach adding Stonechat and Reed Bunting as well as stopping again to photograph the waders. A pair of Redshanks were also spotted. A few Goldfinches were on the washing line back near the houses, along with a Linnet. The gulls and terns had by this time all been flushed again by Max onto the beach on the north side of the outflow so there was no point in stopping. A Painted Lady and a Green Veined White butterfly were seen as I headed past the houses. The track back out produced a single Blackbird unlike earlier. A single Curlew, a Greenfinch and a small flock of Tree Sparrows were the only additions before I reached Inverkeillor again. A Collared Dove was seen on a roof there and a Peacock butterfly was seen and photographed.
I had a choice between waiting around 25 minutes for a bus to Arbroath or a 5 minute wait for a bus to Montrose. I chose the latter figuring it left me around 15-20 minutes to have a quick look at the Basin before catching the X7 back to Dundee. A Buzzard was seen from the bus. I had a quick wander below the railway bridge at Rossie Island to scan out over the Basin. An Osprey was eating a fish on a fencepost opposite and a small group of Canada Geese flew over. Another Osprey was hunting over the water to the north. Redshank, Knot, Curlew and Oystercatcher were all seen. Eider, Goosander and Goldeneye were on the water and hauled out on the sand. More distantly were Lapwings, Shelduck, Carrion Crows, Mute Swans and Grey Heron. More Canada Geese departed from the Basin as I waited for the bus back to Dundee a bit earlier than planned originally.
A decent enough haul of species with 65 seen, despite nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Had I not been feeling rather ill I would probably have chosen to stop off at Arbroath and either do some seawatching from the cliffs or walk from Elliot to Easthaven. Either of these options might have added a few more species, though I suspect most species seen would have been those already seen earlier in the day. The main highlight of the day was just how productive the track to the beach was, early in the morning and with favourable winds it could prove relatively productive for migrants, I suspect.
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Fulmar |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Blackcap |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Disturbance |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Sanderling & Dunlin |
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| Black Headed Gull, Common Gull (& Kittiwake) |
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| Sanderling & Ringed Plover |
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| Dunlin |
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| Sanderling |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Sanderling |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Kittiwake & Common Tern |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Redshank, Kittiwake & Common Tern |
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| Common Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Herring Gull, Kittiwake, Black Headed Gull, Common Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern, Arctic Tern & Kittiwake |
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| Kittiwake & Common Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern & Kittiwake |
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| Disturbance |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Swallow |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Kittiwake & Arctic Tern |
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| Kittiwake, Common Gull & Common Tern |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin & Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Linnet |
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| Curlew |
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| Curlew |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Peacock |
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| Peacock |
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| Redshank |
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| Osprey |
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| Eider |
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| Goosander & Eider |
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| Grey Heron (& Herring Gull) |
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| Osprey |
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| Herring Gull, Curlew, Knot, Oystercatcher, Carrion Crow |
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| Oysteractcher, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Eider, Carrion Crow, Curlew |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Canada Goose |
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Osprey
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Osprey
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Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Painted Lady, Peacock.
Mammals seen - Rabbit, Roe Deer.
Moths seen - Silver Ground Carpet
