Sunday was to be another hot day. Not my favourite sort of day to go birding but having enjoyed Saturday's visit to Riverside Nature Park I wanted to get out and about somewhere. With public transport not being particularly great on a Sunday and there not being any particular target birds around I was struggling a little to decide where to go. In the end I decided to head for Barry Buddon. There was a slight chance of finding some passing migrants as well as a slim possibility of finally catching up with a Black Tern which would be new for my year-list.
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| Meadow Pipit |
I headed out around 1240 to walk down to Arbroath Road to catch a bus out to Barry village from where I would walk out across the military training area to the beach. Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Herring Gull and Swallow were seen on the walk to the bus stop. I was already finding it warmer than I'd hoped it would be which is not great when carrying my birding gear for miles, especially when some of the walk is also on sand. I debated heading back home but got on the bus. Goldfinch, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Oystercatcher, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Sparrowhawk were seen from the bus with Collared Dove added in Barry village.
Carrion Crow and Peacock butterfly were noted as I wandered down the western edge of Carnoustie. A Chiffchaff flew across in front of me as I cut along the track just past the burn. A Yellowhammer was also seen in another tree. House Martins and Swallows circled overhead. Starlings, Robin and House Sparrows were seen as I wandered along the road to the level crossing. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling but failed to see it. A Magpie was on wasteground by the railway line. A few Black Headed Gulls were seen resting on the golf course. A Willow Warbler showed in a tree by the road. Unfortunately my leisurely wander was then interrupted by a large family group closing the distance between them and me. If they were to get in front of me I was unlikely to see much, and even with them relatively close behind their loud chat was likely to cause me problems. I hurried on ahead instead.
A Common Darter dragonfly posed nicely for me and a little further on I spotted a Small Copper butterfly. Two more butterfly species in Small Tortoiseshell and GreenVeined White were also added. Some activity in the trees added Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit and Coal Tit to the list. I reached the end of the tree lined section of the road. I knew that I was unlikely to add much on the stretch out to the lighthouse though a Stock Dove and Meadow Pipit were seen before I reached the beach, as well as a Meadow Brown butterfly. Offshore Sandwich Tern and Cormorant were seen. There was a haze offshore meaning that I could barely make out the coast of Fife. I headed off along the beach eastwards.
A small flock of Sanderling were down by the water's edge. A trio of White Wagtails scurried around by a few small pools as I followed the beach around the point. A few Linnets flew up from the top edges of the beach. A Lesser Black Backed Gull youngster was on the sand with a Herring Gull nearby. A Common Gull, a Knot and a Curlew flew by in quick succession. A raft of Eider drifted around not far off the beach. A pair of Bar Tailed Godwits fed near another pool and around 100 or so of the species flew past, disturbed from a roost near the Monifieth end of the beach. Sand Martin was the next addition. A Turnstone flew out over the sea before a large gull and tern roost appeared out on a small sandbar offshore. Heat shimmer made it impossible to determine the make-up of the roost until I got much closer.
Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns, a Great Black Backed Gull or two, Herring Gulls, a few Common Gulls, Kittiwake and Black Headed Gulls were all noted as I scanned through the flock trying to find a Black Tern or even a Roseate Tern but failing to find either. I did find a juvenile Little Gull however but failed to improve on that despite spending some time scanning and rescanning while sat on the sand. The Bar Tailed Godwits seen earlier were also roosting by the water's edge. I then headed back along the beach and hadn't gone too far when the sound of motorbikes echoed around from behind me. A pair of scrambler type bikes I'd seen earlier among the dunes were now rocketing along the sand and needless to say sent the entire roost skywards. They continued on past me sending the Sanderling flock off out over the sea. The White Wagtails were the only birds still around on the sand.
An interesting insect caught my eye as I headed up the dunes back to the path. It turned out to be a type of bee-fly - a Dune Villa, a new species for me. A trio of Reed Buntings were perched in small bush and a number of Meadow Pipits were feeding down on the track ahead of me. A few Pied Wagtails and White Wagtails were feeding in front of the lighthouse entrance along with a few more Meadow Pipits. There was very little else to be seen on the way back though a Jay was heard. Long Tailed Tits, a Dunnock and a Wren were added before I reached Carnoustie again. As it was a Sunday I had a lengthy wait for the bus home but as it was a lovely evening in the sunshine it wasn't much of a chore. A Sparrowhawk zipped by along the edge of the houses as I waited.
Despite not feeling like I had seen too much variety I managed a total of 48 species. It wasn't a classic afternoon's birding by any stretch of the imagination but the slightly cooler seaside atmosphere had made it relatively enjoyable.
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| Magpie |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Common Darter |
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| Small Copper |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Curlew |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sanderling |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Sanderling |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Curlew |
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| Sanderling |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull & Sanderling |
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| Eider |
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| Bar Tailed Godwits |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit & Black Headed Gull |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit & Black Headed Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Little Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern, Common Tern & Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull & Kittiwake |
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| Herring Gull, Sandwich Tern, Common Gull & Kittiwake |
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| Black Headed Gull, Sandwich Tern & Common Tern |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Disturbance |
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| Herring Gull |
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| White Wagtail |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| White Wagtail |
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| Dune Villa |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| White Wagtail |
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| Small Copper |
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| Green Veined White |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail (& White Wagtail), Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Turnstone, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell.
Dragonfly seen - Common Darter.
Other insects - Dune Villa (bee-fly)
