With blue skies and sunshine forecast (at last!) for Saturday, there was only one place that I was heading - back to Lunan Bay for what I hoped would be a successful 3rd attempt at seeing the Black Scoter. Although the light would be behind the birds for a large chunk of the morning I decided to give myself as decent a chance at seeing the bird as possible by getting to the bay as early as I could. This meant an 0700 bus it would be. Needless to say it was a struggle to see many birds before the sun rose above the horizon but I managed to see Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Buzzard and Starling before arriving at Inverkeilor. The walk to the bay was slighly more productive with around 180 Linnets the main highlight before I reached the junction for the bay.
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| House Sparrow |
The walk to the north side of the bay added a few more species including Tree Sparrows once again in the hedge by the road just past Red Castle. A Redwing was in the trees at the farm and a Siskin flew over the car park. It was around 0905 when I reached the viewing platform and set up my scope. The Common Scoters were quite distant but my new scope immediately made a difference. It was a similar mix of species to previous recent visits though the sunlight did make them easier to pick out, especially the few Velvet Scoters. With the beach already quite busy I decided to head down onto the sand to get a better angle on the flock. This did help though there was an element of heat shimmer and the birds would disappear behind the waves from time to time. I was joined by another birder, Len Hunter from Dunbar and after a few minutes scanning I managed to get onto what I was at least 75% sure was the
Black Scoter, only to lose sight of it as I gestured to Len that I had the bird.
We headed back up to the platform where 2 more birders were searching - Darren Edwards and Walter McEwan from Stirling and Cumbernauld. Jeremy Squire joined the small group of us and a team effort resulted in most of us getting onto the bird and managing decent views of it though Darren wasn't convinced he was on the same bird as the rest of us. A few Bottlenose Dolphins also put in an appearance quite close in with a few others a bit further out in the bay. Darren, Walter and myself decided to try from further along the beach to hopefully get better views. The heat shimmer was more of an issue so we retreated to a small area near the base of the dunes where we had an element of height which helped us to refind the bird. I had a camera with me with a 300mm lens which I knew would be insufficient for a record shot but weight limitations didn't really stretch to much else, though with hindsight the P900 would have been a better bet given the good lighting conditions and that camera's extensive reach. I took a few photos of the area of the flock the bird was in and (I think) managed to get a very poor record shot of it.
A Guillemot and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were also seen though we missed a flyover Snow Bunting seen by Jeremy back at the platform. Around 1345, Darren and Walter decided to head for Backwater Reservoir to try for the Great Grey Shrike and offered me a lift to the main road (thanks again!). I was dropped off near Montrose Visitor Centre and headed in there where I met up with Len again and had a chat to Rob Noble-Nesbitt. With the tide already quite well in, I added a few species including Greenshank and Wigeon. A quick check at Rossie Spit added Knot and Black Tailed Godwit before I caught the late running bus back to Dundee around 1550. A successful day out with a total of 58 species including the hoped-for lifer (in bold). Not many photos taken because of the limitations of the lens.
Species seen Dundee to Inverkeilor - Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Buzzard, Starling.
Inverkeilor to Lunan Bay car park - Jackdaw, Song Thrush, Cormorant, Rook, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Pink Footed Goose, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Black Headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Pheasant, Curlew, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Collared Dove, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, House Sparrow, Magpie.
Lunan Bay - Common Scoter, Long Tailed Duck, Red Throated Diver, Velvet Scoter, Red Breasted Merganser, Shag, Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Eider, Black Scoter, Guillemot, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Gull, Great Black Backed Gull.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin.
Montrose - Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Wigeon, Shelduck, Greenshank, Robin, Grey Heron, Black Tailed Godwit, Knot, Teal, Dunlin, Redshank.
Mammals - Rabbit.
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Starling |
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| Linnet |
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| Reed Bunting & Linnet |
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| Rook |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Curlew |
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| Magpie |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Common Scoter, Long Tailed Duck & Herring Gull |
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| Sanderling |
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| Cormorant |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Great Spotted Woodpcker |
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| Herring Gull, Black Scoter (left of left Herring Gull), Common Scoter |
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| Herring Gull, Black Scoter (left of right Herring Gull), Common Scoter |
Species seen -
Black Scoter, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sanderling, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Velvet Scoter, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Bottlenose Dolphin, Rabbit.
