The weather once again played a big part in my plans for Wednesday with no birding attempted owing to high winds and rain being forecast for early afternoon. I had considered a trip to Forfar Loch to try and see the Great White Egret which has been around for the best part of a week but chose to stay in bed instead. As the bird was reported as still being present at the Loch on Wednesday I decided that I would make the effort to get there on Thursday as I was off work using up some of the remainder of the year's annual leave allocation.
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| Great White Egret, Mallard & Mute Swan |
I decided against an early start as I had my Leica scope to drop off for collection on its way to Portugal for repair first. Once that was done I had some breakfast and headed out around 1020 to catch the bus to Forfar. Unfortunately it was raining but I hoped that the weather forecast would prove correct and that it would be dry at the Loch. Thankfully it was when I arrived, though the wind was still rather on the strong side. I had thought about heading along the south side which is usually less interesting than the north side but decided that there was no hurry to see the Great White Egret. I was hoping to find Pochard and/or Shoveler, both of which I have yet to see this year, so I decided I would take my time so that I wouldn't miss anything.
Things were a lot quieter than most of my previous visits to the Loch though there were a decent number of Teal around at the eastern end. A small flock of Mistle Thrushes along with a Redwing were in the trees near the wooden platform. A few Long Tailed Tits flitted around nearer ground level. I was able to pick out the
Great White Egret at the far end of the Loch from an open area before I reached the sailing club spit where again I was able to see the bird distantly. A couple of dog walkers succeeded in flushing every bird at the spit and in the nearby small bay. A Whooper Swan showed well by the water's edge a little further on. I had decent views of the Egret from the wooden shelter overlooking the west end before a couple of dogs beyond the fence line caused the bird to fly across to the south side.
I wandered round in that direction adding Siskin, Bullfinch and a couple of surprise Crossbills in flight. Trying to relocate the Crossbills meant doubling back on myself so I decided to walk back the way I came as far as the shelter which gave me more decent views of the Egret. A few Gadwall, Whooper Swans and Little Grebes were the best of the rest as I headed back along the south side before getting caught in the rain as I headed into town. I caught the bus back to Dundee around 1510 and stopped off at Swannie Ponds but only added a trio of Greenfinches and with all the Black Headed Gulls on the water, or in the air, I was unable to read any leg rings so I headed for home having seen 42 species in total including 1 year-tick (in bold). A reasonable day out overall.
Species seen - Dundee to Forfar - Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Starling, Black Headed Gull, Rook, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Oystercatcher.
Forfar Loch - Chaffinch, Magpie, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen, Goosander, Coot, Teal, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Dunnock, Long Tailed Tit, Great White Egret, Cormorant, Whooper Swan, Gadwall, Little Grebe, Siskin, Common Crossbill, Bullfinch, Goldfinch.
Swannie Ponds - Greenfinch.
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| Great White Egret, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Herring Gull & Goldeneye |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Teal |
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| Tufted Duck, Teal & Mute Swan |
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| Teal |
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| Goosander |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Robin |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Mallard |
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| Magpie |
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| Mute Swan & Great White Egret |
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| Mute Swan & Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Mallard & Gadwall |
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| Siskin |
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| Siskin |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Gadwall & Mute Swan |
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| Cormorant |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Great White Egret & Mallard |
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| Mallard & Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Mallard & Great White Egret |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Mallard, Mute Swan & Great White Egret |
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| Mallard, Mute Swan & Great White Egret |
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| Gadwall, Mallard, Mute Swan, Great White Egret & Goosander |
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| Gadwall, Mallard, Mute Swan, Teal & Great White Egret |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Whooper Swan & Mute Swan |
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| Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan & Great White Egret |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Coot |
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| Coot & Tufted Duck |
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| Mallard & Domestic Mallard |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Crossbill, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit,
Great White Egret, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon, Wren.
