 |
Common Tern
|
Although I should really be concentrating on my Dundee 140 list, when the opportunity comes up to get further afield, there are benefits to saying 'yes'. One of these is (re)gaining familiarity with species that I don't see too often in Dundee. As recent events have shown, there is a possibility of almost anything making an appearance within the city boundaries. Hopefully when these less common species do so, I'm able to see them. Another benefit of getting out and about is catching up with birding friends. Not only those who I'm birding with but also those we run into. So when Ian offered a birding trip down the Angus coast it was another easy 'yes' from me.
Ian arranged to pick me up at 0715 and we headed east for a first stop at Westhaven. This proved to be quite productive. Although the overall number of birds was down compared with Wednesday's trip with Susan there were still plenty of birds to be seen. Arctic, Sandwich and Common Terns were noted while migrating Meadow Pipits passed overhead. A flock of Black Tailed Godwits flew past westwards. Out on the sea we could see Guillemots, Razorbills and Eiders. There were some waders on the shore including a single Bar Tailed Godwit, as well as Dunlin and Redshank.
We headed for the mouth of the Craigmill Burn. Around 100 Canada Geese were seen in a few low flying skeins. Distant Gannets were watched well out over the water and there was a large distant flock of Common Scoters strung out over towards Barry Buddon. Grey Heron, Tree Sparrow, Cormorant, Fulmar, Swallow, Little Gull, Rook and Kittiwake were all seen before we reached the burn. A Lapwing headed inland. Dunlin and Ringed Plover were well camouflaged among the pebbles on the beach. Both Pied and Grey Wagtails were noted and I managed to see a Kingfisher near the bridge. A Yellowhammer was perched atop the telephone pole behind the cottage opposite. We added a Sparrowhawk while we had a brief chat to Stuart Green before we headed for a short look at Arbroath.
We found more Little Gulls, terns, Rock Pipit and an adult and juvenile Mediterranean Gull there before we headed on to Montrose Basin. We took a different road to reach the Lurgies and found a load of Greylags and Canada Geese in the fields. Despite a hedge between us and the birds they all took flight towards the Basin a few seconds after we stopped for a look. The Lurgies turned out to be relatively well populated with birds. A Willow Warbler was heard as we scanned out over the Basin. More Canada and Greylag Geese could be seen downriver and we managed to find a few Pink Footed Geese in amongst them, along with a few Shelduck. The
Great White Egret and 4 Little Egrets could also be seen.
There were numerous Grey Herons dotted around, as well as Mute Swans, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Redshank, Curlew and Greenshank. The first of a couple of Ospreys were seen as we headed upriver to check the area opposite the Slunks. Coal Tit and Linnet were feeding in the bushes. We were taking our time and the effort was rewarded with a pair of Ruff, a couple of Snipe, some Black Tailed Godwits and an unexpected
Green Sandpiper. Sand Martin, a Whooper Swan, Stock Doves and Common Sandpiper were all found before the second Osprey of the day flew upriver. I managed to find a few Pintail and saw my second Kingfisher of the day as we wandered back to the car. A Red Breasted Merganser with 2 ducklings was a decent sighting but oddly there were no Little Grebes around. A very distant Buzzard joined the other birds on the lengthening list for the day.
A Little Stint had been seen in the wader roost at Rossie Spit the previous day so we headed round to attempt to scan through all the birds there. A PDG Helicopters AS355 Twin Squirrel hovered over the Basin not too far offshore while apparently filming the trains passing through the railway station. The birds in the roost weren't too keen on the helicopter and neither were some of the locals. I didn't mind and managed to get some fairly decent photos of the hovering helicopter. A Fly-In event at Montrose Aerodrome had provided some additional interest to the birding round at the Lurgies with an almost continuous stream of light and ultralight aircraft inbound. Eventually Ian managed to find the Little Stint among the roosting Dunlins.
We headed back to Arbroath hoping for Black Tern and Roseate Tern. Parking among the multitude of campervans we scanned through the terns down on the shore and further out. Eventually we were able to add a Black Tern to the day's list and just after we were joined by Eric and Lesley McCabe. I then succeeded in finally getting us a
Roseate Tern which settled nicely on the breakwater in the sunshine. A single and rather vocal Knot circled over us a couple of times just above the height of the vans, which was unexpected, though welcome. We called it a day at 1600 and headed for home having had a productive day's birding with 82 species noted of which 3 (in bold) were new for my year-list. All in all, it was another enjoyable day's birding with plenty variety to be seen.
 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
 |
| Swallow |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
Tree Sparrow
|
 |
Canada Goose
|
 |
| Sparrowhawk |
 |
| Dunlin |
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Greylag Goose & Mallard
|
 |
| Osprey |
 |
| Linnet |
 |
Coal Tit
|
 |
| Greenshank |
 |
Greenshank & Ruff
|
 |
| Snipe |
 |
Whooper Swan
|
 |
Common Sandpiper
|
 |
Green Sandpiper
|
 |
| Goldeneye |
 |
Redshank & Pintail
|
 |
Red Breasted Merganser
|
 |
| Kittiwake |
 |
Arctic Tern
|
 |
Black Tern
|
 |
Roseate Tern
|
 |
Little Gull
|
 |
| Knot |
 |
Little Gull
|
Birds - Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great White Egret, Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Gull, Little Stint, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook,
Roseate Tern, Ruff, Sand Mrtin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
