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| Sanderling |
Paul got in touch to say that he was intending visiting Montrose Basin and the Angus coast on Wednesday and to see if I wanted to join him. As has been highlighted in recent posts, it is always nice to get a change of scenery so that my birding in Dundee doesn't end up feeling a bit too 'samey', so I once again, said "yes" to the outing. As Paul isn't keeping a year-list (and mine is very much secondary to my Dundee 140 list) there were no real targets for the trip but more of a "let's just see what we can see" sort of vibe. Paul arranged to pick me up at around 0845.
Paul was slightly earlier than expected and we headed off up towards Forfar rather than up the coast towards our first planned stop at Montrose Basin. From the car we noted a single Roe Deer stood in a field, and Lapwing, Swallow and Collared Dove during the rest of the journey. To reach The Lurgies we took a slightly different route and discovered a field of Canada and Greylag Geese mostly hidden behind a hedge. However, despite the hedge being between us and them, they realised we were there and took flight within seconds of us exiting the car.
We reached The Lurgies car park at around 0935 and were soon adding a run of species to our list for the day. There were plenty of Greylags and Canada Geese as well as a few Pink Footed Geese dotted through the flock. There were some Greenshank around and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling repeatedly in the background as we scanned over the Basin. Jackdaw, Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Mute Swan, Mallard, Shelduck, Great Black Backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Redshank and a single Goldeneye were all noted. In the trees behind us were Blue and Great Tits feeding and as we set off along the embankment walk a Sedge Warbler could be heard, and eventually seen, low down in the reeds.
Goldfinches milled around along the track and a Meadow Pipit overflew. We managed to find the Great White Egret and 3 of the Little Egrets as well as a few Wigeon and Teal. Distant Buzzard and Stock Dove were both noted. A Blackbird, a few Linnets, Robin and Wren were all to be found among the bushes. The 2 Ruff were still around, as were some of the Black Tailed Godwits and Snipe from the weekend's visit, though there was no sign of the Green Sandpiper. Common Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gull joined the other gull species already on the list while House Martin, Rook, Grey Wagtail and an Osprey were spotted overhead. Around 1130 we returned to the car and decided to try a spot of seawatching somewhere nearby.
Rather than the usual Fishtown of Usan favoured by others, I suggested Boddin Point watching from beside the old limekilns. This would hopefully allow us to pick up a few species in Lunan Bay. Fulmar, Guillemot, Eider, Shag, Kittiwake, Razorbill, some distant Gannets and Common Scoter were all relatively easy to find out on the water. A Goosander and an Eider shared the same seaweed covered rocks just offshore. A
Great Skua resting on the sea was my first of the year and the trio of Harbour Porpoises I managed to see due to the calm sea were my first sighting in Angus of the species. A Common Tern flew past before we decided to head round to Lunan Bay for a better look at the Scoter flock to see if we could find the Surf Scoter amongst them.
A Greenfinch showed nicely as it drank from a large puddle behind the us in the car-park. With better views of the Scoter flock we added Velvet to the list but there was no obvious Surf Scoter to be found. A Kestrel headed north over the car park as we returned to the car again. We headed for Arbroath next to check the terns for Black and Roseate. We stopped at Victoria Park which gave us Dunlin, Sandwich Tern, Arctic Tern, Turnstone, Little Gull and Ringed Plover. Oddly we failed to find any sign of Mediterranean Gull despite checking the gull flock following the tractor ploughing the field nearest to the cliffs as well as thos down on the shore.
A House Sparrow flew over as we drove round to the campervan congregation. Down on the shore we watched a large Brown Rat (same one as previous week?) wandering across the pebbles and searching among the rocks. Although the tide was on its way in, it still had a bit of time to go. We watched the tern flock coming and going, scanning repeatedly for the hoped for duo, but to no avail. We cut our losses and headed for a quick check of Westhaven. This did add another couple of wader species to our list for the day - Sanderling and Bar Tailed Godwit but Westhaven also failed to produce either of the tern duo we were hoping for. We headed for home shortly before 1700 having managed to record a total of 75 species of bird (including 1 year-tick, in bold) and 3 of mammals, in what was another rather productive and enjoyable day's birding.
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Greylag Goose & Canada Goose
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Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Canada Goose, Redshank & Black Headed Gull
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Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Mallard & Pink Footed Goose
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| Cormorant |
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| Linnet |
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Great Skua
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| Eider |
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| Wigeon |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Kestrel |
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Little Gull & Herring Gull
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Little Gull
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Brown Rat
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Arctic Tern
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Common Tern
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Arctic Tern
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| Shag |
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| Kittiwake |
Birds - Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Skua, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Razorbill, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Ruff, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Brown Rat, Harbour Porpoise, Roe Deer.
