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| Arctic Tern |
Although insects had very much been my main focus in May and early June, I was always birding too (though not really seeing too much of note). Rohan suggested a spot of birding on Saturday the 13th of June. Having had a look at the weather forecast and weighed up the available options, we decided on a visit to Montrose Basin and an attempt to get a look at the Easthaven Yellow Wagtails. An 0730 start was arranged and although expectations were rather low, given the time of year, there was still a reasonable chance of getting something unusual.
House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Chaffinch got the day's list started, with Swift, Buzzard, Skylark and Kestrel all being seen from the car as we headed for Montrose Basin. We were going to walk out to the Wigeon or Shelduck hide but instead decided instead on the shorter walk at the Lurgies. We reached The Lurgies car park just before 0830 and were soon spotting birds out in the Basin - Red-breasted Merganser, Black-headed Gull, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Little Egret, Shelduck, Oystercatcher, Mallard, Eider, Goldeneye and Redshank with Greenfinch, Pheasant and Reed Bunting on the landward side.
Continuing on along the banking we managed to find Linnet, Willow Warbler, Wren, Woodpigeon, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat. Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Moorhen and Common Gull were all added to the birds on the Basin side of where we were. A Painted Lady butterfly was flitting around along the path - this species seems to be absolutely everywhere this summer. Jackdaw, Goosander, Chiffchaff, Blackbird, Stock Dove, and Pied Wagtail were all added to the list before we wandered back to the car park. Although we hadn't found anything out of the ordinary, the variety we did find was enough to keep things interesting. We decided to head to Ferryden next to see some terns - though the original intention had been to walk out to Scurdie Ness lighthouse.
Time was however already very much against us if we wanted to try for the Easthaven area's Yellow Wagtails. At Ferryden, the very first terns we saw were one of each - an Arctic and a Common. There was a relatively decent amount of activity over towards the Glaxo plat, as well as out over the river. Cormorant, House Martin, Starling and Swallow were also seen before we called it a day at Ferryden. What I didn't realise at the time was that one of the terns I'd photographed was actually a 2nd year Arctic Tern - a bird that usually summers in the southern hemisphere, making it a rather rare sighting, though one easily assumed as a juvenile (despite none having yet fledged) and thus overlooked. We headed down to Easthaven, noting Rook on the way.
We headed out along the path eastwards from the car park adding Sandwich Tern, Gannet and Great Black-backed Gull fairly quickly out over the sea. Things were rather quieter on land however. A bit of a surprise was a Greylag flock that flew west silently. Unfortunately, there was no sign of any Yellow Wagtails, though there were a few Pied Wagtails around. As we headed back to the car, I picked up a small flock of waders low over the water, which I managed to get photos of, confirming my suspicion that they were Knot - likely returning failed breeders on their way back south (though interestingly only one bird showed any orange, so maybe all were last year's youngsters bar one). We headed back to Dundee having managed to find a total of 54 species of birds and 1 of butterflies. Once again, an enjoyable morning's birding with Rohan.
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| Black-headed Gull & Redshank |
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| Little Egret |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Little Egret, Grey Heron, Black-headed Gull, Mallard & Mute Swan |
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| Arctic Tern & Common Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Curlew |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Redshank |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Gannet |
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| Knot |
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| Skylark |
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| Pied Wagtail |
Birds - Arctic Tern, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Painted Lady.
