Trip reports

ARBROATH

Sunday, 12 October 2008

A select group of six led by Rodney gathered at the South Esplanade in Arbroath after a delayed start due to a road closure north of Montrose. The weather was dry and calm, but grey with only fitful sunshine.

We were immediately rewarded with a flock of two to three hundred Golden Plovers on the foreshore, difficult to see when sitting among the pebbles but magnificent when they periodically took to the air. Where else in Britain could one see such an excellent bird in such numbers so close to a town centre? Switching our attention to the low shrubs adjacent to the esplanade, a flock of fifty or so Greenfinches appeared, with a few Goldfinches to keep them company. Rising from and returning to the shrubs, they offered further entertainment to augment the Plovers. Also evident were a couple of Swallows [perhaps en route south from Shetland?], Starlings, a lone Cormorant, Herring Gulls, Oystercatchers, Turnstone, Redshank, Knot, a couple of Pied Wagtails and a few Rock Pipits.

The ubiquitous Feral Pigeons prompted a discussion on how to distinguish these from true Rock Doves and the distribution of the latter in Scotland; Rodney reckoned these were limited to remoter parts of the west coast.

The next stop was the north esplanade after a brief motorised convoy through Arbroath's back streets [new territory for me]. This is a popular spot on Sundays for casual strollers, wind surfers and dog walkers and birding opportunities are limited to the foreshore and off shore. Nevertheless we spotted Curlews, a Grey Heron, Great Black-backed Gulls, Lapwings, Ringed Plovers, more Redshanks and, some way out to sea, Red-throated Divers and Eiders. The clean public toilets offer a comfort break, followed by the more attractive option of a sea cliff walk through the Seaton Cliffs Nature Reserve managed by the SWT.

This offers magnificent scenery and fascinating geology and coastal geomorphology; sea stacks, caves and blow holes. Should there be a strong east wind, it is recommended for wonderful seascapes. Today however was calm and provided good birding, not only for coastal and marine species but also meadowland birds. The former included the occasional and lonely-looking Guillemot, Eider, Shags, Great Black-backed Gulls [a much neglected and magnificent bird], and Black-headed Gulls. Rodney encouraged us to look closely at the Black-headed Gulls in case we overlooked something more interesting [e.g. Mediterranean Gull] but no luck. The highlight was two male Eider chasing a Shag for some reason. Also seen was a roost of Feral Pigeons on the cliff face together with three Woodpigeons, illustrating the large difference in size between the species.

The meadowland species included large flocks [two to three hundred] of LBJs which were difficult to identify, rising suddenly from the vegetation and disappearing as quickly. We eventually identified them as mainly Linnets with some Goldfinches. They showed a preference for potato fields prompting the suggestion that they were feeding on the unpicked potatoes, but my bird texts say they are seed and insect eaters. Perhaps the potatoes were attracting insects which were the draw for the Linnets. Also spotted were a couple of Grey Partridges, a Wren, some Skylarks, a Robin, Meadow Pipits, a Stonechat, a Wheatear, and Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.

Corvids seen were Jackdaw, and mixed flocks of Crows and Rooks [juvenile Rooks with black bills can resemble Crows so identification was not straight forward]. Raptors were restricted to [surprisingly] one Buzzard and three Kestrels, two of which were being harried by Crows.

After a short break for coffee and cakes on the outskirts of Arbroath we decided to finish the day at Lunan Bay, with information that there were over five hundred scoter present. We were not disappointed, the Bay being full of small black specks way offshore. Luckily, Rodney and Eric have 60x scopes and we were able to identify not only Common Scoters [the majority] but also significant numbers of Velvet Scoters and one Surf Scoter, a lifer for at least three of the group. Also seen were four Long-tailed Ducks, several Red- throated Divers, three Red-breasted Mergansers, some Guillemots, two Great Crested Grebes and an Arctic Skua.

All in all, an excellent day's birding with 53 species identified. The suggestion was made that, given the number of casual strollers on the sea cliff walk as well as on the esplanade, the next outing to Arbroath should be mid-week.

Nick Williams