High Tide Basin Birds

Photos from a windy, dull Montrose Basin, taken at the Lurgies in poor light and mostly at distance during high tide. The tide was still high when I had a look at Victoria Park beach in Arbroath, the sea was stormy with gulls and a few Turnstones the only birds around. At the harbour the Purple Sandpiper numbers had increased to six sitting out high tide in some shelter. Photos in alphabetical order, cos it's easier...

 

I was asked this week by Olive's daughter why there were "100's" of pheasants running around in one of the glens. I found this online and it seemed to explain it, her reply was "That’s just absolutely shocking!!"

"Pheasants. Between 50 and 62 million non-native pheasants and red-legged partridges are reared in, and also imported into Britain each year. They are treated in cages with drugs and antibiotics then released into the countryside on shooting estates, and fed to keep them from wandering. Because they are tame, and stupid, beaters are employed to chase them up into the air with white flags and whistles so mostly rich people shoot them with lead shot. Only about 30% of the released birds are killed, the rest die on roads and are very easy prey for foxes, that's why fox numbers are artificially high. The estates shoot, snare and poison thousands of foxes each year. There isn't a market for  shot birds and many are dumped, some go to supermarkets and have been found to have highly toxic lead fragments in their flesh. During the time the birds are in the wild they out-compete native birds, eat small native fauna including frogs,  lizards and insects. And it's all so toffs, tories and psychos can have fun."

Common Gull with Herring Gull in the background

Little Grebe

Canada Geese, looks like a family group with two 1st winters on the left

Pale-bellied Brent Geese, although the lower bird is very dark-bellied, I assume it's a 1st winter age group

Red-breasted Merganser

Wigeon

Great black-backed Gull 1st winter, Victoria Park

Same gull

Pied Wagtail at Victoria Park, Arbroath

Pintails, Godwits and Geese

An unsuccessful trip to Tayock at Montrose Basin where I'd gone to find two Pale-bellied Brent Geese and a single Barnacle Goose which had been reported a few times there. I was a bit late in getting there and the tide was further in than I like. In consolation, I did count 12 Pintails, and a few Black-tailed Godwits flew in to feed on the fast shrinking mud. The long-staying Great Egret appeared to be with a number of Herons between the Wigeon Hide and Miss Erskine's Bank.

Pintail drake, getting close to full winter plumage

Pintail ducks, lit up by the harsh sunlight

Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit synchronicity

Just a few of the many Pink-footed Geese

These came closer

Arbroath Harbour Birds - more than many would think

   
An afternoon look at birds along the coast and harbour in Arbroath, with photos of some of the winter visitors, some passing through, and others that have moved to the coast as the seasons advance.

The first photos have been assembled to tell the story of a Cormorant, I've never seen one acting like it did, and I see plenty of them in winter.

More later and maybe some video....

Strange behaviour by a young Cormorant at Inchcape Beach in Arbroath this week. They often sit out the high tide on the marker poles of a disused launch slipway, another white elephant plan gone wrong, here in Arbroath

I didn't get any photos, but it had just regurgitated it's stomach contents into a hollow at the top of the metal pole

Next it started to retrieve the fish and swallow them again

The fish appears to have broken shells stuck to it, I wonder if that is an aid to digestion?

It's not going down easily

Now it's preening to get fish slime and scales of its plumage

The first returning Purple Sandpipers at the harbour, found by John Adam while I was on my way to look for them

One of my favourites, a plucky and hardy species, a Rock Pipit, which winters in and around the harbour and beaches nearby. They are songbirds that behave like waders

Its got a small sand dwelling crustacean in its beak

Now its grabbed a fly

Turnstone, another species that will see out the winter around the harbour and Angus coastline

A juvenile Ringed Plover

Redshank

Pied Wagtail

Stonechat male at Victoria Park

2nd winter (ish) Great Black-backed Gull, Victoria Park

Greenfinch, one of at least 40 feeding on Rosa Rugosa on the pitch n' put course near Gayfield