"Bandits at 2 o'clock Carruthers" (birds flushed)

   
It was on Friday morning 11/9/2020, when just for a change I was out birding at Montrose Basin and guess what, it was dull, cold, windy and with light rain. I was looking at cold grey mud, water and sky!

Then birds started to appear as the tide turned at Maryton Ditch, first Redshanks, small groups of Black-headed Gulls, a group of Red-breasted Mergansers and a large flock of Wigeon. I thought I'd persevere and wait for something to happen and to my surprise it did, with Curlew Sandpipers and two Spoonbills flying in and apparently oblivious of my presence.

These first photos have been brightened, reality was much more grim.....

Curlew Sandpiper video, 4 birds eventually, click here

Spoonbills preening, click here     Spoonbills flying, click here for video

Curlew Sandpiper, first there was one....

then there were two...

then it was three...and in a video later there were four

While I was sheltering from the wind on the Lurgies path this lonely Pink-footed Goose flew in, it looks a bit thin

Hundreds of metres out on the mud, Jonathon picked this Barnacle Goose up in his scope

Photo from the Lurgies, dead centre is a Great Egret

Just after the RAF flushed everything I managed to capture this Spoonbill with Aldi in the distant background

"Bandits at 2 o'clock Carruthers". The bandits being the RAF when 3 fighter jets made a low and very noisy pass over the south of the basin. Montrose Steeple and Spoonbill

And now a selection of Spoonbill photos taken in the early gloom at Maryton where they spent some time preening and what looked like just waking up for the outgoing tide