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Montrose Basin Ranger Blog
May/June 2009
Around the reserve the appearance of the next generation of birds is now much in evidence. Recent sightings include 120 eider and 22 shelduck ducklings.
On the salt pans by the visitor centre, 17 mallard ducklings from three broods have been busy feeding but gradually reducing numbers suggest predation by the local heron and carrion crow. Moorhen chicks have also been seen on the salt pans and pied wagtail have been feeding their hungry offspring.
Around the visitor centre young birds can be seen in the bushes and feeders. Those include house sparrow, greenfinch, blue and great tit, starling and dunnock. Sandmartins are again breeding successfully in their nesting bank. The tern nesting raft is a hive of activity and is being used for breeding this year by arctic and common terns. Over 75 birds have been counted on the raft at any one time.
On the reserve there have been some good sightings namely common crane (a rarity), osprey, ringed plover, red-legged partridge, long-eared owl, little gull, little tern, roseate tern and water rail with two chicks.
In May there were two sightings of roe deer on the shore by the Visitor Centre.
Butterflies seen recently include orange tip, peacock, small tortoiseshell, green-veined white and ringlet.
April 2009
April is always the busiest month of the year for comings and goings at the Basin. Birds which have found the UK’s temperate winter climate to their liking head north to their breeding ground in Iceland, Greenland, Canada and Northern Europe. These include pink-footed geese, whooper swan, wigeon, teal, scaup, pintail, redshank, knot, turnstone, black and bar-tailed godwit.
Our first summer migrants to arrive from Africa were 3 sand martins on 21st March. Other arrivals through April have been wheatear, osprey, swallow, house martin, willow and sedge warbler, blackcap, chiffchaff, spotted flycatcher, common sandpiper and sandwich tern.
Arctic and common tern should be here by the end of April and it will be interesting to see which species lay claim to the nesting raft moored in the Basin. Last year it was common terns which nested there, raising about 18 young.
The first little terns have returned to nearby Montrose beach. It is one of Scotland’s rarer breeding birds and in the past 2 years they have raised 35-40 young.
Red-breasted merganser, goldeneye, eider and shelduck can all be seen displaying on the Basin but early females will already be incubating.
A notable sighting on the 4th and 14th April was that of a long-eared owl roosting a few metres from the Visitor Centre.
Peacock, small tortoiseshell and large white butterflies have also made an appearance.
January 2009
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Ducks
- 2000 wigeon
- 700 shelduck
- 680 eider
- 228 mallard
- 143 pintail
- 136 teal
- 72 scaup
- 13 goldeneye
- 11 shoveler
- 10 tufted duck
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Waders
- 2000 knot
- 960 oystercatcher
- 460 curlew
- 350 dunlin
- 150 redshank
- 63 bar-tailed godwit
- 42 black-tailed godwit
- 3 greenshank
October 2008
August 2008
June 2008
Around the Reserve the appearance of the next generation of birds is now much in evidence. 117 eider ducklings and 39 shelduck ducklings were counted on the Basin on the 16th. A few mallards and red-breasted mergansers will also have ducklings tucked away somewhere on the Reserve.
Several lapwing broods have been seen with oystercatcher and black-headed gull on nests. Redshank and common sandpiper are also likely breeders.
Several of our summer migrants breed successfully on the Reserve including willow, sedge and grasshopper warbler, whitethroat and blackcap. In the grounds of the Visitor Centre the young of blue tit, great tit, goldfinch and great spotted woodpecker can be seen being fed by their parents.
A raft has been constructed to provide a nesting site for arctic terns and this was anchored in place in front of the Visitor Centre on the 5th of June. The terns took to it immediately and territorial activity quickly developed. At present 2 pairs are nesting.
Male eider are now starting their body moult and 30+ female goosanders are now present, using the Basin as a safe haven during their wing moult.
A few non-breeding black-tailed godwits are still around. June also sees the early return on the Basin of some lapwing and redshank.
April 2008
The first summer migrant recorded was a sand martin on the 30 March and an osprey over the Basin on the 1 April.
Throughout April and early May more migrants will arrive at the Basin to breed including sedge and willow warbler, chiffchaff, whitethroat and blackcap. Sandwich, arctic, common and little tern will fish in the Basin and swallows will nest under the eaves of our visitor centre.
On the Basin eider duck, shelduck, goldeneye and red-breasted merganser are all displaying, each performing their individual rituals. Recent sightings of note have been long-tailed duck, scaup, red-throated diver, greenshank, green sandpiper and a jack snipe in front of the visitor centre.
The lesser yellowlegs and avocet that graced our shoreline this winter have both gone. The last sighting dates were 24 February and the 9 March respectively.
In our “camera nest box” a female blue tit is building its nest of moss and grass.
January 2008
Our resident mute swan population of over 100 birds are fed with grain during the winter to prevent them feeding on the nearby farmers’ fields of winter cereal. This grain attracts the wild whooper swan and 80-120 have been present since December.
Four Berwick swans (two adults and two juveniles) were seen on Christmas Eve and have been here ever since. These winter migrants arrive from their breeding areas on the Russian tundra.
A lesser yellowlegs, a rare North American wader, has been with us since last November.
An avocet has been present since 8 January and birdwatchers have been flocking to the Basin to see it. This elegant black and white wader with its long legs and unique upturned bill shows up well against the mud flats but can be tricky to spot if it is roosting with oystercatchers at high tide. Good views can be had from the Visitor Centre. The last recorded sighting of an avocet on the Basin was in May 1997.
Significant counts of wildfowl and waders:
Geese - 6000 pink-footed and 220 greylag
Ducks - 3600 wigeon, 1660 eider, 580 shelduck, 150 pintail, 140 teal, 48 goldeneye, 30 scaup and 14 shoveler
Waders - 3200 knot, 1770 oystercatcher, 1700 curlew, 900 dunlin, 800 redshank, 330 lapwing, 55 golden plover and 45 turnstone
Other January sightings include 21 little grebe, 5 red-throated diver, 2 greenshank and singles of kingfisher, water rail, great crested grebe, green sandpiper and peregrine.
