Montrose Basin – 18th November

2 vehicles took 20 people on the long drive to the SWT Reserve at Montrose Basin. We decided to stick to the Visitor Centre mainly due to the fact that the weather was not great and some of the reserve was unfortunately inaccessible due to flooding from Storm Babet. Just a downside to planning these trips so far in advance.

However, from the elevated height of the visitor centre we had a commanding view over the Basin. The tide had turned and was on its way back in which would push the birds back towards us. This vantage point allowed us to set up our scopes in the dry and let everyone have a good scan of the mudflats and shoreline.

Out on the estuary we spotted a range of birds including shoveler, shelduck, wigeon, curlew, redshank and a lovely greenshank. A bonus was a great white egret and a little egret very close to the visitor centre. Other waders included knot, dunlin, and both types of godwit. We also had excellent views of a sparrowhawk sitting on a wooden structure, just looking for its lunch.

We didn’t see as many geese as anticipated, possibly weather related, but we did get greylag and pink footed geese as well as wooper swan.

On the feeders in front of the centre we were treated to tree sparrows, house sparrows, goldfinch, greenfinch and of course the usual blue, coal and great tits.

All in all it was a good day’s birding, with 61 species seen. The highlight was probably the close views of the great white egret, a first for some newer Members.