Tayside twitchers enjoyed a record year in 2010 as rare and regular winged visitors flocked to the area.
In their annual report, Dundee and Angus Bird Club has revealed that 217 species were recorded by local ornithologists including the first local nuthatch for a decade and record numbers of pink-footed geese and waxwings as the cold weather set in.
The waxwing invasion of early November with numbers exceeding 1500 was the high point of a busy year, which began with a record count of over 100 corn buntings in Angus and a wintering twite flock of 220 birds Montrose Basin totalling 220.
Club official Bob McCurley said January also brought 250 snow buntings to three sites across the area and Forfar Loch welcomed a black-throated diver and a kingfisher which graced the shoreline almost daily.
February saw the visit of a white-tailed sea eagle to South Esk Estate and Montrose Basin, and the first red kite of the year was spotted in an east Angus glen.
For the second year running, a bittern arrived at Loch of Kinnordy, near Kirriemuir alongside 90 wintering whooper swans.
Spring sightings included the first osprey of the year at Loch of the Lowes on March 23, a migrant wheater, Mediterranean gulls, a great white egret at the Loch of Balgavies SWT reserve, rare bewick’s swan and four common cranes at Kinnordy.
May, always a peak month for passage migrants, did not disappoint.
The club recorded a rare red-necked phalarope at Auchindorie, near Kirriemuir, plus wood sandpiper, little stint and temmincks stint.
At Glamis village, a nuthatch was the first local sighting of the species for 10 years and another good find was 10 dotterel at low altitude in Glen Clova.’Amazing record’Black-headed gulls bred at Kinnordy for first time in three years and a white stork was seen at Brechin Castle before an out-of-season visit by a taiga bean Goose to Murton Wildlife reserve, near Forfar.
An excellent record of 14 common crossbills were seen at Montreathmont Forest in June, along with regular reports of marsh harrier and osprey, and in July a little egret dropped in to Montrose Basin.
Mr McCurley said, “A very early surf scoter was in Lunan Bay, black-throated divers were at two private sites in the county, a quail was heard calling at Padanaram, near Forfar and Gadwall at Loch of Kinnordy produced three broods.”
The second half of the year included a rare passage roseate tern to Lunan Bay, a trio of dotterel on an Angus munro and a day-flying long-eared owl at the summer Barry Buddon open day.
In September, the first ever great skua was seen chasing terns on Montrose Basin.
A new record count of 60,060 pink-footed geese was established on Montrose Basin on the first day of October, followed a few days later by a first-ever sighting in Angus of a Ross’ goose appropriately on Goose Road, Inverkeilor.
Mr McCurley said, “An interesting record was of an inland black tern seen at Loch of Balgavies and at Lunan Bay, 180 barnacle geese were seen in off the sea on the 13th, with two late swallows seen going south.
He added, “An amazing record total of 1516 waxwings were recorded from 20 sites in Dundee and Angus from November 2-24.
“The beautiful firecrest was found at Windyhills Farm, near Arbroath in company with chiffchaff, blackcap, gold crests and brambling.”