The month started very early with our Dawn Chorus taking place at 5.30am on Sunday 1^st May and those of us to managed to scrape ourselves out of bed were treated to glorious weather and a wide range of singing birds including 4 yellowhammer, 6 blackcap, 4 common whitethroat, a sedge warbler and 3 linnets.

Following the event when we made our way back to the Visitor Centre a garden warbler was heard singing in the trees directly outside the front door, yet another summer migrant had made its way back to Montrose.

As I mentioned in the post summarising April’s sightings if we are very lucky at this time of year, waders making their way to the breeding grounds in the Arctic may stop off on the Basin to feed and rest before continuing on their journey.   These birds often only stop in for a very short time over a period of a few weeks in the spring and again on their return leg in the autumn and are referred to as passage migrants.

We have been very fortunate this month and several passage species have been recorded and are mentioned in the wildfowl and waders section below.  I hope to write a piece looking at passage migrants which I will upload here soon.

The first young birds have also started emerging this month and a juvenile robin was in the car park on 12^th.  Mallard ducklings were seen feeding in the Salt Pans from 19^th with a peak count of 17 on 29^th.  Young house sparrows and starlings were coming to the feeders from 30^th and 2 juvenile blackcaps were in seen in the car park on 31^st.

Wildfowl and waders

Six scaup were recorded on 1^st, along with a pair of gadwall and a late pintail.  A shoveler was seen roosting on River South Esk on 14^th and the following day during the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) 181 mute swan, 632 pink-footed geese, 180 shelduck, 1586 eider, 21 goosanders and 35 red-breasted mergansers were seen.  Three whooper swans were on the South Esk near the Shelduck Hide on 18^th, as were 4 wigeon and pair of tufted duck were feeding in the Salt Pans on 22^nd and 29^th.

Three common sandpiper were noted at Bridge of Dun on 3^rd and 1 whimbrel and a large flock of around 400 dunlin and 300 knot were seen feeding mid-Basin on 10^th.  Small flocks of black-tailed godwits have been moving through and have been recorded near Mill Burn on several occasions with a peak of 30 being seen on 14^th, as was a single snipe.  The other godwit species, bar-tailed godwits have also been passing through with 9 being seen on 3^rd and 22 recorded during WeBS on 15^th.  Also recorded during WeBS were eight whimbrel, 18 turnstone and 1 grey plover.

One hundred and fifty golden plover were seen in front of the Wigeon Hide on 29^th and a flock of 19 ringed plover and 200 dunlin was near Miss Erskine’s Bank on 30^th.

Birds of prey

A sparrowhawk was seen hunting near the feeders at the Visitor Centre on 1^st and ospreys have been seen throughout the month, as have buzzards with 3 being seen over Mains of Dun on 3^rd.  Hunting barn owls were noted on 3^rd and 14^th and two calling tawny owls were at Old Montrose Pier also on 14^th.  A marsh harrier was recorded on the reserve during May.

Passerines

As mentioned above, a garden warbler was heard singing in trees beside the Visitor Centre on 1^st and throughout the month several pairs of swallow have been busy making nests in the eaves of the main building.  We now have a camera watching one of the nests and visitors to the Centre can view developments on a TV in the observation gallery.

Monitoring of our artificial sand martin bank has indicated that over seventy holes are being used this year which is well up on the 20 pairs we had last year.  House martins are much less common on the reserve than their sandy cousins however, 10 were flying over the car park on 3^rd.

A male stonechat was spotted by a visiting American birder who had stopped in during his holiday to Scotland, and a yellowhammer and common whitethroat were in the Salt Pans on 5^th as were 11 starlings on 10^th.

On Mains of Dun other passerine species recorded included linnet and grasshopper warbler and the feeders have been visited by blackbirds, great-spotted woodpeckers, goldfinches, greenfinches, tree and house sparrows, amongst other common garden species.  Both willow and sedge warblers are both heard singing daily from the Visitor Centre.                                                                                                                                                                 

Others

An Arctic tern and 26 sandwich tern were fishing on the Basin on 2^nd and 8^th respectively.  The first swift of 2011 was seen over the Salt Pans on 5^th.

Thirty-five cormorants were observed on 10^th, a coot was at Mopps Pool during WeBS, 9 herons were logged on 17^th and four grey partridge were on Seacrook on 18^th.

The highest count of common terns seen on the reserve was 120 on the nesting raft on 25^th.

Mammals

A grey seal was seen basking at low tide on 1^st along with nine common seals, which are also known as harbour seals.

Two roe deer, including a barking male, were recorded in Slunks Reedbed on 14^th and 13 brown hare were seen early on 18^th feeding on Seacrook, Mains of Dun.

Longer evenings and warming temperatures has led to an increase in sightings of bats on the reserve and on 20^th several pipistrelle, the commonest bat species in Britain, were detecting flying round the trees beside the Salt Pans.

Butterflies

Six large whites were seen on the 1^st in the grounds of the Visitor Centre, along with 1 small tortoiseshell.  The grounds also had 2 orange tips and 2 small whites on 4^th and a green-veined white was noted on 8^th.  A red admiral was recorded in the Visitor Centre car park on 9^th, bringing the number of butterflies recorded on the reserve this month to six.

Adam – Montrose Basin Ranger