STONEFACTION BIRDING

1344 : My 2024 Dundee Birding Review

Waxwing

2023 was a bit of an exceptional year for birds in Dundee with a Blyth's Reed Warbler being the big headline act but with great support from Storm Petrel, Little Auk, Red Backed Shrike, Hen Harrier, Ring Necked Duck, Pomarine Skua, Twite as well as some great birds that I missed out on such as Hoopoe, Iceland Gull, Snow Goose, Yellow Browed Warbler and Snow Bunting. The total number of species recorded (of the birds that I was aware of) was an incredible 167. My own personal total was 155 (plus Siberian Chiffchaff, which doesn't count as a separate species), which was 5 ahead of my target figure of 150. What would 2024 bring? I didn't think it would be possible to top 2023's total and selection of birds but you just never know.....

January started with me not feeling 100% (not hungover) but I headed out birding anyway on the 1st. I walked a fair distance and managed a total of 53 species with nothing particularly unusual. Balgay Hill on the 2nd produced the hoped for Nuthatch and a bit of luck later at Riverside Nature Park delivered a very welcome Woodcock. The 3rd was wet, so I didn't get out but a trip to Balmossie on the 4th added some decent birds including Kestrel, Long Tailed Duck, Peregrine, Guillemot and Little Egret. Water Rail, Crossbill and Raven were the highlights of the 5th's visit to the northwest corners of the city. A search for Grey Partridge on the 6th only produced a couple of glimpsed 'possibles' though the birds I did find that day took my total to 81 species. I had set myself a target of 84 before I was due back at work on the 8th. I somehow managed to add another 4 species on the 7th to surpass that target by 1. This put me 8 ahead of the previous year's total at the same point. Not a bad way to start.

The rest of January had me attempting to get as close to 100 species as I could before the end of the month. A pair of Shoveler at Swannie Ponds on the 13th were very welcome and Tree Sparrow was successfully searched for out by Dykes of Gray on the 14th and a White Tailed Eagle was equally as welcome over the western end of Riverside Nature Park as I was exiting the park at the eastern end. Kittiwake was another welcome find at Balmossie on the 20th. A pair of Jack Snipe side by side were a nice surprise on the 21st, found by using my thermal imager. I thought I had almost exhausted all my possibilities by the 24th, but rather bizarrely I managed to add 3 quite unexpected species on a walk out to Balmossie and back. Stonechat, Little Gull and Waxwing were the 3 surprises (and I also had a great close daylight sighting of a Fox near Mains Loan), taking me to 97. Greylag Geese at Riverside Nature Park on the 28th took my total for January to an unexpectedly high 98, but the 1 month century was not to be.

February was a bit of an anti-climax after January's run of good luck, though Lesser Black Backed Gull reappeared slightly earlier than usual on the 7th. A hunt for Lesser Redpoll at Ninewells proved to be a good move, taking my list to the century mark, and two-thirds of my way to my target. Another attempt to find Grey Partridge was successful on the 17th and Whooper Swans were seen on the 28th. A lucky chance encounter with a Lapwing on a walk out to Broughty Ferry on the 6th kept the momentum going, albeit relatively slowly. A trip to Clatto for Great Crested Grebe on the 9th also proved to be successful. What turned out to be the first of several Red Kite sightings in quite a short period - with a bird high over the Law as I walked back from Riverside Nature Park, was a nice addition. A search for the year's first Chiffchaff the following day also worked out in my favour. Black Tailed Godwit and Canada Goose at Riverside Nature Park took my list to 108, and 2 more species were added at Broughty Ferry on the 29th - the first Osprey of the year and a few Razorbills (which I'd been tipped off about by Mark Wilkinson).

The Spring migrants began to arrive in numbers throughout April, with Blackcap on the 6th, Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin all in one day on the 7th (while helping out with an ADBC outing around Dundee in very windy conditions). Waxwings were much in evidence in April around the Ancrum Road Primary School area, with what appeared to be at least 3 different influxes over the course of the month. Willow Warbler and Common Sandpiper were first noted on the 13th. A Tree Pipit at Riverside Nature Park while birding with Susan Falconer was yet another surprise sighting - though they are semi-regular over the city in late summer. I went out looking for Grasshopper Warbler in likely habitat on the 22nd and managed to find a couple of birds - though none in the places I'd found them in 2023. The same day I was surprised to have a flock of Scaup fly upriver past Broughty Castle.

The following morning resulted in one of the least expected 'doubles' in all my years of birding. I was stuck at home waiting for my new spotting scope to be delivered but had got up early to see what migrants I might see from my living room. Meadow Pipits and a few hirundines were about the extent of my expectations. A randomly chosen corvid around 0630, picked to pre-set the focus on the camera, turned out to be a Hooded Crow. 20 minutes later, things got even stranger with a Merlin flying past my window northwards, to not even a ripple of discomfort from the resident Feral Pigeons. I didn't even put the Merlin out on the ADBC grapevine at the time, as I doubt anyone would've believed me, so soon after the Hooded Crow sighting - both in a very urban location in Dundee, less than a mile from the city centre. Sandwich Tern was added down on the Tay on the 24th and the first Whitethroat at Riverside Nature Park took my total to 123 on the 27th, 12 ahead of my total at the same point in 2023.

A week off in early May was chosen specifically to (hopefully) get me some more new birds and it turned out to be a resounding success with 7 new species found between the 1st and the 7th. Sedge Warbler and Garden Warbler were found on the 1st and 2nd, with a Wheatear at Broughty Ferry found on the 3rd. A large flock of Common Scoter were off Balmossie on the 5th and a hurried bus journey to the same place the following day in search of Whimbrel also delivered. The first Lesser Whitethroat at Riverside Nature Park for quite a few years was found by Keith and me on the 7th and a bit later I added the first Swift of 2024, taking me to 130 for the year - a total I only reached in late July the previous year. A couple of Marsh Harriers were seen from a very windy Riverside Nature Park on the 18th.

I had been hoping to get out birding with Steph much more this year, but for various reasons, our outings ended up being rather few and far between. An early start at the 'back of Fintry' on the 2nd of June resulted in good views of an unexpected overflying adult Cuckoo, and a family of Stonechats, with a pair of Grey Partridges at Pitkerro Grove Cemetery later too. Fulmar and Common Tern were seen off Broughty Castle on the 19th. I had decided not to bother with the boat trips in 2024, so it took until the 3rd of July to get a Gannet on the list, though a bit later in the summer there was a flock of hundreds off Tentsmuir Point. August sees some movement of waders through Balmossie and Invergowrie Bay. Greenshank had been seen earlier in the year by Mark and Keith but I kept on 'dipping' on it, despite several attempts to catch up with one. I finally got one on the 3rd of August. Ruff turned out to be in very short supply compared to normal years, though thanks to Mark I did see one on the 10th.

A Green Sandpiper was at the Lochan at Riverside Nature Park on the 14th and gave lengthy good views and hung around into the following day meaning both Keith and Mark managed to see it, though Lainy unfortunately dipped on it. Lainy did however find Spotted Flycatchers around the Clatto area but I had to wait 4 days before I was able to try for them. Surprisingly they were still around, and Lainy and I found them in 3 locations, with at least 4, possibly 5, by the playpark at Clatto, and at least 10 in total. These got my Autumn migration holiday half-weeks off to a very promising looking start and I finally caught up with a Mediterranean Gull at the Nature Park the following Friday. Curlew Sandpiper was seen there on the 1st of September, and just like the Ruff also turned out to be in very short supply locally in 2024. A trip to the top of the Law on the 7th got me a surprise Redstart, seen and photographed against the low morning sun, and ID'd at home much later having been overlooked due to the poor quality of the 2 photos I'd managed to take.

A couple of days later, I was at work when Mark messaged around 1540 to say he had a Great White Egret stood on the pipe in the bay. I managed to get away a little early but the bird flew off towards Kingoodie before I got there. When I made it to the park, Keith had joined Mark and as we scanned over towards Kingoodie and beyond, all the birds in that area took flight and we were able to see the Egret though very distantly. While walking home from the park on the 28th after a fairly uneventful visit I happened to look behind me while plane-spotting at the airport and saw a Great White Egret flying along the line of the railway towards the city centre. Unfortunately, the battery in the camera was practically drained and died after a burst of 5 photos. Still it was good to find my own Great White Egret in the city, given how many of these birds have been seen across the country over the Autumn and into this winter.

During another visit to the Nature Park, on the 19th of September I saw a distant flock of waders flying upriver. I took plenty of photos (of varying quality) and was pretty convinced they had to be Golden Plover but posting online asking for other's opinions at the time didn't get many responses (though those there were, said Golden Plover). There was one bird in one photo which looked a bit Knot-like and the numbers in the flock were very similar to the flock of Knot hanging around at the time. I didn't think the flock looked particularly Knot-like, especially the loose structure of the group, but I decided not to count them at the time. However, as things panned out later in the year, I tried again to get more opinions online - which all, (bar two who said Jackdaw!) came back as Golden Plover, so in the end I decided to count them.

Unlike most Autumns, very little seemed to be moving through locally, and my holidays felt like a bit of a waste. I did manage to find a Slavonian Grebe at Balmossie on the 2nd of October but things dried up completely from there on for the rest of October (unlike 2023) and my chances of reaching my target looked increasingly slim. November however had other ideas, and unlike the usually far better September and October it threw up a number of very welcome surprises. Having just lamented the lack of new birds the previous evening, on the 5th of November I found a Hawfinch as I was walking to work. It was heard calling from a tree near the top of Ninewells Avenue. Unfortunately it flew off as I approached the tree, though I was recording the call on the Merlin app, so I could confirm the ID later. Thankfully, I found it perched atop a different tree a few minutes later, though it flew off as I tried to photograph it with my phone.

Mark let me know he'd seen 5 Puffins in the Tay around mid-November and a few days later I headed down to see if any were still around. As the tide came in, I scanned and scanned from the castle and finally got lucky with a single bird bobbing around among the waves. At Riverside Nature Park the following day, I was talking to Mark when his ears picked out an overflying Snow Bunting over the sounds of a flock of feeding Goldfinches in the bushes behind us. Just 3 days later, I decided to try for Little Auk in the Tay, despite strong westerlies. Amazingly, I managed to get 3 sightings (likely all of the same bird) despite the seemingly 'wrong' wind direction. On the Saturday of that week, another 'named storm' hit the area. Lainy visited Broughty Ferry around high tide early in the morning while I decided to wait for the rain to abate a bit before heading down to the castle in the afternoon. Lainy hadn't had any luck in the morning but came back down to join me, and spotted a Great Northern Diver from the car off Douglas Terrace beforeshe also found a pair of Little Auk close in. I hurried along to join her and managed to see both species.

The following day, I went back in better weather and thanks to Barrie Hunter, had very close views of another Little Auk at Beach Crescent which we relocated to the safer harbour next door, as there were a lot of people and dogs around enjoying the sunshine following the previous day's storm. At the time Saturday's Great Northern Diver was my 149th species for the year (as I hadn't counted the Golden Plover). Despite plenty of effort, and a new thermal imager, I failed to add anything else before the year drew to a close. With the decision to count the Golden Plover, I made it to my target figure after all (but only just). Other than the 150 birds I did manage to see or hear, I only know of another 5 that I missed out on. The big miss was a Sabine's Gull found by Mark in Invergowrie Bay while I was at work. I tried numerous times for Pintail but dipped each time. My decision not to head up to Clatto after work for a Barnacle Goose found by Lainy, turned out to be the wrong choice, with no sign of the bird on the Saturday morning. Mark also had Whinchat at Riverside Nature Park, and Barrie Hunter had what was probably a Hobby chasing hirundines over Broughty Ferry, on a day I had actually planned to be there, but cancelled as I wasn't feeling very great.

Away from the birds, it turned out to be a very good year for butterflies in Dundee, with Keith finding a new species for the city in the shape of a White Letter Hairstreak (a species which had only just made it as far north as Edinburgh days before) in his garden. I bumped into Keith on the Saturday morning as he was looking for the same species in Elm trees at Balgay Park, and thanks to Keith was able to photograph one, my first ever. I also managed photos of Holly Blue in the city, as well as finding a Purple Hairstreak myself in Balgay, and mapping out a potential August butterfly walk route. I managed to see 18 species of butterfly this year in Dundee, which is a long way from the 2 or 3 that would have been around when I was a kid. There was another addition to the city's butterfly list, that was expected to be one for 2025 - a Wall, with 2 seen by others. I had plenty of views of the Bottlenose Dolphins in the Tay this year, and pointed them out to lots of visiting tourists, and a few locals. A pair of Red Squirrels together on Glamis Road and a Stoat at Broughty Ferry found by Dana were both very welcome. I found a Dune Stinkhorn toadstool at Broughty Ferry (which is seemingly quite uncommon, but despite putting out word via social media it appears interest was minimal, though it was still in place the following week).

I almost forgot that I did actually do some birding outwith Dundee - twice with Ian. A trip to Barry Buddon for a few hours was a nice change of scenery but heavy traffic meant that we didn't make it to our intended destination(s) but instead we settled for the closer option, to maximise our available birding time. My only trip to Fife added a bird to my life list - a Spotted Sandpiper at Cameron Reservoir, and a few other species that I didn't see in Dundee. Overall birding in Dundee in 2024 was more challenging, and harder work, than the previous year with what felt like fairly scant rewards. I did meet some new birders within the city, and had some very nice conversations with folk who stopped to chat at various points when they saw the scope, binoculars or camera. Birding in Dundee, and managing to get a 'big' list within the city is very much a team effort (and hard work a lot of the time) and I owe big thanks to Mark, Keith, Lainy, Barrie Hunter and Dana for all the 'heads-ups' which helped me to reach the target, and see some interesting things as well. It was also good to get some birding in with both Steph and Susan. Fingers crossed for a more 2023-like 2025.....

(Photos are in reverse order - due to some sort of Blogger glitch....and there's a lot of them).