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Collared Dove
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2023 was a bit of a freak year in Dundee with some very unexpected birds seen. With the exception of Mark's Great White Egret and Sabine's Gull finds there has been very little out of the ordinary. I did have my mad 20 minutes from my living room back in May with Hooded Crow and Merlin being seen, and Lainy's discovery of a very localised Spotted Flycatcher influx was also a bit unusual but overall butterflies seem to have made more headlines than birds have this year. However, as my Autumn holidays from work were all about trying to add to my #Dundee150 list, it was a case of getting out and about again on Tuesday the 15th of October. Having been to Riverside Nature Park the previous day, it was Balmossie and Broughty Ferry's turn again.
Expectations were low but there were some possibilities that I might hope to chance upon - Skuas, Brambling, Brent Geese, Barnacle Geese, or maybe even a Yellow Browed Warbler or Firecrest. I was out the door at 0830. Feral Pigeon, Robin and Herring Gull in my street were not an unusual trio of species there. House Sparrow, Magpie, Starling, Jackdaw, Dunnock, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon weren't unusual either as I headed for Swannie Ponds. Moorhen, Mute Swan, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Coot and Tufted Duck were par for the course at the ponds - though a heard-only Curlew was slightly out of place (with the open grassy area at the very top end of the cemetery being the likely source). A Blackbird in the trees on the island was also not unusual. A Jay, seen in flight, was rather unexpected, given the location - though at this time of year they do turn up in odd places.
A Pied Wagtail was noted before I left the ponds, en route for Eastern Cemetery. Greenfinch was added on the way, while Coal Tit and Wren, in addition to Rabbit and Grey Squirrel were noted on my walk through the graveyard. As I headed down Balgavies Avenue, a Grey Heron flew west over Craigie Avenue. Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Song Thrush were found in the 'migrant trap' behind Alpha Projects. As I was searching the bushes there a small flock of Whooper Swans headed north overhead, and an Oystercatcher put in an appearance. After failing to find anything exciting amongst the bushes and trees, I wandered down to check the shoreline and the river. A Buzzard headed west being mobbed by the local corvids. A Common Gull was down by the water's edge with the Herring Gulls.
I wandered on eastwards along the waterfront. Although things were relatively quiet out on the water, I did get Long Tailed Tits, Cormorant, Turnstone, Redshank, Great Black Backed Gull, Pink Footed Geese, Blue Tit, Skylark and Rock Pipit (as well as Black Headed Gull, Curlew, Oystercatcher, a pair of Jays and a couple of Grey Herons) on the walk along to Douglas Terrace and Broughty Ferry 'proper'. My second Romanian Air Force aircraft sighting (both have been while birding) - a C-27 Spartan this time, was a nice bonus as it headed back to Romania following an overnight visit to Leuchars. An Eider was seen out on the river and a pair of Collared Doves picked around among the seaweed and pebbles on the beach at Beach Crescent. A Meadow Pipit posed on the fence along the beach edge of the dunes a bit further east from the Castle. A USAF MC-130 landing at Leuchars was another nice bonus aircraft sighting.
A Bar Tailed Godwit feeding just off a small sandy islet close in to shore gave me another new bird for the day just before an Egret flew past. It turned out to be the expected Little Egret, but these days ruling out Great White Egret has to be part of the ID process, given the glut of sightings of this species across most of Scotland lately - including my own sighting at the airport. At Balmossie, I managed to add a few more species - Wigeon, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Goosander and Red Breasted Merganser, but overall things were relatively quiet though there were plenty of the usual species around. There were 5 Little Egrets - a new 'high score' for me at Balmossie. On the walk back along towards the Castle I found a couple of Linnets among the rock armour before I was once again distracted by bigger 'birds', as the USAF Hercules got airborne from Leuchars again.
More Pink Footed Geese and a trio of Goosanders were photographed before I got distracted by a pair of Ospreys over the Fife side of the river - not the feathered kind, but a pair of USAF Special Forces CV-22 tilt-rotors from RAF Mildenhall in England. Not a common sight up here. I spent a long time watching them flying circuits, transitioning from 'plane' to 'helicopter' mode and back again, at Leuchars before they finally landed for a couple of day's worth of operating out of the base. A Red Throated Diver was seen in flight low over the water and I had decent views of Rock Pipit and Pied Wagtail around the Castle. A couple of Grey Seals were seen out on the river from the raised viewpoint. Cormorants, Curlews and Turnstones provided some interest on the walk back homewards.
As I got closer to home, Goldcrest and Great Tit were picked up on Bingham Terrace taking my total for the day to 53 species. Once again, I failed to add anything new for my #Dundee150 list, which was a wee bit disappointing as I was rapidly running out of days off work, which were intended to add new species to that list. Despite this slight disappointment with the lack of anything new, it was a reasonably decent mix of species seen (and heard) and the military aircraft traffic over at Leuchars was better than some days I actually spent watching planes over at the base, 20+ years ago (mostly), though the photos obviously lacked a little something, due to being around 6.5 miles away at best.
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Whooper Swan
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Common Gull
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| Jay |
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| Cormorant |
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Redshank & Osprey
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Curlew |
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| Turnstone |
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Grey Heron
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| Turnstone |
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Collared Dove
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Meadow Pipit
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Little Egret
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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| Linnet |
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Little Egret
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Little Egret
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Great Black Backed Gull
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| Goosander |
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Rock Pipit
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Pied Wagtail
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard,
Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser
Black Backed
Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long Tailed
Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redshank, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Skylark, Song
Thrush, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
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C-27 Spartan
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CV-22 Osprey
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CV-22 Osprey
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CV-22 Osprey
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CV-22 Osprey
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