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| Goosander (with Common Blenny/Shanny) |
While working my way through my photos from Wednesday's vis-migging session at Riverside Nature Park, word came through of a lot of action off Kinshaldy Beach over in Fife, with a few different skua species, Sabine's Gull, Black Tern plus hundreds of Kittiwakes and some of the more expected tern species too. On top of that, photos were posted on social media from a boat trip which also featured skua photos near Tentsmuir Point. Although I would be back at work on Thursday the 10th, my birding on Friday the 11th of September would have to be a trip to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie in search of skuas. They are never the easiest group of birds to see well in the Tay, with very few of those that do show up coming particularly close to the Dundee side of the river. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained...
As I was expecting most of the action to happen on a rising tide, there was no great need to be out early in the morning. As a result I took the opportunity to have a couple of extra (and much-needed) hours in bed. I headed out at 0830 for the walk to Broughty Castle and then on to Balmossie. Jackdaw, Robin, Herring Gull, Meadow Pipit, House Martin, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Starling and an unexpected Painted Lady butterfly all made it onto the list within the first 2 minutes outside. Blue Tit and Coal Tit soon followed. Swallow, Woodpigeon and Goldfinch were seen in Baxter Park, with the morning's first Magpie a bit further on. House Sparrows and a couple of soaring Buzzards were noted at Clarence Road.
A small flock of Sand Martins swept over Craigie Avenue as I continued on down towards the Stannergate. Great Tit was heard down by the shops at the bottom of the avenue. Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff and an overflying Rook were found while I checked the rough ground behind Alpha Projects. There were a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls down on the beach with the Herring Gulls. A Grey Heron, Common Gull, Curlew and Oystercatcher were found among the seaweed covered pebbles. A small flock of Teal flew upriver. Continuing on, I managed to find singles of Redshank and Turnstone. A Small White butterfly flitted past me, as I was watching the waders. A Wren was heard, a Sparrowhawk upset the crows before heading north over the houses and an unexpected dragonfly flew along the railway line near Douglas Terrace (which looked like a Common Darter).
Along by Beach Crescent, I managed to get Goosander (struggling to swallow a Common Blenny or Shanny, as they are apparently sometimes known) and a Guillemot onto the list for the day. A Grey Wagtail by the Castle and harbour was slightly unexpected (though was very likely just a passing migrant). I scanned from the Castle grounds adding Sandwich Tern, Cormorant, Rock Pipit and Gannet. I picked out a couple of distant Mute Swans across by the Tayport side of the river. A very distant Osprey was feeding at Tenstmuir Point - perched atop a wooden post - the shape being identifiable even at 2.5 miles distance. With things appearing rather quiet I continued on eastwards, stopping to scan out over the river from time to time. Near the Glass Pavilion, this produced a Red-throated Diver and a skua. I managed to get a selection of photos of the bird, despite it being a bit distant.
It didn't appear to be either an Arctic Skua or a Bonxie. It seemed less agile than the Arctics usually are but was almost Bonxie-like in some of the photos. It had to be a Pomarine Skua. However, I talked myself out of this, and figured it had to be an Arctic (though later at home, more photos showed a more Bonxie-like shape, and I settled for that species for about 20 minutes - before I changed my mind again! Indecisive? Me?). More scanning added a Common Tern and Black-headed Gull. What was possibly the same Bar-tailed Godwit as Tuesday's was feeding down on the beach. A Little Egret was seen in flight over by Lucky Scalp and a trio of Shelduck flew upriver. A bottling Grey Seal was out on the river. A Stock Dove flew over the trees into the nature reserve a bit further on. I stopped by the metal sculpture and scanned from there for a bit. A pale phase Arctic Skua was seen, chasing down a few gulls - acting and looking a bit different to the earlier bird.
I realised that the tide was going to be much further in already, so I hurried along to Balmossie to check the remaining birds at the mouth of the Dighty. This got me Wigeon, Great Black-backed Gull, a Goldeneye, some Eider and a few Linnets. With nothing much happening at Balmossie I decided to head back to where I'd had most success with skuas earlier, then along to the Castle area around high tide. Rohan had accidentally messaged me on the ADBC feed and I'd mentioned the possibility of the first skuas being a Pomarine. When I realised that our chat had been a bit more public than intended, I deleted the messages, and let Rohan know, so she could do the same (which she did). As it turned out, it was indeed a Pomarine Skua (thanks to Martin Scott for the confirmation).
As I was sat back at the metal sculpture scanning out over the river, I was joined by Lainy who had been at Westhaven and was on her way back homewards. We were able to see multiple Red-throated Divers, either on the water or flying downriver (sometimes in pairs, and even a trio at one point). Amongst these was a curiously dumpy Red-Throated Diver that seemed to be missing the usual neck. Just after Lainy left, a Ringed Plover flew past. Walking back towards the castle, I managed to add a Shag and a distant Kittiwake. A skein of Pink-footed Geese headed west over Tayport having came in off the sea. Although there were hundreds of gulls over by the Tayport side (which were all put up by something unseen) there was no obvious feeding frenzy or similar, so I called it a day and headed home. Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest rounded off the day's list, taking me to 62 species of birds (including 2 - in bold - new for my #2026Dundee150 list), 2 of butterflies, 1 of dragonflies and 1 of mammals. Given that I was hoping for skuas, I'd say getting 2 species was a success.
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| Goosander (with Common Blenny/Shanny) |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Guillemot |
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| Redshank |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Osprey |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua & Gull sp. |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Little Egret |
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| Shelduck |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua & Common Gull |
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| Arctic Skua & Common Gull |
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| Arctic Skua & Common Gull |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Teal |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Rook |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern |
Birds - Arctic Skua, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Pomarine Skua, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Painted Lady, Small White.
Dragonflies - Common Darter.
Mammals - Grey Seal.
