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| Rock Pipit |
For my midweek day off on the 8th of February, I decided to head out to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie. Although there were no specific target species, there were some possibilities. All I needed was a bit of luck. My luck has overall been pretty good this year, so far, but there have also been a few 'only possibles' (heard-only Long-eared Owl & Chiffchaff) and 1 'obvious miss' (Barnacle Goose). Still, I've done pretty well, all things considered, especially the less than helpful weather that kept January mostly cold, wet and windy. Thankfully the weather forecast wasn't to be too bad for this particular Wednesday.
I headed out just before 0950. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Starling, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Dunnock, Robin and Chaffinch were all noted as I headed for a quick look at Swannie Ponds. Coot, Mallard, Mute Swan, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull and Common Gull were seen on the water, with Grey Wagtail and Blue Tit around in the surrounding area. I headed in the direction of Eastern Cemetery next. Wren and Great Tit were heard en route. Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Bullfinch, Coal Tit and Siskin were all added within the cemetery, though once again, there was no sign of any Ring-necked Parakeets. As I neared the bottom end of Craigie Avenue I spotted a Sparrowhawk to the north, being harassed by a Carrion Crow.
Down by the end of the docks I was able to add Cormorant, Red-breasted Merganser and Oystercatcher from my first gimpse of the Tay. Rabbits were on the grass by the sewage tank. Unfortunately, it appears that another decent butterfly (and bird) habitat has been taken over with an 'undersea defences' company having moved in, removing what was left of the bushes and other cover from what had appeared to be quite a promising site for wildlife, and a likely breeding site for Linnets. Most of the areas around the city where there were Linnets previously have now been taken over by commercial interests or ripped out to make the area appear 'tidy'. Given they are a red-listed species, I guess there have been no 'real' surveys done, just the middle of the afternoon, 1 hour slots in March/November sorts that are pretty much guaranteed to show an area is 'empty'.
As I wandered out along the river things were much as they always are at this time of year with Redshank, Turnstone, Eider, Curlew and more Oystercatchers all being seen, though in single digit numbers. Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit were found near Broughty Castle. Out to the east of the castle, I was able to pick out Bar-tailed Godwit and the days first Shag. Goldcrest was heard at the nature reserve which was otherwise relatively quiet. A trio of Whooper Swans headed upriver before I picked out a distant Goldeneye and a Little Egret. A Stock Dove dropped in to feed beyond the now dwindling winter flock of Linnets that I've seen regularly between the football pitch and the mouth of the Dighty. At Balmossie, I scanned through the birds down by the burn and scattered around on the shore. Wigeon, Great Black-backed Gull, 5 fairly unexpected Shelduck, Rook and a probable 'Argentatus' Herring Gull were all noted but I failed to find anything particularly interesting.
After plenty of scanning to very little effect (except some hauled out Grey Seals on a sandbank offshore), I headed back along the river again. A Guillemot relatively close in, was a slight surprise. I then had a rear-view of a large Diver crash-landing in typical Diver fashion out on the river, about half-way over to Fife. My natural assumption was that it was a Great Northern Diver (though subsequent events were to render that assumption potentially obsolete). I took some very poor photos of the bird as it made its way upriver. Only much later, while editing photos for this blog-post, did I query the ID of the bird in the photographs as a result of those subsequent events and a few apparent plumage/structure details, but the photos are not clear enough to be certain, though I'm certainly not 100% certain it was a Great Northern Diver after all.
The walk home only added a single new species for the day, with a Great Spotted Woodpecker being heard calling from somewhere to the north, as I passed the Stannergate area. My total for the day's wanders was a reasonably decent 53 species of birds and 2 of mammals, with the probable Great Northern Diver being the obvious highlight, at the time. Since then, I have demoted the bird to 'large Diver sp.' for reasons that should become clear over the course of the next few blog-posts. Despite failing to add anything new for the #2026Dundee150 list, it was a reasonable enough day's birding, in pleasant enough conditions (mostly).
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| Greenfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Carrion Crow & Sparrowhawk |
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| Starling |
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| Redshank |
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| Common Gull |
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| Curlew |
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| Eider |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Eider |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Little Egret |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Shelduck & Herring Gull |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Herring Gull (Argentatus?) |
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| Wigeon |
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| "Large Diver sp." |
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| Guillemot |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Oystercatcher |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, malalrd, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
