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| Magpie |
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| Jay |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Dipper |
Using up one of my last days of annual leave from work I had intended on heading out somewhere a bit further afield than where I ended up but the weather, not for the first time, put paid to that. However, by about 3pm I decided that I had to go somewhere just to get out of the house and get a bit of fresh air, and maybe see some birds. As Kingfisher is still missing from my 2014 list I decided to try a few local spots where the birds are regularly seen - Den of Mains ponds in Caird Park and the Trottick Mill Ponds local nature reserve. Both are within walking distance of home and are under-watched generally, so with my binoculars round my neck but tucked inside my coat, off I went.
I had decided to leave the camera at home and travel light for a change, so the above photos are illustrative of some of the birds seen, but not actual photos of the birds seen on the walk. It is quite noticeable the difference in the amount of birds seen at different times of day, with early morning producing the most sightings. Mid-afternoon is generally pretty quiet and walking up to Caird Park this was very obvious. Herring Gulls were the main bird seen with a few stood on rooftops and one or two wheeling around. A Woodpigeon was perched on a rooftop in Graham Street but there was little else about. Near the bottom of Graham Street there is a large grassy area with sports pitches marked out on it. There was a small-ish flock of Gulls feeding on it. Mostly Black Headed Gulls but with a couple of Common Gulls amongst them.
Crossing the Kingsway into Caird Park I saw another Woodpigeon perched on a lamp post by the dual carriageway. A few Carrion Crows warily watched me pass below the trees they were in. On reaching the Gelly Burn I scanned the trees and bushes opposite spotting a male Chaffinch singing from the top of one and a Robin lower down. I wandered along the muddy path beside the narrow burn spooking a Dipper which flew low downstream a short distance before perching on a stone. The bird was ringed with a green and a red ring on the left leg (can't remember which was highest), and a pale blue and silver ring on the other. The burn here was barely wide enough for the bird to fly down with much clearance but obviously it is proving sufficient for this one Dipper's needs.
When I reached the top pond, there were only a few Mallards to be seen. However the lower pond was a bit more active with a Grey Heron stood motionless near one bank, 3 or 4 Moorhens scuttling around nearby and a few pairs of Mallards. A couple of teenagers passed me, with one stopping to photograph the Heron ("check thi sehz o' that hing" - "Dinna scare it" being the conversation between them). There was no sign of the Kingfisher unfortunately, so I headed off downhill towards the Dighty Burn, spying a Coal Tit in the conifers near the bottom of the hill.
I crossed the main road and walked towards the Trottick Ponds. A Robin was singing loudly from a low tree and a couple of Blue Tits flitted through the branches of another. I walked over the small footbridge into the nature reserve which still felt familiar to how it was when it was first established back when I was a lot younger, though it has had a lot of improvement work done since then. Mallards, Moorhens, Tufted Ducks and Goosanders swam around and a woman with a baby was feeding a pair of Mute Swans. I walked past following the path along the burn but didn't see much. I turned around to walk back bumping into the woman who asked what the dark headed birds were. I told her they were Goosanders and we chatted for a couple of minutes. I took the opportunity to ask about the Kingfisher and she told me where she had seen it previously. Unfortunately, like the Caird Park bird the Trottick one was hiding from me.
I could hear a Song Thrush singing from a tree across the other side of the ponds and found it through the binoculars. A path now leads around the back of the pond to link up with the main route which was new to me (it may have been that way for years), so I took the chance to get a closer view of the Thrush and to get a better view of the quieter north pool. At least 5 Moorhens were on this pond and what I assumed was a sleeping Tufted Duck warranted only the briefest of glances as my eyes wandered to a young Grey Heron stood hunched up by the water's edge among the reeds. Walking closer I glanced back at the duck and found that it was actually a male Goldeneye. A nice surprise. A Blackbird flew off from its perch on a fencepost calling loudly as it went. A Great Tit was seen further round towards the burn, feeding in the trees and another Robin was found as I headed back out from the reserve. As I reached the footbridge I heard a familiar call and stopped. Under the bridge whizzed a dark bird low above the water. The second Dipper of the day. I stopped on the bridge and scanned upstream spotting the bird stood on the bank bobbing up and down. It then plopped into the fast flowing water, disappearing under for a few seconds before popping back into view slightly further on. I watched it repeat this procedure for a few minutes then headed back towards Caird Park.
A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew northwards and I headed back to the ponds in the park for another crack at trying to see a Kingfisher. Rain was starting to blow through so I made a quick circuit of both ponds, adding a Wren at the top pond and getting close views of the Grey Heron which is obviously well used to people, choosing to only fly very short distances away from them. Still no Kingfisher though. A large-ish bird briefly landed near the top of a tall tree allowing me just enough time to view it through binoculars to confirm the ID. A rather nice Jay, and my first within Caird Park. I then walked round the side of Mains Castle and up the road towards the golf course and athletics/cycling tracks. Near the brow of the hill I could see movement in the top branches of a tree which turned out to be a Goldfinch and a Greenfinch. A pair of Blue Tits busily bustled around lower down and my eye was drawn to some movement a bit nearer me. This turned out to be a Great Spotted Woodpecker which seemed unconcerned by me standing watching it as it shuffled up the branches in its search for food. A Song Thrush singing about 6 feet away from me across a hedge was the last bird seen in Caird Park.
I decided to have a quick look at Swannie Ponds again, just in case either of the two rare gulls (Iceland or Mediterranean) had re-appeared. I crossed the wasteground off Mains Loan and was a little surprised not to hear House Sparrows chattering away from within a garden hedge. However a couple of the birds briefly popped out into view as I passed and they were added to the day list.
At Swannie Ponds, there seemed to be almost as many birders as there were birds with the vast majority of gulls appearing to be elsewhere, leaving only small numbers of Black Headed Gulls on the water. The Goosanders were still around with at least 7 more flying in as I watched (there were around 15 at Trottick, so theses birds may have come from there), giving a grand total of 14 before I left. Three Moorhens were seen and Mallard, Mute Swan and Tufted Duck were the other birds around here. A Pied Wagtail was heard and finally picked out as it ran around picking up titbits from the path.
I decided to take a different route home, going via Baxter Park, on the off chance of adding something else to the list. Passing the Iceland Gull's favoured spot, I turned right into a quiet street and started to walk along it when I heard the loud cackle of a Magpie. It was coming from the next street over, so I changed direction and was rewarded with a view of the bird flying off into the TA centre complex. Another flyover bird was a Grey Wagtail, headed no doubt to roost somewhere unknown. On reaching Baxter Park I could hear a Goldfinch singing and picked it out in the tree-tops. The park was otherwise rather quiet with only another few Woodpigeons seen. I stopped off at Dora's for a bag of chips to eat on the short walk home but no more birds were seen except a few Herring Gulls drifting over to their roosts.
30 species seen -
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Dipper, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Song Thrush, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.