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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Cormorant |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Common Carpet moth |
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| Azure Damselfly |
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| Shaded Broad Bar |
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| Roe Deer kid |
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| Bumblebee on Orchid |
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| Clouded Border moth |
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| Meadow Brown |
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| Straw Dot moth |
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| Nettle Tap moth |
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| unidentified micro moth |
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| Ringlet |
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| Blue Tailed Damselflies |
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| Brown China-Mark |
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| Bearded Tit |
June tends to be a quiet time for birds and birding in general with too much foliage on the trees and nothing new around, although there is still a good chance of something out of the ordinary showing up. If you get a dry, sunny and not too windy day however, there can be plenty of insect life around to catch the eye (and the camera). My pal, Steph Cowie has been very busy for most of the year so our trips out have been fairly limited in number. However, with a large chunk of the day free we made arrangements to get out for 5 or 6 hours. Killiecrankie was a bit too far for Steph to drive, so we settled on the Tay Reedbeds around Errol.
Steph arranged to pick me up around 0930, so I made the decision to pop down to City Quay to check on the current moult state of Dave, the resident Red Throated Diver at City Quay. Dave (who could just as easily be a Davina) has been 'trapped' in City Quay for at least 18 months with a combination of a badly damaged wingtip and a damaged lock gate contributing to his enforced stay. Despite this, he remains healthy with plenty of fish to feed on and mostly disinterest from the local gulls and public alike.
I left the house at around 0835 to walk down to the river. The birds en route were fairly typical fare with Herring Gull, Swift, Starling and Woodpigeon all seen within the first few minutes.Lesser Black Backed Gull, Feral Pigeon and House Sparrow were added as I neared the City Centre area. Passing the bus station, there were plenty of Herring Gulls in evidence on the shed roofs where they breed.
It didn't take any effort at all to locate Dave at City Quay, as he was sleeping in front of the Taza restaurant out on the water. He did wake up but was unconcerned by my presence, proceeding to preen and give himself a shake after his sleep. Since my last visit he was showing a lot less white on his face and there was the start of the red patch on his throat just beginning to form. Not quite in breeding plumage but certainly heading in that direction. I managed a nice selection of photos before wandering off to see if there was anything else around. A Cormorant was in the outer Quay, a Feral Pigeon posed on the rope holding the Unicorn in place and a small family group of House Sparrows foraged around on the ground among the cobble stones. The Herring Gulls eyed me suspiciously as I passed by the dry dock.
I headed along the front of the flats scanning out over the river. Only Herring Gulls and a single Great Black Backed Gull were to be seen though. I headed back to get a few more photos of Dave and to wait for Steph to arrive. When she did we headed off along Riverside Drive to join the dual carriageway to Perth. Black Headed Gulls and Carrion Crow were added by the playing fields, with a Swallow over the airport car park and a Buzzard circling above Riverside Nature Park.
A Chaffinch near Grange was next onto the list for the day but there was little else to see until we parked in Errol at the top of Gas Brae. House Martin, Swallow and Swift all swept around the roofs as Steph got herself organised. A few Jackdaws perched on the chimneys and Goldfinch and Feral Pigeon both overflew. Heading off downhill there were House Sparrows by the edge of the village. A wildlife garden has been created near the foot of the hill and this is always a good place to see Whitethroat and Yellowhammer, both of which showed on cue. In addition another flock of House Sparrows and a couple of Blackbirds were seen here. I heard a commotion across the fields to the west with lots of calling from clearly agitated Carrion Crows. As expected a raptor was to blame for the noise. Not a Buzzard or Sparrowhawk as would usually be the case but a female Marsh Harrier. The Crows saw it off across the fields and we lost sight of it as it headed over the mature tree line towards the reedbeds and river.
A singing Skylark was picked out high in the sky. By the small drainage ditch, Steph stopped to photograph a male Reed Bunting while I looked for a singing Sedge Warbler and a Yellowhammer doing likewise. We were accosted by a barking dog whose owner, as is usually the case, failed to either control her dog, or apologise for the disturbance. My monopod got the blame for her dog's irritation and off she wandered.
We headed down to scan over the reeds past the house. We could hear Chiffchaff in the trees and a Blackcap singing as well, but neither were seen. A Roe Deer broke cover and headed back into the reeds. There was no sign of any Bearded Tits or Marsh Harriers unfortunately but our first moth of the day, a Common Carpet was seen here. A singing Linnet was in a small tree and we loitered for a short while in the hope that our luck would bring us Beardies, but it wasn't to be so we headed up into the trees to walk along the path to the pools at Port Allen. I spotted a Grey Squirrel darting into cover as we walked up towards the start of the path but there was no sign of it. We could hear plenty of birds - Wrens, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Sedge Warblers and even a Grasshopper Warbler, but they remained out of sight. On reaching the nettlebed area that overlooks the reeds we stopped to scan.
Blue Tailed Damselflies floated above and through the nettles while Chiffchaffs sang from the trees nearby. Sedge Warbler and a Blue Tit perched in a small tree in front of us. Reed Buntings were the most numerous birds out in the reeds but again we drew a blank on Bearded Tits. We eventually managed to see a Chiffchaff in the trees behind us and an Azure Damselfly munching on a greenfly was a nice bonus. By the remains of a couple of puddles on the path the vegetation and muddy ruts were alive with toadlets and just one lone froglet. Two male Blackcaps were spotted in the trees a little further on. The track along the back of the pools was overgrown with bracken and nettles so we decided to scan the reeds as best we could from within the trees along the path. Scanning through a gap in the branches I spotted the first definite Bearded Tit of the day as it flew just above the reed tops, wings whirring.
Out on the pools, we could see Mallards and Coots and a Grey Heron lifted from the waters edge as we approached. Not too much further on a second bird did likewise. Better views of the pools gave us Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe and Tufted Duck, plus Shoveler and Wigeon too. An Oystercatcher flew by, calling loudly. Steph decided to stop for lunch by the wee bridge and I decided to explore along by the second pool. A Great Tit flew into the bushes and the two Grey Herons flew past again. There were lots of small grass moths and damselflies apparent as I walked through the grass. I was hoping to hear Grasshopper Warbler with a slim chance of seeing one but I was out of luck. The insect life however made up for it with a nice selection of moths, some of which I hadn't seen before. Shaded Broad Bar, Clouded Border and Nettle Tap I had seen before, but Straw Dot and Brown China-Mark as well as a small micro moth species I hadn't. There were also lots of Ringlet butterflies and a few Meadow Browns.
I had a close encounter with a Roe Deer kid which I could hear running around in the trees, calling for its mum. I stood quietly as it ran down the hill towards me before stopping around 20 feet away from me, peering out from below an overhanging branch. I took a few photos then walked back to tell Steph. She was on her way to join me having finished lunch, but there was no sign of the deer. A family of Great Tits showed in the bushes and we spotted a distant Osprey out over the river to the east as we headed back from our exploration. We spent a bit more time photographing the insects though a few Clegs taking an interest in my legs had me moving on quickly to avoid a bite or two. The vegetation down by the water was alive with Brown China-Mark moths and I managed to get a variety of photos.
A shower of rain began so we headed into the trees to head back towards Errol. We stopped to scan the reeds and I immediately spotted a perched Bearded Tit near the bank on the other side of the pool. Unfortunately it chose the moment I raised my camera to get a photo to fly away. I did manage two poor blurry record shots though. Sand Martins, Swallows, House Martins, Reed Buntings and Sedge Warbler added to the challenge of picking out a Beardie through a very limited field of view. We wandered around to the nettle bed again, careful to avoid stepping on the toadlets, to scan again. We did manage to spot a distant Marsh Harrier as it quartered above the reeds. It flew in our general direction before turning backeastwards again. We decided to hurry along and hope that the bird was near the open area in front of the house.
Robin, Chaffinch, Wren and another Grey Squirrel were seen as we made our way through the trees. Unfortunately the view out over the reeds was quite poor so we drew a blank on the Harrier and birds in general were in short supply. With time wearing on we headed back uphill towards the village. Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Whitethroat being seen on the way with House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Swallow, House Martin and Swift in the village. We headed back to Dundee, having been out an hour or so longer than planned but having had an enjoyable day.
45 species of birds seen - Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shoveler, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies - Ringlet, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Green Veined White.
Moths - Straw Dot, Shaded Broad Bar, Common Carpet, Clouded Border, Nettle Tap, Brown China-Mark, (unidentified micro moth), Grass Veneer.
Damselflies - Azure Damselfly, Blue Tailed Damselfly
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Roe Deer, Seal
Amphibians - Common Toad, Common Frog