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| Mallard |
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| Kingfisher (old photo - not from today) |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Iceland Gull |
Having been ill for a week and stuck in the house for the vast majority of that time (excluding Monday when I went to work - bad idea), I was determined to at least get out of the house for a wee while today and make it slightly further than the Doctors surgery or the Chemist's shop. Thankfully, despite not being close to feeling back to normal, I did manage to get out for a walk for a few hours, and got a year-tick into the bargain.
I left the house at 12 o'clock picking up the usual Herring Gulls overhead as I did, hanging in the strong-ish wind. Next up was a Starling singing away from a TV aerial on a tenement block, throwing in odd bits of mimicry as it did so. A Collared Dove calling monotonously from a streetlight was the next addition to the list. oo-OOO-oo, oo-OOO-oo, oo-OOO-oo etc etc etc. I could hear a Chaffinch calling from some trees on the corner of the next street and managed to pick it out through the branches. Two Carrion Crows tussled and tangled in the air over the back greens. As I walked along Clepington Road, I could see a bird circling distantly to the north. I suspected Buzzard but it was too far away to be sure without taking the binoculars out of the bag.
I detoured from my direct route to Caird Park along Lammerton Terrace, in the hope of seeing Magpies, but there was no sign today. House Sparrows chirped from within the hedges of the gardens of Castle Terrace, with one or two momentarily popping into the open and then rushing back into cover on seeing me approaching. At the wasteground on Mains Terrace, there was plenty of activity, with two Dunnocks chasing each other around and Greenfinches singing from the tops of trees, with other half-seen birds fluttering about mostly hidden by the bare branches. Feral Pigeons on the roofs of the houses coo-ed to each other.
Crossing the Kingsway and into Caird Park, I was almost immediately distracted by a pair of Long Tailed Tits scooting about in a tree on the other side of the hedge. Further downhill, I could hear the sound of Goldfinches high in the trees and managed to spot them among the cones of the larches. A Great Spotted Woodpecker called sharply but I couldn't pick it out. Woodpigeon was next, a small flock of them on the football pitches, and throughout my time in the park was probably the most commonly encountered bird as they clattered out from trees or less often sat quietly watching me pass by.
A Pied Wagtail was perched on a wire by the golf course practice hole, before flying down to the grass to feed. I could hear a call I didn't recognise coming from a small tree close to the road. Usually if I'm not sure what it is, it will turn out to be a Great Tit. And true to form, it was. I wandered down to the ponds which were very quiet with no birds to be seen at all. It didn't look promising for seeing the Kingfisher. I headed up past the top pond and walked along the muddy edge of the Gelly Burn where a Robin sang from a branch a few feet from me and a Wren buzzed out from the undergrowth, wings whirring, and over to the reedy patch on the other side where it sang loudly for a few seconds before dropping back out of sight. A Chaffinch flew past me but there was no Song Thrush to be seen today. I reversed direction back to the ponds scanning the high conifers to look for roosting Grey Herons but there were none to see. A Buzzard briefly showed above the trees but drifted back out of view before I could get a photo. Just before I reached the bridge between the two ponds I heard the distinctive call of a Kingfisher, so I hurried to where I could scan the lower pond. Thankfully, the Kingfisher was perched in a small tree by the side of the pond. Unfortunately, it didn't stay there, instead flying off down the pond and out of sight. Ah well, a year-tick even without photos. A drake Mallard was snoozing among the water weed, as I wandered past, watching me with one eye without lifting his head. The Kingfisher saw me before I saw him again and calling loudly left low over the water in a flash of blues with a hint of orange.
I headed uphill and met a small dog which appeared to be without an owner. A Buzzard flew from the other side of the pond and perched in a tree, not too far along from where I was. The dog however trotted along the path and the bird departed back in the vague direction of where it had came from. A couple of Woodpigeons watched me from the trees, and I headed back towards the running track. A Blue Tit flew in and landed in the hedge a few feet from me as I wandered slowly past, as a group of cyclists chatted on the other side. The Goldfinches were still shuttling around in the tree-tops and once again the Great Spotted Woodpecker made his presence known, calling loudly from places unknown up above. However, this time my luck was in and I spotted the bird near the top of a tall conifer. The bird saw me as I raised the camera, and flew out of the tree and past me before swinging back and into the trees at the south end of the stadiums.
Again there was no sign of the Magpies on Forfar Road as I sauntered up towards the Swannie Ponds. The ponds themselves were a lot quieter than of late, with no Goosanders or Black Headed Gulls around. There were Mallards and Tufted Ducks as always and a mixture of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls (at least 17 were counted) out on the water and around the path edge. A Carrion Crow fed on crumbs on the path. I sat for a wee while on a bench looking through the gulls but apart from a few potential 'Argentatus' Herring Gulls there was nothing of note. The Mallards were being very possessive of the females, chasing off other drakes and sticking very close to their chosen duck. One pair did mate in the water in front of me, the duck being completely submerged for about 99% of the (thankfully for her) short time.
I did add Mute Swan and Moorhen to the day list and a single juvenile Black Headed Gull popped in, looking out of place all on its own, unlike a few weeks ago when there were large numbers of these birds. More out of habit than expectation, I checked the chimneys favoured by the Iceland Gull during its stay and was quite surprised to see the bird still there. I wonder how long it will hang around for. A Common Gull flew up from the lower pond over my head. I took some photos of the Iceland Gull as it eyed me warily from its perch on high, then crossed the road and passed behind the bird. Looking back from a little further on, I noticed that the bird had disappeared when I had stopped watching it.
There wasn't much to see between here and Baxter Park, just a couple of Goldfinches singing and a pair of Blue Tits calling as they fed in a small tree in a front garden. The park itself was quite busy and again, Goldfinches were obvious as they called from up in the high branches of the mature trees. I popped into Brands Books where I managed to get a nice wee book on Falkland Island Birds from 1982, and the shop owner asked about my YES hat and whether I had any YES literature with me I could give her. Unfortunately the few flyers I have were in my other camera bag but I did point her in the direction of both Wingsoverscotland and Newsnetscotland websites. A small flock of House Sparrows near the Stobswell police station were the only thing seen before I got back home.
29 species seen (year-tick in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Iceland Gull, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.