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| Red Deer |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Linnet |
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| Snipe |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Snipe |
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| Redshank |
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| Pheasant |
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| Herring Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull (Argentatus) |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
With the guided walk at Riverside Nature Park out of the way before 11am, I had the rest of the day to do some more birding. I had made prior arrangements with birding buddy, Nat, to head off somewhere after the walk (which she had attended). However, commitments meant that she would have to be home no later than 4pm, so we had roughly 3-4 hours of birding depending on where we went. I put forward 3 options - Fife coast from Ruddon's Point to Fife Ness, Angus Coast, or inland lochs in Angus. We decided on the last of the 3.
We threaded our way through the streets of Dundee towards Camperdown Park and the road to Coupar Angus. There wasn't too much to see bird-wise, though once we reached the countryside things picked up a bit. Woodpigeon, Starling and Blackbird were seen before we reached the open road with Buzzard, a few Pheasants by the roadside, (and one almost suicidal male on the road). A male Yellowhammer just before Alyth followed by Oystercatchers and Rooks in a field added to the sightings. A Pied Wagtail was another tick just before we reached our first stop.
Nat had never been to Reekie Linn so we stopped to see if we could find Dipper as the river there is usually a good site for the birds. However, we drew a blank with not even one heard. We decided to take the short walk up through the trees to the viewpoint that allows a head-on view of the quite impressive waterfall. We did manage a few species of birds, though Nat took a bit of a tumble over a tree root while trying to watch a bird above us in the trees. Thankfully she landed on the path, rather than the much less welcoming possibilities offered by the steep sided gorge. Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch and a Mistle Thrush were seen in the trees.
Back at the car park we had a quick look at the Rooks in the rookery and scanned around for the Tree Sparrows we could hear chirping in the bushes. We drew a blank on these also. A Grey Wagtail flew out from below the bridge and landed on the bank opposite. We got underway again, heading for Backwater Reservoir. At least half a dozen Buzzards wheeled around just above the top of a hill. This was the second time that day we had seen larger groups of these raptors together.
Reaching the dam we crossed the narrow road along the top. A Common Gull flew over from the structure just offshore. A Robin was at the end of the crossing. Further along the road we spotted movement in a roadside tree ahead of us. This turned out to be a Goldcrest flitting around among the bare branches before it flew across the road and back into the conifers opposite. A bird on the water turned out to be a drake Wigeon. A Mistle Thrush flew up from the roadside field.
At the car park we had another scan out over the water. A pair of Mallards were close into shore, though rather distant. A Chaffinch flew over into the trees. A Little Grebe dived below the surface across the far side of the reservoir, popping up a short while later a little further on. We decided to have a walk along the road and see if we could find anything interesting. Siskins were calling from the tree-tops and we had good views of a rather smart male.
On the ridge-line off to our right I spotted a pair of Red Deer and Nat found a third further ahead. A Pied Wagtail took off from the roadside and flew off over the fence and away. A pair of Mistle Thrushes took off from one of the fields and looked like they were going to land on the wires crossing the field. A smaller bird perched on these turned out to be a Meadow Pipit. We found more Siskins as well as a few Coal Tits and heard a possible Redpoll as we headed back to the car.
A Song Thrush was a bit of a surprise as we headed along the road, with Mistle Thrush generally the default thrush species here. A couple of Linnets were another nice find by the side of the road. We headed for Loch of Lintrathen next, stopping to have something to eat before walking to the hide. Nat spotted a Wren atop a broken tree by the path, and a Goldcrest and a Song Thrush were singing from a partially toppled conifer.
Unfortunately we encountered an extended-family outing complete with 10 rather excitable children so the majority of birds on the water were rather distant. There was a decent selection of wildfowl though numbers were rather low. Mallard, Wigeon, Goldeneye, Coot, Mute Swan and Tufted Duck all being picked out at varying distances. We headed back to the car to drive round the rest of the loch and on to Loch of Kinnordy for an hour or so.
Nat spotted a Cormorant low over the water and there were a number of Common Gulls on the water but no sign of any Canada Geese, disappointingly for me. We passed a flock of Greylags in fields by the road and a small-ish pool in another field held a pair of Teal and the more surprising sight of a pair of Shelduck. A mixed flock of gulls followed a tractor spreading something rather less than fragrant on the fields just outside Kingoldrum, while more lazed nearby. The smell meant we didn't give the birds a proper check, though there were definitely Herring and Common Gulls.
Further on we found a muddy field with around 100 or so Greylags close to the road. Jackdaws and Feral Pigeons mingled with the geese. A few Curlews were in another field closer to the rspb reserve. We arrived at Loch of Kinnordy just after 2pm and headed in to the gullery hide where a few folk sat. My pal Gus Guthrie had seen 6 Bearded Tits earlier in the day, so we were hopeful, though not overly optimistic, that we minght be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of at least one of these diminutive birds among the reeds.
Scanning out over the birds on the water and bog-bean islands gave us a few more species for the day list. Lapwings and Moorhens, Whooper Swans and Goosander, as well as some species we had already seen elsewhere like Rook, Oystercatcher, Greylag, Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Coot. Again most of the birds were relatively far away. I spotted movement on one of the bogbean islands and discovered a single Common Snipe feeding along the margins. One or two Redshanks were picked out also.
Further searching produced views of Cormorant, Common Gull, Goldeneye and Wigeon as well as Black Headed and Herring Gulls. With time against us a bit we decided to pop along to the other two hides to see if there was anything else of note. A pair of Moorhens fought quite viciously on the bogbean spit out front of the swamp hide. A Redshank with leg rings wandered about. A Reed Bunting flew into the trees to the left of the hide and I heard a distant calling Water Rail.
We trekked along to the eastern hide where a few Greylags sat just offshore and a single Whooper Swan gave strange calls a short distance along to the west. A female Pheasant was hard to spot initially near the swan, though a male Pheasant in front of the hide was far more conspicuous. With the time rapidly approaching 3pm it was time to head back down the road and miles to Dundee. Woodpigeons and Carrion Crows were the birds seen as we headed down the dual carriageway.
I asked Nat to drop me off near Swannie Ponds so I could check the ponds before heading for home, which she did so. Having said thanks and cheerio I crossed the road to find the ponds relatively quiet compared to lately with few Black Headed Gulls (though JN69 was one of the remaining handful). There were still a reasonable amount of Herring Gulls, mostly younger birds, with no sign of any Common Gulls at all. There were 6 Lesser Black Backed Gulls positioned on the streetlights along Pitkerro Road.
Mallard and Tufted Duck numbers seemed to be much lower and there was no sign of any Moorhens or Goosander. There was one Mute Swan on the water, with the other adult likely out of sight on the island. I took a few photos of some of the gulls as they took to the air. At home later I found that one of the birds had a ring and it was readable. Another J coded bird (black J7295) which I suspected was likely to be Norwegian.
This was indeed the case, the bird being an Argentatus subspecies ringed as a chick in Norway last summer on an island off the coast near Alesund. This is my first foreign ringed Herring Gull as well as being my first definite Argentatus bird, though I suspect there are quite have been a few adults on the ponds this winter though I haven't yet managed to be certain of the features to look for to determine whether or not the bird is one of ours or one of theirs.
I headed for home spotting a nice selection of birds en route including more gulls, Feral and Woodpigeons, House Sparrows and Starlings. Although I had only added 1 species to my year list (in bold) it had been another enjoyable outing with 49 species seen (59 in total for the whole day).
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Siskin, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.