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| Kingfisher |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Mallard |
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| Goosander |
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| Carrion Crow Vs Sparrowhawk |
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| Goosander |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Mallard |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Goosander displaying |
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| Dunnock |
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| Call Duck |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Goosander |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Pheasant |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Snipe |
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| Common Gull |
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| Lapwing & Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Bittern |
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| Barn Owl |
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| Shoveler |
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| Red Legged Partridge |
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| Raven |
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| Buzzard |
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| Common Gull |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Mute Swan |
With no real firm plans for where to go on the Saturday morning, it was a nice surprise to have the possibility of at least a part of the day out with my birding buddy, Steph. A facebook message on the Friday evening put provisional plans in place for me to text saying where I was at around 10am and for Steph to meet me there, if she was feeling better than she had been. Fingers were crossed, and I decided to do a spot of early morning local birding until 10-ish and even if Steph couldn't make it, I'd have something to show for my efforts to get out of my bed early. At least in theory.
Amazingly, I did indeed make it out of my bed nice and early and was out the front door at around 0800 to head for Caird Park initially, in the hope of seeing the local Kingfisher. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon started the list as they do so often, with both Carrion Crow and Jackdaw also on the list within a few minutes of leaving the house. The streets were fairly empty of pedestrians and this seemed to play a part in the number of species I managed to rack up before reaching Caird Park. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Starling, Chaffinch and Woodpigeon were all seen before I had even reached Graham Street to head downhill to the golf course.
In Graham Street I had a couple of Goldfinches fly over and the house with the feeders across the road from the shops had a small flock of House Sparrows which decided to cling en masse onto the harling on the gable end of the house. A Blackbird perched on top of the roof flicking its tail. Down past the shops I spotted activity in the tops of the tall trees by the playing fields. Magpies and Carrion Crows. Initially there appeared to be just two Magpies but changing my viewpoint found another pair in the next tree down. The four took flight circling in a small group which drew up yet another pair from the back gardens, giving me views of 6 Magpies in the air together. The largest group I've yet seen in Dundee.
Crossing the Kingsway into the park itself, I soon added Dunnock and more Chaffinches feeding on the ground beside the wooded areas separating the fairways on the golf course. Wren and Robin were heard as I wandered down the Gelly Burn but neither were seen. As I reached the top pond, a flash of blue caught my eye as the Kingfisher took flight from its low perch at the top pond. A few Mallards and a Moorhen swam around in the water. I refound the Kingfisher and managed a few photos though it seemed quite flighty although it did allow me to stand and watch it perched on a rose bush on the island.
I left the Kingfisher to scout around by the path where I could hear a call that I couldn't quite place. I eventually identified it as Bullfinch but failed completely to see the birds making the noise. I did spy movement high in the trees as something flew into the top of a tree not far along from where I stood. I edged along quietly, eventually being able to see a Sparrowhawk perched high above me on a branch. Moving forward a few inches for a better view resulted in the bird spotting me and flying off over the trees to the south. A Goldcrest flitted around in the conifers as did a few Blue Tits. Woodpigeons eyed me suspiciously from their perches high in the trees as I wandered down to check the lower pond. Once again, it was Moorhen and Mallards here though I did add a Robin singing from the hedge at the end of the road bridge over the burn.
I wandered back up the hill between the stadium and the golf course. A pair of Mistle Thrushes flew off across the practice area and landed in their customary treetop spots which allowed me a few distant photos. On reaching the top end of the stadium I saw movement across in the trees by the golf course. A Grey Squirrel stood motionless head pointed downwards on the trunk of a tall tree. I took a few photos before it disappeared round the back of the tree and upwards again. A Wren showed briefly among the greenery and on the football pitches were a few Black Headed and Common Gulls. Not a bad start to the day.
Swannie Ponds via the wasteground at Mains Terrace was next on the plans. I crossed back over the Kingsway and headed up past the old Keiller's factory buildings then along the front of the row of small bungalows on Mains Terrace. The House Sparrows and Feral Pigeons which frequent this area were in their usual places, and a Collared Dove flew out from a garden and into the trees on the wasteground. Round the corner on Lammerton Terrace I heard a Greenfinch wheezily calling from the top of a tree and soon spotted it against the light. Another Jackdaw and a Woodpigeon seen and then on to Swannie Ponds.
Reaching the ponds and walking down the small flight of steps to pond level I stopped to scan around to see if there was anything unusual. In addition to the Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Black Headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Mute Swans, I could see at least one of the local Moorhens and on the water close in was a drake Goosander swimming towards me. He had obviously realised that humans at the ponds equals an easy meal (or at least a good chance of one), so he was getting in early. Unfortunately for him, when I reached into my bag it wasn't for food for him, it was to ready my camera for some close-up photos of the rather smart looking bird himself. I moved further along the path to get the sun in a more favourable position for photos, and found that the bird was following me too. I got a nice sequence of photos then scanned some more.
A few Common Gulls and another pair of Goosanders completed the picture out on the water, while a Great Tit and a few Blue Tits were seen feeding among the small trees around the edge of the pond. A bird overflying westwards on its own turned out to be a Fieldfare. A few minutes later a Sparrowhawk went over pursued by a Carrion Crow giving me a distant photo which looked a little like a WW2 dogfight photo from the Battle of Britain. Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeons both passed overhead at times as I scanned through the gulls for ringed birds. J4U2 and JN69 the Norwegian birds were both still there and I managed to fill in the gaps on a couple of UK ringed Black Headed Gulls.
I was surprised slightly by an overflying Skylark, the rather distinctive flight call it made causing me to look up in time to see it heading south over the ponds. I found a young Herring Gull which looked to be blind in one rather pus-filled eye but apart from that obvious hinderance it didn't appear to be in too much trouble, though I didn't watch it for too long. Steph turned up shortly after and she was rather pleased to get an opportunity at close shots of Goosander. I spotted a Dunnock down on the path, with a Blackbird in the bushes behind it.
Steph pointed out a rather odd looking Mallard type duck. It had the body of a Mallard, though smaller and the head markings were similar but the head shape was different, with a much smaller bill. Somewhere deep in the recesses of my brain I found the name 'call duck' and suggested this is what it was (with google's help later at home, I confirmed that I had indeed 'called' it correctly). A Grey Wagtail overflew as we were preparing to head for Loch of Kinnordy where 2 Bitterns had been seen earlier in the day. Normally, I have zero luck with Bitterns, though others have sat and watched them for half an hour and sometimes longer out in the open. Although Kinnordy isn't an area that I can get to easily, I have always failed to see the species over the past 5 or so winters that I have been aware they may be around there, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.....
We headed up the A90 and turned off to take the back roads to Glamis followed by a detour past a farm where a Great Grey Shrike was seen back in Autumn, and where geese flocks can sometimes be seen. Rooks, Buzzards, Pheasants and Oystercatchers were the birds seen en route with a single Mute Swan stood in the field by the side of the road just before the reserve at Kinnordy. The car park was quite full, but we hoped that we would be able to get a seat in the gullery hide. A Red Squirrel posed on the feeder as we wandered in.
The hide was pretty busy though possibly not quite as busy as the car park had suggested. Still we ended up in different parts of the hide. This meant that I couldn't point out things to Steph and she couldn't do the same
likewise if she found anything. A few flocks of Greylags flew by noisily having lifted from other parts of the reserve. Out on the water were a mix of Wigeon, Teal and Mallard. A Grey Heron flew by. More scanning found a few drake Shoveler, my first of the year, and a Goldeneye or two dotted around. A single Lapwing was the next find as it flew in to land on the bogbean islands out front.
A male Reed Bunting flew by, the light allowing a bit of detail to be seen even without binoculars. I found a Snipe foraging around on the bogbean where it was joined by another a short while later, or more likely I had overlooked the second bird previously. By now, the crowds had thinned slightly, so I moved up to beside Steph so that we could point out things to each other without having to shout halfway down the hide. A few Whooper Swans flew over the reedbeds at the back of the reserve whooping loudly. I found a Cormorant perched atop one of the wooden poles across the far side of the loch. A male Pheasant wandered around among the flattened reeds to the left of the hide but turned back rather than venture out onto the ice.
A Buzzard circled round above the loch, causing the other birds a bit of concern but it didn't linger. A Carrion Crow appeared to attack a female Teal, pinning it down with one foot while it flapped and tried to escape, which it did. After this, the Teal were very wary of the crows which were hanging around, taking flight whenever they got too close. The attacked bird may have been poorly but it was an unusual sight though it happened too quickly to get a photo. A pair of Grey Herons flew through, one chasing the other and a few minutes later they passed by going in the opposite direction. A Common Gull drifted over and a small party of Teal slipped and slid their way across the ice.
Steph said quite urgently "what's that?". I somehow got immediately onto the bird she was referring to, in flight just in front of the far reedbeds without her having to give me any directions. My very first Bittern. I took a few photos as it swung round to land on the ice just in front of the reeds. It then walked along a little which put it behind some reeds before it stepped in through the curtain of reeds at the front of the reedbed and wandered in and out of sight again. It had been in view for a little over 45 seconds. I did manage some reasonable photos considering the distance, but hopefully next time I will improve on the 'record' shots I got. Fingers crossed too that I don't have to wait too long for the next time.
The Barn Owl appeared at the hole in the owl box on the lone pine and the photos showed the gold colour on the head as well as the white facial disc. Unfortunately we had been joined in the hide a short time before by a "birder" I unfortunately find myself having little patience with, (and I am not the only one, with a number of others definitely not including him on their Christmas card list), so I suggested to Steph that having seen the Buzzard we could maybe head up one of the nearby glens and see what we could find.
We knew that it might be a bit hit or miss at this time of year, but not having seen Red Legged Partridge or Black Grouse yet I had my fingers crossed that we might chance upon at least one, if not more, of the species. A Red Legged Partridge spotted by Steph gave us another bird for the list as well as a year tick for me. It popped through the fence, so Steph tried sneaking up on it, but as she got closer off it flew. A Kestrel flew in the opposite direction to the one we were headed and yet again Steph spotted a Red Grouse close to the car. Just as I got my camera pointed at it, off it flew. We turned at the end of the glen after sitting for a few minutes without seeing anything else. The sun which had been shining earlier had disappeared behind the clouds, so we decided against going for a short walk.
Instead we drove slowly back down the glen, stopping if we saw anything interesting. Raptors hanging in the wind and circling were Buzzards and we stopped to photograph them as three of them wheeled around close together for a few minutes before disappearing in different directions, though not before a Raven flew through the middle of them and up the glen. I could hear Siskins calling from the trees neaby but there were too many trees and nothing obvious visible so we had to be content with a heard-only record.
We headed back down the road towards Dundee but realised that the football traffic might make things tricky for Steph to get away from near mine having dropped me off, so we decided to make a short quick detour to Swannie Ponds again for 5 minutes or so to let the traffic die down. The birds were similar to earlier in the day, with Mallards, Goosander and Tufted Duck along with Common, Black Headed and Herring Gulls on the water and paths as well as a Woodpigeon flying into roost on the island. With the light starting to fade and the temperature dropping we headed for home after a very enjoyable and productive day.
The final total for the day was 53 species, 4 of which were new (in bold) including a lifer for me in the shape of the Bittern.
Species seen - Barn Owl, Bittern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Raven, Red Grouse, Red Legged Partridge, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.