STONEFACTION BIRDING: 06/05/15

0167 : Signs Of Summer (30/5/15)

Around this time of year there is a bit of a lull in the birding year, with Spring migration coming to an end, the Dawn Chorus beginning to fade out, vegetation hiding a lot of birds and some species keeping a low profile due to breeding, or moulting. Deciding where to go birding at this time of year can be tricky. With a Saturday afternoon to fill I had a decision to make.

Red Throated Diver

Having seen a Coot from a car on the previous Wednesday at Swannie Ponds, I decided to pay the ponds a visit to see if it was still around, or had moved on. I left the house at around 1150. There wasn't too much to see at first but eventually I managed to see a bird. OK, it was only a Starling but it started the list for the day off. Other species followed, Herring Gull and House Sparrow and a Blackbird pair.

Walking along Clepington Road towards the ponds, I added the expected summering House Martins hawking around near Mains Loan and Feral Pigeons in the same area. A Lesser Black Backed Gul glided over the houses, and the Jackdaws were around their nest on the chimneys at the crossroads. A Great Tit flew over the road and into the gardens as I reached the ponds. Mallards were on the water with a few around the edges, though there were many more Herring Gulls stood around. Around 50 or so, with similar numbers of Lesser Black Backeds. A Swallow skimmed low over the water, coming within touching distance of me at times, but moving too fast for a flight-shot with the P900.

A Song Thrush shot out from the bushes and flew to the island. A Moorhen swam out into the open. There were plenty House Sparrows around the edge of the pond all leaning forward as if looking for something. Photos showed that it was insect larvae that they were after. I suddenly realised that there was also a Coot out on the water, on its own, though on the north side of the island where there were very few other birds. Moving further round, I discovered that there was not just one, but two, of these black and white birds, the other close into the island stood on some vegetation, which could possibly have been the beginnings of a nest. A Moorhen adult was joined by a pair of youngsters who stayed close in to the island, probably to lessen the chances of predation by the gull flock nearby.

Watching the House Sparrows, I was joined by a Pied Wagtail male catching flies above the pond in little hovering sorties. A pair of Tufted Ducks slept at the top end of the island. A single Black Headed Gull flew low over the water and round behind the island but was gone when I was in a position to check all the gulls present. A group of House Martins hawked for insects over the eastern side of the pond. A Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon were also seen, before I decided to head into town to City Quay to check on the latest state of Dave the Diver's breeding plumage.

I walked part of the way but caught a bus to the city centre and walked to the Quay area from there. As soon as I arrived at the quay, there in front of me on the water was Dave. Sleeping. It appeared that there was more grey on the front of the neck but there was no way of telling how much red there was. I chatted to a wedding photographer who was recce-ing the area for an upcoming wedding. I decided to walk along to Discovery Point to see if the Coastguard S-92 helicopter which had been searching the area earlier was still around.

I had intended on walking back up into town to catch a bus out to Riverside Nature Park but instead ended up walking out along the river and past the airport to the park. Not too many birds seen, except a pair of Herring Gulls. I did get a very close flypast by the helicopter before it departed back to its home base at Inverness. Goldfinch was seen as I neared the airport. A few Swallows twittered around near the control tower. Following the fence-line I chanced on a singing male Linnet on the fence which was joined by a male House Sparrow.

On reaching the Nature Park, there were plenty Rabbits but it appeared that birds were in short supply. Carrion Crow and Woodpigeons were in the same field as the Rabbits. A Chaffinch sang from the bushes. Further into the park, Lesser Redpoll overflew and Swallows swept low over the grass. Further round into the park, a few House Martins overflew, and a Blackbird flew up into the bushes. A Greenfinch sang from atop the hedge by the boggy area.

A Starling flock of 10 birds flew over. A few minutes later beyond the car park I watched a singing Song Thrush for a few minutes. A Buzzard circled over towards the bay before the hill hid it from my sight. I wandered around in the direction of the Lochan adding Blue Tit and Herring Gull to the list of birds seen in the park. A Feral Pigeon flew by. A pair of Mute Swans were at the Lochan with Jackdaws feeding in the grass around the edges.

A Whitethroat sang near the hide, and Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls were in the water of the burn outflow and along the exposed pipe. A Cormorant stood out towards the end. Scanning across the mud I found a distant Shelduck across the Invergowrie side of the bay. Black Headed Gulls and Common Gulls were strung out along the water's edge. A group of Mallards roosted near the railway line down below the hide.

A Willow Warbler sang from one of the trees to the south of the hide. Yellowhammer and Goldfinch were seen as I headed back towards the main body of the park. From further round I watched a Grey Heron amble out along the pipe in the bay, and a pair of adult Shelduck swam out with 9 black and white fluffy ducklings in tow.

A pair of Swifts zipped around to the west of the hill before heading out across the bay in the direction of Invergowrie before I could get a photo. I could hear Oystercatchers calling continuously from somewhere near the hide, but the vegetation in the way meant I could not see them, no matter where I stood. After a few minutes of scanning and searching I finally caught sight of a single bird in flight. Needless to say a few minutes later, a group flew right over the top of me on their way into the bay.

A pair of Shelducks were in the compost area wading around in the rubbish-strewn puddle. I captured a short video clip as the birds took flight and headed off. A Reed bunting flew into the flooded area as I wandered out of the park to catch a bus back to town. I decided rather than heading for home immediately that I would venture down to City Quay to see if Dave was awake. Thankfully he was, though he did appear to be rather tired, looking ready to doze off again more than once. I could now see that there was some red feathering beginning to show on his throat. I took a few photos and some video before heading for home.

A reasonable afternoon with some nice video clips captured, and confirmation of the Coots at Swannie Ponds.

37 Species seen (birds only seen at Riverside Nature Park in brackets, birds only seen outwith the park in italics) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, (Blue Tit), (Buzzard), Carrion Crow, (Chaffinch), (Common Gull), Coot, (Cormorant), Goldfinch, Great Tit, (Greenfinch), Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, (Lesser Redpoll), Linnet, Mallard, Moorhen, (Mute Swan), (Oystercatcher), Pied Wagtail, Red Throated Diver, (Reed Bunting), Feral Pigeon, (Shelduck), Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, (Swift), Tufted Duck, (Whitethroat), (willow Warbler), Woodpigeon, (Yellowhammer).

House Sparrow

Coot

Pied Wagtail

Coot

House Sparrow

Tufted Duck

Lesser Black Backed Gull

House Sparrow

Red Throated Diver

Herring Gull

Linnet

Song Thrush

Cormorant

Shelducks

Red Throated Diver

0166 : Simply Reds (27/5/15)

Not too long ago, Wednesdays were just another day at work. Now, they are an opportunity to get out and about and relax while birding and enjoying the fresh air. Having missed out on properly seeing a Redstart the previous week, Nat was still keen to get better views, so we decided on another trip to the Angus glens and hoped that we would have better luck second time around.

Red Grouse

Nat arrived to pick me up at 8am. Herring Gull, House Sparrow and Blackbird started the day's list off. We watched as a Magpie fed on a discarded apple and a few Starlings shuttled over with food for youngsters in some of the local nests before setting off for the glens. Lesser Black Backed Gull and Feral Pigeon were next onto the list as we headed out of Dundee. Woodpigeon was added as we headed up the A90.

Buzzard, Swallow and Carrion Crow were all seen from the car as we made our way northwards. Turning off the main road gave us a slightly better chance of seeing some more interesting species. A few Goldfinches flew from bushes by the road, Rooks wandered around in a field and a Lapwing or two watched the car pass by. Jackdaws and Collared Doves perched on chimneys as we passed by some houses and a Greenfinch was an unexpected addition nearby.

We turned onto the road into the glen, watching House Martins swoop over the trees by the road. Oystercatchers, Lapwings and Mistle Thrushes were in the fields. I had looked into where we might have a better chance of finding Redstart and wanting to maximise our chances decided that we should try an area I hadn't birded in the glen before. Chaffinch and Great Tit were seen as we got out of the car, with a glimpse of a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying off from a tree on the opposite side of the road.

A distant Cuckoo called and a burst of song from nearby sounded like Redstart, though I wasn't 100% sure. We scanned the trees where the song was coming from but couldn't even see any movement in the trees. A Wren showed briefly as we wandered along the road to where a track led off down through the trees which would give us a closer view of where the hoped-for Redstart sounded like it was. Blue Tit was next onto the list. Still the Redstart sang from its perch high in one of the trees. I spotted movement and quickly got it into binocular view. Sure enough, a male Redstart. Quickly I got Nat onto the bird and our main target for the day was in the bag. Result!

With the Redstart on the list we did a bit more exploring, discovering a footbridge and some buildings across the other side of the burn. A Starling had a nest in a tree behind us and we could hear the young birds calls when an adult popped back with food for them. Overhead a few Common Gulls glided. A Willow Warbler sang and flitted out to catch a few flies. Down on the burn we could see a few drake Mallards and a pair of Grey Wagtails. As we headed back to the car we could see a few birds circling up over the hills. Buzzards, but a third bird passed over us as we walked back along the road. This wasn't a Buzzard, but a nice Red Kite.

Back in the car we headed further into the glen with a vague plan to check a few more areas that I hadn't checked properly during past visits. Pheasant, Pied Wagtail and Robin were next on our list. We pulled into a small lay-by to allow a few cars to pass and I suggested we have a few minutes there to see what as around. Immediately I got out of the car a Snipe flew by. Nat spotted a second bird perched on a gatepost.

Onwards we went, another quick stop producing Meadow Pipit, Lesser Redpoll, Sand Martin and Song Thrush. Another little detour took us down a track that I had explored once before. A family of Red Grouse were close to the side of the track. A young wader ran off away from the car. This turned out to be a young Redshank, not a particularly common bird in the glens. A Curlew flew off and a Wheatear showed reasonably well for us. Another Red Grouse stared at us from a bit further back. A female Red Grouse stayed put despite the car's close proximity. Looking closely we could see she was actually standing with her wings lowered from her sides. Although we couldn't be certain we reckoned there were probably youngsters tucked in below her.

We stopped again as we headed back round to the main glen road. A small bird flitted around in the bushes nearby. As I raised my binoculars I heard a loud calling Cuckoo and turned just in time to see a Cuckoo in flight coming towards us. It passed over the top of the car and disappeared over the trees calling as it went. Getting back to the bird in the bushes it turned out to be a Spotted Flycatcher, which was what we expected. Quite a productive wee detour.

Yet another road cut off from the road we were on and we decided to follow it. This took us down to the burn where a Common Sandpiper was calling loudly as it circled round across the opposite side of the water. Downstream we spotted two young Dippers and watched an adult feeding one of the two out on the rocks in the middle of the burn, the youngster's wings whirring as it lowered its head to beg for food from the parent bird. A few Treecreepers clambered up the trunks of a few trees, calling to each other.

At the end of the road we saw an overflying Raven. Coal Tit, Song Thrush and Meadow Pipit were added as we went for a walk further on. A male Ring Ouzel showed quite well in a small fenced-off field. A male Wheatear was another nice find, but best of all was a pair of birds that we almost didn't see. We could hear birds twittering away, sounding finchlike but we weren't sure what they were, though Siskin and Lesser Redpoll were contenders. As it turned out we were on the right track. Close to where we were standing a pair of Twite were foraging around on the ground. Just as we hadn't noticed them at first it appeared that they were oblivious to us too. Only when we went to move on did the birds realise we were there and fly off.

We headed back to the car, spotting another Redstart on the way. We did double back slightly when I heard a singing Tree Pipit and we had decent views of the bird perched in a tree. With time getting on a bit we headed back down the glen, adding a female Redstart to the birds seen along the way as well as a Red Kite (likely to be the same bird as earlier in the day).

We decided to pop back to Montrose to have a look at the Terns on the beach on the way home, hoping that would keep us ahead of the rain which was forecast. We made it to the beach where Common Terns were standing around on the shingle with Herring Gulls beyond. A few Eider were on the river. A Cormorant flew by and a Great Black Backed Gull flew in from the sea. Something spooked the terns from within the Glaxo site and the air was filled with the harsh calls of numerous Common Terns. A Linnet was seen as we headed back to the car as the rain came on heavier. It was quite a downpour and it was with us all the way back to Dundee. We did add one last surprise species to the day list. A Coot was on Swannie Ponds, not a species I'd seen there before.

Another really enjoyable day out with Nat with 60 species seen. Nothing new for the year-list but Nat added a few to her life-list.

Species seen - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dipper, Eider, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Grouse, Red Kite, Redshank, Redstart, Ring Ouzel, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Snipe, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Tree Pipit, Treecreeper, Twite, Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.