When I have a week's holiday it is rare that I actually manage to get out birding every day. Usually, the weather, or lethargy on my part, or just simply tiredness get in the way. For a large chunk of Saturday, it appeared that the weather might put paid to any birding. I did consider heading for Fife but there was no guarantee that the rain might go off, and the time taken to get there would eat into the birding time anyway. So when the rain did actually stop I decided to stay local and head 10 minutes along the road to Swannie Ponds to see if any of the Norwegian ringed Black Headed Gulls had arrived back yet.
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| Goosander |
The sky was still very grey and threatening when I ventured outside at 1455. Birds were in short supply though a Blackbird and a Herring Gull both appeared at precisely the same time, one high, one low. Further on a Carrion Crow was on a chimney of a tenement block and a small group of Jackdaws flew across Clepington Road. The usual Feral Pigeons were seen further on, but the detour along Mains Terrace drew a blank. A Woodpigeon overflew at the Forfar Road crossroads.
Arriving at the ponds, I could see the Mute Swan family up the far end, with a lot of Mallards dotted around the edge round to my right. At the far end of these was a single Goosander, a nice surprise. There were three Tufted Ducks on the water and a single Coot tucked in close to the island. There were very few gulls around, with ten or so stood on the path towards the far end. There were more Black Headed Gulls on the wet grass with a trio of Magpies over by the kids' playpark. There were a handful of Herring Gulls on the lower pond. A Common Gull was spotted with the gulls as they congregated around a couple feeding the ducks.
I heard calling birds in the trees beside me and in flew a party of Long Tailed Tits plus a single Blue Tit and at least one Coal Tit. I concentrated on getting photos of the Goosander until a dog scared it into the water. A short while later I heard a Goldcrest in the trees and a bit of searching soon found a small group of them working their way through the branches. I eventually managed to see a Moorhen, in fact, three of them feeding together. A small flock of Starlings overflew, and there were a few Feral and Woodpigeons passed over before I decided to head for home. I managed to add House Sparrows to the list a short distance from home but Robin eluded me despite hearing a few birds calling. 21 species seen in little over an hour, and some nice photos despite the conditions.
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| Goosander & Mallard |
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| Magpies & Black Headed Gulls |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Coot |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Mute Swans |
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| Goosander |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Coot |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Mallard |
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| Starling |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Moorhen |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Goldcrest, Goosander, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon.
