Having not made it out birding on Saturday I decided that I needed to do something on Sunday. With 3 Surf Scoters and a Black Scoter off Kinshaldy over the previous couple of days and a Glaucous Gull reported at Westhaven on Saturday, it was clear that there were good birds around. The Scoters could be almost anywhere along the east coast from Montrose (or even further north) to St Andrews Bay (or possibly even further south). That left the gull. However with the rather sparse public transport on a Sunday, I didn't really want to waste the best part of an hour's potential birding time on a bus to find a beach with only dog-walkers and their pets on it, and another hour or so coming back home again after drawing a blank. Thankfully though the ADBC grapevine lessened the chance of a wasted journey. I would have a walk locally and if word came in that the gull was still around I would catch the next bus to Carnoustie and hopefully see the bird (daylight and luck permitting).
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| Fieldfare |
With no Glaucous Gull text message forthcoming before lunchtime, I headed out with a vague plan to visit Caird Park, Swannie Ponds and Eastern Cemetery in the hope of adding a few new species to the year-list. There was also the option of extending the Caird Park segment to Trottick Ponds, though that would take me much further away from the potential bus to Carnoustie and as Dipper was the most probable addition there that I wouldn't get anywhere else during the walk I didn't give it too much consideration. It was around 1210 when I left the house and rather than my usual route to Caird Park I decided on a different one, via Tannadice Park and Hindmarsh Avenue. A Blackbird by Gussie Park and an overflying Herring Gull and Woodpigeon started the list off, with a few Black Headed Gulls atop a factory roof opposite the stadium. A pair of Carrion Crows were perched high on a floodlight pylon.
I heard a few chirping House Sparrows on the way up Hindmarsh Avenue but saw none. On Graham Street, a few Starlings glided over and a Feral Pigeon landed on a roof. A garden which is usually frequented by a flock of noisy House Sparrows delivered the goods once again with a few of them perched openly in a small tree as I passed. There were a few distant gulls on the football pitches. Once I finally made it across the Kingsway and into Caird Park, I wandered down through the golf course which appeared to be closed because of the snow earlier in the week still remaining on the fairways. A few Blackbirds picked around among the leaf litter and a Dunnock almost went unnoticed as it blended into the browns and greys of the ground colours.
I followed the Gelly Burn down towards the ponds, adding a few Blue Tits and Robins. I've seen Dipper on the small burn in the past but there was no sign of one. With the ponds unfrozen there was also a chance of Kingfisher. As I neared the ponds, a large-ish bird with a prominent white rump flew up into the trees by the path. A
Jay, and much easier than I had expected. I kept close in to the shade of the trees and the Jay flew back down onto the path before flying across to the island. This allowed me to get a few photos and even a video clip of what is usually a rather shy species. A pair of Mallards swam around on the pond, the drake displaying a little. A Wren popped up on a small weedy plant by the water adding another species to the list. A rather unwelcome Grey Squirrel with a pine cone in its claws made an appearance, with another possible glimpsed across the other side of the ponds.
There were a few more Mallards on the lower of the two ponds along with a pair of Moorhens but yet again no sign of any Kingfisher. As I was about to pay a visit to the old graveyard a small flock of birds flew into the trees uphill towards the golf course car park. They began feeding acrobatically in the top branches. With the sun behind them I couldn't make out any detail so I wandered up to try for a better angle. A male
Bullfinch flew over in the direction of the graveyard. The birds in the tree turned out to be
Siskins, though there were also a few Blue Tits, a Chaffinch or two and a single Goldfinch sharing the small stand of trees. The Bullfinch and Siskin were both additional year-ticks. I decided to continue on to Swannie Ponds rather than check out the graveyard or Trottick Ponds.
A Magpie was on the former Keiller factory roof, and I could hear others further over on the wasteground somewhere. I headed along Mains Terrace and found another pair perched in the trees here. Blackbirds were feeding on the berries of a nearby bush. A Song Thrush flew off low into a different bush and just as I was about to continue on a Fieldfare flew up from a bit further into the shrubbery. It circled round once and dropped back into one of the trees further back from where I was stood. Swannie Ponds was next and when I arrived I found it frozen except for a small patch of open water around 10 feet across where the Mallards, Mute Swans and a few of the gulls were congregated en masse. More Black Headed Gulls and Herring Gulls were stood around on the ice along with a few Common Gulls a bit further away.
I scanned through the gulls looking for ringed birds. I found a UK ringed Black Headed Gull and managed to complete a ring number first seen last winter (EY47366) as well as 2 of the Norwegian Black Headed Gulls (J4U2 and JN69). I also found a UK ringed Herring Gull but only managed to read the first 2 digits (either 6R or possibly GR) before it flew and I lost sight of it. A group of kids running out across the ice to the island and a skater practicing ice hockey towards the far end meant that hanging around for the gulls to settle again was futile so I headed onwards again, towards Eastern Cemetery where I hoped I'd find a few Redwings. A Collared Dove flew over.
At the cemetery I didn't have to try too hard to find a flock of thrushes. I first heard Fieldfares and headed towards the calls. A tree covered in berries was being visited by Fieldfares and Blackbirds and a small group of
Redwings were loitering warily in another tree nearby. I watched the flock feeding for a while and managed a few photos and video clips before there was a bit of a commotion and in swept a female Sparrowhawk scattering the thrush flock in all directions. I had a bit of a wander around the cemetery to see what else I could find. A few
Coal Tits weren't a surprise but were a new bird for the year. What was a surprise was a flypast by a Grey Heron over the graveyard following the line of the Arbroath Road.
I had another few low flypasts by the Sparrowhawk but only having the Nikon P900 with me meant very little chance of a decent flight shot. I found a flock of Greenfinches and a Mistle Thrush plus 2 Redwings towards the eastern side of the cemetery after they had followed the Sparrowhawk as a group staying above and behind the raptor, apparently mobbing it "on the wing". A few Great Tits were seen as well as more Blue Tits. There were numerous Woodpigeons dotted around in small groups sat hunched up in trees. I watched a Buzzard glide in and land atop a conifer. I managed to shoot a video clip of the bird before it took off again. On my way back to the original thrush flock I spotted movement in a tree and got my first
Goldcrest of 2016. I added some more video and photos of the Redwings and Fieldfares before heading for home around 1510. Jackdaw was added on Clepington Road with a few perched atop chimneys on the tenement blocks.
A decent enough day out with some worthwhile photos of the Redwings and Fiedlfares in particular making it a worthwhile walk. A few ADBC grapevine messages came in throughout the walk (along with a few Fife Bird Club ones) with the Bittern at Montrose still showing well, as well as Brent Geese, Pomarine Skua and Slavonian Grebe at a few other spots. Rather disappointingly, it turned out that the Glaucous Gull was actually seen and photographed at Westhaven by at least one ADBC member but assuming it was reported, no text alert was received by me. Maybe a problem with my new phone?
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| Jay |
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| Siskin |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Great Tit |
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| Magpie |
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| Black Headed Gull (JN69) |
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| Redwing |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Redwing |
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| Mistle Thrush, Redwing and Greenfinch |
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| Buzzard |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Woodpigeon |
35 species seen (including 6 new for the year - in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit,
Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Dunnock, Fieldfare,
Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw,
Jay, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan,
Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
