Having intended to get up early and head out somewhere, I somehow managed to sleep till after 1100. As it was a lovely crisp Dundee winter day with wall to wall blue sky and almost no wind this was a bit disappointing. I decided I would head out anyway, even if it would be a bit later than ideal. I messaged my pal who wants to come out birding with me sometime to see if she wanted to join me but she replied that she was ill and in her bed. So, I headed out anyway around 1335. First stop - Swannie Ponds.
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| Goldeneye |
There were a few birds around despite the snow still lying on the ground with Feral Pigeons and Herring Gulls overhead and a few Blackbirds, a flock of House Sparrows and a single Starling at feeders in a front garden on Court Street. Further up the hill a Woodpigeon perched in a tree watched as a Jackdaw sped round about erratically for no obvious reason. A Black Headed Gull flew over.
Reaching the ponds I discovered that they were frozen over almost completely, which was no surprise, and also had a covering of snow. There was a small pool of unfrozen water near the southwest 'corner' filled with around 10 Mallards. I almost didn't notice the single Goosander amongst them, but once I did I spent a few minutes getting some nice photos of the bird. A Moorhen was on the island and a few Black Headed Gulls on the ice were soon joined by many more. Among them were 2 regular ringed birds - Yellow 2CA6 and Green JN69.
At the lower pond the Mute Swans were on the only open water by the north eastern 'corner' and there were more Black Headed Gulls and 4 Common Gulls stood on the ice. The only Herring Gulls seen were flying over, which is unusual, though obviously the conditions will be the main reason for their absence. I found another two ringed Black Headed Gulls - White J4U2 was atop a lamp post with a few others and what appeared to be the upside down ringed bird was quite far away on the ice, so I failed to get enough detail to be able to read the final digit needed to ID this particular bird and find out where and when it was ringed.
I headed next for Eastern Cemetery, and spotted Fieldfares in the trees as I got closer. Inside the grounds I could see a large flock of Fieldfares and Redwings (and a few Blackbirds) feeding below the trees while a few others watched from the tops of the trees nearby. There were probably a few hundred birds in total. Beyond them was a group of Woodpigeons. I tucked myself in behind a tree trunk to watch them without disturbing them. Unfortunately, an elderly lady decided to take a short cut over the grassy area where they were feeding and the whole lot was spooked up into the trees. The birds proved very reluctant to drop down again so I moved on after a few minutes waiting to see if they would go back to feeding.
To add further to the birds apparent unease a Sparrowhawk turned up and landed in a tree nearby, though i couldn't see exactly where it had perched, though it did fly out again over my head a minute or so later to look for an easier meal elsewhere. A few Goldfinches were spotted in a tree further down the graveyard. A single Chaffinch flew over. A pair of Carrion Crows were the only other addition before I made it to the Arbroath Road where I hoped I wouldn't have to long to wait to catch a 73 bus to Balmossie to hopefully catch the high tide roost.
There seemed to be a few smaller flocks of Fieldfares around as these seemed to be almost the obly birds I saw from the bus apart from Feral Pigeons perched on roofs. As I neared Balmossie there were also a couple of Oystercatchers attempting to find something to eat on grassy areas by the road. There were lots of Starlings in trees near the footbridge over the railway line. Unfortunately for me the tide was almost fully in with only a thin strip of sand showing. Out on the water were lots of gulls - mostly Black Headeds and Herring Gulls, but also a few Common Gulls. A small group of Wigeon were feeding close in along with a couple of Redshanks and Turnstones on the shoreline.
An elderly couple with binoculars were looking at them and I asked if they'd seen anything good. It turned out they were relative novices so I helped them with a few IDs. Further out on the river I could see the usual Eiders. Closer in were Mallards and some Goldeneye. A single Red Breasted Merganser was with the Goldeneye. Despite lots of scanning I failed to find anything particularly noteworthy except a single Dunlin in among the Turnstone and Redshank roost (photos show I missed a ringed Redshank). At the mouth of the burn, a male Goldeneye was displaying and I was able to get a few photos. A lady who had stopped to watch them then walked down onto the sewage outflow pipe and flushed the whole roosting flock of Redshank and Turnstones.
I wandered over to intercept her and to hopefully point out (nicely) why flushing them all wasn't a good thing to do. Thankfully, she was really receptive and we ended up having a chat about birds in general for 15 minutes or so before we were joined by another couple of ladies with a dog who joined in the chat about the birds and especially the roosting waders, and why it wasn't a good thing to disturb them. So 3 slightly more aware, and genuinely interested, walkers for the price of 1. I also had a short chat to another birder, Anne Tee, who I haven't seen for a while, mostly about cameras.
A Cormoarnt and 2 Oystercatchers flew over and a Rock Pipit landed down on the rocks on the shore. From further along the beach a flock of small waders flew past before swinging back round and heading along to land back near where dog walkers had flushed them. These were Ringed Plovers and Dunlin. I walked along the path scanning through the gulls offshore but failed to find anything unusual as the sun set. I headed up to catch a bus for home. On the walk back home I added a Robin and a fly-over skein of Pink Footed Geese which appeared to be going the 'wrong way' for the time of day as they were headed inland, at dusk. A couple of Redwings flew over as I neared home.
Not the most productive of days with only 32 species seen, but a good day to be outdoors, especially with Sunday forecast to be more wintry again. Further recording of the ringed gulls at Swannie Ponds is also worthwhile.
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull (2CA6) |
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| Black Headed Gull (JN69) |
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| Black Headed Gull (JN69 & 2CA6) |
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| Common Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull (J4U2) |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Fieldfare & Redwing |
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| Fieldfare & Blackbird |
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| Blackbird |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Redwing |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Redshank, Dunlin (& Turnstone) |
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| Common Gull |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Common Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Ringed Plover & Dunlin |
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| Ringed Plover & Dunlin |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunlin, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
