Public transport on Boxing Day isn't particularly great so my options for where to go birding were rather limited even before I got up later than intended. Loch of Kinnordy to try for the Bittern was an option but with buses 2 hours apart and a half hour walk either way to/from the hides it meant I'd only get around an hour and a half or so's worth of birding so I decided to stay relatively local instead. It was far from ideal but it worked out relatively well in the end.
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| Buzzard |
It was around 1155 when I finally made it outside. A Herring Gull glided over, a few Starlings flew by and a Carrion Crow was perched on a chimney stack. The first Magpie of the day was spotted a little further on followed soon after by Feral Pigeons. A Black Headed Gull landed on a lamp post on Clepington Road. Detouring along Mains Terrace added Blackbird, Chaffinch and Jackdaw plus a Woodpigeon between there and Swannie Ponds. It was more or less a clean sweep of regulars at the ponds with Mallard, Tufted Duck, Mute Swans, Goosander, Coot, Moorhen, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull and Herring Gull all seen. White J4U2 a Norwegian ringed Black Headed Gull was seen and photographed. This bird was ringed as an adult back in March 2012 and has over-wintered here since at least 2015.
I headed in the direction of Eastern Cemetery though I changed my mind a little and decided to look for Waxwings on Kingsway East first. Walking along Loraine Road I added a Great Tit, some flyover Redwings and a few Fieldfares. As I neared the end of the road I could hear Waxwings calling and could see a large flock of birds in the trees behind the houses. These were indeed the Waxwings. I wandered round onto the Kingsway. I debated heading up onto the bridge for photos at tree-top height but it isn't really the place to be displaying relatively expensive camera gear, so I chose not to. I walked down the Kingsway instead, stopping to shoot a short video clip on my phone of the Waxwings. Further on near DC Thomsons were a number of Mistle Thrush and Fieldfares in the trees.
I debated continuing to the Stannergate but the weather didn't look overly promising so I decided to head up and through Eastern Cemetery to see if there were any 'winter thrushes' in there or if they were all on the Kingsway today. There were a few Redwings just inside the gate perched up in a tree. A few Blue Tits were foraging in a small bush. I found small groups of thrushes - Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes, dotted about but no really large congregations. A few Woodpigeons were also seen. A Pied Wagtail flew over just before I spooked a Buzzard. A few Feral Pigeons passed overhead.
A little further on I saw a Sparrowhawk zooming low between the trees and gravestones and managed to see where it had landed. It was a male and was perched up in a bare tree. I dug the camera out of the bag but the bird flew off though I did manage to grab a couple of photos from the rear. As I headed on, in the same general direction the Sparrowhawk had gone, another - this time a female, flew out from a tree ahead of me. I caught sight of probably the same bird as it landed atop a gravestone but she spotted me before she had folded her wings fully and off she shot again. Minutes later she flew through at speed chasing after a couple of Mistle Thrushes that were feeding on the ground before they spotted the inbound speeding missile aimed at them.
A Buzzard was seen perched in the top of a tall conifer. From a slightly different angle I found it had been joined by a second Buzzard which is the first time I've seen two together in the cemetery. I decided to head up to the very top end of the graveyard to see if it was possible to spot, and photograph, the Waxwings from there. A Collared Dove was seen in a tree and there were various winter thrushes up in the trees. I found that it was indeed possible to see, and photograph, the Waxwings through the fence at the very top end, behind a small car showroom next to DC Thomsons. There were at least 100 there. I then discovered a small gate that was unlocked with a path leading in. Needless to say I had a look and found what looked to be a 'new' area of the cemetery with an open grassy area with just a few gravestones along one side. There were a number of Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes feeding along with Starlings on the ground and I was able to get some photos without spooking these birds.
I then wandered along the fenceline to get some more photos of the Waxwings before heading back down through the cemetery to see if I could see any of the Sparrowhawks or anything else I'd missed so far. A Wren perched atop a small bush and a Grey Squirrel ran across the track in front of me. A male Sparrowhawk shot out of a tree and headed for the houses to the west. I suspect this was possibly a different bird to that seen earlier but have no way to be sure. I then spotted another Buzzard perched in a bare tree and photos showed this to be a different bird from the 2 seen together earlier. I then headed along Bingham Terrace to Baxter Park where a small flock of Long Tailed Tits and at least 1 Coal Tit were seen. House Sparrows were heard from within the bushes by the gatehouse opposite the Morgan but weren't seen. More Redwings were in the trees surrounding the school grounds but with little likelihood of adding anything else to the list for the day I chose to head for home.
A decent enough few hours worth of local birding with a total of 30 species of bird & 1 mammal seen with the 3 Buzzards and definitely 2, possibly 3, Sparrowhawks the main highlights for me given the urban setting, though Waxwings are always good to see too.
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| Black Headed Gull (J4U2) |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Fieldfare, Redwing & Mistle Thrush |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Redwing & Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Magpie |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Starling |
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing & Fieldfare |
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| Mistle Thrush, Redwing & Starling |
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| Fieldfare & Redwing |
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| Fieldfare & Redwing |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Starling & Redwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Blackbird |
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| Wren |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Redwing & Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Redwing |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Fieldfare, Goosander, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Waxwing, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Grey Squirrel.
