I was undecided where to go on Sunday and having spent longer in bed than planned my 'daylight' birding time was going to be rather more limited than it should have been. With public transport on a Sunday being quite limited the options weren't promising and neither was the rather showery weather forecast. In the end I decided I would walk to Balmossie in time for high tide. I wasn't expecting too much, but it was definitely a better option than sitting at home all day.
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| Greenfinch |
It was 1140 when I headed out to walk to Swannie Ponds for a quick look. Carrion Crow, Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were seen before I left my street. It began to rain but after about 30 seconds it stopped again. Further on a small flock of Redwings flew over and a charm of Goldfinches flew out from a small Rowan tree and off over the tenement roofs. Woodpigeon and the first Magpie of the day were next with Jackidaws and Chaffinch following quickly after. It was fairly standard stuff at Swannie Ponds with a Coot and a Moorhen, a number of Tufted Ducks and Mallards, a few Goosander and the local Mute Swans, plus Herring Gull, Black Headed Gulls and a lone Common Gull.
As I chatted to another birder/photographer I spotted a Sparrowhawk overhead but as I hadn't taken my camera out of my bag I missed out on a photo. Next I headed for Eastern Cemetery. House Sparrows were seen on Rodd Road. Things were very quiet in the cemetery with a Coal Tit seemingly the only bird in the top half of the graveyard except for a Magpie and a single Woodpigeon. A Stock Dove flew over and I eventually found a few Mistle Thrushes and a Greenfinch sharing a tree and a few more Redwings passed overhead.
I headed next for the Stannergate to walk along the path all the way to Broughty Ferry. Blue Tits were seen as I wandered down through the housing scheme. Among the Carrion Crows on the shoreline was a single Rook and a small flock of House Sparrows showed well across the road. Out on the river were 2 pairs of Red Breasted Mergansers while closer in to shore was a mixed group of mostly Herring Gulls and a few Black Headed Gulls. A Blackbird and a Dunnock were seen near the railway line and a Cormorant was fishing out on the river. An Oystercatcher was feeding on the shore.
Further on a Starling landed down at the water's edge near the sailing club buildings. A small party of Redshanks were on the outflow pipe at Douglas Terrace but they flew off as I walked along the path. Near the lifeboat station a small group of Turnstone foraged among the wet pebbles and I decided that I should probably take a few photos for this blog, having kept the camera tucked away until this point. Another couple of Turnstones roosted on the lifeboat jetty. A trio of Common Gulls were on the railing of the walkway out to the lifeboat. A Black Headed Gull was on the next jetty along but the bay was almost empty of birds though I could see a flock of Red Breasted Mergansers out on the river.
Wandering around to the castle a Pied Wagtail flew across the road. The Oystercatchers and gulls roosting at the harbour entrance were spooked by a walker who strode towards them to take a photo, not of them, but a more scenic shot. They returned once he'd gone. I counted just over 40 Red Breasted Mergansers on the river and a Shag was a little closer in. A female Eider was further east, and a drake flew downriver past her. A Rock Pipit showed briefly by the Oystercatchers. It looked likely that a downpour was coming in and with the tide already mostly in my chances of adding any waders seemed slim given the number of dog walkers on the beach.
I chose to continue along to the local nature reserve where I knew I could shelter from the rain below the archway of the former railway line around halfway along. A Linnet flew past and a Pied Wagtail was on the beach as I wandered along the pavement. A small rose bush held its usual quota of House Sparrows but also a few Greenfinches feeding on what remained of the rosehips. Goldfinches and Blue Tits were seen in the nature reserve as well as a few Chaffinches and Blackbirds. A few Robins were heard but not seen. A Coal Tit and a female Bullfinch were seen near the arch just before the rain came on.
Once the rain passed I headed towards the shore where I found a Ringed Plover and a Dunlin on the shore. Unfortunately just out of sight were a larger number of both species and Turnstones and they spotted me and the whole lot flew off. Having seen where they landed I was able to give them a wide berth so as not to spook them needlessly again. Out over the river hundreds of Eider were seen moving east. Other than Carrion Crows there was little to see on the stretch to Balmossie, and with the tide already in and another heavy shower on its way, there were no birds at the burn mouth so I headed for the bus back to Dundee. Another Magpie was seen across the road while a small flock of gulls seemed fascinated by the roof of a house, while I waited a few minutes for the bus.
Not a classic day out but enough of a mixture to make it a worthwhile exercise even if the weather didn't completely play ball. I managed to see a total of 41 species which is a bit less than I'd be hoping for if I repeat the route on January 1st to kickstart my 2019 list.
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Common Gull |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Shag |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Eider |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Eider |
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| Dunlin |
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| Dunlin & Ringed Plover |
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| Dunlin, Ringed Plover & Turnstone |
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| Dunlin, Ringed Plover & Turnstone |
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| Dunlin, Ringed Plover & Turnstone |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunlin, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
