Despite Saturday's lack of success in finding Snow Buntings at Out Head, St Andrews I resisted the mild temptation to try again on Sunday. The weather didn't look promising enough to risk a trip to Letham Pools for Greenland White Fronted Goose and Kinnordy was also likely to result in me getting wet for little to no return. Buses only running every 2 hours was also another reason not to bother with either. I didn't want to sit in all day so I decided to retrace the route I did twice over the winter when I walked from home to Balmossie via Swannie Ponds, Eastern Cemetery and Stannergate to Broughty Ferry along the river. With a little bit of luck I might find a less common gull along the way.
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| Mistle Thrush |
It was around 1245 when I headed out to a very threateningly dark sky overhead. I was hoping that the rather strong winds would keep any showers brief but I wasn't optimistic despite the forecast saying it should be dry all afternoon. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Starling and Carrion Crow were all seen within a short distance of leaving the house. Blue Tit was added as I crossed Forfar Road with a pair flying into the tree above me. With the local radio controlled boat club using the lower pond of the two at Swannie Ponds, the birds were all at the top pond. Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Coot and Mute Swan were all noted in addition to Herring Gull, Common Gull and Black Headed Gull.
The Coots and Mute Swans were being very territorial with lots of chasing going on. A single white ringed Black Headed Gull was seen distantly before all the birds were flushed from the path by a dog walker. I headed next to a very quiet Eastern Cemetery missing out on hidden House Sparrows on the way. A few Woodpigeons and a solitary Blackbird were all I saw in the graveyard until I was nearing the exit when a lot of noise alerted me to a Buzzard being mobbed by a few gulls and a few Carrion Crows. Things weren't looking overly promising for a decent length of list. I did manage to add a skein of Pink Footed Geese and a pair of Oystercatchers as well as a small flock of Starlings before I reached the Stannergate.
More Carrion Crows were in the fenced off area at the eastern end of the docks. Out on the Tay I picked out around 7 or 8 Red Breasted Mergansers rather distantly bobbing around among the waves. A small flock of House Sparrows were seen much further on near the footbridge over the railway near Douglas Terrace. Offshore a Cormorant and a female Eider were seen. A pair of Siskins flew over heading west. I stopped to photograph a Carrion Crow which was trying to gain access to the remaining contents of a plastic lidded MacDonalds coffee cup near the lifeboat station. A few Turnstones and Redshanks were roosting on the lifeboat jetty until the lifeboat was called out resulting in an exodus of the birds towards the next jetty where they joined a flock of gulls (mostly Black Headeds) and Oystercatchers.
I managed to get some decent photos of the Turnstones feeding on the latter jetty, including 1 of the birds which seemed to find something nutritious in some gull droppings! Given that Turnstones have even been reported eating a human corpse I suppose they must have strong stomachs, or no tatsbuds. A Rock Pipit dropped in briefly before I moved on again. A Pied Wagtail was seen near the Castle and a drake Eider was hauled out on the small rocky island just off the harbour wall. A young Great Black Backed Gull drifted over further along the Esplanade and the usual House Sparrow flock were in their usual bush behind the dunes.
I wandered into the small local nature reersve which gave some respite from the strong winds. Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch were all added along with Coal Tit andd Goldcrest. A Song Thrush flew up into a tree and a party of Long Tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits were seen near the footbridge over the railway line. A Stock Dove flew past and on my way out of the reserve a nice male Bullfinch was spotted feeding quietly near the railway line. I crossed the road and headed down to check the beach. There were a number of gulls dotted around on the mud as well as a single Curlew.
A pair of Mistle Thrushes gave me some nice photo opportunities along the fence-line and a Song Thrush flew up from among the longer grass and headed over towards the Rock Garden. A pair of Wigeon were seen just offshore and I was able to add Dunlin to the list as I wandered along towards the mouth of the Dighty Burn. There was a large gull roost already in place but despite scanning through the flock I failed to find anything noteworthy. A pair of Goldeneye and a Bar Tailed Godwit were as interesting as I managed to find before I packed up and headed for the bus just after 1600. Jackdaw was a final aaddition seen from the bus taking the total for the day to 44 species.
Once again, not a classic day in any sense but once again I managed some pretty decent photo opportunities with relatively common species. I had decided to travel light so was using the Sigma 50-500mm lens which is lighter and fits in a smaller bag. Surprisingly I also managed to stay dry as the weather forecast proved to be correct despite the early threat of impending rain.
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Oystercatcher, Turnstone & Black Headed Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Oystercatcher, Redshank & Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
