Another month has ended and it is time for another round-up of bird sightings from my daily walk to and from work, here in Dundee. Things have recently started to feel a little more autumnal, with migrants on the move, birds returning after breeding elsewhere and a few fledged birds still lingering in family groups. The near-continuous birdsong accompaniment to my walk in the mornings has also dwindled away to practically nothing. In some ways this does make it easier to pick out individual calls and probably played a part in my latest addition to my year-list (even if it was another heard-only) species.
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Magpie
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The highlight of Monday the 20th of July came on the walk home with a very high flying Peregrine just after leaving work requiring a confirmatory viewing through binoculars (to the puzzlement of a passing woman who asked what it was I was looking at - she could see the bird high above, and was quite impressed when I told her it was a Peregrine). Then later I added one of the Cox's Stack pair in flight near the chimney. Black Headed Gull, Buzzard and Bullfinch were the other highlights among the 22 species spotted.
On Tuesday the 21st the best birds among the 21 species seen were Collared Dove, Buzzard, Swallow and some migrating Siskins. Thursday the 23rd's main highlight was having decent views of the Sparrowhawk family at Balgay Hill again. I even managed some fairly poor video on my phone. Although the day total was only 22 species I did also see returning Black Headed Gull again, Bullfinch, Collared Dove, Lesser Redpoll and Peregrine near Cox's Stack once more.
The best total of recent weeks came on Friday the 24th when I managed to see 25 species. Although there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, there was decent variety with Black Headed Gull, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, more migrating Siskins, the very vocal Sparrowhawk family, a Stock Dove and a passing Swallow. With the following Monday being a local holiday and my day off coming on a Wednesday I took anual leave on Tuesday meaning that it was Thursday the 30th before my next walk to work.
A total of 23 species were noted that day with a Willow Warbler on the Law being the first for a while. Collared Doves, Black Headed Gull, Stock Dove and the Sparrowhawk brood were all good to see and hear. Migrants were on the move with more Siskins heard and seen but the best bird of the day was a heard only bird. As I wandered through Balgay cemetery I heard a familiar sounding though relatively unusual call, given my location, from high above me. It took a second for my brain to catch up and register what it actually was. It called again confirming that it was indeed a
Tree Pipit. My first of the year but a single small bird in a blue sky isn't always easy to see and I failed to pick it out.
On the final day of July I once again saw 22 species as well as hearing another Tree Pipit in Balgay Park though trees above the path blocked my view of sufficient amounts of visible sky to be able to see it. The Sparrowhawk family once again proclaimed their early morning presence among the trees on the hill and a Stock Dove landed, as if on cue, in a dead tree favoured by a local pair, as I passed. On the walk home after work a Black Headed Gull and a very vocal young Buzzard were the main highlights. Only 35 species were noted over the 6 days in this blog-post though another year-tick (in bold) was very welcome given my lack of opportunities to get to the Glens this Spring and Summer. All photos in this post are older photos.
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Tree Pipit
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Pied Wagtail
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Buzzard
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Blue Tit
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Willow Warbler
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Lesser Redpoll
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Chaffinch
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Swallow
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House Sparrow
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Jackdaw
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Carrion Crow
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Dunnock
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Robin
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Goldfinch
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Starling
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Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies seen - Small White.
Mammals seen - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit
