At this time of year things seem to move quite fast with regards the change in the times of sunrise and sunset with a couple of minutes difference each day quickly amounting to a very noticeable change. Having been off work on holiday for a fortnight I knew it would be dark in the morning when I went into work again on the 19th as sunrise time approached 0800. There might be some useable light to see the odd bird but mostly I would have to wait until after work to see most birds. However, with the clocks going back the following weekend the situation would change again with some useable light in the morning but sunset happening as I was on my way home.
  |
Pink Footed Goose
|
On Monday the 19th of October a combination of poor weather and the dark morning meant that Redwing was the only species of note among the 11 species seen or heard. Things improved a bit on Tuesday the 20th with 18 species noted with more Redwings, Long Tailed Tits and Song Thrush the highlights, though the first 2 were heard only. On Thursday the 22nd I was able to record a total of 16 species though apart from a couple of Jays seen after work the rest of the highlights were heard only species - Redwing, Pink Footed Geese, Long Tailed Tits and Siskin. Redwing was seen again on Friday the 23rd among the 19 species on the list for the day though Pink Footed Geese were once again heard only. Goldcrest and a rather nice surprise in the shape of a young Red Squirrel in Balgay Cemetery (a Grey Squirrel stronghold area) were both seen on my way home.
The temporary return of the brighter mornings on Monday 26th made a big difference with an increase in the number of species encountered to 26. Best of the lot was a flock of over 20 Crossbills which flew low over Pentland Crescent and the allotments heading westwards at around 0710. The calls sounded slightly deeper than usual, but as I don't normally hear many actual flocks in flight that may have been just my ears playing tricks on me or maybe an echo effect from the buildings. Long Tailed Tits, Redwing, Jay, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Pink Footed Geese added to the variety before I reached work. A single Mistle Thrush at Balgay Hill and a pair of Grey Wagtails hounding a Sparrowhawk over Byron Street were seen on the walk home after work as the light faded.
On Tuesday the 27th, a dry morning gave way to heavy rain in time for the walk home so all the birds were noted on the way to work with Pink Footed Geese being the only exception on the way home in the heavy rain. In the morning, a single Crossbill flew over the football pitches at Balgay Hill. There were lots of Redwings around all along my route, mostly in small flocks of between 6 and 12 and a larger flock of Fieldfares were added over Ancrum Road. A calling Pied Wagtail was heard only but a similarly calling Grey Wagtail was seen in flight. Another large-ish flock of either Mistle Thrush or Fieldfare were drowned out by traffic noise as they passed over Ninewells Avenue. Despite the conditions I managed 24 species on Tuesday. The latter part of the week saw me off work ill so this post is slightly shorter than it woudl normally be. In the 6 days covered here I managed to see or hear a total of 33 species, with Fieldfare and Red Squirrel both being new for the commute list. All photos used here are older record shots.
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
Fieldfare
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
 |
Redwing
|
 |
Coal Tit
|
 |
Blue Tit
|
 |
Red Squirrel
|
 |
Siskin
|
 |
Starling
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
Black Headed Gull & Common Gull
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Magpie
|
 |
Song Thrush
|
 |
Jay
|
Species noted - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Crossbill, Common Gull, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Red Squirrel.
