I'm not really a fan of Christmas but it does have plusses. With less people going about on the day there is less disturbance to the birds and other wildlife meaning that it can actually be a good day to go birding. So, weather (and work) permitting that is what I tend to do on Christmas Day. Although the forecast for the festive Friday was cold, it was also to be dry, so I decided I would walk to Broughty Ferry to see if I could add Sanderling to my Dundee list for the year (seeing as my 'year-list' had its wings clipped when Covid-19 hit, and despite a few trips out in Autumn, it has never really come close to recent years' totals). My intention for an early start predictably went by the wayside though I did actually make it out before lunchtime with a 1015 start. I set myself a target of seeing 50 species - a "Festive Fifty" as I called it on Twitter. I thought it was an achievable, though not necessarily easy, target figure, with luck likely to play a big part in the final outcome.
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It was a fairly typical spread of common species that kicked off the list as I headed for Swannie Ponds via the very quiet Mains Terrace wasteground. Collared Doves seemed to be much in evidence though with more seen in 10 minutes than usually seen on a whole day's local birding. Swannie Ponds was mostly frozen which does have advantages - being able to read rings without too much difficulty, though it also meant there were no Goosander or Tufted Ducks to be seen. A Grey Wagtail was heard overflying but not seen. Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Black Headed Gull (including regular over-wintering ringed birds, yellow 2CA6 & 2XLD & white J4U2), Herring Gull and a few Common Gulls were noted before I moved on again to Eastern Cemetery.
A Siskin flew over Lorraine Road as I walked along to the top entrance into the cemetery. Although things seemed quite quiet I did find a decent sized mixed flock of thrushes (Redwings mostly, Mistle Thrushes and a single Fieldfare) in the lower half of the site. Buzzard and Sparrowhawk were both seen perched in trees, and a mix of smaller species - Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Wren and Robin were all additions to the lengthening list. The biggest surprise was a Great Spotted Woodpecker seen in flight - my first here, I think. A few Grey Squirrels were also around.
I didn't linger too long in the cemetery, instead continuing on to the Stannergate where Song Thrush, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Turnstone and Red Breasted Merganser were soon added. A small roosting flock of Ringed Plovers were spotted huddled up on the Grassy Beach and a Little Grebe was on the water near Douglas Terrace. A couple of roosting Redshank were also photographed below the steps where the esplanade meets the road. A Grey Seal was seen a little further on. A Rock Pipit was found on the jetty between the lifeboat jetty and the main harbour area.
An Eider was seen on the river not too far out from the Castle, while a Cormorant and Great Black Backed Gull stood around on the small rocky islet just offshore. The main beach was fairly busy with pre-Christmas dinner walkers though the outer Tay seemed very quiet except for a few more Red Breasted Mergansers. I did manage to catch a Red Throated Diver in flight and I almost didn't notice a few Pied Wagtails wandering around almost under my feet. I detoured into the small nature reserve which was also surprisingly very quiet though I did manage to add Stock Dove and Bullfinch before heading back to check the shoreline.
A few Bar Tailed Godwits were feeding along the water's edge as were some Dunlin and Ringed Plover. A trio of Wigeon were observed a little further on with more further to the east. A larger flock of Bar Tailed Godwits and a small number of Knot were on the sand down from the small car park at the end of the esplanade. Thankfully the beach seemed to have less dog walkers than normal which meant the birds got the chance to feed and roost without frequent disturbance. A few Goldeneye were offshore at Balmossie. Scanning through the gulls didn't unearth anything unusual and as the light was beginning to fade I headed back westwards.
A Rook on the beach was a nice bonus bird. A dog walker coming along the beach with his dog chasing some of the birds didn't look promising for the Godwits' and Knots' continued relaxation. However, the dog set off in the opposite direction chasing a bird and refused to return despite continued loud yelling and whistling from the owner who eventually had to head back the way he'd come to retrieve his dog. As he was whistling loudly a small wader landed quite far up the beach just down from me. Having up till now seen no sign of my main target species for the day I was delighted and surprised to see it was indeed a single Sanderling - my first Dundee bird of the species this year.
The long walk back home didn't offer up too many new birds as the light rapidly diminished though a couple of Grey Herons (on on the pipe at Douglas Terrace and the other at the water's edge at the end of Dundee harbour at the Stannergate) and a Razorbill out on the river off the Stannergate were both welcome additions to the list for the day. Despite having at one point thought it looked unlikely I would reach my target figure I finished the day with 56 species seen and 1 heard only bird. Weather permitting, the same route is likely to feature early in 2021, as I try to get my new year list off to a good start and a similar total then would be welcome.
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Black Headed Gull (yellow 2XLD)
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Black Headed Gull (yellow 2CA6)
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Black Headed Gull (white J4U2)
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Coal Tit
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Mistle Thrush
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Great Tit
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Sparrowhawk
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Goldfinch & Greenfinch
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Goldfinch
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Magpie
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Redwing
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Redwing
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Redwing & Mistle Thrush
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Redwing & Fieldfare
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Redwing
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Mistle Thrush
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Redwing
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Redwing
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Redwing
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Redwing & Mistle Thrush
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Chaffinch
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Goldfinch
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Curlew
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Greenfinch
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Oystercatcher
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Curlew
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Oystercatcher
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Oystercatcher
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Ringed Plover
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Ringed Plover
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Red Breasted Merganser
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House Sparrow
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Little Grebe
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Little Grebe
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Redshank
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Turnstone
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Oystercatcher
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Red Throated Diver
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Pied Wagtail
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Woodpigeon & Stock Dove
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Bullfinch
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Ringed Plover & Redshank
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Eider
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Ringed Plover
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Curlew
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Common Gull, Black Headed Gull & Turnstone
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Wigeon
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Wigeon
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Oystercatcher
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Dunlin
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Curlew & Bar Tailed Godwit
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Knot & Bar Tailed Godwit
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Goldeneye
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull, Carrion Crow & Redshank
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Wigeon
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Rook
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Sanderling
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Oystercatcher
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Robin
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Robin
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Dunnock
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Cormorant
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Feral Pigeon & Starling
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Pied Wagtail
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Grey Heron
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Redshank
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Razorbill
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Curlew
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Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail (heard only), Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel.
