Once again plans for an early start on Saturday were replaced by a few extra hours in bed, which was then followed by a few more doing not very much. I did eventually decide to head out somewhere locally. I didn't really have a fixed plan - my route and birding spots of choice would hinge largely on the weather conditions and how tired I felt as I wandered, as well as the available light. I headed out at around 1240. Although it was quite windy it was also rather mild for December.
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Black Headed Gull (yellow 2CA6)
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There did seem to be birds to be found with Feral Pigeon, Black Headed Gull and Herring Gull all seen before I made it out of my street. A "singing" Starling on a TV aerial and a Magpie flying over Court Street soon followed. Blackbird and Robin were spotted on Clepington Road while a Wren called loudly from the same general area. A detour to the wasteground off Mains Loan added a few more species - Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, a welcome pair of Bullfinches, a small group of Redwings, some Goldfinches feeding on Alder keys (I think) and a few Woodpigeons. Jackdaws on a chimney round the corner plus a calling Coal Tit at the top of a tree and a family group of Long Tailed Tits at Forfar Road were noted before I made it to Swannie Ponds.
Although the mix of birds was fairly typical with Mute Swans, Mallards, Tufted Ducks (22 - a decent total), Coot, Black Headed Gulls and Herring Gulls, there were none of the slightly more unusual species around - Grey Heron, Moorhen (rare there now) and Goosander. A single Common Gull was eventually found perched on a lamp post at the lower pond. I then headed for the Kingsway to look for Waxwings but found none. A Song Thrush in a tree near the fire station was the only species other than House Sparrows that were new on the walk, though a flock of Starlings were in the tall trees opposite the shops halfway down, where I've seen Waxwings in the past. Eastern Cemetery was almost deserted with a single Buzzard, a few calling Wrens and Robins and almost nothing else. The 'winter' thrush flocks of my last visit were nowhere to be seen.
Rather than head for Baxter Park I doubled back to Swannie Ponds to search for "ringed" gulls - I did eventually manage to see a yellow ringed regular (2CA6 - ringed in August 2015 at the Ythan estuary in Aberdeenshire) and a distant unidentified metal ringed Black Headed Gull but the birds were very restless, never settling on the paths for longer than a few seconds, which along with lots of people around did make things rather more frustrating than they might have been. Numbers of Black Headed Gulls were probably as high as I recall ever seeing them there (100+) but other than the one legged bird seen on my last visit there was nothing more particularly interesting around. A detour down Mains Loan past DISC and then along Dundonald Street on the way home proved to be a waste of time and I made it home just as it started raining having noted 25 species (2 heard only) during the 2 and a bit hours I'd been out.
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Black Headed Gull
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Mallard
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Mallard
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Mallard
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Mallard
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Mallard
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Black Headed Gull
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Tufted Duck
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Tufted Duck
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull & Mallard
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Black Headed Gull (yellow 2CA6)
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Black Headed Gull (yellow 2CA6)
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Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren (heard only).
P.S. On Friday 18th December on my walk to work, I once again managed to "see" a Fox on Dundee Law using my new thermal imaging scope, and on my walk home later in the day, I heard and then managed to see (both with the scope and with naked eye) a calling Tawny Owl on Balgay Hill.
