Once again plans for a full day's birding on Wednesday went by the wayside as a warm bed felt like a preferable option which meant a later rise than I had originally intended. By the time I was finally able to get out and about it was shortly before 1300. Rather than head for either of my two usual destinations - Broughty Ferry or Riverside Nature Park I decided I would head for Clatto reservoir in the northwestern corner of the city to scan through the gulls that were likely to be there and also to see if there might be anything to make a visit worthwhile early in 2021 (as I'm going to be limited to Dundee for getting my new year list under way). Clatto isn't a place I've been too often, though on my first ever visit I did find an Iceland Gull, but on the few subsequent visits there has been little of note.
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| Bullfinch |
It is around a 3 mile walk from home to the reervoir so it took an hour to get there with very little of interest seen on the walk, despite stopping off briefly at Ardler village pond where the selection of birds was even worse than Swannie Ponds, though the reedbed round the outisde did suggest Water Rail could be a possibility there. A ringed Mute Swan (Lime NHC) was the one bird of interest. A little further up the road a Sparrowhawk swept over in a shallow dive. Arriving at the access road into Clatto Country Park I stopped to have a look at a few Greenfinches feeding in trees opposite. A female Bullfinch was seen at the right-angled bend of the road.
I wandered down to check the reservoir. Unsurprisingly, the gulls were all over towards the northwestern corner. Moorhens, Goosander and Goldeneye were noted as well as Tufted Ducks and a single Coot. A Little Grebe was a new bird for my Dundee list. Among the Black Headed and Herring Gulls were a few Common Gulls but with little of real interest around I decided to walk to Camperdown Park via Templeton Woods instead of continuing around the reservoir. Jackdaws and Carrion Crows were numerous in the first field, with Woodpigeons in the second. A single Pink Footed Goose called from high overhead.
Templeton Woods was also relatively quiet with Robin, Coal Tit and Goldcrest added to the day's relatively short list. I had chosen to travel light, leaving the camera at home, choosing to only take binoculars and the thermal imaging scope. The scope found a few pairs of Roe Deer in the woods that were invisible to the binoculars even when I knew where to look. A Red Squirrel was seen as I was about to cross the road. Camperdown Park continued the trend of being rather quiet, though I did have very good views of a rather showy Jay opposite the small side car park, with a few others nearby in the trees. A Grey Squirrel was spotted in the trees on the way out of the park.
The walk back home didn't provide too much of interest though Long Tailed Tits and a Pied Wagtail as well as a few House Sparrows were seen. I made it home around 1600 having seen 32 species of bird and 3 of mammals. While not a greatly productive walk the route does increase my chances of getting Jay on my 2021 list along with Little Grebe and Goldeneye early in the new year which is rapidly approaching. Also, Lainy McCormack has recently seen Nuthatch in Camperdown Park near the wildlife centre, doubling my options for seeing the species (following on from Balgay) which does appear to have finally got a tentative toe-hold in the city. Having not taken a camera with me the photos used here are all record shots from other dates.
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Goldeneye
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Common Gull
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Carrion Crow
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Black Headed Gull
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Little Grebe
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Goldfinch
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Mute Swan
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Pink Footed Goose
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Sparrowhawk
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Coal Tit
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Pied Wagtail
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Herring Gull
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Mallard
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Starling
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Red Squirrel
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Blackbird
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Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Goldcrest,
Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House
Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard,
Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon.
Mammals seen - Grey Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer.
