Barry Farquharson's birding blog - birding (mostly) within Dundee, Scotland.
0824 : Surprise On Sunday (3/1/21)
The weather forecast for Sunday the 3rd of January didn't look too promising with possible snow showers arriving around 1100 and lasting for around 2 hours, so I decided I should probably try to get out quite early and concentrate on birds I might find within a relatively short distance from home. The main targets would be Moorhen (which should be easy enough at ponds in Caird Park or at Trottick Ponds), Treecreeper (slightly trickier as they could turn up anywhere there are trees and are quite well camouflaged against tree trunks) and Kingfisher (the hardest of the target trio but as the ladies I'd chatted to last week in Baxter Park had told me they'd seen one on the Dighty Burn in Fintry, I at least had something to go on). I planned a route to Caird Park, down past the ponds then out to Trottick Ponds (slim chance of Kingfisher around there) then along the burn eastwards to Pitkerro Road then uphill to Swannie Ponds and home.
Common Crossbill
I headed out at 0830 in the direction of Graham Street. As normal it was fairly standard fayre on the way there. However as I wandered downhill towards Caird Park a flock of around 15 or so small-ish birds flew over heading southeast. They were calling loudly and to my surprise they turned out to be Common Crossbills. Not a species that was really on the radar for such an early urban year tick but very welcome nonetheless. A skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew as I headed into Caird Park. Siskin was heard and then seen flying over as a Jay called loudly from a group of trees just beyond the Gelly Burn on the edge of the golf course. After a bit of effort I succeeded in seeing the very vocal bird before wandering along towards the ponds.
There was someone there feeding the Mallards and when they walked off the rather tame Grey Heron that frequents the ponds wandered over for a surprise snack. In addition to the Heron and Mallard there were a few Moorhens around, as I'd hoped. My second year-tick of the day and I'd only been out for 30 minutes. I searched a few likely areas in the hope of Treecreeper but drew a blank. Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Long Tailed Tits were seen in trees alongside the old road as I wandered towards Trottick Ponds. Just before I reached them a flock of Crossbills flew over the golf course and continued over the trees into the small local reserve. Despite much wandering in quite treachourous icy conditions I failed to find any sign of either Kingfisher or Treecreeper, nor to my surprise a Dipper on the burn, which is usually almost guaranteed. I did however inadvertantly find the Crossbill flock again. They flew off as I passed below the tree they had been perched in, unseen by me, though their calls as they flew off alerted me but the branches of the trees blocked my view.
I did add Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Bullfinch and there were a few Moorhens around at the mostly frozen ponds too, along with Mute Swans, Black Headed Gulls and a few Mallard. Another Grey Heron flew past. I wandered eastwards along the Dighty Burn but the water seemed a bit too fast moving for any chance of finding a Kingfisher. However, just before I reached the small weir opposite Den O' Mains I noticed the water was quite slow moving and figured this was almost perfect for Kingfisher. Seconds later, I spotted a Kingfisher perched on a branch just ahead of me, low over the water. Success. It spotted me and flew off a short distance before flying off again and out of sight this time. I succeeded in relocating the bird and shot a video clip from a distance with the P900 bridge camera I had chosen to carry with me instead of a DSLR.
With Kingfisher on the list I headed back into the park to search for target number 3 - Treecreeper. I had seen one a few weeks ago between the golf course and Sports Centre so decided to try there. After a bit of effort and a lot of patience I spotted a Treecreeper on a tree trunk a little in front of me beside the practice area on the golf course. Target number 3, and addition number 4 for the day. As the forecast snow hadn't arrived I decided to check some of the wooded areas on the golf course in the hope of perhaps finding Woodcock, given how my luck was going. I set off across the fairways and into a few of the wooded sections. Crossing the 10th fairway I spotted a Bullfinch pair and was about to take a photo when I heard Crossbills again. A flock of around a dozen flew over the trees towards the 18th fairway.
I headed through the trees to that fairway but couldn't hear the flock any longer. A Great Spotted Woodpecker drummed from a tree by the path and a minute or so later I found it perched at the top of a tree nearby. Seconds later, a trio of Great Spotted Woodpeckers rather noisily chased each other across the fairway in the opposite direction to which I'd came. I scanned around for Crossbills and spotted a bird at the top of a small tree further up the hill. I had a quick walk up and was pleased to find the flock feeding on cones in the tree. This made it quite easy to get some video and some decent photos. However, the rather cold temperatures didn't agree with the battery on the P900 which gave up on me after a while. I put it in my pocket for a few minutes so that the heat might eke out some extra charge. This worked a couple of times before I decided to head home and grab a DSLR in the hope the birds would still be around and I'd be able to get more detailed photos. A Buzzard flew over before I left.
I messaged Lainy McCormack to let her know the Crossbills were around and showing well and she asked if I minded her joining me, I said she was more than welcome to but that I was hurrying home for a better camera. I gave her directions to the birds but made it back before she arrived. There were still a few Crossbills in the tree and I did manage some photos but just before Lainy arrived the whole lot flew off. Lainy arrived and as we were about to head down onto the 10th fairway to search a family group of 3 Roe Deer decided to cross the fairway below us. We stopped and had a couple of minutes worth of the trio eating some grass before wandering off behind the trees.
We were able to track down the Crossbill flock to some of the larger trees down near the 18th tee and we spent the next hour or so photographing them. A passing family spotted a Buzzard perching unconcerned in one of the trees over the path and I wandered over for a look. Surprisingly despite me wandering round so the bird was facing me and around 20 feet away, it stayed put. I took some photos which showed that the bird's bill hadn't stopped growing when it should have, giving it a parrot-like bill. I took a few photos before wandering back to the Crossbills. The birds were occasionally quite flighty and they did disappear at one point. We found a few of them back in the original tree but they didn't stay there unfortunately. It then began to rain, so we sheltered, still socially distanced as we'd been all afternoon in below the trees.
Thankfully the rain didn't last too long and we added a Mistle Thrush to the list for the day before we went for a look at the tame Grey Heron at the ponds, which wasn't there. Adam phoned Lainy to arrange to pick her up so we headed for the castle. When Adam arrived we had a chat for about 20 minutes or so, noting another Jay and a trio of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, as well as a Bullfinch. Eventually we called it a day and we all headed for home. It then began to rain which froze on the pavements on Mains Loan making things even more dangerous than before. I made it home in one piece thankfully, having succeeded in seeing all 3 of my targets for the day as well as having great views of the bonus Crossbills. Although I had only managed to see 34 species I'd still had a really enjoyable and successful day and all without having to walk too far from home.
Moorhen
Grey Heron
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Black Headed Gull
Grey Heron
Treecreeper
Grey Heron
Grey Heron
Grey Heron
Mallard
Great Spotted Woodpcker
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Siskin
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Buzzard
Buzzard
Buzzard
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Common Crossbill
Species seen (year ticks in bold)- Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Crossbill, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Kingfisher, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
A few bonus video clips of Crossbills and the Kingfisher.....
