Following on from Saturday's relatively successful outing to Riverside Nature Park I wanted to squeeze in some birding on Sunday before the forecast rain (and thaw) moved in. So once I got up, I grabbed some breakfast and headed out, expecting to only have around an hour to play with before the weather changed. With Swannie Ponds likely to be still frozen I decided that would be the easiest destination and there is always an outside chance of at least a Mediterranean or Iceland Gull turning up (there was actually a day that both species showed up) though I wasn't overly optimisitic of either. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained....
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| Shag |
It was 1100 when I wandered out into what was quite a grey and chilly day. A Wren on Court Street and a flyover Siskin were probably the main highlights of the brisk walk to the ponds which unsurprisingly were still largely frozen. What was unexpected was the figure skater and ice hockey playing quintet on the top pond. Despite the added human activity on the ice the birds were crowded around two small pieces of open water. The Mute Swan pair and a couple of Coots in one and a mix of Mallard, Coot, Goosander and my first Tufted Ducks of the year in the other.
A Redwing flew over before a pair of Moorhens wandered out from the island. I had brought some food to tempt in the gulls and this bore fruit with 3 colour ringed Black Headed Gulls and another Norwegian metal ringed bird seen. White J4U2 and Yellow 2CA6 are regulars but the 3rd was a new one for me, though it has been reported at the ponds (and Trottick Ponds also) before a few years ago - Yellow 2CE4, a Ythan Estuary ringed bird. A Fieldfare overflew and Common Gull and Herring Gull were noted from the lower pond which was also mostly frozen. With nothing exotic found, (despite trying to turn some of the few Herring Gulls into something good), I decided to move on.
Baxter Park was my next stop - close enough to home if the weather did actually change. A mixed flock of Siskins and Goldfinches were in the trees near the bowling green. The Spring Grove's running water pulled in Greenfinches, Chaffinches, House Sparrow, Starlings, Robin, Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Great Tit, Siskin and Goldfinch as well as Blackbird and Woodpigeon. A few more Fieldfares and Redwings overflew. As the forecast rain still didn't appear to be imminent I decided to head for City Quay to see if the bad weather of last week had brought anything in to the relative shelter provided by the quay. A party of Long Tailed Tits were seen on the way there.
Arriving at the Quay I found a couple of Cormorants and a pair of Oystercatchers perched around the Foxlake pontoons. A pair of Red Breasted Mergansers were noted as they hunted around the pontoons. A rather tired (and likely rather poorly) Guillemot was bobbing around by the footbridge across to HMS Unicorn - a year-tick for me. I wandered along to the outer quay to see if there was anything to be found there. Another drake Red Breasted Merganser, a pair of Goldeneye, a sleeping Grey Heron, a Little Grebe and a Shag (another year-tick) which seemed to be catching Squat Lobsters (or maybe Crayfish) as well as another couple (including a possible Sinensis race) of Cormorants made for a productive stop.
Out on the river were a number of Black Headed Gulls while an array of Herring Gulls loafed around on a few shed roofs opposite. A Linnet (another year-tick) overflew and a Pied Wagtail flew to the buildings near the clock tower flats. Out on the river things seemed very quiet with no sign of anything obvious so with 38 species noted, including 4 year-ticks (in bold) I called it a day and headed for home via quite a direct but treacherously icy route.
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Moorhen
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Coot
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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Tufted Duck
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Black Headed Gull
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Mallard
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Goosander
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Coot
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Goosander
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Black Headed Gull (2CA6)
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Black Headed Gull (J4U2)
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Fieldfare
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Black Headed Gull (2CE4)
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Herring Gull
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Common Gull & Black Headed Gull (& Herring Gull)
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Siskin
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Greenfinch
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Greenfinch
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Greenfinch
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Woodpigeon
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Blue Tit
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Starling
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Chaffinch
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Great Tit
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Robin
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Cormorant
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Cormorant
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Oystercatcher
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Guillemot
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Cormorant (Sinensis race?)
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Herring Gull
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Little Grebe
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Grey Heron
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Shag
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Shag
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Shag
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Cormorant
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Cormorant
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Goldeneye
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Cormorant
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Cormorant
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Shag
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Cormorant
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Shag
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Shag
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Shag
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Shag
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Cormorant
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Cormorant
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Guillemot
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Cormorant
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Guillemot
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Guillemot
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Cormorant
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Cormorant
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Cormorant
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Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldeneye,
Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Guillemot,
Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw,
Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie,
Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted
Merganser, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Shag, Siskin, Starling,
Tufted
Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
