I've been intending on providing an update on my recent 'on foot commute' birding for about the past two weeks but things (including birding and blogging) have got in the way. As the daylight has lengthened, the temperature has risen a little and the average number of birds seen, and especially heard, has also headed upwards. There have been one or two minor surprises and a bit of a detour on two days trying to twitch a Yellow Legged Gull which has added a few new species to the 'commute' list.
 |
Common Crossbill
|
On Monday the 22nd of February, 30 species were noted with Lesser Black Backed Gull, Jay and Redwing the best of the selection. Tuesday the 23rd had a reduced total of 25 but Redwing and Lesser Black Backed Gull were seen again. It was a similar story on Thursday the 26th with only 26 species noted including Redwing and Lesser Black Backed Gull again but also Oystercatcher. Friday the 26th was an improvement on the previous day with 30 species recorded, including a new bird for the 'commute' list - an unexpected male Goosander heading north ojust before I reached my work. Bullfnch, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing and Stock Dove were the best of the rest.
March began with me taking my last couple of days of annual leave meaning that I only worked the Thursday and Friday of that first week. The list for the 4th made it to 25 species. Grey Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose and Siskin were the main highlights. It was a broadly similar situation on the 5th with Grey Wagtail once again noted as well as Siskin. Pied Wagtail and a Treecreeper were nice additions. On Monday the 8th, the total only reached 25 again with Bullfinch, Oystercatcher, Siskin and Sparrowhawk being the main highlights. The first Curlew with a skein of Pink Footed Geese passing over the top of it just as I was about to head in the entrance at work were the best of the 26 species on the 9th of March.
Thursday the 11th was another 25 species day with Jay and Sparrowhawk noted along with Oystercatcher. The Lesser Black Backed Gull numbers were increasing at Loon's Road with a few birds perched atop the Arnold Clark buildings. Although I made it to 26 species on the 12th the best bird I could muster was Siskin, though the numbers of Common Gulls on the football pitches did seem to be creeping up as the numbers of Black Headed Gulls seemed to be going in the opposite direction as birds drifted off to breeding sites elsewhere.
The walk to work on the 15th was very productive with 30 species in the morning alone. The most unexpected of those was a single Common Crossbill over Byron Street flying towards the Law. Bullfinch, Jay, Stock Dove and Great Spotted Woodpecker at Balgay Cemetery were all good birds to get. With confirmation coming in from Mark Wilkinson that a gull he'd found on Friday in Invergowrie Bay was a Yellow Legged Gull persuaded me to try to see it on my way home from work. With high tide due around that time I wasn't hopeful but figured I might as well give it a go, just in case. A pair of Goosander were almost the only birds in the bay with the exception of the Greylags by the reedbed and a Mallard. The longer than usual walk back home did however add Redwing, Sparrowhawk and Nuthatch to take the list to 38 species for the day.
On Tuesday the 16th I decided to take a camera to work with me and either try again for the Yellow Legged Gull at lunchtime - which seemed the wiser option, or again after work. Pink Footed Goose, Siskin and Grey Wagtail were the best of the morning's birds. I decided to go for the Gull at lunchtime after all, which did give me a few new birds for what was technically still the 'commute' list. Mute Swan, Redshank, Skylark and Teal were seen in Invergowrie Bay though as my focus was mostly on the Gulls it is possible I missed some others. A Peacock butterfly by the underpass was a new one for the year too.
As I walked back up to work a bird landed in a small conifer outside Westgate Health Centre. I was sure I'd seen a yellow-ish rump. Out came the binoculars followed by the camera and I had some nice Common Crossbill photos to show for my attempted twitch, though no Yellow Legged Gull. A Grey Squirrel was seen on my way home in Balgay Cemetery and a Pied Wagtail on a roof brought the list for the day to 37 species, just one short of the previous day's high. My pal, Jacqui was messaging me as I walked to work on Thursday the 18th so my focus wasn't solely on the birds which meant a lower total than of late with only 23 species noted with Pink Footed Goose, Siskin and Long Tailed Tit as good as it got.
Things did improve a bit on Friday the 19th with a return to 30 species. Bullfinch, Siskin, Pink Footed Goose and a noisy Jay were seen on the morning walk. As I left work at 1600 it was quite a warm afternoon and I could see a few birds circling high in the sky. Most were obviously gulls but a trio of birds loosely together were clearly not. Out came the binoculars and a handy bench was utilised for a quick check. A Buzzard was being harassed by a Carrion Crow while a Sparrowhawk close by appeared to be monitoring the proceedings. I spent most of the walk home checking upwards for more raptors but saw none.
Over the period of 4 weeks covered in this post I managed to record a total of 49 species of bird, 1 of butterfly and 1 of mammal on days I was working - and even without the benefit of the 2 attempted twitches I would likely have reached a total of over 40 anyway. I'm hoping that Whooper Swan (a flock of possibles were seen as I looked out a window at work on the 19th but distance and lighting conditions meant I couldn't completely rule out Geese or Mute Swans), as well as Chiffchaff and Blackcap will all be added soon, though Sand Martin would also be very welcome (not a bird I've yet managed while walking to/from work). Something even more exotic blown in from the south would be even better.....
All photos (except the Crossbill) are from my archives.
 |
Small Tortoiseshell
|
 |
Buzzard & Carrion Crow
|
 |
Jackdaw
|
 |
House Sparrow
|
 |
Grey Wagtail
|
 |
Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Goosander
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Grey Squirrel
|
 |
Shelduck
|
 |
Redshank
|
 |
Teal
|
 |
Black Headed Gull & Common Gull
|
 |
Peregrine
|
 |
Great Tit
|
 |
Treecreeper
|
 |
Bullfinch
|
 |
Goldcrest
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Woodpigeon
|
 |
Robin
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Dunnock
|
 |
Oystercatcher
|
 |
Goldfinch
|
 |
Blackbird
|
 |
Magpie
|
 |
Curlew
|
 |
Blue Tit
|
 |
Wren
|
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
Mallard
|
 |
Pink Footed Goose & Greylag Goose
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
 |
Common Crossbill
|
 |
Common Crossbill
|
 |
Common Crossbill
|
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove,Common Crossbill, Common Gull, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Peacock.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
