It is always a bit annoying when the weather is bad at the weekend after being cooped up in a windowless office all week, even moreso when the morning walk to work is in almost complete darkness. With heavy rain forecast for much of the weekend it appeared that the likelihood of being able to squeeze in any sort of birding was looking rather slim. However, there did appear to be a bit of a calmer window forecast on Saturday afternoon. Not quite long enough to go anywhere too far away but enough for some birding at least.
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Although the sky was still looking a bit threatening, I decided I was going for a walk regardless. I headed out just after 1400 in the direction of Swannie Ponds. Although I wasn't really expecting to find anything good, at this time of year (almost) anything is possible. Feral Pigeon, Robin, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Herring Gull and Jackdaw provided a relatively typical start along the usual route to the ponds. The short detour along Mains Terrace only added Dunnock to the list with as yet no sign of any winter thrushes among the bushes and trees on the rough ground there.
There were plenty of birds at the ponds with decent numbers of Black Headed Gulls and a handful of Herring Gulls though I failed to find any Common Gulls. The Tufted Duck numbers had crept up also since my last visit. The Mute Swans had 2 Cygnets in tow, there were at least 2 Moorhens around and Coots were dotted about with the youngsters of the family which had built the nest near the boating ramp beginning to show the white facial shields above their bills. As always there were a number of Mallards around. A pleasant surprise was a single Wigeon swimming around among the gulls.
There were plenty of Feral Pigeons around and when they all took flight en masse I looked around for a raptor, and found one - a young male Sparrowhawk to the northwest which cruised by in the direction of Baxter Park. A Redwing was heard but not seen. There were Siskins in the tops of one of the trees but they proved impossible to see from the path below. Among the Black Headed Gulls I was able to pick out 3 colour ringed birds (Norwegian White JMK7 & Green J63P, and Scottish Yellow 2XLD all of which I'm fairly sure I've seen there before) and another 2 metal ringed birds. One of these I was able to piece together the full ring number (6235280) which appears to match the formerly green ringed bird JN69. The other metal ringed bird was only partially read but included the digits 239.
A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew over northwards. A Grey Wagtail was heard calling over the far side of the pond. Long Tailed Tits were in the trees by the Stobsmuir Road end. I noticed a Mallard drake with his head tilted looking upwards intently. I had a look to see what was holding his interest. High above was a Buzzard which slowly drifted off to the northeast. I decided to head for Baxter Park. Just as I put away the camera, a Sparrowhawk (very likely the same bird as earlier) flew past, so out came the camera again to grab a few photos. Baxter Park proved very poor with only a Wren added there. I decided that I might as well continue on to City Quay to try to add a bit of variety to the day's list.
A female Chaffinch was seen on Dalkeith Road with House Sparrows a little further on and a flyover Goldfinch. A Guillemot was seen in the outer section of City Quay with a Cormorant nearby. A Rabbit was a bit of a surprise behind the fence surrounding the quay. A Grey Heron and an Oystercatcher were roosting in the southeast corner. A Pied Wagtail was heard near the Unicorn. A look at the river added a young Razorbill, a distant Red Breasted Merganser and a close-in Grey Seal.
A look at the quay from the other side gave a total of three Guillemots with another near the Unicorn, two Cormorants roosting - one of which appeared to be a 'Sinensis' race bird. A Cormorant on a lamp post at the former dry dock took flight before I got a good look but photos showed that it too looked good for a 'Sinensis' bird. My first of this subspecies was also noted on the same lamp post back on Christmas Day 2012. A Magpie and a Linnet were the final additions for the day taking the total for the afternoon to 37 species of bird and 2 of mammal. All in all, not too bad a use of a few hours with the bonus of some vitamin D and fresh air.
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| Wigeon |
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Black Headed Gull (JMK7)
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Black Headed Gull (JMK7)
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Tufted Duck
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| Wigeon |
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Tufted Duck
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| Coot |
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| Coot |
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| Blackbird |
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| Coot |
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Tufted Duck
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Tufted Duck
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Moorhen |
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Black Headed Gull
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| Coot |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Mallard |
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Tufted Duck
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Black Headed Gull
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Tufted Duck
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| Coot |
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Mute Swan
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Mute Swan
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Mute Swan
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Mute Swan
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Mute Swan
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| Wigeon |
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| Coot |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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Black Headed Gull
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Black Headed Gull (2XLD)
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Grey Heron & Cormorant
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Cormorant (probable 'Sinensis')
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| Guillemot |
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Black Headed Gull
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Herring Gull
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| Razorbill |
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Grey Seal
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Black Headed Gull
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Cormorant ('Sinensis')
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| Cormorant |
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Cormorant ('Sinensis')
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Black Headed Gull
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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Cormorant ('Sinensis')
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Cormorant ('Sinensis')
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Cormorant ('Sinensis')
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Cormorant ('Sinensis')
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| Cormorant |
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| Starling |
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| Starling |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.