I decided that for Saturday's birding I would once again head up the Law for a few hours vis-migging again. Having been so fortunate a few days earlier with the Hawfinch I figured that if I got there before sunrise then it should be possible to pick up a few more movements. Rain was forecast for later in the morning. I just had to hope that it held off long enough for a worthwhile session at the top of the hill. Having set the alarm I was up out of my bed nice and early (for a change) - though with sunrise around 0730 these days it isn't quite so difficult. Fingers were crossed for some decent birds, and good numbers of movements.
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| Redwing |
I headed out at around 0705 so I would arrive at the top of the hill before sunrise and be in position and organised, with binoculars and camera poised and digital sound recorder going, in time for the bulk of the morning's movements (I hoped). Herring Gull, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Wren were noted on the first part of the walk, with Magpie, Blue Tit, Dunnock and House Sparrow all noted on the main uphill part. Bullfinch and Pied Wagtail were heard as I made my way up the steepest part - the final steps. There were a few folk around waiting for the sunrise but 'my' spot was thankfully clear. The sunrise was quite a nice one and I even took a few photos before the sun disappeared again into the grey clouds not too far above the horizon.
A Woodpigeon flew past and the first of the morning's Pink Footed Goose movements was noted as around 250 birds left their roost down on the Tay and headed north past the hill. A Meadow Pipit was heard but I failed to see it. A pair of Siskin passed by a few minutes later. Four Chaffinches headed south about five or six minutes later and another two Siskins were noted a few minutes after 0800. More geese were noted moving over the northwestern corner of Dundee. Two unidentified birds were seen but were too far away to decide what they actually were. With more people around there was more noise, with car radios and loud convesation at times making it difficult to pick out faint calls.
Another Meadow Pipit and another Siskin were both heard before a pair and a single Chaffinch went west. A small flock of what turned out to be seven Yellowhammers was a nice surprise at 0820, with a trio of Meadow Pipits folowing a minute later. A Lesser Redpoll was heard before a second bird was seen shortly after. A Common Gull headed north past the hill. Things felt quite slow with sometimes more than five minutes between obvious migrants. A trio of the local Bullfinches flew round the top of the hill. Three Starling passed overhead westwards. Another four Yellowhammers went over a minute later with two more Meadow Pipits two minutes after that, completing a comparitively busy few minutes. A Coal Tit called from the trees.
At least six hundred Pink Footed Geese passed eastwards to the north of the city at 0841. A Pied Wagtail went in the opposite direction five minutes later. There was a brief flurry of Chaffinches moving with a single and two separate pairs over. Four of the local Goldfinches flitted around above the trees before disappearing out of sight again. Three Black Headed Gulls headed south towards the river and a pair of Goosander went in the opposite direction as 0900 arrived. A Redpoll was heard but not seen and a Redwing was also heard calling but I failed to pick that one up visually too.
A Goldcrest called from the conifers by the road. A flock of Racing Pigeons which were circling to the east seemed to join up with a skein of Pink Footed Geese and flew in loose formation above them for at least half a mile as the Geese passed the hill westwards before returning back to where they'd been circling before. Another Redpoll and three Goldfinches went west at 0907 with three Linnets going south three minutes after that. Things got even slower from then on with only the odd Chaffinch and Meadow Pipits providing the movements other than Pink Footed Geese skeins until 0940 when a Sparrowhawk was seen to the north.
An Oystercatcher was heard off to the north again and a small flock of Jackdaws were seen circling in that direction. The sky had been looking quite threatening to the southwest and I was expecting it to begin raining at any moment but I decided to try to stick things out till 1030 so I managed a complete three hours worth of watching. I heard Skylarks calling very faintly from somewhere above the clouds, on more than one occasion. There was a brief passage of thrushes just after 1000 with three Redwings and two Song Thrushes at 1002 headed westwards before four Redwings arrived from the north, circled the hill and headed off back northeast at 1008. Other than the geese that was the final movement before I called it a day and headed for home.
A Great Tit was photographed at the steps down off the hill and Long Tailed Tits were heard from the trees nearby. Another Redwing went over as I neared home just after 1100. The forecast rain arrived not long after. Compared to Thursday I managed the same number of species with 32 again noted but the weight of movement seemed much reduced with Chaffinch and Meadow Pipits seemingly making up the bulk of movements. Still, it was an interesting morning and once again, despite the weather forecast I'd managed to squeeze in some birding.
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Magpie |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Yellowhammer |
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Meadow Pipit
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Common Gull
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| Bullfinch |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Starling |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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Black Headed Gull
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| Goosander |
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| Goldfinch |
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Lesser Redpoll
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| Linnet |
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Pink Footed Goose & Racing Pigeons
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose & Racing Pigeons
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| Magpie |
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| Magpie |
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Meadow Pipit
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Magpie |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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Carrion Crow
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Song Thrush
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Carrion Crow
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| Jackdaw |
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| Magpie |
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull & Carrion Crow
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Woodpigeon |
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Great Tit
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.