With rain forecast for much of the day on Thursday, my plan to get out birding each day of my latest holiday was looking like fizzling out almost right at the start. However, when I woke up in the morning and had a look at the weather, it appeared that there was a chance that I could squeeze in a spot of birding after all as rain was forecast to arrive between 1000 and 1100. I decided I would do something that I'd done a month before - I would head to the top of Dundee Law and watch to see if any migrant birds were passing through (this is known as vis-migging, an abbreviated form of 'visible migration'). There was a chance of rain arriving early and the skies didn't look too promising but after a very quick breakfast I headed out into the post-dawn gloom of a rather grey October morning.
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Pink Footed Goose
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Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Robin, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Long Tailed Tit and Collared Dove got the list for the morning off to a steady start as I headed for the top of the Hilltown. Great Tit was the only addition before I made it to the slopes of the Law. Wren, Dunnock, Bullfinch and Chiffchaff were all seen or heard as I took up a position by the benches around the northeastern edge of the summit and got organised with camera and binoculars around my neck and my digital recorder set running to record the calls of passing birds - a way of double checking anything that might be particularly interesting or puzzling.
A Song Thrush gave me my first obvious migrant despite it seemingly heading in the worng direction. A Goldcrest was heard calling from the conifers in front of me. There were a few Chaffinches around but it was difficult to decide which were actual migrants and which were local birds from the hill. A Blue Tit appeared on the tall mast behind me. I had a quick look at Cox's Stack and found that the Perregrine was indeed in its usual position on the southwestern corner of the ledge near the top. An unidentified bird dropped into the trees on the front of the hill. A pair of Reed Buntings headed west on the north side of the hill. A mix of Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits were next. A Redwing was heard but not seen.
A couple of Mistle Thrushes and a Song Thrush dropped lower as they passed overhead before another unidentified bird passed over. A Coal Tit was the next addition as it flitted through the trees. A mixed group of Bullfinches and Chaffinches flew round the hill but were likely just local birds. Two groups of three Song Thrushes were noted next before a Sparrowhawk flew out southwards from the hill and circled back round to the north. Photos showed it to be a young bird. Another Song Thrush and another Meadow Pipit were next before I spotted a skein of (assumed) Pink Footed Geese moving east over the northwestern edges of the city. A much larger group was seen a few minutes later and from then on everytime I looked there seemed to be even more of these skeins moving. There were clearly thousands of these birds on the move from their roost to good feeding places in the stubble fields northeast of the city.
A Siskin was the next migrant to appear shortly after one was heard but not seen. To this point the overall movement was steady with something new passing every minute or two. Just before 0920 I heard a pipit-like call and got onto the bird quite quickly. It wasn't a pipit but I knew what it was very quickly - having been surprised a year and a day before at Riverside Nature Park by a bird making the same call. It was an unexpected Hawfinch. A year-tick for me and another bird for my Dundee 2021 list. Even more surprisingly the bird dropped down out of sight into the trees on the south slope of the hill. I decided not to go and search for it, instead I concentrated on the task at hand of noting what was passing through.
A young Peregrine flew eastwards at eye level about five minutes later before two more Meadow Pipits passed by heading northwards. Things noticeably quietened down though with only really the geese to the north on the move, though in large numbers. Somewhere to the north, an Oystercatcher could be heard calling. A Siskin was heard before 4 more Meadow Pipits arrived from the north. A few more Chaffinches passed by, appearing to be migrant birds as the clock edged towards 1000. Half a dozen Skylarks passed by going in the 'wrong' direction from west to east. Groups of four, three and two unidentified birds - which appeared to be thrushes were seen heading southwest between 1010 and 1020. A small flock of Goldfinches circled round above the trees. Another Siskin was noted before I decided to call it a day after two and a half hours of vis-migging.
A flock of Great Tits, Blue Tits and Long Tailed Tits were noted as I headed down the hill by the access road and a Grey Wagtail was a nice bonus bird in my street as I headed home from picking up my copy of Wildguides, "Europe's Birds" from the local post office. As expected it started raining not too long after I arrived home. Although the total number of species noted was only 32 (including a year-tick, in bold), of which a mere 8 or 9 were migrants, it was a very worthwhile exercise and one I hope to repeat at a few other points around the city to see if there is a favoured route for migrants across the city, though it may take a few years effort to get a definite conclusion.
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| Chaffinch |
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Reed Bunting
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| Chaffinch |
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Mistle Thrush
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Mistle Thrush
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Blue Tit
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| Bullfinch |
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Coal Tit
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Herring Gull
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Song Thrush
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Pink Footed Goose
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Meadow Pipit
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Bullfinch |
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Meadow Pipit
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Chaffinch |
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| Bullfinch |
Birds - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail,
Hawfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pink Foooted Goose, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.