My last update on the birds I see and hear while walking to and from work was back in October a week or so prior to the clocks going back an hour and the onset of darkness at both ends of my working day. This results in the numbers of species seen and heard dwindling to single figures around the end of November though Carrion Crows, Robins and Blackbirds (and usually Herring Gulls too) are still noted even in the dark days of December. Wrens, Redwings, House Sparrows and Pink Footed Geese tend to also be semi-regular but naturally the other species recorded tend to be those with distinctive calls or distinctive silhouettes. So, on with the update which takes things up to Christmas.....
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Blackbird |
I noted 19 species on Thursday October 21st, the best of which were Mistle Thrush and Sparrowhawk, as well as Pink Footed Geese and Redwings. The following day produced Goldcrest, Peregrine and Song Thrush among the 20 species seen or heard as well as a Fox. The week prior to the clocks going back meant darkness all the way to work, though there was still some daylight at the other end of the working day. Monday the 25th gave me Buzzard and Oystercatcher among the 18 species noted. Tuesday's best were Goldcrest and Grey Wagtail though I managed only 14 species overall. This total crept back up by 2 on Thursday the 28th with Pink Footed Geese and a Grey Squirrel noted in addition to the same 2 highlighted species from Tuesday.
On Friday the 29th the main highlight was hearing and then managing to find a calling Tawny Owl in Balgay Cemetery which I was able to record a video clip using my IR scope on which the shape of the bird can be clearly seen (see bottom of photos below). This was my first actual Tawny Owl sighting of the year, though the species was on my Dundee 2021 list courtesy of a few different calling birds from a number of locations throughout the year. Additionaly Goldcrest, Oystercatcher, Redwing and Siskin were noted that same day. The clocks went back that weekend which did mean that I had a bit more daylight available in the mornings initially but less after work. This does tend to work in my favour in the short term as mornings do tend to be more productive for activity.
November the 1st was a Monday and 24 species were found including Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Jay, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing and Siskin. The number dropped to 21 the following day with Collared Dove, Goldcrest, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose and Redwing the notable species. Thursday the 4th produced 23 species including Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing and Siskin. The 5th of November I was able to get 21 species on the list with Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing and Siskin the headliners.
Surprisingly, Monday the 8th got me 25 species of which Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Jay, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing and Sparrowhawk were worthy of comment. The numbers noted the following day dropped below 20 by 1 though Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Pink Footed Goose and Redwing were of interest. As darkness began to encroach further Thursday the 11th produced only 14 species with Goldcrest, Redwing and Sparrowhawk the best of the bunch. Numbers crept up slightly to 16 on Friday with Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose and Redwing all noted.
Around Monday the 15th of November the amount of available daylight dropped further to something close to zero useable light. I did manage to note a respectable 16 species that day of which Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing and Sparrowhawk were decent finds given the lack of light. From that point on however the numbers dropped to around 10 for the next week or so (10 on 16th, 10 on 18th, a surprise 13 on Friday the 19th, 11 on the 22nd, and 10 on the 23rd). Redwing was noted every day, with Pink Footed Goose on all but the 16th and 18th. Goldcrest and Sparrowhawk were the other good birds on the 18th, Oystercatcher and Peregrine on the 22nd and Goldcrest on Tuesday the 23rd.
Single figure numbers arrived on the 25th with just 8 noted that day of which Pink Footed Goose and Redwing were the highlights. Only 6 were noted on Friday the 26th with Redwing the best of the small bunch, though a Fox is always good to catch up with. I was on holiday for a few days in late November and only managed a highlight free 5 species on my return to work on Thursday the 2nd of December. Goldcrest and Pink Footed Goose provided some slight variety among 8 species noted the following day.
The numbers for the following week were Monday 7, Tuesday 8, Thursday 6 and Friday 7. Long Tailed Tits put in a surprise appearance on Monday with the more expected Pink Footed Geese and Redwing. Both of these species were also noted on Tuesday along with a calling Tawny Owl at Balgay Hill, which was also in roughly the same area again on Thursday. Friday's only species of note however was a Redwing. I was off work ill for the first half of the following week and the numbers for Thursday the 16th only made it to 6 species with Redwing the nearest thing to a headliner, though once again, a Fox was good to see (even by thermal imager). A fire alarm at lunchtime on Friday the 17th did mean a 40 minute stint outside which took the toal number of species for the day to 13 though again Pink Footed Goose and Redwing made it onto the birds of interest list along with a Pied Wagtail.
The week prior to Christmas was very much a mixed bag with 8 species noted on Monday the 20th. Oystercatcher joined Pink Footed Goose and Redwing to drag the list to the dizzy heights of 8 species. Tuesday managed to reach 9 with the same trio of highlights. Wet weather on Thursday the 23rd made for a really depressing walk in both directions with just 3 species noted in the morning - Blackbird, Robin and Carrion Crow (surprisingly no Herring Gulls, which is something very uncommon for me at any time in Dundee). Thankfully a skein of Pink Footed Geese over Loons Road added a 4th on my way home. As a thank you for our efforts this year, we got away from work early on Christmas Eve which meant I saw some daylight and managed to get to 19 species for the day. Black Headed Gull, Goldcrest, Redwing and Sparrowhawk were the milestones and a Fox was a highlight of the morning walk once again.
Surprisingly during the dates covered in this round-up I somehow managed a total of 37 species of bird (and 2 mammals) which was quite unexpected though many of these will have been noted only once or twice, and likely early on, during this time period covered by this post. It is unlikely that the remaining days of 2021 will show any increase in numbers, or any surprise species but having now got past the shortest day, I can once again look forward to a more or less slight daily increase in the pale light on the horizon at both ends of the day and in around a month's time actually seeing some daylight again. Hopefully 2022 will throw in some new surprises along my route to and from work. To this point I've managed to record a total of 67 species in 2021, compared to 63 in 2020 (from March onwards) with 73 noted overall since beginning to walk to and from work on March the 2nd 2020.
Photos used are all recent, though none were taken on my walks to/from work.
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Pink Footed Goose |
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Pied Wagtail |
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Wren |
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Goldcrest |
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Blue Tit |
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Black Headed Gull |
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Oystercatcher |
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Robin |
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Dunnock |
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Song Thrush |
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Collared Dove |
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Woodpigeon |
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Redwing |
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Magpie |
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Buzzard |
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Greenfinch |
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Mistle Thrush |
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Goldfinch |
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Feral Pigeon |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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Coal Tit |
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Chaffinch |
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Bullfinch |
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Starling |
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Great Tit |
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Herring Gull |
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Blackbird |
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Grey Squirrel |
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Sparrowhawk |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tawny Owl, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Fox, Grey Squirrel.