As a birder, New Year means just one thing to me - new year list. Getting up early and out in an attempt to see as many species as possible, as everything is 'new' for the year again. Last year with Jacqui and a car (not too often available to me on the 1st of January) I had my best ever start with a total of 84 species seen mostly in Fife. Normal service was resumed for 2021, meaning I would be 'on foot' which is no big deal for me, as it means that anything flying over can (hopefully) be identified or photographed and it is possible to check out each and every bird seen or heard in the hope it is something new. That isn't really practical in a car. My usual strategy is to head for Balmossie via Swannie Ponds, Eastern Cemetery and the Esplanade. However, this year having heard about the possibility of Water Rail near Baldovie recycling plant I decided to try a slightly different route on the way out to Broughty Ferry, even though it would an extra mile or so to the walk.
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Grey Heron
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I headed out at 0810 and, as always, the first bird on the list for the year was a Herring Gull. I was hoping I might get a Robin or a Blackbird for once, but it wasn't to be. Blackbird was next however, followed by Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit and Feral Pigeon. A Siskin flew over but I was unable to pick it out against the sky. House Sparrow, Wren, Jackdaw, Great Tit, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Dunnock and a Mistle Thrush soon followed as I detoured via the Mains Terrace wasteground before reaching a largely frozen Swannie Ponds. Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Mallard, Coot and Mute Swan were all as expected. A bonus species was a pair of Goosander which circled round before landing on the ice.
I continued on, though new species began to become less frequent. Starling and Robin were the only new additions before I reached the path running parallel to the Dighty between Whitfield and Douglas. I wasn't sure quite what to expect but I was hoping for a few additional species at the least, with Water Rail (a species I didn't see in 2020) the 'big one'. Chaffinch, a ridiculously tame Grey Heron, a Sparrowhawk I flushed while searching for Water Rail in a reedy area, along with a family group of Roe Deer, all soon followed. Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Kestrel, and another Sparrowhawk were all seen. A Dipper was heard flying up the burn but I didn't manage to see it.
Thankfully a bit further on, in addition to more Roe Deer on the other side of the river, I found a pair of Dipper sat together on the opposite bank. No Water Rail were found but a reasonable range of 'new' species probably just about justified the detour. I crossed the dual carriageway and joined another stretch of 'path'. Another family group of Roe Deer were inadvertantly flushed and with the camera still in the bag, I missed out on getting photos of them crossing the burn, the youngster somewhat more tentatively than the adults. A few Goldcrests flitted round among the bare branches of a nearby tree.
Song Thrush, Redwing, Coal Tit and Buzzard were all spotted before I found myself at an unexpected obstacle which had been hidden on Google Earth by trees - another burn. I had to double back to the dual carriageway, adding another stretch to the extra mile or so the new route had given me already. I headed along Balgillo Road adding only Collared Dove before a detour down a long street brought me to the small Nature Reserve at Broughty Ferry, where a Stock Dove landed in a tree just in front of me. Although the small reserve was relatively quiet I did manage to add a flyover Pied Wagtail, a heard-only Great Spotted Woodpecker and Long Tailed Tit to the list for the day, and the year.
I headed to the wooden fence bordering the very busy beach to walk some of the last stretch to Balmossie. With the tide quite far out the birds were largely undisturbed by walkers. I picked out a few Redshanks and a surprise Little Egret, before spotting a second Egret nearby which then flew in to join the first. It seemed to be either displaying to, or attempting to intimidate the first, raising the bill upwards at an angle and walking with neck extended, parallel to the first bird. Careful scanning from a short distance out on the beach added more expected species - Great Black Backed Gull, Curlew, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Bar Tailed Godwit, Wigeon, Knot, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. A Rock Pipit flew low over my head and landed not too far behind me. Reaching Balmossie I scanned out across the river picking out Eider, Red Breasted Merganser and Goldeneye. A Grey Wagtail which called as it flew past me was another bonus sighting.
One of my boots was causing me some discomfort around my ankle and with a 5 or 6 mile walk back I wasn't looking forward to adding to that discomfort, but of course I didn't really have much option. I tried a variety of ideas to alleviate the increasing pain but it was a very uncomfortable walk home, with any ground that was slightly uneven adding to what became a rather large red bruised area just above my ankle. Thankfully there were still some birds available to keep my spirits up a bit with a Little Grebe a bit further out but more or less in the same area as last week's walk and a Cormorant just offshore by the sailing club buildings. A Grey Seal was seen out on the river and a Rabbit was spotted behind the industrial unit near the end of the Stannergate.
Despite the pain in my ankle I decided to head into Eastern Cemetery when I saw a large thrush flock circling over the shops at Arbroath Road. This gave me Fieldfare for the list as a number of them perched along with Redwing and Mistle Thrush in a tall tree. One of the local Buzzards was also noted along with a few other species I'd already seen. Swannie Ponds added nothing extra and I limped home around 1500 or so having seen 57 species and 2 heard-only (which I've decided I'm counting this year). Apart from the bruised ankle, it was quite a successful start to the year. Hopefully that luck continues.
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Dipper
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Dipper
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Redwing
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Carrion Crow
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Little Egret
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Little Egret
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Little Egret
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Rock Pipit
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Ringed Plover
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Curlew & Dunlin
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Wigeon & Bar Tailed Godwit
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Dunlin
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Bar Tailed Godwit, Knot, Dunlin, Curlew
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Goldeneye & Herring Gull
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| Dunlin |
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Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin & Knot
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Grey Heron & Eider
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Oystercatcher
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Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Oystercatcher & Redshank
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Grey Wagtail
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Knot, Oystercatcher & Wigeon
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Little Egret
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Oystercatcher
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Grey Seal
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Redshank
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Turnstone
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Little Grebe
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Cormorant
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Long Tailed Tit
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Fieldfare & Redwing
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Fieldfare
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Fieldfare & Redwing
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Redwing & Fieldfare
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Fieldfare
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Mistle Thrush
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Buzzard
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Species seen (
heard only - in italics) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit,
Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
