With a rather mixed weather forecast on Sunday I chose to not go anywhere. However, as Bank Holiday Monday's forecast was for heavy rain later in the day, I decided that I should try to get out and about for a few hours while it was at least meant to be dry. I considered a trip to Riverside Nature Park but suspected I would be likely to get wet, either at the park, or on the hour's walk back home. Having failed to get Sedge Warbler on Saturday at Clatto, I had the option of trying elsewhere for the species. Trottick Ponds had been successful in 2020 for catching up with the species, so I would try there again and with a bit of luck, hopefully add another year-tick/Dundee tick.
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Moorhen
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Despite having slept in a bit later than I planned to, I still made it out for just after 0830. Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon and Dunnock were all seen before I left my street. Heading uphill towards Clepington Road I was able to add Great Tit, House Sparrow and Goldfinch. The walk down Graham Street gave me Goldcrest and Chaffinch. The golfers were already out on the golf course as were the dog walkers on the holes the golfers hadn't yet reached. Blackcap, Siskin, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Jackdaw and Stock Dove was a very respectable haul given the length of the short walk along to the ponds.
Long Tailed Tit and a Grey Wagtail were noted at the top pond with Mallard and Moorhen on the lower pond. The Grey Heron there found and eventually despatched my first Common Frog of the year, despite it being quite a sizeable individual. Swallow, Robin and Wren were next onto the list near the graveyard. A slight surprise was not the single Roe Deer I found , but the fact that it was so calm even with me being not too far away, and stayed lying down while I took out the camera to get a few photos before I continued on down to the Dighty Burn and the walk to Trottick Ponds. A Willow Warbler was singing by the road into Mill O'Mains near the small weir.
I doubled back along Claverhouse Road noting Oystercatcher as I neared the small Trottick Ponds local nature reserve. A Dipper was down on a rock in the burn and photos showed that it was ringed. Later, when I was leaving I met two of the ringers - Mike Nicholls and Ken Slater, who were out monitoring the birds on the burn. From them I discovered the bird I'd photographed was a male, one half of the local pair. A Magpie was seen as I entered the small reserve. A male Siskin showed really well in a tree overhanging the burn. Overhead a Sparrowhawk was being harassed by a Gull. On the ponds were a pair of Tufted Ducks, a Mute Swan and a few Mallards. A Jay flew over from the south.
At the eastern end of the northern pond where I had found a Sedge Warbler last year, a Blackcap was calling from within a small bush. I spotted a Moorhen and a couple of small fluffy black youngsters in among the vegetation at the end of the pond. Another pair of youngsters showed eventually as did the other parent bird. As I was about to move on again a short burst of Sedge Warbler song stopped me in my tracks and with a bit of patience I eventually had clear views of the small brown bird that was making a bit of a racket, albeit sporadically. A Coot swam out on the water - not a bird I recall seeing here before. A Buzzard pursued by a couple of Carrion Crows crossed from west to east before briefly landing in a tree by the burn then disappearing over the burn-side trees and out of sight.
Greenfinch, Common Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gull were noted and a pair of Reed Bunting males showed on a low branch before I set off away from the ponds to explore the wider reserve a little more. I managed to find a Song Thrush breaking into a snail shell untroubled by me standing watching. Coal Tit was added to the list and another Jay was seen in flight, though further away. Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers were heard singing. At the bridge when I stopped to talk to the ringers, a Grey Squirrel scampered up the bank. I wandered back along the burn to Caird Park. I failed to find anything extra as I cut up through the park, though a Great Spotted Woodpecker was perched as is often the case at the very top of a tall conifer by the practice hole at the 18 hole golf course.
Swannie Ponds (where there were at least 3 Coots nests) and the wasteground at Mains Terrace added nothing new so I continued down to Spring Grove in Baxter Park. Although it was slightly quieter than on previous visits there were still plenty of birds visiting to feed or bathe - a pair of Blackcaps and a male Bullfinch being the best, though Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon and Dunnock were all around too. I had a brief view of a Bank Vole scurrying across the path and into the leaf litter behind me and again a while later as it returned.
Eventually, I had views of 2 Bank Voles in the Grove - one reddish-brown, the other a more greyish brown. I was able to get a few photos of the latter. A pair of Mistle Thrushes which must have a nest nearby chased a Magpie rather noisily from a small conifer through another few trees and away. I considered continuing on to City Quay again but suspected there would be little to see there. House Martin was another on my wanted list and with a small colony annually at the primary school next to the police station, I decided to see if the birds there had returned yet. They hadn't, so I headed for home instead as the sky grew darker, and before the rather stormy mix of strong easterly winds and heavy rain began. I'd managed to see or hear a decent total of 47 species of bird (including a year-tick - in bold) as well as 1 amphibian and 3 species of mammal. A surprisingly productive wee wander given the relatively small distance from home.
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Roe Deer
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Dipper
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Siskin
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Siskin
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Blackcap
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Herring Gull & Sparrowhawk
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Moorhen
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Jay
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Mute Swan
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Chaffinch
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Blackbird
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Moorhen
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Coot
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Buzzard
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House Sparrow
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Sedge Warbler
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Sedge Warbler
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Sedge Warbler
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Reed Bunting
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Tufted Duck
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Moorhen
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Sedge Warbler
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Sedge Warbler
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Mute Swan
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Long Tailed Duck
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Song Thrush
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Song Thrush
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Blackcap
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Robin
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Mallard
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Woodpigeon
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Wasp sp.
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Goldfinch
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Long Tailed Tit
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Greenfinch
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Blue Tit
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Robin
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Blackcap
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Blackcap
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Mistle Thrush
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Greenfinch
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Herring Gull
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House Sparrow
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Great Tit
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Goldfinch
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Great Tit
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Bank Vole
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Bank Vole
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Bank Vole
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House Sparrow
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Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Sedge Warbler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Amphibians - Common Frog.
Mammals - Bank Vole, Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
