As I was still rather tired from Saturday's early start and long walk I decided I would stay a bit closer to home on Sunday. I had no real plan as such, nor any target number of species that I hoped to see, or even a particular target species to add to my Dundee list. Although I had hoped for a relatively early start to the day's birding it was just before 0915 when I headed out. I had decided by then that I would head through Caird Park to Trottick Ponds first and then decide where to go after that.
  |
Grey Heron
|
Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch, Blackbird, House Sparrow and Woodpigeon kick-started the list for the day within the length of my street. Heading up towards Clepington Road I was able to add Blue Tit, Starling and a singing Robin. Oystercatchers and Jackdaws were on the playing fields off Graham Street. I crossed the Kingsway and headed into Caird Park. Despite the golfers being out in force, I was able to add another selection of birds on my way to the ponds - Chaffinch, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Magpie, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Chiffchaff.
A Grey Squirrel was wandering around on the island at the top pond and a Great Tit was in the trees by the path. Moorhen and Mallard were seen on what little water there was. A Wren flew to the island before I headed down to check the lower pond. I almost managed to walk past the Grey Heron which was partially hidden in a clump of vegetation. I then wandered in to the overgrown area between the graveyard and the main road in the hope of seeing the resident Roe Deer but there was no sign of them. Cutting down through the trees towards the Gelly Burn and the aforementioned road, I discovered that there was a single Roe Deer browsing the low branches of the trees overhanging the bottom of the hill.
I crossed the road to avoid spooking the deer and took the camera out of the bag and took a few distant photos before crossing back again staying out of sight of the deer which seemed till then not too bothered by my presence. Although I was ready to take a few more photos when I moved slowly out from behind the trees the deer seemed to have disappeared. However, crossing back to the other side of the road again I discovered it was in fact still around, though partially obscured by branches. I found that I hadn't deleted the day before's 500+ photos and sacrificed the deer photos to give me some room to work with on the memory card. I figured I'd be able to get a few more of the deer but when I looked up it had disappeared up the hill.
I wandered along the short distance to the small weir on the Dighty Burn by the Mill O' Mains junction on the off-chance there might be a Kingfisher around but I was out of luck. I doubled back to head for Trottick Ponds as I had intended. I hadn't gone very far when I spotted a tiny bit of movement out of the corner of my eye down in the middle of the Dighty Burn. A juvenile Dipper stood atop a small rock in midstream. It seemed unconcerned as I took photos from a few different angles. It stretched and blinked but showed no inclination to do anything more strenuous. A couple passed and mentioned the chance of seeing deer, and that there had been one dead on the road earlier in the week - perhaps the other half of the usual pair, and the reason I'd only seen one a little earlier.
I spent the next 30 minutes or so photographing the young Dipper as it finally started roaming around a bit, trying to find something to eat among the detritus jammed up against some of the other small rocks in the burn. This gave me plenty opportunities to get probably some of my best ever Dipper photos. Eventually an adult Dipper also showed up - which turned out to be the ringed male I'd seen a few weeks earlier by the bridge into the Trottick Ponds reserve. A second juvenile also put in an appearance. Unfortunately I somehow managed to miss out on the youngsters being fed by the adult bird, though admittedly most of that action took place tucked in below the banking on my side of the Burn.
A pair of Sparrowhawks circled high above the road before going in oppoiste directions. I changed my mind and decided not to continue on to Trottick Ponds - just after two teens on scrambler type motorbikes passed heading in that direction. Heading back into Caird Park instead I detoured again to look for the Roe Deer but again drew a blank though I did manage a few photos of a Grey Squirrel munching on something high in a tree near the graveyard. A Buzzard drifted up on a thermal with a group of gulls. I found a family of Moorhens tucked in below the vegetation of the island on the lower pond, but the Grey Heron had by then relocated to the top pond.
I decided to get some photos of the Grey Heron as it is fairly used to people in the park. A walker stopped in below the trees behind me and the Heron watched intently until they'd left before flying the short distance up to where a pile of left-over food including a cheese sandwich and a chunk of a meat pie had been desposited. Given the Heron's recognition of what had been happening out of direct sight I assume this leaving of food here is quite a regular occurence. Again the Heron wasn't fussed by me taking photos of it tucking into a variety of non-typical foodstuffs, nor of folk passing along the path behind it. A few Carrion Crows and a Magpie loitered nearby and a Jay appeared in a tree behind me. A Willow Warbler was seen and heard before the Heron flew back to the pond with a large chunk of pie pastry crust and some meat still attached to try to soften it up.
This worked slightly too well with it breaking into 2 chunks with the larger part disappearing into the water. A spot of fishing for Sticklebacks followed the pie remains before the Heron returned for the cheese sandwich in below the trees and what little else still remained with the corvids having tucked in while the Heron was absent. The Heron once again returned to the pond where I was able to get relatively close views as it hunted quite close in to the path where I was positioned. Siskins were heard and a male flew a few short display flights out above the pond from a large conifer. A Moorhen had a bit of a bath before I moved on again. A Peacock butterfly was seen in flight as I wandered along the path at the lower pond.
The Moorhen family I'd seen earlier were out in the open but soon opted for cover by the island again as I drew closer. I decided I would head for Swannie Ponds next having already taken almost 500 photos of Dipper and Grey Heron - though admittedly both species had given me plenty of opportunites, posing nicely. I reached Swannie Ponds just before 1215 and was able to add Coot, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Lesser Black Backed Gulls and a Common Gull. I had some closer views of a Coot family which added to the stash of photos on the memory card, including a few of one of the litter struggling with half a Stickleback the adult had presented to it. The other adult seemed quite intolerant of the youngsters and while videoing the group with my phone it grabbed the head of one quite aggressively and forced another under the water.
A Black Headed Gull arrived and landed on the pond. The Mute Swan family swam round towards where I was photographing the Coots which meant that the rather fluffy cygnets joined the rather less photogenic Coot youngsters on the burgeoning memory card photo collection. A House Martin, a Swift and a Greenfinch flew over as I snapped away at the Cygnets which by now had left the water to snooze on the grass by the path, watched over by the parent birds, as folk stopped to take photos from a respectable distance. I headed for Baxter Park just after 1310 but as Spring Grove was very quiet I called it a day early, knowing I had over 700 photos to look through when I got home. I had managed to see 39 species of bird, along with 2 of mammal and 1 of butterfly in the 4 hours or so I had been out. I've definitely had less productive Sunday mornings and am very happy with the majority of photos I took.
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Mallard
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Sparrowhawk
|
 |
Sparrowhawk
|
 |
Sparrowhawk
|
 |
Blackbird
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Dipper
|
 |
Grey Squirrel
|
 |
Grey Squirrel
|
 |
Buzzard
|
 |
Woodpigeon
|
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Jay
|
 |
Jay
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Mallard
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Moorhen
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Moorhen
|
 |
Moorhen
|
 |
Moorhen
|
 |
Moorhen
|
 |
Mallard
|
 |
Mallard
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Tufted Duck
|
 |
Tufted Duck
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Black Headed Gull
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Black Headed Gull
|
 |
Black Headed Gull
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Coot
|
 |
Coot & Herring Gull
|
 |
Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Coot, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swift, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Peacock.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
