Although the weather forecast for Saturday was dry, it was forecast to be very windy with rather blustery day conditions for the vast majority of the day as Storm Malik hit, although the worst of it was due early in the morning. I decided that I was still going to try to get some birding done, though I fully expected most of the smaller birds to be hidden away in cover. On the plus side, I was hoping that most of the dog walkers would either stay at home or stay away from the more exposed areas, such as Broughty Ferry beach. With the wind coming from the west, I chose Balmossie as my destination, knowing that I would be travelling with the wind at my back on the way there, though it would be in my face on the long walk home.
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Common Gull
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I headed out at 0955, a little later than ideal for catching the tide before it got too far in, and limiting my chances of catching up with a couple of my 'needed' species - Sanderling and Grey Plover. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were seen almost immediately and a Great Tit was heard calling as I headed up Court Street. Starling was the only addition before I reached Clepington Road where Jackdaw was noted. Swannie Ponds had most of the expected species with Mallard, Coot, around 30 or so Tufted Duck, Black Headed Gulls, a single Common Gull, Mute Swan, at least 10 Goosander and Herring Gulls. Also still there was the pair of Wigeon I'd seen on my previous visit. A Magpie flew over to the island before I moved on again.
Eastern Cemetery proved to be very quiet with only a handful of Woodpigeons and a few Carrion Crows, except for a few gulls on the roofs on the other side of the northern edge wall. A Blue Tit was heard from one of the gardens as I headed down towards the Stannergate. Unsurprisingly, the walk along the waterfront was rather short on variety. A few Red Breasted Merganser were offshore with Black Headed and Common Gulls closer in. A small flock of Turnstone were down among the pebbles on the shore and there were also few Oystercatchers about. I spotted a few Eiders out in the middle of the river. A Rook flew over as I neared Beach Crescent.
I added Rock Pipit and Pied Wagtail near Broughty Castle and spotted a Shag out on the water. The beach was a good bit quieter than usual, but the tide was further in than I had hoped it would be. A detour into the small local nature reserve wasn't particularly productive with Robin, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Long Tailed Tit and Goldfinch all I managed to rustle up. I found a small flock of around 40 Ringed Plover and 5 or 6 Dunlin on the beach as I wandered towards Balmossie. The usual Turnstone and Redshanks were tucked round by the Dighty mouth out of the wind. Wigeon, Mallard, Eider and Goldeneye were on the water along with the usual trio of gull species and a single Mute Swan.
Some disturbance on the beach along towards Barry Buddon put a number of waders into the air. I expected them to be Bar Tailed Godwits and they were, with a few Knot tucked into the flock also. Despite there being hardly any dog walkers around and with almost no beach left, a dog walker succeeded in flushing everything from the metre or so of sandy shore before it petered out and they and their dog had to complete their walk by clambering up over the rock armour. With nothing much to be gained by lingering longer I decided to start my walk back into the wind. A Rock Pipit was photographed down on the sand, and I found a yellow flagged Ringed Plover further on which appears to have been ringed by Chris McGuigan - who I pass on all my sightings of ringed birds to.
A Shag offshore towards the castle took flight for a few seconds, giving me a brief glimpse of a white ring that didn't look much like the usual rings I see on Shags around Fife Ness. I heard a Wren among the dunes and stopped to photograph a Rock Pipit around the cars parked near the catle. I finally managed to add a Cormorant to the list for the day between the sailing clubs and the Stannergate. Rabbits were feeding on the grass again near the storage tank at the end and a quick scan of the gull roost behind the harbour fence proved fruitless. I decided to continue on along to City Quay but surprisingly all I found there was a pair of Cormorants on the pontoons. I then trapsed wearily uphill towards home having noted a relatively low total of 38 species of which none were new for either my year-list or my Dundee 140 list. I did succeed however in managing to get some reasonably decent photos which made it a worthwhile exercise.
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| Goosander |
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| Mallard |
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| Goosander |
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Wigeon & Mallard
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Tufted Duck
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| Coot |
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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Black Headed Gull
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Common Gull
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Herring Gull
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Common Gull
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Common Gull
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| Rook |
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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Ringed Plover & Dunlin
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Ringed Plover & Dunlin
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| Wigeon |
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Ringed Plover & Dunlin
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| Redshank |
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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| Redshank |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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Mute Swan
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| Goldeneye |
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Black Headed Gull
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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Carrion Crow
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| Wigeon |
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Bar Tailed Godwit & Knot
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| Dunlin |
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Rock Pipit
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Ringed Plover & Dunlin
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Ringed Plover (120?)
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Blue Tit
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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| Turnstone |
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Herring Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Turnstone |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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| Rabbit |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunlin, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit.