Here we are again - January. A new year and a new year-list. However, following on from last year's efforts with most of my birding being within Dundee, I've decided to take that a bit further and have set myself a target of seeing (or hearing) a total of 140 species from within Dundee in 2022. That's 15 more than last year's target figure of 125 which I thought would be quite difficult, but turned out to be easier than expected with 10 more species being seen/heard. Those that I did miss out on only took the total recorded to around the 140 mark, so it is not going to be guaranteed that I will actually be able to reach the target, but I am going to try and I've got some ideas to try to maximise opportunities. So, hopefully there will be less 'going back to sleep' mornings.....
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Cormorant (Sinensis)
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Sunrise on January the 1st was around 0840 or so, so I wanted to be out before that. I just needed enough light to be able to identify those birds I was likely to encounter before daylight arrived. My first bird of the year wasn't a Herring Gull for once. I had opened the window at 0700 and heard a Robin singing. Around an hour later when I headed out, sure enough there was the Herring Gull and a Blackbird. Carrion Crow, Magpie and Wren were all that I managed between Court Street and the Swannie Ponds. Surprisingly, the ponds proved to be better than last year with Black Headed Gull, Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and Goosander all noted there.
Continuing on down the Kingsway I added Dunnock, House Sparrow and Jackdaw to the list. As with last year, I had decided to walk along the Dighty Burn between Douglas and Whitfield in the hope of adding a number of species there that are a bit harder to get elsewhere. I added Chaffinch and Feral Pigeon before I spotted a Roe Deer not far in behind a fence on Douglas Road. I managed to get a very short clip on my iPhone before it spotted me and ran off. I reached the path that runs along parallel to the burn. Starling and Song Thrush were noted before I heard a Dipper singing rather loudly and wandered back a little to spy the bird on the opposite bank. Again, out came the phone to record a short video clip. Blue Tit and Woodpigeon were noted before I reached the area where I was hoping that I might find the only bird on my 'heard only' list for 2021.
Unlike last year, I had decided to carry my thermal imager with me. I wasn't sure how well it was likely to work but I was hoping I would find out. I wandered off the path and into the rather boggy area with areas of reeds. There was much more water than expected and I had to double back. The sun was apparently above the horizon by this time but there had been no noticeable change in the light levels. I found another spot and moved in a bit again, though rather tentatively. A white 'blob' was in a channel in front of me. It had to be a bird surely? I moved slowly forward and looked again. The 'blob' had vanished. Suddenly it took flight, a rather fluttery short flight before it crashed down again out of sight before giving two short calls. A Water Rail on the list. Success.
It was quite windy but not as cold as January the 1st should be and the light had started to improve ever so slightly. A Grey Heron was seen on the far bank of the burn, and a Treecreeper was spotted on the trunk of a tree near where I had the Water Rail last year. I spooked another Roe Deer then had 2 trot across the path in front of me just a little bit further on. A skein of Pink Footed Geese headed over westwards. Interestingly there seemed to be a few small skeins moving through westwards throughout the day. A Kestrel was seen hovering in more or less the same area where I saw one last year. Not a particularly easy bird to get these days in the city so another welcome tick so early in the year.
I crossed the dual carriageway and wandered along the muddy track which followed the burn on a bit further until it meets another burn. The wooded area between that burn and the industrial estate was checked with the thermal imager in the hope of finding a Woodcock. I had to make do with Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Siskin and Great Spotted Woodpecker before it began to rain as I headed for Balgillo Road. I wasn't expecting to add too much on this next stretch but a Collared Dove, an Oystercatcher and a Sparrowhawk were new additions before I added a pair of Greenfinches in the small graveyard off Edzell Street. I wandered on down to the Sheill Street bridge over the railway line and into the small nature reserve.
There was a Stock Dove perched on the roof of the last house before the bridge and Long Tailed Tits were heard as I headed up the track to take me to the estuary opposite. Despite high tide being around 1400 there wasn't a whole lot of beach left. A Turnstone landed on the shore nearby and a Curlew was spotted low over the water much further out. A Bar Tailed Godwit headed out over the river before swinging back round and landing nearby. I wandered on along the fenceline, spotting a Mistle Thrush which landed on a streetlight before flying off again after about 30 seconds.
The time was now around 1040 though the part of the beach where the birds were was thankfully relatively quiet. I was able to pick out Eider, Wigeon and Red Breasted Merganser out on the river, as well as a few Common Gulls with Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and a single Great Black Backed Gull. There were a couple of Knot in with the Redshanks and Turnstones at the mouth of the Dighty. I eventually managed to pick out a few Goldeneye and a Rock Pipit flew past and landed on the beach. A flock of Starlings and a few House Sparrows were in the trees by the railway line. After half an hour or so of scanning there seemed to have been a large increase in the number of people (and dogs) around, so I decided that I wasn't likely to add anything new and to head for home.
A Pied Wagtail landed on the beach as I wandered along the grass overlooking the rock armour shore defences. I found Ringed Plover, Redshank and more Turnstones roosting on a quiet section of the beach near the small car park at the end of the esplanade. I wandered on through the nature reserve but found it to be very quiet with only Great Tit and Coal Tit added there. The New Year's Day 'dook' at Beach Crescent meant a detour - though as the surrounding area from the car park east of the castle to beyond Beach Crescent by this time was like the Murraygate on Christmas Eve, it was not particularly any sort of a hardship. I was glad to finally escape the crowds when I left Douglas Terrace.
A pair of Grey Seals bobbed around not far offshore and a Shag flew upriver before 6 jetskis ensured that there would be no more birds to be seen on the river as they lifted everything (though there weren't very many as it turned out) as they roared by on their way towards Broughty Ferry. There was a pair of Rooks on the grass by the storage tank opposite the end of the docks, with one begging from the other which provided the requested food. I decided to head up to Eastern Cemetery in the hope of adding Redwing, Fieldfare and Buzzard. My target for the day was 60 species, 1 more than last year's total of 59.
Eastern Cemtery turned out to also be very quiet but thankfully I managed to find a single Redwing and as I carried on through the cemetery, the local corvids alerted me to a Buzzard which took me to 59 species for the day. One of the birds I hadn't seen so far (rather surprisingly) was Cormorant. I knew if I headed to City Quay it was very likely I'd manage to add one there. The downside was it would add another mile or so to what was already a long enough walk. I decided it was just about worth the effort and headed for City Quay. A Grey Wagtail flew over. This meant I had reached my target. I debated giving up on continuing on to City Quay as I no longer needed to go there but decided as I still needed Cormorant and I wouldn't get one sat at home, I might as well.
At City Quay there was a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers in the outer quay area and I found a Sinensis race Cormorant in the area near the Clock Tower flats, though the bird appeared relatively wary and dived when it spotted me, resurfacing quite a distance away. I had planned on doing a loop round the flats and back to the footbridge but decided to just check the river and then head home as I was rapidly running out of energy. There wasn't much to see out on the water which was rather choppy so I called it a day and wearily made my way uphill and home after what had been a tiring but successful New Year's Day birding. In all I had walked just over 15.5 miles which explains the leg-weariness.
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Grey Heron
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Goldfinch |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Pink Footed Goose
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Mistle Thrush
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Black Headed Gull (Yellow 2BA7)
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| Wigeon |
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Black Headed Gull, Redshank, Knot & Carrion Crow
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Redshank, Knot & Turnstone
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Redshank & Knot
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| Goldeneye |
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Redshank, Turnstone & Knot
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Herring Gull & Great Black Backed Gull.
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Wigeon
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Herring Gull
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Starling & House Sparrow
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Common Gull
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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Carrion Crow
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Carrion Crow
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Turnstone & Ringed Plover
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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Coal Tit
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Pink Footed Goose
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Rock Pipit
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Grey Seal
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Red Breasted Merganser
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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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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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Common Gull
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Cormorant (Sinensis)
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Pied Wagtail
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant (Sinensis ssp.), Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Eider, 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, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Water Rail, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.