My birding on Wednesday was supposed to be an early start to try to finally catch up with Woodcock in Dundee this winter. However, the wind sounded pretty strong (and also I imagined rather cold) when I woke up to the alarm at 0500, so back to sleep I went. By the time I got out of bed the wind seemed to have calmed down a lot but the opportunity to try to get Woodcock on the Dundee 140 list had passed for the day. I weighed up my options and settled on a trip to Balmossie to try to add Red Throated Diver, Sanderling and Grey Plover. Although all 3 of them are gettable there, none of them can be relied on these days. However, for Sanderling and Grey Plover there are no other options within the city.
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| Eider |
I headed out at about 1025 to the sky above my street full of Feral Pigeons and Herring Gulls milling around - a sure sign of a raptor somewhere near. Sure enough, a Sparrowhawk circled lazily above them. Not a bad way to start the day's birding. I added Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit and Starling before I reached Clepington Road where House Sparrow was found. A quick look at Swannie Ponds gave me Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Black Headed Gull, Coot, Goosander and a surprise pair of Wigeon. There were also a few Herring Gulls around.
Eastern Cemetery was very quiet once again with Jackdaw, Oystercatcher and Chaffinch added there with the first two both being fly-overs. I added Long Tailed Tits at Stannergate along with a Greenfinch and a few Goldfinches. A Wren was also noted. The Tay seemed very quiet but as I headed east I did eventually add Red Breasted Merganser and Eider out on the water. A single Turnstone was seen on the shore by the Eagle wing feathers sculpture. There was a small flock of Redshanks roosting on the pipe at Douglas Terrace. A Grey Seal was bobbing around near the lifeboat jetty. I heard Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit near the castle.
A Shag was fishing just offshore behind the castle. A slight surprise was a rather hairy caterpillar crossing the pavement behind the dunes at the esplanade. A detour into the local nature reserve added Blackbird, Great Tit and Stock Dove but it was otherwise very quiet again. The tide was much further in than expected and with walkers on what was left of the beach birds were few and far between. A Buzzard was being harassed by Carrion Crows to the north of the railway line. A single Curlew, a female Goldeneye and a distant Cormorant were the only new finds at Balmossie. I scanned through the gulls and the Redshanks and Turnstones but there were not even any Dunlin or Knot or Great Black Backed Gulls to be found among them. A few Oystercatchers were seen but things were much quieter than usual. Wigeon, Eider and Mallard were around in relatively low numbers though.
I hung around for a while but things didn't improve any. I headed for home in the hope that the rising tide might bring something interesting into the estuary but unfortunately the only things of interest were a Grey Seal pup trying to climb up the stairs at Broughty harbour, a drake Eider in the harbour and some nice close views of a trio of Pied Wagtails by the castle. I added Rabbit to the mammals list at the Stannergate but failed to add anything else before I arrived home around 1600. A total of only 39 species of bird was really disappointing given that I'd routed via Swannie Ponds, meaning that there were at least 10 species missing from a 'normal' trip to Balmossie via Swannie Ponds. I did get a few decent photos so it wasn't a total waste of time and effort, though I've certainly had much better trips to Balmossie and back previously.
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Wigeon & Goosander
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| Redshank |
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| Shag |
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Caterpillar sp. (Ruby Tiger?)
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Carrion Crow & Buzzard
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Carrion Crow & Buzzard
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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Carrion Crow
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| Goldeneye |
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Herring Gull
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Wigeon & Mallard
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Redshank & Turnstone
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Carrion Crow
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Common Gull
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| Eider |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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Grey Seal
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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Red Breasted Merganser & Eider
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Eider & Red Breasted Merganser
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Carrion Crow
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Carrion Crow
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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Common Gull
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Common Gull
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Oystercatcher & Turnstone
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Herring Gull
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.