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| Starling |
When I went to bed on Saturday night I set the alarm for another early start. My plan was to head for either Riverside Nature Park or Balmossie. I woke up during the night feeling unwell and the morning's planned birding was looking under threat. Thankfully, I eventually managed to get back to sleep and felt a bit better in the morning when I woke up. It was still relatively early though a bit later than I had planned to get out birding. I decided I would give Balmossie a go, though I would take the 'scenic route' along the Dighty Burn rather than the more direct route along the Tay.
I headed out at 0735. Minutes later on Clepington Road I chanced upon a trio of Linnets on the fence near the taxi office. A Chiffchaff was heard singing a little further on. Swannie Ponds held no surprises though there did not appear to be any sign of the previous day's Mallard ducklings. I continued on down the Kingsway and reached the Dighty Burn walk around 0810. The first Dipper of the day flew upstream shortly afterwards. A Pheasant male showed nicely on the other side of the burn just beyond the footbridge and a Reed Bunting sang from the reedbed.
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| Linnet |
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Reed Bunting
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| Pheasant |
The first raptor of the day then put in an appearance as a young Peregrine circled upwards near the wind turbines. A Meadow Pipit called as it headed over northwards before I reached the dual carriageway. Rather than continue on eastwards I decided to head down Claypotts Road to the river. I added a Jay opposite the Grove Academy buildings and a very obliging Goldcrest which picked at spiderwebs less than a metre from my face. A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed over heading north as I passed the primary school. I continued down to the river where Common Gull, Curlew, Eider and Redshank were all noted. A pair of Rock Pipits were on the beach not far to the east of the castle. I got a message from Ian Ford to let me know he'd just had a female Marsh Harrier hunting along the edge of the bay at Riverside Nature Park.
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| Peregrine |
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| Dipper |
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| Rabbit |
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Collared Dove
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Rock Pipit
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I rued my decision to go east rather than west a little though there will always be birds I miss somewhere. I detoured into the small nature reserve and added Bullfinch and Stock Dove to the list for the day. Unfortunately for me the tide was much further out than it would have been had I been able to have made my planned start time so most birds were very distant though not distant enough to avoid disturbance from the ubiquitous dog walkers. I found a single Bar Tailed Godwit among the waders and a few Wigeon near the burn mouth. A flock of Knot flew towards Barry Buddon from the direction of Tayport. With no reason to linger I headed up North Balmossie Street and homewards.
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Mute Swan
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Pink Footed Goose
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A few Rooks were seen before I reached the Heronry where I found one nest occupied though there appeared to be at least 3 other nests in the other trees, though it was hard to determine whether or not they were completed nests or not. I crossed the dual carriageway and headed into Clearwater Park. I watched a pair of colour ringed Dippers coming and going to a potential nest site before skirting the edge of the ploughed field towards the end of Barlow Avenue. I spooked a Goosander from the burn and saw a Buzzard circling up over the buildings to the south while a Great Spotted Woodpecker drummed from somewhere among the trees I'd just walked through at the edges of West Pitkerro industrial estate.
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Grey Heron
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| Buzzard |
I continued on along the Dighty noting a few more Dippers, including one ringed bird I wasn't certain I'd seen before and 1 unringed bird. A pair of male Sparrowhawks displayed above me, and as I photographed them they caught the attention of one of a pair of 'locals' who asked what they were before remarking how expensive my camera looked as we passed each other. A Buzzard was in one of the trees nearby and he called back to let me know it was there. I acknowledged the shout and continued on westwards a little faster than previously. I decided to head for Eastern Cemetery rather than retrace my steps from the morning back towards home.
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Meadow Pipit
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A Grey Squirrel was noted in the cemetery but there seemed to be very few birds around. I was on my way to Swannie Ponds when I remembered I'd been there in the morning so I was unlikely to add anything to the list so I headed for Spring Grove instead. With the light not being as good as 24 hours previously and nothing too exciting showing in the short time I was there I called it a day. I headed home having seen or heard 54 species of bird and 3 of mammal. Later at home I happened to look out of my bedroom window and spotted a Sparrowhawk on the ground, which I hastily grabbed some photos of. There had been a male displaying overhead a little earlier but I'm not certain whether they were the same bird or not. Given my unsettled night's sleep it turned out to be a reasonably good day out.
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
