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| Magpie |
I decided I would make an early start and head up the Law on Wednesday morning to do a spot of vis-migging. I intended to continue on elsewhere afterwards, to Clatto or Riverside Nature Park via a return home to shed some of my early morning 'warm' clothing. The weather forecast was relatively decent which I hoped might at the very least give me a chance at adding a Swallow or House Martin to my Dundee 140 list. With sunrise around 0545, I headed out around 0540 for the 15 minute walk to the top of the hill.
It was standard fayre on the walk to the hill with nothing of any particular note encountered. Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Magpie were all quickly noted from the top of the hill. There seemed to be a band of fog over a large chunk of Fife to the southwest which would potentially impact on movement by birds from that direction. A Blackcap began singing around 0620 from the west side of the hill. A Linnet flew past heading west. There appeared to be very little actual migration movements happening which made for a rather boring first hour or so though a Meadow Pipit was heard rather faintly overhead followed 10 minutes or so later by a Siskin. An Oystercatcher was heard from the north and a Peregrine was seen perched on Cox's Stack.
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Herring Gull
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| Linnet |
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| Goldfinch |
A second Meadow Pipit and a second Siskin were noted but by 0740 it was clear that if there were any birds moving, they were either too high to see against the blue sky or they weren't actually anywhere near the hill. I did add Bullfinch, Song Thrush and Jackdaw before deciding to head for home to shed a layer of clothing then head out again to somewhere with more birds. I reached the edge of the allotments on the east side and spotted movement in a small tree at the top of the steps. It turned out to be a Blackcap and for a pleasant change it was a female. With the blue sky behind and the sun on the bird the photo opportunities were good and I made the most of them. A second female and a male were also in the same tree and I spent around 15 minutes watching them. Dunnock, Blackbird and Chaffinch all shared the same tree during the same period
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Carrion Crow
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| Blackcap |
Thanks to the Blackcaps my mood had lifted and I decided I might as well try to photograph the Willow Warbler singing from near the toilets. A Robin showed nicely though the Willow Warbler proved rather less co-operative. I got talking to a dog walker who usually has House Martins nesting on her house over the summer which are very likely the birds I see over the church on Kinghorne Road when I choose to route that way on my walk to work. After our chat she continued on up the hill and I wandered round the back to the area near the picnic tables. A pair of Jays flew over and I could hear a pair of Blackcaps singing from either side of the road. I continued on up the road to the top of the hill again and added Stock Dove to the relatively short list for the day from there.
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| Blackcap |
Around 0915 the first Buzzard of the day put in an appearance, displaying to the north of the hill. A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from the trees somewhere down by the east side allotments. The next 3 hours or so were spent watching the Buzzards displaying as well as distant views of Sparrowhawk and out to the west what appeared to be the escaped Saker Falcon seen originally in February, as well as a couple of slightly closer views of a Peregrine. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly flitted around nearby and a Rook also overflew. I did finally spot a couple of definite migrants as a pair of Sand Martins headed past westwards. A Meadow Pipit was finally seen too and Long Tailed Tits were heard.
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| Buzzard |
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Blue Tit
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| Peregrine |
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Small Tortoiseshell
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Carrion Crow & Buzzard
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Willow Warbler
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I finally called it a day around 1330 when the haar that had been making its way slowly upriver for a few hours started to creep over the top of the hill as well. It had never been as warm as it had been forecast to be so the added cooling effects of the haar meant that there was no benefit to be had by sticking around any longer. I headed for home having seen or heard a total of 37 species. Despite the distinct lack of variety I did manage to get some rather nice photos of Blackcap, Magpie and Buzzard in particular. As it turned out, Fife seemed to be the place to be for decent migrants with a Blue Headed Wagtail and a Spotted Crake both seen on the day - possibly forced down by the foggier conditions over Fife. That's birding though...
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, (escaped Saker Falcon), Sand Martin, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Willow Warbler, Wren.
Butterflies - Small Tortoiseshell.
