1019 : Down The Burn To Balmossie (25/9/22)

Grey Wagtail

Having drawn a blank with the Grey Plover at Riverside Nature Park on Saturday I decided that there was probably a decent likelihood of a few of the birds being around at Balmossie, as they were being reported at various locations around the country. Although there is still a little more than 3 months left to get the species onto my Dundee140 list, I figure the quicker I can catch up with one, the more flexibility I have in where I choose to go to try to get other birds for the list. Having not ventured along the Dighty Burn much over the past few months I decided I would take the longer route via there and the area beside the new cemetery to the north of Clearwater Park, just in case there might be an unexpected migrant or two to be found around the northeastern limits of the city.

Somehow it was already 0900 on Sunday morning before I ventured out though with high tide later in the afternoon it wasn't that big of a deal, although it was likely that the slow walk to Balmossie would take around 3 hours or so, most of it would be spent actively birding, rather than the 90-120 minutes that the more direct route along the Tay usually takes. It was rather standard fayre on the walk to Swannie Ponds, though a detour to the wasteground at Mains Terrace gave me a few overflying Meadow Pipits, a skein of Pink Footed Geese and a Buzzard being harassed by the local Jackdaws. Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot and a pair of adult Moorhens were all noted at the ponds, though surprisingly there were no Black Headed Gulls at all, and only a few Herring Gulls on roofs and lamp posts nearby.

Goldcrest and Chiffchaff were both found on the walk to the Dighty Burn between Whitfield and Douglas. Not surprisingly I easily found a singing Dipper down on the burn. At the footbridge, I got talking to an older gent, Bill, who was out walking. While we chatted a Grey Wagtail landed on the bridge railings, a Great Tit and a Rook flew over, a pair of Chaffinches were seen in the trees to the north, a pair of Pied Wagtails flew past, and a Pheasant and a Jay were both heard nearby. A Song Thrush showed nicely on a bush close to where we were and a Wren could be heard alarm calling down by the burn. One or two more Meadow Pipits passed overhead. Bill decided to join me on the rest of my walk along the burn to the dual carriageway and it proved relatively productive with a Kingfisher, another few Dippers and Grey Wagtails, a flock of Long Tailed Tits, a pair of Buzzards and a Grey Heron perched atop a roof.

At the dual carriageway we went our separate ways, Bill heading south, me to the north. I added a Peacock butterfly and both a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel from the path along by the dual carriageway. The short stretch of Drumsturdy Road was rather quiet but both Buzzard and Kestrel were spotted to the north as I wandered along the quiet stretch of track to the end of the houses at Clearwater Park. Stock Doves were perched on the wires and both Linnet and Skylark flew over. A Jay was photographed in flight carrying an acorn in its bill. The walk up to the new cemetery gave me 2 more butterfly species - Red Admiral and Small White and I photographed an orange moth in flight, which was ID'd later via the help of folk on Twitter as a Vapourer - a new one for me. The best part of the next hour was spent navigating my way to Balmossie. Another Sparrowhawk was seen north of the main road being harssed by a Carrion Crow. I found that the track between the houses and the burn was a little more overgrown with brambles and nettles than was ideal but I made it out the other end relatively unscathed.

Heading down North Balmossie Street I kept an eye out for flocks of Starlings, just in case, but things were very quiet. I was a little behind schedule by the time I finally reached the mouth of the Dighty which meant the tide was already a bit further in than expected. Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Dunlin and Ringed Plover were all around, but there were no Bar Tailed Godwits, Sanderling or the hoped for Grey Plover. Mute Swan, Goosander, Red Breasted Merganser, Eider and Wigeon were out on the water. Lesser and Great Black Backed Gulls were both represented among the gull roost and bathing birds which were mostly Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and Common Gulls. There were hundreds of Starlings feeding down on the seaweed, but none were Rose Coloureds.

Goldfinch, Rock Pipit, Linnet, Grey Wagtail and Pied Wagtail all passed by before a dog walker obliviously wandered down off the pipe to the beach flushing almost everything as he wandered off along the beach. Not content with clearing the beach near the pipe, he continued on, flushing the Turnstone flock again as well as a large flock of Ringed Plover and Dunlin a little further on. With most of the birds, and any likelihood of finding a Grey Plover, effectively gone for the afternoon, I decided to head homewards. Scanning out over the river at various points I added Cormorant and a few distant Gannets. The wind speed had by this time increased and I would be walking home into it, which is never particularly enjoyable.

A Grey Seal was seen out in the river, and a single Pink Footed Goose headed upriver as I chatted to an old work colleague near the castle. A pair of Swallows zipped by near the lifeboat station but birds proved to be in very short supply all the way back to the Stannergate. A pair of Grey Herons were seen in flight there and there were a few Rabbits around in their usual spots. I stopped on the bridge over the railway line to put away my binoculars (the camera had been in the bag since the eastern end of the esplanade) and happened to look up. A raptor was heading directly towards me along the line of the railway tracks. I realised quickly that the bird was the escaped Saker Falcon once again. I was able to see the remains of the leather jesses on the legs as it swept over me about 15 feet or so above before it swung off to the north and over the houses on Craigie Drive where it seemed to attract the attentions of the local corvids.

I made it home around 1600 having walked about 13 miles or so. I had managed to see or hear a total of 59 species of bird (60 if you count the 'untickable' Saker) as well as 3 of butterfly, 2 of mammals and a new moth species. Despite the lack of Grey Plover and the wind in my face on the walk home, it was an enjoyable enough day out with plenty of variety (and the Saker Falcon is alway impressive, even if it isn't a real wild bird - though it is certainly living as if it was, these days). I'll catch up with a Grey Plover eventually....

Dipper

Song Thrush

Pink Footed Goose

Long Tailed Tit

Grey Heron

Sparrowhawk

Kestrel

Stock Dove

Jay

Vapourer Moth

Rook

Robin

Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow

Ringed Plover & Dunlin

Dunlin

Wigeon & Common Gull

Red Breasted Merganser

Turnstone

Linnet

Turnstone, Dunlin & Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover

Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, [Saker Falcon], Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Butterflies - Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.

Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.

Moths - Vapourer.

1018 : Hoping For A Grey Day (24/9/22)

Guillemot

A bird I've yet to catch up with this year in Dundee is Grey Plover. There are often a few hanging around with the other waders at Balmossie, usually out by the edge of the water, during the winter months. Unfortunately disturbance by walkers, with or without dogs, does make trying to catch up with these birds very hit or miss. So when Keith managed to find one at Riverside Nature Park, in Invergowrie Bay while I was at work on Thursday, I had to hope it would linger until the weekend to give me a chance to see it. It was also a new bird for the park list (number 155) and Keith's second new wader for the park list in recent weeks following on from Sanderling. Keith let me know on Friday that he had failed to see the bird during a visit that morning, though the tide state did mean that birds were very widely dispersed at the time he had been there. So, I decided that I would return to Riverside Nature Park on Saturday morning, nice and early though with rather low expectations.

The really early start that I had considered, didn't actually materialise but with sunrise around 0700, it still felt quite early when I headed out just after 0730. As expected it was a very similar sort of list to my walks to work along a broadly similar route. The more interesting birds seen or heard included Grey Wagtail, Tree Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Bullfinch, Nuthatch and Jay. I reached the park just after 0835. A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed over as I entered the park and a Chiffchaff could still be heard singing. A small family group of Bullfinches were seen at Buzzard Wood. A couple of bizjets overhead caught my attention and I decided to head out of the park to photograph them landing next door at the airport.

After the detour I added Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Song Thrush to the migrant species already noted. A few dark billed Blackbirds were feeding on Rowan berries. Grey Wagtail, Stock Dove and Linnet were seen before I wandered round to check the bay, where I found Keith also checking through the waders. Redshank, Teal, Black Headed Gull, Tree Sparrows, Cormorant, Siskin, Reed Bunting, Grey Heron, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Yellowhammer, Mallard, Feral Pigeon and Common Gull were all added to the day's list before Keith headed homewards and Iwandered round for a look at the Lochan. Mute Swan, Moorhen, Teal and Shoveler were all to be found there with a flock of Jackdaws off to the north.

A bit more wandering added a Sparrowhawk, Pied Wagtail, Oystercatcher and Blackcap. Back round scanning over the bay again, a Great Spotted Woodpecker headed over towards Invergowrie - another potential migrant. Dunnock and Wren were both heard calling while out in the bay I was able to pick out some Goosander as the tide pushed birds further in. Lapwings were seen over the far side near the gulls and the first Buzzard of the day put in an appearance. Dunlin, Black Tailed Godwit and the Kingfisher were down in the bay. Bar Tailed Godwits and a Great Black Backed Gull were also spotted and a Curlew Sandpiper was seen in flight with a flock of Dunlin. There was no sign of the Grey Plover though I scanned through the waders again and again, just in case.

I was joined by the newest member of the Fife Red Flanked Bluetail Finders 'club' - Mathieu Soetens, a Dundee based birder who found his bird down on the coastal path at Kilminning recently. I've crossed paths with Mathieu before but this was the first time we'd had a chance to actually chat. We scanned the birds below us as we did so. Mathieu spotted the cause of some panic among the waders - the young Peregrine. Once again it was an unsuccessful hunt and the bird flew off out of the bay in the direction of the airport. Mathieu and I wandered round to the hide to try to get a better view of the remaining waders from there. A small group of Long Tailed Tits gave us good views but we failed to find a Curlew Sandpiper among the remaining Dunlin and Redshanks.

We wandered back round towards the car park via the Lochan though we didn't add anything new there. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over as we were trying to see a possible Mistle Thrush. Mathieu had to head off shortly after, so I had another check of part of the top half and the whole of the bottom half of the park before I did likewise. Peacock, Red Admiral and Small White butterflies were all on the wing when the sun was out. I eventually called it a day around 1530. A chance encounter with a chatty cyclist while putting away my camera gear near the Botanic Gardens helped decide my route home for me, as she mentioned there seemed to be a lot of Guillemots in the Tay (and even at City Quay).

Sure enough, there were plenty of the birds (around 10 in total) on the water, mostly close in to the seawall as I walked back towards the city centre. Most looked healthy enough and there was even an adult and youngster pair near the railbridge - the youngster loudly calling repeatedly, though a few looked a little less healthy. I took my time slowly wandering back along Riverside Drive photographing each of the birds before heading in to City Quay where I added Cormorant and Grey Heron. I then bumped into Twitter 'friend' and fellow Dundee wildlife enthusiast Steven Neish ( @findinganeish ) who was waiting for a young Common Seal with what appears to be an eye problem to surface. We had a brief chat before another Guillemot, rather than the Seal popped up in front of us. I left Steven to his Seal search and headed home. I finished the day with a total of 65 species (60 at the park, 28 outwith) but unfortunately no Grey Plover. The species has been seen elsewhere over the past week or so which suggests my chances of catching up with one at Balmossie soon, should now have improved.

Bullfinch

Magpie

Blackbird

Goldfinch

Grey Heron

Yellowhammer

Rook

Sparrowhawk

Skylark

Pied Wagtail

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Buzzard

Oystercatcher

Mallard

Curlew Sandpiper & Dunlin

Curlew

Peregrine

Long Tailed Tit

Black Tailed Godwit & Redshank

Blackbird

Jackdaw

Carrion Crow

Black Headed Gull

Guillemot

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Starling, Tree Sparrow.

Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Bacekd Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.

1017 : Midweek At The Nature Park (21/9/22)

Blue Tit

Although the winds have recently swung back round to the west after a spell of easterlies, there is always the chance of something good turning up out of the blue, throughout the Autumn. A visit to Riverside Nature Park felt like the best option for a spot of birding on Wednesday. I slept in a bit later than I really wanted to but I was still ready to head out at around an hour later than I would leave for work on any other day of the week. My expectation levels were relatively low, but I was hoping for an interesting migrant or two to put in an appearance so I could add something new to my 2022 Dundee 140 list. 

The walk to the park gave a very similar list to that which I would expect on my walk to work at this time of year with Common and Black Headed Gulls at the football pitches and a few Meadow Pipits passing overhead livening things up a little. I added Siskin in Balgay Cemetery and Long Tailed Tits near the park. I reached the Nature Park around 0835 and took my time to see what I could find. There were Meadow Pipits passing over as I noted some of the more regular species around the eastern entrance area. I picked up a Lapwing over towards the airport before the first group of Skylarks of the day headed over westwards. A skein of Pink Footed Geese headed upriver.

Black Headed Gull and Great Black Backed Gull were both seen in flight and a Chiffchaff was found in the bushes. I stumbled upon a few Bullfinches before spying a Rook flying east. A few more migrants were noted passing overhead - Pied (or possibly White) Wagtails, Mistle Thrushes and Song Thrushes. The first Sparrowhawk of the day was seen to the north as I headed for the Lochan. Mute Swan, Moorhen and Teal were noted there but there appeared to be no sign of the Shoveler or any Snipe. I wandered round to have a look at the birds in the bay. Curlew, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Redshank and Dunlin could all be seen down on the mud. A Grey Wagtail called as it flew over. Starling, Stock Dove, Linnet, and Goldfinch were all noted nearby. The Kingfisher was heard but not seen. Mallard, Common Gull, Bar Tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Black Tailed Godwit all joined the other species already on the list, over the next 15 minutes or so.

I had a very brief chat with Keith who let me know what he'd seen before he had to head homewards. Blackcap was the only addition between 1015 and 1100, though a Yellowhammer was found calling from atop the hedge by the cattle field. Both Red Admiral and Small White butterflies were seen as I walked back for another look at the Lochan. The Shoveler had reappeared by this time and a Reed Bunting was heard calling nearby. A Common Darter was seen hunting along the path and a Jay was seen distantly to the north. A few Jackdaws were noted over Ninewells Arboretum. I had another look through the waders in the bay as the tide rose higher pushing the birds further and further in. Eventually around noon I headed for the hide.

I met Ian Ford at the hide and we chatted as we scanned through the birds again and again, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Curlew Sandpiper was found and the young Peregrine caused a lot of panic among the Redshanks and Dunlin in particular with some of them flying off. The rest stayed put though appearing very anxious, with necks fully extended as the birds bunched close together in the shallow water. The wind speed had been increasing gradually throughout the morning and once the tide had caused the majority of birds to depart for drier roosting spots elsewhere, Ian and I left the hide. A strange call that caught our attention turned out to be a Jay in flight. Ian called it a day and headed home and I made another lap of the whole park before doing likewise. A Peacock butterfly, a lone Rabbit and a pair of Swallows were the only new additions.

The walk home proved relatively productive with Lesser Black Backed Gull, Coal Tit, Sparrowhawk, Grey Wagtail and Swallow all noted along the way, though the biggest surprise was a Brown Rat running out onto the pavement before rapidly retreating back below a hedge on Byron Street. I arrived home at around 1600 having managed a combined total for the day of  61 species of bird (57 in the park, 25 outwith), 3 of butterflies, 1 of dragonfly and 2 mammals. It was a decent enough day out, even without managing to add anything new to the Dundee 140 list.

Skylark

Robin

Rook

Sparrowhawk

Curlew

Greenfinch

Stock Dove

Grey Wagtail

Skylark

Linnet

Lapwing, Curlew, Bar Tailed Godwit & Black Headed Gull

Redshank & Dunlin

Dunlin

Shoveler & Teal

Jackdaw

Curlew Sandpiper & Dunlin

Black Tailed Godwit, Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper

Redshank

Peregrine

Jay

Teal

Buzzard

Shoveler

Woodpigeon

Mallard

Pink Footed Goose

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Brown Rat.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.

Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Darter.

Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.