A (mostly) Dundee, Scotland birding blog by Barry Farquharson.
Twitter : @sfbirding
1024 : Brilliant Balmossie (10/10/22)
Arctic Tern (LMc)
With a run of 3 days off work left for what is likely to be my final 'birding' holidays from work this year I knew I had to plan carefully and hope to be able to capitalise on the opportunity that not being at work in October could bring me. I was hoping to be able to add a bird or two more to my Dundee140 list though Dundee isn't ideally suited to turning up many 'rare' migrants (my Rose Coloured Starling being an obvious exception and also a spot of encouragement to keep looking, just in case). With the wind easing slightly on Tuesday I wanted to make a return visit to Riverside Nature Park for more vis-migging and I had a day out somewhere with Susan pencilled in for Wednesday. So where to go on Monday.....?
I settled on Balmossie, with Grey Plover my target species. I decided to take my large scope and tripod rather than a camera - which is always a surefire way to find something worth photographing! I did however have a potential back-up with Lainy thinking about joining me. I headed out for the walk to Balmossie at around 0940. It was still rather windy though it isn't quite so bad when the wind is coming from behind, rather than having to walk into it. Robin, Magpie, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Starling, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch and Blue Tit made up the initial batch of birds on the list for the day.
In Baxter Park, Pied Wagtail and Redwing were found. Just outside the park a rather vocal Grey Squirrel was in a small tree just inside a garden. A little further along the road a Grey Wagtail showed nicely as it scurried along the middle of the road. House Sparrows were seen a little further on. Things were rather quieter between there and the Stannergate where a Greenfinch flew over and a Dunnock called loudly from the bushes. A single Redshank was down on the beach and a Cormorant flew upriver. Continuing along the esplanade I added Grey Heron, Curlew and a single Pink Footed Goose by the water's edge. One of those unexpected moments where a camera would've seen some use, if I'd brought one with me.
Long Tailed Tits were heard across the other side of the railway line. A Black Headed Gull flew by and what I hope was 'just' a Buzzard drifted out over the Tay but I lost sight of it as it crossed the sun while I was setting up the tripod for the scope to try to get a better view. Having had Rough Legged Buzzard in October crossing the Tay just a short distance to the west and the bird not looking exactly right for Buzzard, it was definitely another time the camera would've helped to answer the questions. A couple of Meadow Pipits flew by and a Red Admiral butterfly flitted around by the railway line just beyond the sailing club sheds.
I bumped into Jacqui, who I've not seen for quite a while, as I headed along the front at Douglas Terrace. We had a chat about birds before she had to head off up one of the side streets. Lainy and I exchanged messages to confirm that she was going to meet me at Balmossie, with her camera, and I joked that she would be the 'official expedition photographer'. I managed to pick out a single Guillemot on the river. Around 30 minutes later as I wandered along the grass near the Glass Pavilion restaurant I was able to see a handful of Bar Tailed Godwits on the shore. Stopping for a better look, I found there were also Oystercatchers and Turnstones with them.
Continuing on again past the football pitches, I stopped for another check of the shoreline where I found a decent sized flock of Sanderling by the water's edge along with more Bar Tailed Godwits. Further to the east I could see a few Mute Swans and a flock of Wigeon. Lainy messaged me to say she'd just got off the bus and she would be at Balmossie soon. I hurried on a bit with a few Swallows passing me westwards and a Skylark heard calling from above somewhere as it too migrated over. Down on the beach I found a single Ringed Plover though surprisingly there was no sign of any Dunlin. A few Pied Wagtails were catching flies down on the sand as Lainy arrived. We added a few more species - a very distant Gannet, some Eiders, a few Linnets and a Rock Pipit.
We then wandered along to the mouth of the burn where we were able to see a couple more species without trying too hard - both Goosander and Red Breasted Merganser were offshore. I was having a general scan through the birds we could see as the tide was bringing birds in closer when I realised I had an adult Mediterranean Gull in the scope. Lainy took a few photos and I decided I would try to set up my digiscoping adaptor to allow me to use my iPhone as a camera and get a few photos and video of my own. This actually worked better than expected. Shortly after we saw an older couple stop to look at the birds near the outflow pipe using binoculars. As they got closer to where we were, we gestured to them to come over. I told them I had a Mediterranean Gull in the scope and let them both see it. It turned out that the male half of the duo actually reads this blog, (so 'hello' to Jim and Jean and I hope you enjoyed seeing the Mediterranean Gull).
We added Lesser Black Backed Gull to the list but failed to find anything else for a while. However, little did we know that things were about to get more interesting. As I scanned towrds Monifieth I picked up an auk on the water but it kept diving before I could get any sort of a decent look at it. I would refind it and it would immediately dive again. As I searched for it again, I found another interesting bird - a rather late tern perched on one of the wooden groynes beyond where the auk was diving. As we had seen both the birds from Dundee, if they turned out to be new birds for my Dundee140 list, I could count them, even if I had to venture into Angus to confirm the identifications.
We crossed the footbridge and walked along the rather busy path. We soon picked up the auk but once again it dived before we got a decent look at it. It wasn't a Guillemot but it didn't look right for a Razorbill either. We eventually discovered why, when it showed long enough on the surface for us to be able to see that it was a rather unexpected Puffin - the first time I've seen the species in the Tay. Mark Wilkinson also had another 3 of the birds upriver between Tayport and Broughty Castle. A walker was clambering over the wooden beach defences to walk along the sand in the direction of the tern. As we still hadn't got an ID for that bird I suggested we hurry on to get a better view before it was likely to be flushed. Lainy had only managed a couple of record shots of the Puffin but I hoped that we would get a better chance after we'd ID'd the tern. The tern was quickly identified as an Arctic Tern, though with the 'receding hairline' look of an Autumn bird and it stayed put even as the walker passed us and it. We moved closer and I managed to get some digiscoped photos and video and Lainy got some 'proper' photos.
We headed back to refind the Puffin but there was no sign of it. Scanning further out and off to the east and west we drew a blank. This was disappointing, especially as Lainy had been persuaded to leave it to get an ID for the tern, and opportunities to photograph Puffins in October are very few. We wandered back to the Dundee side and scanned from there. I did manage to find a couple of Red Throated Divers out on the river. We added Common Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Dunlin and Jackdaws down on the beach, as well as a few Mallards on the water. More scanning out to the east using the scope found an auk, which I assumed was going to be the Puffin, but instead turned out to be my second Dundee140 tick of the day - a Razorbill. A Rook flew past before we set off towards Broughty Castle to try and see the Puffins seen earlier by Mark Wilkinson.
Not unexpectedly give that the tide had turned by the time we got there, we failed to find any sign of them. Lainy had to get home as she was heading out that evening so she had a bus to catch. Checking messages on twitter from Mark, I discovered he had a Barnacle Goose over at Tayport along with some Brent Geese. Both of these would be new for my Dundee140 list - even though they were both in Fife - as long as I am in Dundee I can count them for the list. I didn't think there was much chance of being able to see either species but Lainy suggested that as I had the 'good' scope with me, I had nothing to lose by at least having a look. Incredibly, I managed to find a single Barnacle Goose at the edge of the saltmarsh with the scope at maximum magnification. The off-white face caught the light really well every time the bird lifted its head and also the grey body and black front and neck were quite obvious in the sunlight. Lainy had a look through the scope to see if she agreed on the ID. Although my initial directions where to look weren't perfect, Lainy eventually managed to find the bird and she agreed that it was definitely a Barnie. My third Dundee140 species of the day which took me to 137 - just 3 short of my target.
Lainy headed off to catch her bus and I wandered home with the wind blasting me as I hurried along the esplanade. The Pink Footed Goose was out on the water near the Stannergate and I added Blackbird and Chaffinch as I neared home. I had managed a total of 55 species of which 3 were Dundee140 ticks with one of those (in bold) also a year-tick. It had been a really enjoyable and unexpectedly productive day's birding. Although I'd missed out on some photos, it is highly likely that without the scope I wouldn't have managed to get all of the 3 Dundee 140 ticks. Thanks to Lainy and my attempts at digiscoping proving more successful than usual I actually have a few photos (and videos) for this post. Never did get that Grey Plover though.......well, not yet.
Carrion Crow & Buzzard (LMc)
Mediterranean Gull (LMc)
Puffin (LMc)
Arctic Tern (LMc)
Mediterranean Gull
Wigeon
Wigeon
Birds - Arctic Tern, Barnacle Goose, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
