 |
Red Throated Diver
|
As regular readers of this birding blog will be well aware, I set myself a target of 140 species of bird to find in Dundee this year, which was 5 more than last year's 135, which I surprised myself by reaching, as I'd set the total at 125. The total number of species I was aware of which had been seen in Dundee in 2022 didn't quite make 140, so I wasn't sure if it would even be possible to get close to this year's total. However, despite my reservations I have somehow made it to within touching distance of that total, with early November's Green Sandpiper taking me to 139. I've been trying since then to get a Grey Plover or something else to help me across the finishing line. Recently, Waxwings have started to appear in Scotland though not yet in anything like the sort of numbers which were being predicted only a week or two ago. They can turn up almost anywhere, though there are a few fairly regular locations around the city that are always worth checking, just in case....
With the end of the year rather rapidly approaching, I wanted to get out and about on Saturday to have another go at catching up with some of these incoming Waxwings. There have been some seen in Montrose, Monifieth and across in Fife as close as St Michaels recently, but as yet none I was aware of, here in Dundee. I had to wait in for a parcel though I knew that if it did turn up it would be before 1230. Thankfully, it arrived just before 1100 and I quickly got organised and headed out. Unfortunately it was raining a little, which is never my favourite conditions for being outside, let alone when I'm birding, but as my parcel had been a new jacket the rain would at least let me give it a bit of a test run. Herring Gull, Goldfinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Robin, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon and Jackdaw got the list for the day underway within a few minutes of leaving home. A couple of Mistle Thrushes flew over as I headed down Mains Loan on my way for a quick look at the trees and bushes at Mains Terrace.
Things were relatively quiet there however. Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, House Sparrow and Starling were found before I continued on for an equally quick look at Swannie Ponds. Black Headed and Herring Gulls, Mute Swans, Mallard, Coot and Tufted Ducks were around but it was much quieter than of late with nothing out of the ordinary noted. No Goosander, Wigeon, or indeed, Kingfisher. A few Redwings passed overhead before I set off for a look at the trees down the Mid-Craigie side of Kingsway East. I'd had a look recently and there didn't appear to be too many trees still with many berries on them which didn't bode particularly well. As expected, there were next to no birds seen as I wandered down towards Pitairlie Road, other than a single Blackbird.
Just before I reached the bend in the road, the tops of the tall trees opposite Zulu's Peri-Peri Grill appeared above the top of the roofs of the houses. There were a few birds around at the top of one of them. I could hear Starlings calling and suspected that was what I could see. As I rounded the bend I heard what sounded a lot like a Waxwing though the Starling calls were slightly louder and mostly drowned it out. Had I imagined it? I stopped and took out the binoculars for a quick look. There were a number of Starlings in the tree as I'd expected. Above them though was a single
Waxwing. Bingo! Out came the camera and I was able to grab a few rather poor record shots before the bird flew off. Species number 140 for 2022 in Dundee finally in the bag. I intended to check a few other locations where these birds can sometimes be found at this time of year so I continued on down the Kingsway while messaging Lainy, Keith and Mathieu to let them all know. Lainy had been out since before sunrise looking for them near her home but with no luck. Keith had seen the Monifieth birds the week before and Mathieu was hoping they'd show up at Dundee University soon enough.
I headed out along the Arbroath Road which produced Coal Tit, Fieldfare and Oystercatchers as well as a small group of Curlew overflying. I had decided I would check Balgillo Road for more Waxwings but not unexpectedly I failed to find any. Chaffinch and Dunnock were somewhat meagre consolation. I headed down Edzell Road rather than continue round to North Balmossie Street. A Stock Dove was in the trees by the railway line at the local nature reserve and a Greenfinch was noted in the trees as I headed out to check the beach. The tide was already further in than expected. There were a few Wigeon just offshore and much further out I spotted a Red Throated Diver which headed upriver. There were a few Common Gulls on what was left of the beach and a Rock Pipit was down among the rock armour. The sky was still very overcast and gloomy, which made picking out detail on distant birds quite tricky.
I wandered along to Balmossie to check the gull roost but before I got there the majority of gulls flew off westwards. I did manage to see a small group of Eider out on the river and a few Turnstone down on the beach. The same woman who disturbed all the waders about half a dozen times the last time I was at Balmossie showed up again and once again managed to repeat the feat. I did manage to see a Dunlin as it flew off out over the river among the Turnstones and Redshanks. The main body of the flock of Redshanks flew back and forward while Mrs Oblivious drove every other bird off the beach to roost and feed somewhere less disturbed (good luck with that!). There were a couple of Goldeneye off the mouth of the burn. As there was clearly zero chance of finding anything else with Mrs Oblivious loitering near what should have been the main roost area I headed back along the front towards Broughty Ferry. A very distant Goosander flew downriver well out over the estuary.
A few Rock Pipits, Pied Wagtails, a few Linnets and at least one Meadow Pipit were noted around the edge of the dunes towards the castle, but again there was no sign of any hoped for Stonechat. A Red Throated Diver was seen quite close in off the end of the jetty on the west side of the small harbour. I was able to get a few photos before continuing on along the waterfront. A few Cormorants and an even closer Red Throated Diver were seen as I walked along to the Stannergate. A Grey Seal was spotted a few times and I managed to pick out a small group of Red Breasted Mergansers out in the middle of the river. At the Stannergate there seemed to be plenty of Rabbits all eating grass together near the storage tank. I added Goldcrest and Wren to the list as I headed for Baxter Park. By this time the light which hadn't been particularly great most of the day was almost gone.
I eventually made it home at around 1615 having managed to find a total of 46 species of which one was a year-tick (in bold - though you can easily guess which one it was) as well as being my 140th species from within Dundee this year. Although I've finally reached my target figure I'm still hoping to be able to add a few more so that I can better judge what sort of figure to set myself as a target for 2023. There are still a few species I've yet to see which there is a reasonable chance of managing to get, including Grey Plover and slightly less likely, Great Northern Diver. Whether I'll manage to catch up with either of these, time will tell...
 |
| Mallard |
 |
Black Headed Gull (white 2XJH)
|
 |
| Waxwing |
 |
| Waxwing |
 |
| Wigeon |
 |
| Wigeon |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
| Goldeneye |
 |
| Redshank |
 |
| Turnstone |
 |
| Turnstone |
 |
| Redshank |
 |
Redshank & Turnstone
|
 |
Meadow Pipit
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
Red Throated Diver
|
 |
Red Throated Diver
|
 |
| Eider |
 |
| Curlew |
 |
Common Gull
|
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
Red Throated Diver
|
 |
Red Throated Diver
|
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone,
Waxwing, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
