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| Waxwing |
Despite the weather forecast for Sunday being overcast I decided I should probably head back to Kingsway East again for a better look at the Waxwings which Lainy had found late the previous afternoon. We had watched them drinking from the trickle of melting ice water as well as actually eating snow, both of which activities I hadn't really had the chance to photograph before. If they were still around, as seemed likely, I was hoping to get more chances to get photos of them doing these things as well as tucking into berries and other typically Waxwing things.
I headed out at just after 0850 for the walk to Kingsway East. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon got things underway though it felt very quiet. I almost stood on a rather unobtrusive Pied Wagtail as I crossed the road just around the corner from home. Starling, Blackbird, Magpie, House Sparrow, Dunnock and Carrion Crow put in appearances at a rate of just one species per minute as I wandered in the direction of Stobswell. Black Headed Gull, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit and Wren were added to the list as I headed up Pitkerro Road. I had a very quick scan of the lower pond at Swannie Ponds. It was still mostly frozen though I did manage to add Common Gull and Coot there.
Around 20 minutes after leaving the house I met Lainy in the same spot as the previous day. The Waxwings were still around, as were a number of Fieldfares. A Goldcrest showed in a tree just above our heads and a couple of Redwings flew over towards the cemetery. The rather grey skies didn't make for great conditions for photography and it felt colder than Saturday as well. We were joined by Lainy's pal, Danny (who I've met before at Fife Ness when my most recent White Billed Diver flew over). We spent the next few hours photographing the Waxwings as they fed on the berries, dropped down to eat snow and perched in some of the other trees doing very little.
We were joined by a few other birders, including Rob Armstrong and one of his sons, as well as Angus Duncan, though the birds had disappeared when they arrived. Thankfully, they returned and we found them again down by the end of the road, where we managed reasonable views for a while before they flew off again. We relocated them back near where we had started the day off, though after another short while they flew off across the dual carraiageway and over the DC Thomson building. Lainy, Danny and I decided we might as well have a look at Eastern Cemetery.
As I arrived there, the Waxwings flew over heading back to where we'd just left. Lainy and Danny arrived in Danny's car just seconds later. Although there were some Fieldfares on the grass in the fenced off area at the top end it felt a lot quieter than it had on previous recent visits. We did find some thrushes around including a few Mistle Thrushes and we had decent enough views of a couple of Sparrowhawks hunting near the Arbroath Road end. Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin and a couple of Oystercatchers were noted as we wandered round and we had brief views of one of the local Buzzards being harassed by crows and gulls before we decided to call it a day around 1230 as the light was getting worse by this time and it felt bitterly cold.
On my walk homewards, I watched a young Herring Gull playing on the ice with a golf ball at Swannie Ponds, though a flock of Long Tailed Tits and a few of the resident Mallards at the ponds were the final additions which took the list for the day to 31 species, which was reasonable considering how little area we'd covered during the morning's efforts. I did manage to get some more decent photos of the Waxwings despite the overcast conditions. We had some rather weak sunshine at one point though it co-incided with one of the Waxwings' disappearing acts, so it looks like I might have to do without any blue sky Waxwing shots this winter, though there is still time, even if the berries on the Kingsway have mostly all gone now. Finding more Waxwings will be the real challenge. Getting some early in January would be ideal though...
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| Waxwing |
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Mistle Thrush
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Blackbird |
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Mistle Thrush
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Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Osytercatcher |
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Herring Gull
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Common Gull
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Feral Pigeon
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Black Headed Gull
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Waxwing, Woodpigeon, Wren.
