As is always the case in the first few months of a new year I had a few days worth of annual leave from work still to take before the end of March. I settled on a couple of days at the end of January and another couple at the end of February. For the first of those days I wanted to get out somewhere and decided that as the high tide should be a little later than it had been on Saturday that I would try again to get Sanderling and Grey Plover onto my Dundee list for 2022 by once again heading to Balmossie.
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| Goldeneye |
Thankfully, it wasn't quite as windy as Saturday when I headed out at about 0850. I planned on taking quite a direct route to give me the best chance to get to Balmossie before the tide was too far in. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Blackbird and Starling were the first birds onto the list. Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Great Tit and Chaffinch were next at Baxter Park. Continuing on I found Magpie and Siskin before I reached Old Craigie Road. Oystercatcher was noted on Craigie Avenue along with Black Headed Gull.
When I reached the Stannergate I found a couple of Redwings and Blackbirds under the trees just south of the railway line and a pair of Long Tailed Tits foraging in the branches above. A Dunnock and a few Rabbits were seen a little further round towards the river. It was again fairly quiet on the rather hurried walk out along the waterfront with a Wren in the bushes near the car park and a small number of Redshank, Turnstone and Oystercatcher along the shore. There were a few Red Breasted Mergansers and Eiders out on the river. I added a Curlew on the beach at Douglas Terrace and a few more Black Headed Gulls were also noted.
A Rock Pipit flew off near the harbour and a quick look at the rocky islet just off the harbour wall answered a question from Saturday - the identity of the white ringed Shag I'd seen near the castle. It was white EBF, very likely an Isle of May bird from last year (though I'll have to wait for confirmation). A Pied Wagtail was seen on the far side of the castle. Despite my hopes of there being more beach for the birds to feed on when I got there, I realised that there was already very little difference from Saturday. I did spot a few Bar Tailed Godwits on one small spit of sand a bit further on.
There were also plenty of dog walkers on the beach despite it being a Monday. The less windy conditions meant that the beach was back to being a favoured spot for exercising dogs, to the detriment of the birds that need the shore to feed and roost with as minimal an amount of disturbance as possible. A bit further on I found smaller numbers than Saturday of Ringed Plover and Dunlin. There were Wigeon, Eider, Mallard and Goldeneye on the water. I ended up spending a fair bit of time photographing the Goldeneye as they fed at the mouth of the Dighty Burn, though at times the strong sunshine made getting the exposure correct for the white patches on the male birds.
A Great Black Backed Gull dropped in among the Herring Gulls, Common Gulls and Black Headed Gulls but despite plenty of scanning I failed to add anything less common among them. A Cormorant was seen flying off inland to the north, and a single Linnet circled round overhead before heading off west again. A skein of Pink Footed Geese headed upriver. With nothing much happening to justify lingering for much longer I decided to start my walk back home. I checked out the local nature reserve which did add a few species to the list for the day with Robin, Stock Dove, Bullfinch and Coal Tit all found there.
I stopped to photograph Turnstones on the grass opposite the Ship Inn and a small group of Starlings squabbling around some nearby feeders in a tiny front garden. The walk back along the waterfront proved to be very quiet with hardly any birds seen on the way. A Greenfinch was heard near the car park at the western end of the waterfront walk and a Song Thrush was seen where the Redwings were noted on the walk out. A walk through Eastern Cemetery also turned out to be really quiet.
I continued on to have a look at Swannie Ponds which did add a few more species to the list for the day. A single Moorhen, a few Goosanders, Tufted Ducks, the local Mute Swans, some Coots and the usual gull species brought the list for the day to a nice round 50 species. Nothing more was added in the final 10 minute walk home from there. Although I failed again to add anything new for my Dundee 2022 list I did get some nice photos in the sunshine, especially of the Goldeneye. I've had both better and worse birding days and there's still plenty of the year left to get Sanderling and Grey Plover onto the list for the year (both have been very late additions in the previous 2 years). One month down and 80 of the 140 target already on the list. It gets a bit tricky from here to add much until the summer migrants begind to arrive in late March, but I'll keep trying.
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Shag (White EBF)
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Black Headed Gull & Goldeneye
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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Goldeneye
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| Goldeneye |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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Black Headed Gull
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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Redshank & Turnstone
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| Wigeon |
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| Eider |
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Black Headed Gull (Yellow 2BA7)
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| Blackbird |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Blackbird |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Chaffinch |
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Long Tailed Tit
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Wren |
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| Eider |
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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| Starling |
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| Starling |
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| Turnstone |
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Rock Pipit
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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Common Gull & Black Headed Gull
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Common Gull
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Carrion Crow
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| Redshank |
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Rabbit
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Song Thrush
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit.