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| Bullfinch |
I knew it had been a while since I last posted a round-up of my sightings from my walks to work and back. I've been trying to get around to typing one up for a while now but a back-log of posts due to my Autumn time off work has kept pushing this post back. However, as October and 'summertime' finally comes to a close, I've at last almost managed to clear the back-log or at least enough to be able to squeeze this post in. I didn't realise that the last round-up was actually relatively early in August, which means there's 11 weeks worth of catching up to do. Thankfully, that isn't 11 full weeks but it is a total of 34 days worth of birds....
So, all the way back to early August we go.... Blackcap, Peregrine, Tree Pipit and Swift were the highlights on Monday the 8th among 24 species noted. One less species was recorded the following day with Buzzard replacing Blackcap among the more interesting birds. On Thursday the 11th I managed 25 species of which Bullfinch, House Martin, Siskin, Swift and Tree Pipit once again were the best of the bunch. In addition both GreenVeined White and Peacock butterflies were seen. Only 23 species were around the following day with a Nuthatch, Swallow and Swift helping to round off the week's on-foot commute birding.
Black Headed Gull was as good as it got on Monday the 15th with just 17 species noted. The numbers of these birds, along with Common Gulls and a few Herring Gulls has fluctuated at the football pitches over the course of the time covered in this post. Some days there are lots, on otherdays hardly any. There were 21 species the following day with Peregrine the main high spot. On Thursday the same number of species were found with Treecreeper, Collared Dove and Bullfinch providing some interest. Sparrowhawk, House Martin and Bullfinch were among the 20 species noted on Friday the 19th.
The following week began with 26 species on Monday the 22nd with Bullfinch, both Grey and Pied Wagtails, as well as Meadow and Tree Pipits providing the main birds of note. The following day, Tuesday the 23rd, I was able to find 24 species. Buzzard, Grey Wagtail, House Martin, Peregrine and Song Thrush being the pick of that particular selection. The 25th conjured up another 24 species with Crossbill a welcome bonus bird, with a supporting cast of Bullfinch, Meadow Pipit, Peregrine and Tree Pipit. Friday saw only 23 species on the list for the day though a Willow Warbler was slightly unexpected, but still welcome. Grey Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Swift and Treecreeper were equally as welcome, though slightly more expected.
It was Thursday the 8th of September before I walked to work again, following some time off on holiday. 23 species were noted that day. House Martin, Meadow Pipit and a rather late Swift provided some migrant interest, and a Sparrowhawk put in an appearance for the raptor side of things. The total dropped by 2 on Friday the 9th, though a trio of raptor species was slightly out of the ordinary with Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Peregrine all seen, in addition to Jay. Tuesday the 13th provided 25 species of birds as well as 2 of butterflies. The butterflies were Red Admiral and Small White while the birds included Collared Dove, House Martin, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail and Siskin, which was a fairly decent selection.
The total on Thursday the 15th somehow managed to reach 30 species of which Cormorant was the most unexpected of all. Both Pied and Grey Wagtails, Meadow Pipit, Bullfinch and Treecreeper plus Peregrine and Sparrowhawk kept my eyes and ears busy. The 16th of September provided the first hints of winter in the air with a small skein of Pink Footed Geese arriving. Meadow Pipit provided some late summer migrant counterbalance though and Collared Dove was the best of the resident birds among just 19 species found. On Thursday the 22nd that number had dropped again by 1, with Meadow Pipit and Peregrine being as good as it got. On Friday, 23 species made it onto the list of which Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Jay were the most interesting.
As September came to a close, Tuesday the 27th managed to rustle up 26 species including Jay, Sparrowhawk, Grey Wagtail and Pied Wagtail and quite a late Meadow Pipit. Thursday had both wagtails again as well as the Peregrine among the 24 species noted. Wetter weather on Friday the 30th meant that only 20 species were recorded with a few more Pink Footed Geese showing up. Bullfinch, Buzzard, Song Thrush and Treecreeper flew the flag on the quality side of things. Early October saw the sun rising later still, meaning less activity while I walked to work. The weather didn't help too much either and on Tuesday the 4th Bullfinch was the only thing of note I managed among just 19 species. Thursday the 6th saw Bullfinch again putting in an appearance as well as more Pink Footed Geese though only 18 species made it onto the day's list.
The 13th of October has been a good date for me and my birding in the past with both Red Flanked Bluetail and White Billed Diver being found in the Crail area in 2013 and 2014 on that particular date. Dundee managed to let the side down a bit with a Song Thrush being the closest thing to a highlight among 18 species on the day. Friday the 14th proved to be even quieter with just 14 species seen or heard of which Bullfinch and what was likely my final Lesser Black Backed Gull of my on-foot commute list for 2022, were the stand-outs. By the time Monday the 17th came around, I was walking to work more or less in the dark. This did mean that I was reliant more on my ears in the mornings and my eyes in the late afternoon. 21 species including Grey Wagtail, Tawny Owl, Redwing, Song Thrush and Pink Footed Goose showed that the lack of daylight wasn't a complete hindrance. Redwings were heard the following morning along most of the route to work with more seen in the late afternoon. A rather unexpected Grey Heron flew south over the western end of Byron Street, passing to the west of the Law. I only noticed it because I'd seen a small skein of Pink Footed Geese go overhead without calling, heading inland. Only 19 species were noted that day.
Things got even quieter on the Thursday with only 14 species noted of which the calling Tawny Owl at Balgay Cemetery and numerous Redwings provided the main interest. The next day that meagre amount dwindled further to just 12 species though Pink Footed Geese joined the vocal Tawny Owl and Redwings in livening up what would otherwise have been a rather depressing walk to work. October the 24th added Jay to the Friday's trio of interesting birds which helped take the total to 20 species. Tuesday the 25th saw the numbers drop back to 17 including Pink Footed Geese and Redwings. Thursday the 27th saw a similar total recorded though Pied Wagtail joined Tuesday's winter duo among the highlights. Friday the 28th's only real highlight was more Redwings calling in the semi-darkness in the morning and a few seen in the late afternoon gloom.
In the 11 weeks covered in this post I've managed to see or hear a total of 48 species while walking to and from work, with both summer migrants leaving and winter migrants arriving as well as a few relatively unexpected sightings such as Crossbill, Cormorant and Grey Heron. The next 3 months will be mostly darkness so it will most likely be Robins, Herring Gulls, Blackbirds, Pink Footed Geese, Redwings and Wrens with the odd Tawny Owl to keep me from getting too bored on my walks to and from work. It will probably be early February before I post another update like this one, though obviously I will still be posting regular 'day' posts as I try to find the 2 final pieces for my Dundee 140 jigsaw.....
(All photos used here in this post are from my 'archives').
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Common Gull
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Blackbird |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Robin |
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Long Tailed Tit
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Blue Tit
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| Magpie |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Dunnock |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Wren |
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Pied Wagtail
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| Cormorant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Chaffinch |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Coal Tit
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Feral Pigeon
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Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Crossbill, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tawny Owl, Tree Pipit, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Green Veined White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
