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Tufted Duck
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I didn't have much energy on the last Saturday in October but did want to make sure I got some birding in as it was the last day of 'summertime'. More or less from now until late January, there is a fairly small window of opportunity to go birding. By December, it is only really getting light towards 0900 and with sunset around 1500, there can be as little as 3 or 4 hours of useable daylight - though on a clear day the pre-dawn and post-dusk sky can extend that light for another 90 minutes or so. The weather can be almost anything with ice and snow, high winds, driving rain showers and crisp, frosty sunny days all equally as likely. With this in mind, I need to get out as much as I can, when I can, so the day's lack of energy wasn't particularly helpful.
I headed out at around 1110 with a vague plan to repeat the previous Sunday's route in better lighting conditions, though it was one of those days when things weren't set in stone and when I might end up almost anywhere - though not too far away. Herring Gull, Starling, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Redwing and Robin were all on the list before I'd reached Court Street. House Sparrow, Blackbird, Wren, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Jackdaw and Woodpigeon were all noted as I headed up the brae to Clepington Road. I wandered along to Mains Terrace to see if there were still Redwings there. Although it wasn't quite as active as the Sunday before there were still plenty of Blackbirds and some Redwings around as well as Chaffinch, Siskin, Great Tit, Dunnock, Magpie, Jay and Greenfinch. A Black Headed Gull glided by while higher overhead there were still 1 or 2 Skylarks passing.
I headed for a look at Swannie Ponds next, adding a pair of Collared Doves on the short walk. A Grey Heron was stood in the water at the upper pond. As I walked down the steps I heard what I was sure was a Kingfisher calling but couldn't see any sign of it. There were the usual Mallards and mix of gulls (mostly Black Headed and Herring but also a few Commons), as well as the Mute Swan family, a few Coots and the Moorhen pair. There were a small number of Tufted Ducks keeping a fairly low profile at the top end of the top pond. I made two circuits of the top pond trying to find the Kingfisher but drew a blank. I continued on to Eastern Cemetery where it didn't take long to see a Sparrowhawk, followed shortly afterwards by a second bird much closer. What looked to be a third individual was seen a bit later in the lower half of the cemetery perched in one of the conifers before flying off when someone walked past as I was photographing it from a distance.
A Lesser Redpoll flew over and I soon found flocks of Redwings, Mistle Thrush, the odd Song Thrush and plentiful Blackbirds as well. There were probably a few hundred very mobile thrushes, with Redwings making up the bulk of the numbers. Goldfinch and Goldcrest were seen in the trees. I ran into a few Grey Squirrels and Rabbits as I wandered around. A Coal Tit showed relatively well in one of the trees and a skein of Pink Footed Geese headed inland. Both Pied and Grey Wagtail were noted before I wandered homewards via Swannie Ponds and Mains Terrace again followed by a rather more circuitous route for the final part of the journey while trying to avoid the crowds on their way to Tannadice Park to watch Dundee United versus Motherwell.
Surprisingly, despite the better weather conditions the number of species seen or heard actually ended up being lower than on Sunday, with 41 on Sunday, but only 40 on Saturday. However that is birding, it doesn't always make sense and even the most predictable of birds isn't guaranteed to put in an appearance - though Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon seem to do their best locally to appear every single day. Once again I managed to get some reasonably decent photos without there being anything particularly spectacular. I was still glad I'd made the effort to get out for a few hours worth of birding though.
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| Redwing |
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House Sparrow
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| Redwing |
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Moorhen (& Coot)
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Grey Heron
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Collared Dove
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Mistle Thrush
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| Magpie |
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
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| Rabbit |
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Grey Squirrel
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Herring Gull
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Grey Wagtail
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Black Headed Gull (White J0214)
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Common Gull & Black Headed Gull
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Redpoll, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
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On Sunday the weather wasn't looking too promising so I tried something a little different. I spent an hour stood at my living room window watching and listening to see how many species of birds I could see or hear, followed a few hours later with a second hour's worth of watching. Just after finishing the first hour, a Buzzard showed up, upsetting the local Feral Pigeons. What was likely a Sparrowhawk but went unseen upset them a few times during my first hour's watch and again in the second hour's worth. In total I managed a reasonably decent 26 species of which Mistle Thrush was a first for my 'house list'.
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| Jackdaw |
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Mistle Thrush
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| Buzzard |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail,
Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle
Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Siskin, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
