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| Eider |
With the previous weekend's Waxwing taking me to my target figure of 140 for Dundee this year, the remaining question was just how many more birds might I be able to add beyond that, before the end of December. Available birding days are rapidly running out as daylight is non-existent on my walks to and from work, although birds are still being encountered - though mostly the same species every day. That just leaves the weekends and Wednesdays as well as Xmas Day and Boxing Day for me to get out birding. The weather doesn't always cooperate either meaning that it will probably prove to be tricky to add many more without a lot of luck. I've already had some pretty decent luck this year so it will be interesting to see how much, if any, extra luck I do get. I wanted to get out somewhere on Wednesday so I decided on a visit to Balmossie as that was where the weather looked best (even if it wasn't particularly great).
I headed out at 0855. Magpie, Feral Pigeon and House Sparrow in my street made for a quieter than usual start. Things didn't really pick up too much as I headed uphill to Clepington Road with Herring Gull, Robin, Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow all that were noted. Jackdaw and Starling were seen on Clepington Road. With things seeming relatively quiet I decided not to detour to Mains Terrace, choosing to continue on to Swannie Ponds instead. There were Long Tailed Tits in the trees at the ponds while on the water were a few Goosander as well as the usual Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen and Mute Swan. Black Headed Gulls and Herring Gulls were also around but it took a few minutes to add Common Gull. The lady who had messaged me on twitter recently to let me know she'd had an encounter with a Kingfisher at the ponds came over to ask me if I was 'me', and we had a brief chat (Hi, Margaret!).
I headed down the Kingsway to see if there were any Waxwings around. Wren, Blackbird and a couple of relaxed Fieldfares in a Rowan tree were noted but there weren't even any Starlings in the Waxwing tree. I continued on down to the Stannergate, noting Coal Tit on the way as well as a few Rabbits in their usual spots. I wandered out along the waterfront where I added the first Oystercatchers for the day. A Siskin and a couple of Rooks overflew. The first of a few Grey Herons was down on the shore. Even further on I found a Redshank and a few Turnstone among the pebbles. Dunnock and Chaffinch were both heard as I walked along Douglas Terrace. At Broughty Castle I was able to add Eider to the list with a female on the water and a male on the rocky islet.
Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit were both around the harbour area as was a Red Throated Diver which gave reasonably decent views. A Cormorant was also seen out on the river. A Grey Heron in the harbour took the stairs to reach the top of the harbour which gave me a few fairly unusual photo opportunities. A Meadow Pipit was noted around the dunes beyond the castle but again there was no sign of any Stonechats. The tide was relatively far out and the colder weather seemed to be keeping a lot of the usual dog walkers (though not all) away from the beach. There were a handful of Wigeon just offshore and a Little Egret was flushed by one of the dog walkers which resulted in it giving me a quite close flypast before it flew back to the east where it found a slightly less disturbed spot for a few minutes, though it was moved on again by 1 of 2 metal detectorists working the sandy part of the beach.
Nearing Balmossie I was able to add Curlew, Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and even a small flock of Sanderling. I kept scanning through the waders hoping for a Grey Plover but it was proving to be as futile as all my other visits this year. I then spotted 2 waders low over the water flying west and got the binoculars onto the birds. I quickly spotted the tell-tale black 'armpit' and hastily grabbed the camera to get a few record shots of my first
Grey Plovers for Dundee this year (number 141) - which were actually a full-blown year-tick too. The photos weren't great due to the lack of light and the distance but they did show enough to confirm the birds were indeed Grey Plover. A long overdue but very welcome Dundee tick. I happened to turn around just as Sparrowhawk glided by. A Goldfinch gave very brief but close views among the weeds along the top of the beach.
There were a few Great Black Backed Gulls with the other gulls off the mouth of the Dighty but repeated scanning failed to add anything else of note there. There were a few Grey Seals out on a sandbank but the sea was mostly rather quiet bar a few Eiders and gulls. As it wasn't particularly warm I decided not to hang around there for too long. I popped into the small local nature reserve where Stock Dove, Greenfinch and Goldcrest were all found sheltered from the wind. The walk back to Dundee gave me a few more views of the Red Throated Diver but the first new additions were only spotted as I neared the Stannergate where a group of Red Breasted Mergansers were out on the river. Weighing up my options I chose to head for City Quay.
An unexpected Song Thrush hurtled past me from across the railway line as I neared the quay from the east. There were a couple of drake Red Breasted Mergansers, a few Cormorants and a drake Eider in the outer section plus a Guillemot near the lightship. As I was packing away my birding gear to head home a Grey Wagtail landed down on the wooden jetty and I grabbed a few very quick photos before slowly wandering back up the hill homewards. I finished the day having noted a total of 55 species including a year-tick (in bold). The Little Egret, Eider and Red Throated Diver did provide some fairly decent photo opportunities though most of the waders were relatively distant. Despite the rather cold and windy conditions it had been worthwhile putting in the effort to get to Balmossie and back once again.
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Tufted Duck
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Common Gull (& Feral Pigeon)
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| Cormorant |
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| Curlew |
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Carrion Crow
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Mute Swan
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| Turnstone |
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| Redshank |
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Pied Wagtail
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Grey Heron
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| Eider |
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Meadow Pipit
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Little Egret
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Rock Pipit
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Grey Plover
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| Goldfinch |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Rook |
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| Bullfinch |
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Long Tailed Tit
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House Sparrow
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Red Throated Diver
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| Oystercatcher |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
