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| Robin |
Winter was due to arrive across Scotland with a vengeance, at the
weekend with ice and snow on the cards across swathes of the country along with
plummeting temperatures. I wanted to get out and squeeze in some
birding if at all possible on Saturday but things didn't look overly promising when I
got out of bed and I even posted on twitter bemoaning the likelihood of
a birding free day (bar watching from my living room window). However, the sky
cleared sufficiently to make it look like it might be potentially worthwhile getting out
somewhere. There appeared to be a window of a few hours between the
waves of showers passing though, so with that in mind I got organised,
though with no firm plan in mind as to where I'd go, or how long I'd
stay out in the cold for.
It was just after 1000 when I set off. With the
chill wind from the east I decided to head for City Quay to see if there were
any birds sheltering in the quay itself, or anything of note out on the
river (maybe a diver or a Long Tailed Duck). Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow,
Blackbird, Magpie, Long Tailed Tit, Black Headed Gull, Woodpigeon,
House Sparrow, Robin and Goldfinch provided a steady flow of species on
the 20 minute walk down. A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew upriver a few
minutes before I reached the quay area. A Grey Heron and a 'Sinensis' race Cormorant
were resting on two of the pontoons in the inner part of the dock. I had
a look out on the river where a few Red Breasted Mergansers, another
Grey Heron, a few more Cormorants and a sole Oystercatcher were all noted around Submarine Rock. Starling and Grey Wagtail were spotted as I wandered out
alongside the railway line.
I was headed for Eastern Cemetery
next, in search of winter thrushes and potentially Waxwings too. The
thrushes were there - Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes, but not
unexpectedly, there were no Waxwings. Goldcrest, Wren and Greenfinch also put in
appearances as did a Sparrowhawk which was actively hunting and almost
managed to catch one of the Redwings. Swannie Ponds was next but as I
headed for the exit at the top end of the cemetery, I spotted a few
Curlews dropping into the fenced off area at the very top corner. There
were half a dozen of the birds along with a Common Gull feeding on the grass. I
took a few photos and retreated back out the gate again, to resume my
journey to the ponds.
As I had expected, the ponds were largely
frozen over. This does make spotting ringed gulls a lot easier, and once
again I managed to pick out both white 2XJH and J2014. A metal ringed bird
was also visible, but there was a lot of movement by the flock as people
stopped by to feed the ducks (swans, gulls and pigeons) so I didn't manage to read the whole thing. Mallard,
Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot and Mute Swan were all added there. Common Gulls
and Herring Gulls were also dotted around among the Black Headeds but
there was nothing more exciting around. I contemplated heading for Caird
Park, via Mains Terrace but instead chose to try Spring Grove at Baxter
Park, where I hoped the flowing water might bring in a few birds.
This
actually worked out relatively well, although things started off
relatively quietly with just a Dunnock, a Robin and a couple of Blue
Tits to be seen during the first 15 minutes or so. However, things slowly
picked up subsequently. A Grey Squirrel was foraging among the leaf litter with a
load of Woodpigeons. A Pied Wagtail was flying around nearby. Great Tit,
Chaffinch and Song Thrush showed among the bushes while
Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Blackbirds dropped in to drink and bathe. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker
calling from near the pavilion building but couldn't see it. A few
Siskins dropped in for a few seconds. I was joined by another birder and we had a
chat about what was around. It turned out that we were both aware of
each other via twitter.
He was David Adamson from Edinburgh who
was visiting his son but squeezing in a wee bit of birding while his
wife and son had lunch. He was trying to see 20 species. We were able to
add Song Thrush, Stock Dove and the previously elusive Great Spotted
Woodpecker to his list before he had to head off again. I was then joined by a
local who was having a cup of tea and a biscuit and looking to see if
he could see the mice (or vole). I said I thought they'd likely be
hibernating (though I wasn't absolutely certain). He left one of his
biscuits near one of the holes the rodents tend to appear at when he headed off.
Around 10 minutes or so later, I saw movement and there was one of the
Wood Mice trying to drag the biscuit into the hole. As the biscuit
probably weighed as much as the mouse, it gave up and decided to eat it in situ.
The OM-1 wasn't quite as cooperative as the
D500 is, when it came to getting photos of the mouse, though I did get a few in the end.
Something startled the mouse and I watched it turn to look back into one
of the tunnels to the side. It was then joined by a second mouse and there was a brief
tug-of-war between the 2 over the biscuit before the newcomer hauled it
back out of sight, leaving the rather bemused original mouse to go
without. A wee while later, I spotted movement on a nearby tree trunk and
ventured over for a closer look. As I had suspected it was a
Treecreeper, but it flew to another of the small trees before I managed a photo. I
finally had good views and managed to get some decent photos at a larger
tree by the main path.
By this time, the light was beginning
to wane and I was contemplating heading for home and something
resembling warmth. A Grey Wagtail had overflown earlier and when I heard
it again, I expected to catch another fleeting glimpse of it overhead.
However, the bird had other ideas and dropped into the grove where it
flitted around for a minute or so before once again flying off. I headed
back up to Swannie Ponds where a pair of Goosanders had materialised in
the intervening period since my earlier visit. I checked again for
more colour ringed gulls and the Kingfisher but nothing had changed on either score.
Still the same ringed birdds, and still no Kingfisher. I wandered home via a quick look at Mains Terrace which was almost
devoid of birds. I then added a couple of Jackdaws on Clepington Road taking
the total for the day to a reasonable 44 species of birds and 2 of
mammals. Despite the light, I did manage to get a few relatively decent
photos too.
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Cormorant (Sinensis race)
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Redwing, Fieldfare & Mistle Thrush
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Mistle Thrush
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Curlew |
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Common Gull
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Mute Swan
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| Magpie |
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| Blackbird |
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Great Tit
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Blue Tit
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| Robin |
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Song Thrush
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Grey Squirrel
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Wood Mouse
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| Chaffinch |
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| Treecreeper |
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Grey Wagtail
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Black Headed Gull
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Coot & Moorhen
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Herring Gull
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| Goosander |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Wood Mouse.
