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| Oystercatcher |
Rather than take part in all of the Christmas festivities that are of very little interest to me, I prefer to use Christmas Day to get out birding while places are a bit quieter than usual. Less people means less disturbance and hopefully more birds. Although it doesn't always work out like that, especially with large family groups going for a pre-lunch walk, I always enjoy seeing and hearing birds much more than I enjoy eating one with 'all the trimmings', so my Christmas Day birding is my own wee Christmas tradition now. I decided to more or less replicate the previous Wednesday's outing though I had a bit of a sore belly when I woke up.
This did delay my planned departure time by almost an hour and I wasn't sure how far I'd actually get but I headed off out anyway. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Starling were noted as I headed in the direction of Swannie Ponds via the 'lower route'. Pied Wagtail and Blackbird were seen around the Dura Street car park. Woodpigeon and Blue Tit at Morgan Academy added another couple of species. A quick check of the ponds rounded up most of the expected birds there - Mallard, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Coot, Moorhen, Goosander and Herring Gulls. A Wigeon was a slight surprise on the lower pond.
A Siskin flew over as I headed for the Kingsway. Although I wasn't really expecting there to be any Waxwings around, I figured I might as well check as I was passing anyway. Jackdaw, Robin and a few Fieldfares were noted but overall things were very quiet as is more usually the case than recent times. I added Coal Tit to the list as I headed for the Dighty Burn between Douglas and Whitfield. There was a small flock of Redwings flying around when I arrived and the first of a few Grey Herons was on the bank. A Goldcrest foraged around in the trees by the path.
A Wren was heard a little further on and a small group of Oystercatchers flew in to land on the football pitches. A Great Tit was in the trees near the bridge and one of the 'tamer' Buzzards showed nicely in a tree by the burn. A Dipper was singing loudly by the water's edge. Things were disappointingly rather quiet along the rest of the path though I did manage to add Long Tailed Tits and a Song Thrush. There was no sign of the Kingfisher at all though. A Greenfinch flew over by the industrial estate on the other side of the road. Curlews and Rooks were in the field between there and Clearwater Park. I decided against heading up towards the new cemetery and instead crossed the fields towards the houses instead.
The walk from there to the Broughty Ferry local nature reserve proved to be very quiet though I did manage to get a Grey Wagtail near Barnhill Cemetery. The tide was much further in than the high tide time suggested when I reached the river. I was able to pick out Redshank, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Bar Tailed Godwit, a single Grey Plover and a single Knot along the shore. On the water, a Great Black Backed Gull, some Eider, a Goldeneye and a few gulls were as good as things got. Although the river was relatively calm, birds seemed to be in very short supply.
Both Rock Pipit and Meadow Pipit were noted down by the beach. A Reed Bunting along towards the castle was a bit of a surprise, though there was no sign of the hoped for Stonechat. As with Wednesday's outing, Red Breasted Mergansers were out on the river towards Dundee harbour and a Cormorant was seen in flight. The usual Rabbits were in their usual spots at the Stannergate. A few Collared Doves were seen on the walk home from there but nothing else was added. The total for the day was a bit better than Wednesday with 56 species found but I'll be hoping for a few more than that, if the weather behaves on January 1st and I'm able to get out to kick-start my Dundee list for 2023.
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Wigeon & Black Headed Gull
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| Dipper |
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| Buzzard |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Redwing |
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Carrion Crow & Buzzard
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| Magpie |
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Bar Tailed Godwit & Knot
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Ringed Plover & Dunlin
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Bar Tailed Godwit & Knot
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Pied Wagtail
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Rock Pipit
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Common Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Turnstone |
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
