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| Moorhen |
I always try to get out birding on January 1st. I like to try to see as many species as possible, so I get out before first light and try to use as much of the available daylight as possible. Most years I walk out to Balmossie and back, via a number of local 'hot-spots' and my plan for 2023 was to more or less do the same. I've been really lucky with the weather over the past few years but the weather forecast for the 1st of January has slowly deteriorated as the day has drawn closer. Before going to my bed after "the bells" I checked the weather and set the alarm for early, with a plan to check the weather again when I woke up and then see whether or not I would be going birding.
In the morning the forecast was mostly for light rain, on and off, after a pre-dawn downpour. It wasn't really raining when I got up, but it had started raining as I was getting ready to head out about an hour later. My recently purchased jacket proved its worth a few days ago on my very wet walk to work, and the waterproof trousers seemed to hold up reasonably well too, so that was the 'staying as dry as possible' side of things more or less covered. I would have to hope that if it did rain heavily that I could find a tree or something to provide at least some shelter until the worst of it had passed. I had a few minutes at my living room window around 0800 to try to get my first bird of the year, out of the way. Herring Gulls were first onto the 2023 list as they are most years, with birds calling in the middle distance and a flight of 4 flying over just visible against the dark sky. Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Starling were also heard.
I waited to see if the rain would stop before eventually heading out at 0830 even though it hadn't yet really abated. I headed for Mains Terrace first noting Robin, Feral Pigeon, Black Headed Gull and Jackdaw as I walked up Court Street. A Siskin passed overhead just before I reached Clepington Road. A pair of Fieldfares flew over at Mains Terrace while a Dunnock was heard calling from a nearby garden and a Blue Tit did likewise from a small tree somewhere behind me. There were a few Woodpigeons in the trees by the road and a Goldfinch was seen and heard in flight. I headed for Swannie Ponds next picking up House Sparrows in a front garden on Castle Terrace on the way.
There seemed to be plenty of birds around at the Swannie Ponds, though without there being anything out of the ordinary. Black Headed and Herring Gulls, Mallard, Tufted Ducks and Goosander, Coots, Moorhen and Mute Swans (although it appeared a few of the youngsters were no longer around - though they could have been round the back of the island). A Magpie was in the taller trees by the road in the 'park' and a Mistle Thrush called as it flew in the direction of the Kingsway. I decided to head down Pitkerro Road then along the Dighty Burn from the bottom of the road. There were Long Tailed Tits in the trees just up from Pitkerro Care Home and as I neared the burn I could hear a Dipper singing. I managed to see it down by the water's edge, though it flew off a short distance when it realised I was there.
I added Great Tit in the trees before running into a Grey Heron by the side of the burn. There was a large flooded area on the football pitches at Drumgeith Road and having drawn a blank on Common Gull at Swannie Ponds earlier I was glad to find a few of them there. Also around by the flood were a few Oystercatchers. A Grey Wagtail was heard but not seen. I crossed the road and continued on along the side of the burn. I added Wren, Chaffinch, more Redwings and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the taller trees by the football pitches. There were 4 Roe Deer at the BMX track. I contemplated seeking shelter there as the rain was now a bit heavier, but the Deer ran off when they spotted me. A few minutes later they ran along the edge of the burn in the opposite direction having apparently circled back around.
A small skein of Pink Footed Geese passed over in the direction of the river. I found a couple more Dippers along the burn as well as adding a Goldcrest and a Bullfinch in the trees by the water. There was no sign of any Kingfisher which was unsurprising given the amount of water flowing down the burn, due to the amount of rain we've had recently. I found a rather relaxed Buzzard in the trees on the other side of the road, which flew a short distance round to the other side of the stand of trees when it spotted me. Things were rather quiet as I wandered along the back of West Pitkerro Industrial Estate. It had started to rain a bit heavier again by the time I reached Barlow Avenue. Scanning over the fields from there added Rook to the list, and I had decent views of a mixed flock of Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits as well as a Goldcrest in the nearby bushes, trees and other vegetation.
I headed round to Drumsturdy Road for the short walk along to the track between the fields towards Clearwater Park. There were some large puddles around near the start of the track but I was able to get around these. There were few birds seen on the walk out. A pair of Woodpigeons were on the wires and a Buzzard flew across the field to the north. As I neared the crossroads of tracks I realised there were a few Curlew picking around in the field to the south of the track, along with more Woodpigeons, a number of Fieldfare and a single Mistle Thrush. A Pheasant was spotted in flight to the north. Heading north at the crossroads towards the cemetery, I discovered a pool in a hollow by the fence halfway up the track. I spooked a few Pheasants from there as well as a Kestrel.
The Kestrel relocated to one of the trees in the overgrown area between the track and the new cemetery. I had good views of it and hid behind a tree to dig out the camera from my bag so I could grab a photo or two. Needless to say, off flew the Kestrel as soon as I raised the camera. A few Chaffinches were scant consolation. I had a look round the edges of the cemetery where a Jay flew up from the grass and out of sight. It began to rain again as I headed back down towards the crossroads, with the Kestrel flying on ahead of me a couple of times as soon as it spotted me (which was before I spotted it). A pair of Yellowhammers flew up onto the wires by the crossroads but didn't linger. I checked the weather forecast as by this time I was beginning to feel like I was going to end up getting wet through eventually if things didn't improve soon.
Checking the weather for Broughty Ferry, I discovered that mist was forecast. Continuing on an extra few miles to Balmossie to find that I wouldn't be able to check the waders anyway didn't seem like a particularly good idea, so I decided that I should head homewards instead. A Stock Dove was seen on the wires where the Woodpigeons had been earlier and another was in the large garden of the house on the south side of the bend in the road opposite the Kellas Road junction, along with a Grey Squirrel. A second Grey Squirrel was below the trees on the bank of the Dighty where I'd seen the Kingfisher the other week. Continuing on along the burn, I added a Song Thrush but other than a few Grey Herons and Dippers there was little else to see. A Buzzard on the metal pole just in from Drumgeith Road was a surprise, as was the fact that I got within about 20 feet of it before either of us realised the other was there. Unfortunately the camera was in the bag again by this point.
I headed for the Kingsway and then up to Swannie Ponds. I took some photos at the ponds so I would have some for this post, having only photographed a couple of Chaffinches earlier. There were 3 metal ringed Black Headed Gulls of which one was the Norwegian bird, Green JN69 which somehow managed to lose the plastic ring, as well as now regular White 2XJH. There were also a couple of Common Gulls at the ponds in contrast to earlier in the day. There was one other bird I thought I might be able to add on the rest of the walk home - a Pied Wagtail. I finally managed to get one in front of the Stobswell Bar taking my total for the 5 hours I'd been out to 48. Given the conditions it was a reasonably decent total but I was glad to finally get home and out of my wet clothes into some dry ones. As Barrie Hunter pointed out on Twitter, I am already a third of the way to my target figure...
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| Chaffinch |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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Black Headed Gull (White 2XJH)
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Black Headed Gull (White 2XJH)
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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Common Gull
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
