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Ring Necked Duck
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Swannie Ponds is more or less my closest birding spot to home, other than the rough ground at Mains Terrace. It has a relatively reliable mix of birds and in winter especially it provides a bit of interest with a mix of ringed gulls to look through if there's nothing much doing. It helps if there is ice on the pond for this, though if things are quiet the gulls often stand around along the paths. The photo opportunities aren't too bad either with the size of the ponds (especially the top one with the island) being beneficial as the birds tend not to be too far away. The ponds get some Goosander in the winter which compete with the Mallards and Tufted Ducks for the plentiful hand-outs of food throughout the day, especially at weekends. However, it doesn't often spring surprises. An Iceland Gull and a Mediterranean Gull at the same time was the best surprise since I've been paying extra attention to the ponds though Wigeon, Teal and Gadwall (and a Mandarin drake apparently which I only found out about after the event) have also shown up. I always check through all the birds just in case....
My original plan for Saturday was to head out to look for Tree Sparrow beyond Liff, but a reported Glaucous Gull at Tayport on Friday made Balmossie looking like a better bet. However, I couldn't get motivated for a long walk in either direction. Instead I decided to stay relatively local and just see where I ended up. I headed out relatively half-heartedly at 0940 in the direction of Swannie Ponds. House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw and Robin provided a rather mundane mix of birds in a relatively steady stream as I headed for Clepington Road. On Clepington Road I was able to add a few more species - Starling, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Magpie and Woodpigeon.
I reached the ponds at 1000. The usual Mallards and Black Headed Gulls were obvious by their numbers, while Herring Gull, Common Gull, Mute Swan, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Coot and Moorhen were quickly noted from the bottom of the stairs after I'd taken out the binoculars and camera. Tufted Ducks have always seemed to be the best bet as a 'carrier species' for something a bit more out of the ordinary. A Scaup or a Pochard would be very welcome, though a Lesser Scaup would obviously be even better. Given the rather urban location of the ponds however, all of these seemed a forlorn hope. There was one other species that seemed to be a slim possibility. For the past couple of winters, Fife has managed to pick up a few Ring Necked Ducks at various spots around the county. So near and yet so far. My birding pal, Susan Falconer, had managed to find a female Ring Necked Duck at Birnie and Gaddon Lochs in late November which had remained there into the New Year and was still drawing in birders looking for a year-tick.
I did my usual scanning of the birds on the water from the foot of the stairs. There was a small group of Tufted Ducks towards the top end of the island and I had a quick look at those, just in case. Although I've hoped for a less common duck amongst their number I really wasn't expecting to find one, but there appeared to be one in the small group. I broke into a half-jog to get closer to make sure I wasn't seeing things. The group swam round the top end of the island as I got closer which meant the light was behind them (though as it was overcast, it wasn't really a big deal). I looked again. Sure enough it was a
Ring Necked Duck - though not an adult drake! I grabbed a few record shots and messaged Keith and Lainy to let them know. After getting a few better photos, I posted a back of the camera shot on Twitter to get the news out.
Martin Scott put the word out to a slightly wider audience via WhatsApp having seen my Twitter post. The bird seemed rather wary, hanging back slightly from the Tufted Ducks at times (except for one drake) and staying well away from the path. It also tilted its head for a look at every bird that flew over. I took a video clip on my phone and took quite a few photos while waiting to see if anyone else would show up. Graham Smith was first to arrive. He reckoned that it looked like a good match for Susan's Birnie Loch bird and that seemed the most likely source for the bird in front of us given the straight line distance between the two sites. I had initially thought it might be a young male but the female from Birnie made more sense. Graham headed off soon after. Jon Cook, the local recorder arrived next, just as the bird was relatively close in at the western end of the pond.
We had even better views a bit later when the bird actually clambered onto one of the rocks for a spot of preening, though not for very long. Jon put word out on the ADBC grapevine. Lainy had messaged to say she was birding in Perth. Jon and I chatted for a while, as we watched the bird. The number of photos I'd taken crept ever higher. A single Greylag Goose overflew and a few skeins of Pink Footed Geese did the same soon after. Blackbird, Bullfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Greenfinch and Goldcrest were all noted as was a distant Buzzard and a much closer Sparrowhawk. I spent the afternoon at the ponds, taking more and more photographs and chatting to visiting birders including Gus Guthrie, Mathieu Soetens, Lainy, her husband Adam, and a very pleasant Dundee-based lady birder with a European accent (possibly German?) whose name Lainy and I each managed to hear differently, (so we're not quite sure which of us is correct).
Thankfully, there was a short spell of 'almost sunshine' that coincided with the arrival of the largest group of the day though I mostly managed to miss the decent light by spending my time chatting. However, by that time I already had more than enough photos of the bird so I wasn't too bothered. The sun soon vanished back behind the grey clouds in any case. Heavy rain was forecast for around 1600 and the sky looked increasingly dark as the clock edged towards that time, so I eventually had to tear myself away from the ponds. I had somehow managed to take more photos in one day (in just less than 6 hours) than at any time before, and by a good margin. Despite staying around the top pond all day, I managed a total of 33 species, though obviously the main highlight was the Ring Necked Duck, number 89 species for my Dundee145 list. A great bonus bird.
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| Goosander |
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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Black Headed Gull (White 2XJH)
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Ring Necked Duck
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Pied Wagtail
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| Bullfinch |
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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| Goosander |
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Greylag Goose
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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Pink Footed Goose
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Ring Necked Duck
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| Mallard |
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| Buzzard |
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck
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| Coot |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon |
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| Mallard |
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Ring Necked Duck
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Ring Necked Duck & Tufted Duck
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing,
Ring Necked Duck, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
