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| Raven |
The letter "W" has featured rather prominently with regards the weather conditions on Wednesdays over the course of late 2022 and so far, in early 2023 too. Late last year they were often wet, whereas this year, they seem to mostly be quite windy. Neither wet or windy weather is great for birding, especially in winter when the low temperatures can also add to the discomfort of trying to see some birds despite these conditions. The second Wednesday in February was no exception with windy conditions forecast once again. Thankfully, not quite as windy as some days have been recently but still not overly helpful for birding in. I decided I would try Balmossie again as there are still a few potential year-ticks that could turn up out on the river.
I headed out at 0925, a little later than intended, but as high tide time wasn't too far away I expected to catch the tide on its way back out by the time I reached Balmossie. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Dunnock, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, House Sparrow, Robin, Magpie and Blackbird made up the initial rush of species during the first 5 minutes outside. I added Starling and Long Tailed Tit before I reached Swannie Ponds. A quick look there added Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull and Moorhen in addition to a few more Herring Gulls. From there I headed on down through Eastern Cemetery where a skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew and Wren, Chaffinch, Coal Tit and Greenfinch were all noted along with a lone Grey Squirrel.
A flyover Bullfinch was added as I continued down towards the river at the Stannergate. There were, as always, a few Rabbits around in their usual places. Down along the shore were a few waders - Oystercatchers and Redshank with some mixed gulls a little further on. A Grey Heron was stood out on one of the pebble 'spits'. Wandering on along the path, I happened to glance round to the north, where a corvid was seen powering westwards into the wind. I grabbed a few photos and was rather pleased to see that the bird was, as I'd thought, a
Raven. Though the traffic noise drowned out its calls, the photos showed that it appeared to be rather vocal as these large birds usually seem to be. It was my 90th species for my Dundee145 list and another chance encounter. Over the past couple of years, sightings of this species have increased around the city, but it is always great to run into one in such an unexpected manner.
Continuing on along the waterfront I added Curlew, Eider, Turnstone, Cormorant and Red Breasted Merganser to the day's list. Pied Wagtail was seen on the 'new' steps at Beach Crescent. As the tide was beginning to recede I managed to pick out a pair of Wigeon a little offshore not too far east of the castle. I detoured into the local nature reserve but only managed to add Goldfinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit. There were other birds including Bullfinch and Redwing there too, and I spent a while watching them, sheltered from the wind. Further on, back down by the shore I found the first Bar Tailed Godwits of the day along with a flock of Knot and another of Dunlin in their usual area. A Rock Pipit flitted by along the beach. At the mouth of the burn, a few Great Black Backed Gulls were among the gull roost with a few others bathing nearby. A single Goldeneye drake was fishing just off the mouth of the burn a bit further out than the bathing gulls.
I had taken my small scope with me but I was frustrated with the quality of the view using it, due to damage to the lens caused over time. Later at home, I ordered a newer Svbony travelscope to replace it. Heading back I found a few Rooks and watched a trio of Mute Swans heading out over the river and then eastwards. A Shag flew in to land on the water by the same pole I'd seen a trio of the species the previous week. I stood out of the wind to photograph a Rock Pipit on the beach, just by the castle. A Grey Seal was noted out on the river but once again the walk back along the waterfront and homewards turned out to be mostly rather disappointing with little to be seen. I was still a bit too early to hang around in Eastern Cemetery for the Starling murmuration so I headed for home instead. I ended the day having seen (or heard) a total of 47 species of which one (in bold) was new for my Dundee145 list. As February can be a relatively quiet month on the birding front, managing to pick up another year-tick made making the effort to get out worthwhile once again.
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Black Headed Gull
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| Curlew |
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Eider |
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Oystercatcher & Common Gull
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Common Gull
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House Sparrow
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Pied Wagtail
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| Redwing |
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Greenfinch & Chaffinch
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Bar Tailed Godwit and Knot
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Carrion Crow
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Pink Footed Goose
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Mute Swan
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| Robin |
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Great Tit
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| Goldfinch |
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Rock Pipit
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| Shag |
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| Eider |
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| Cormorant |
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| Turnstone |
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Magpie, Carrion Crow & Rabbit
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Knot, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose,
Raven, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
