 |
Bar Tailed Godwit
|
For my most recent midweek outing (at the time of typing this up, not the time of posting) I had decided that I would finally get out of bed really early and try to be out the front door prior to sunrise. Given that sunrise was to be around 0625 in the morning, I knew there was a chance that I would roll over and go back to sleep when the alarm went off. If I did actually make it out of my bed and out the door as planned I was intending on heading for Balmossie. With high tide around 0745 or so, I would hopefully be able to watch the birds returning to feed as the tide receded again. If I could get there by around 0800 I was hoping I would be able to avoid the majority of dog walkers and prospective disturbance.
Somehow I actually managed to get out of bed when the alarm went off and I did manage to be out the door for 0615. With the sun only a little below the horizon, there was plenty of activity. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull and Dunnock got the day's list started. A Greenfinch as well as both Pied and Grey Wagtail quickly followed. A Song Thrush sang loudly from a tree on Argyle Street. House Sparrows, Jackdaw, Wren, Chaffinch and Goldfinch were all seen before I made it to the Swannie Ponds.
It was a typical spread of species there - Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Goosander and Moorhen plus Black Headed Gull and Herring Gull. Leaving the ponds behind I hurried on towards Eastern Cemetery noting Magpie on Rodd Road. Collared Dove and Blackbird were both seen at the cemetery as was the first Rabbit of the day though there was also plenty of other avian activity. I reached the Stannergate at 0700 and found a small flock of Linnets in the trees between the Alpha Projects site and the large storage tank. Continuing on along the esplanade with the low sun shining in my eyes I managed to pick out Redshank, Oystercatchers and Turnstone on the beach and a few distant Eider out on the river.
I almost missed a skein of Pink Footed Geese which passed behind me heading north, low over the houses beyond the railway line. A small bird flew past me and landed at the top of the beach in front of the sailing club yard. I took my time and edged closer so as not to flush the bird. When I saw where it was I gave it a wide berth and moved round so the sun was behind me and illuminating the bird. It was a rather grey Rock Pipit, quite likely the very same Scandinavian (Littoralis ssp.) Rock Pipit I'd seen at the Douglas Terrace ramp on my previous visit and also which I'd had very brief glimpses of in the same general area over the winter.
I spent a few minutes photographing the bird which showed a slight pinkish hue in places on the bird's breast and neck. A quartet of swans flew past before swinging back around and landing again close in. I was hoping for Whoopers migrating through on their way back north but had to settle for a group of young Mutes. A single Cormorant was fishing out on the Tay off Douglas Terrace and a Grey Seal was seen coming up for air a little further on. A Robin was singing from a garden at Beach Crescent. Beyond the Castle, the beach was more or less empty (bar a couple of dog walkers) as I'd hoped it might be. I found a single Meadow Pipit among the dunes.
I wandered on along the narrow strip of beach passing a few lone Turnstones, Redshank and Common Gull. There were a few Wigeon around, though the numbers seemed much lower than on my previous visits. A Red Breasted Merganser was spotted offshore. A flock of Dunlin flew past, low over the water. With construction work ongoing between the end of the Esplanade and the Dighty, coupled with the relatively early time, there seemed to be very few folk about. I was able to find a rock to sit on at the foot of the last 'ramp' down to the beach before the Dighty outflow and with my scope perched on top of a monopod I scanned through all the birds I could see. Curlew, Ringed Plover, Bar Tailed Godwit, Goldeneye and Lesser Black Backed Gull were all found but despite much scanning I failed to locate anything more unusual.
Scanning back west along the beach as the tide receded further I could see what I suspected were Sanderling along the water's edge somewhere near the end of the Esplanade. With the receding tide birds were getting more distant anyway so I decided to walk back along for a better look. Sure enough the birds in question were Sanderling and I eventually counted at least 23 of them, mostly in one large group. I spent more time down on the beach watching the birds on this stretch before the number of dog walkers began to rise from a mere trickle. Knowing that it was inevitable that at least some of the birds were about to depart in haste from where they were feeding I packed up my scope and headed up towards the football pitch. Sure enough, the lure of the water's edge proved too much for the lady and her dog who I'd seen approaching a minute before and when she'd passed there were no longer any Sanderling and half the gulls had flown off too.
I took a slow wander through the local nature reserve where Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Redwing were all found. As it was still before 1100 I contemplated my options for where to spend the rest of the day's birding. I settled on heading for Clearwater Park and then back along the Dighty between Douglas and Whitfield on my way back home. Via a completely new route north through some of the 'posher' streets I wound my way towards the dual carriageway at the Clearwater Park roundabout (or circle as we call them here in Dundee). I followed the road up towards the stables spotting a singing Dipper below the small footbridge over the burn.
A male Yellowhammer was perched in a tree nearby while there were a number of Rooks and Jackdaws in the fields beyond. Up by the crossroads of tracks I could hear a Skylark singing but was unable to pick it out against the sky. I wandered up to the Cemetery spotting a Buzzard out to the west and a few Long Tailed Tits in the bushes between the track and the cemetery. As I wandered back dow towards the crossroads again I noticed a Kestrel hovering over the scrubby area between the cemetery and the fields to the south. Along the track towards the Drumsturdy Road a Sparrowhawk was seen displaying to the north.
As I wandered along the dual carriageway towards the path along the Dighty I found a Goldcrest, a rather showy Great Tit and a few more Long Tailed Tits in the roadside trees. Nearing the footbridge over the burn, I saw a flash of blue and watched as a Kingfisher sped off below the footbridge and round under the roadbridge out of sight. Thankfully, the Dippers were a bit more obliging and I was able to get more photos of some of the local birds, including one stretching very upright and singing as another flew past. The walk along the burn was mostly relatively uneventful with only a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker new for the day near the football pitches near Drumgeith Road, though a close fly-by of a Sparrowhawk did result in some decent photos. I popped into Swannie Ponds again on the walk home but failed to add anything else to the 61 species already seen or heard. All in all, it was an enjoyable day's birding with a surprising amount of 'quiet' time just sat or stood watching the birds without a dog or an oblivious walker sending everything in all directions. If only there could be more days like that....
 |
| Linnet |
 |
Rock Pipit
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Collared Dove
|
 |
| Eider |
 |
| Eider |
 |
Common Gull
|
 |
| Wigeon |
 |
Ringed Plover
|
 |
House Sparrow
|
 |
Red Breasted Merganser
|
 |
Coal Tit
|
 |
| Yellowhammer |
 |
Stock Dove
|
 |
Great Tit
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
| Dipper |
 |
| Sparrowhawk |
 |
Carrion Crow & Sparrowhawk
|
 |
| Dipper |
 |
| Goosander |
 |
| Moorhen |
 |
Tufted Duck
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
