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| Chiffchaff |
With March rapidly coming to a close I still had a couple of days worth of annual leave to take from work. I decided to take the last Monday and Tuesday of the month off, in the hope of adding a few early-ish summer migrants to my #Dundee145 list. The weather forecast for Monday was looking rather nice, though Tuesday and Wednesday were much less promising. The tide times however weren't particularly handy so both Riverside Nature Park and Balmossie felt like a bit of a trek for potentially little return. However, I settled on Balmossie as my destination for the day. Blue skies, sunshine and no great rush made for an appealing day's birding. I decided I would wander along the Dighty to West Pitkerro and Clearwater Park then down to Balmossie before a slow wander back along the Tay as the tide began to come back in.
I was still tired having 'lost' an hour following the clocks going forward the previous day so it was just before 1000 before I finally headed out. Woodpigeon, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Blue Tit got Monday's list underway as I headed for Clepington Road and Swannie Ponds. Goldfinch and Chaffinch were in the trees by the road at the ponds while on the water there were just 2 Black Headed Gulls left as well as a single Common Gull. There were still reasonable numbers of Herring Gulls and 4 or 5 Lesser Black Backed abouts. Moorhen, Coot, Mute Swan (1 adult and 1 youngster - 1 on each pond, though it is likely the adult female was nesting round the back of the island), plus Mallard and Tufted Duck were all seen and a Meadow Pipit passed overhead on its way further north.
With no great rush to be anywhere, I decided to detour a little to check Eastern Cemetery next. Dunnock, Wren, Coal Tit and Greenfinch were all found there as was the first Buzzard of the day. A small-ish raptor seen circling turned out to be a Kestrel but a Sparrowhawk was added a few minutes later - the first of quite a few seen during the progress of the day's birding. The blue skies and pleasant conditions had looked to be very good for soaring raptors but I wasn't expecting to get 3 species while at the cemetery. An Oystercatcher flew over calling loudly before I headed for the Kingsway. I crossed the Asda car park before heading down Douglas Road to the Dighty. It didn't take long to start adding birds along the burn with Long Tailed Tits and a Chiffchaff near the wooden (ex-)information board.
Great Tit, Robin, Goldcrest, Pied Wagtail and Grey Wagtail were not unexpectedly found further on. A Grey Heron flew low past the old Michelin plant heading in the opposite direction from myself. What was rather surprisingly the first Dipper of the day was found near the footbridge at Baldovie Road. I talked myself out of continuing on to the back of the industrial estate and to Clearwater Park. Balmossie felt like just a bit too much effort and there seemed to be plenty to see along the burn. Instead I decided to have a very slow wander back along the Dighty, just seeing what I could find. A Pheasant was heard just as a Kingfisher spotted me and flew off up the burn. Jackdaws were also noted around the recycling plant.
I spent the next hour or so wandering back the way I'd just came and chatting to various passers-by about what I'd seen and what I might expect to see. I added Song Thrush around 1400 just before a text from Lainy letting me know she had House Martins (which she later corrected to the musch more expected Sand Martins) at Clatto. I replied that I hadn't managed to see any hirundines or anything else particularly unusual. Shortly afterwards the gulls reacted as if there was a raptor around. I couldn't see the expected Buzzard or Sparrowhawk but there was something high in the sky, flying over from the east. Checking with binoculars provided a pleasant surprise - my second Dundee Red Kite of the year (in just 10 days) and my 5th since 2021.
It slowly drifted over, circling once, before drawing a bit of attention from a Peregrine that up until that point hadn't been seen. It looked like they might interact but they drifted away from each other again. One of the local Sparrowhawks, a female with a damaged wing, circled up towards them but I lost sight of both Kite and Peregrine as I watched it soaring up. I messaged Lainy back to let her know I'd managed to see something decent after all before being interrupted slightly by 2 young teens on electric bikes using the raised bit of ground I was standing on as a ramp. I wandered down on to flatter ground intending on wandering back along the edge of the burn, but as there were 2 slightly older looking teens hanging around by the rope swing I chose the path instead.
The wander back along the burn took much longer than expected as I stopped to chat with various walkers as I photographed a group of 4 Roe Deer on the south side of the burn which were feeding unconcerned in the open, though with a fence and the width of the burn between us and them. As I was chatting to one dog walker I heard an odd call approaching down the burn. As I looked for a better view, a male Sparrowhawk swept low down the water, just above the surface, probably hunting for Dipper (or Kingfisher). Surprisingly, it then landed on the banking not too far away from us. It completely ignored 2 other walkers which passed it on our side of the burn. I spent a little too much time chatting and missed the opportunity for a closer look before the bird flew off down the burn again a few minutes later. A male Reed Bunting was also seen around the trees by the water's edge, as was another Chiffchaff.
I then got talking to an odler lady, Yvonne, who had just had an encounter with the same teens I'd left behind earlier as they were lighting fires in some of the cut vegetation etc before trying to intimidate her by appearing to try to grab her as they rode their bikes very close to her at speed. She had left her phone in her car though despite all this having happened directly opposite the Douglas Police Station, though on the opposite side of the burn, I suspect the police would have been unlikely to have done anything other than perhaps show up long after the teens had gone elsewhere anyway. After a relatively lengthy chat and walk along a bit more of the burn, we went our own ways again - her back along the burn to her car, and me homewards. I added Starling and had sightings of 2 more Sparrowhawks on the walk home - one at Asda and the other at Dura Street after routing via Eastern Cemetery and Spring Grove in Baxter Park.
I ended the day having seen or heard a total of 44 species and hadn't really gone anywhere near where I'd intended to. However, the blue skies and sunshine as well as a decent mix of birds had made for an enjoyable day's birding, even if I'd failed to add anything new for my #Dundee145 list. Once again, I'd taken plenty photos, some good, some bad though I seem to have done something to the settings which seem to be making the camera slightly less reliable compared to when I first set it up late last year. Hopefully I can work out what I've done wrong and up the 'hit rate' again before the bulk of the Spring migrants arrive back.
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Tufted Duck
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| Kestrel |
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Herring Gull
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Pied Wagtail
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| Wren |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Dipper |
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Grey Heron
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| Woodpigeon |
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Long Tailed Tit
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| Mallard |
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Red Kite
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| Peregrine |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Herring Gull & Sparrowhawk
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| Buzzard |
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Reed Bunting
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Roe Deer
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Rabbit |
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| Chaffinch |
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Great Tit
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit, Roe Deer.
