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Stock Dove
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Having managed to add 2 new species to my Dundee145 list on all of the 3 preceding days, I wanted to keep that run going and as there were still a couple of birds I could reasonably expect to find still available (assuming I could find them), I decided I would target those species. The pair in question were Sedge Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler. I had locations that seemed reliable for both which, in theory, meant that I stood a decent chance of finding and adding them to the list. There were also a few other potential species that I might yet run into. It would be an early start, as Grasshopper Warbler tends to be more vocal around dawn and dusk, making one easier to find if not necessarily see given the bird's very skulking nature.
I struggled to get up when the alarm went off but after a little bit more sleep I made it out of my bed and got organised. I eventually headed out the door at 0600. My first stop would be Middleton Wood. I figured that Sedge Warbler might be possible around the pond and there was a chance of a Wood Sandpiper or Little Ringed Plover at the flooded field. House Sparrow, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Starling, Magpie and Goldfinch gave me an immediate return for my early start, though only Great Tit was added between the Dura Street car park and Swannie Ponds. There was still no sign of any House Martins at Clepington Primary School where they nest, which was disappointing.
A pair of Oystercatchers were wandering around on the grass near the small playpark at the ponds while on the water I could see Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Coot. The tame Grey Heron was also still stood on one of the rock piles in the top pond, just a few feet away from the path. A Willow Warbler sang from the trees nearby. A Chaffinch was in a tree in a garden halfway down Pitkerro Road. At the bottom, as I crossed Fountainbleau Drive, I spotted a Grey Squirrel on the grass opposite which promptly clambered up one of the sycamore trees. A Song Thrush sang loudly from the nursing home grounds and a Robin was added to the list there as well.
The Dipper was exactly where it always seems to be these days, just by the eastern side of the bridge. A Grey Wagtail was also heard from the burn but I failed to see it. A Chiffchaff was singing loudly from the overgrown area between Longhaugh Road and the steps up the hill. A trio of Collared Doves were interacting as I headed up the steepest part of the hill. I reached the Longhaugh Road/Berwick Drive/road to Duntrune junction around 40 minutes after leaving the house. I wandered over to check the area of waste ground on the Fintry side of the road first of all. A Reed Bunting was in one of the trees but a low flying Sparrowhawk caused it to vanish quickly for its own safety as the raptor glided over. Both Skylark and Pheasant could be heard from the fields to the north. I then found a male Yellowhammer perched quietly in another bush which seemed unconcerned by my presence.
I left it in peace and crossed the road to check the pond. Disappointingly things were rather quiet there with only a Moorhen noted. A Jay flew across the road as I wandered in the direction of the entrance into the wood. A pair of Roe Deer were resting in an open area between two of the more wooded parts unconcerned by me clearly being able to see them. I continued on to check the small flooded area in the field. Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls and an unexpected Shelduck were present but there were no smaller waders noted. However, I thought I could hear something among the background noise. Was it a reeling Grasshopper Warbler? It was relatively faint suggesting it was a bit distant. I headed into the wood to investigate.
Blackcap, Wren and Coal Tit were added in the wood. There were also Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Magpie and Song Thrush all adding to the background noise making it tricky at times to pick out the Grasshopper Warbler 'song'. I eventually managed to narrow down the area where the bird seemed to be and I saw the bird fly across a gap in the vegetation before perching low down in the longer grass. I could see the bird but it proved impossible to get a properly sharp photo so I had to make do with a few blurred record shots instead. Still it was the first of my target species and in a location I hadn't considered - though it was probably ideal for the bird. A Swallow zipped over and another Roe Deer watched me warily as I wandered off. An Oystercatcher was asleep by the pool with the gulls and Shelduck.
Greenfinch and Long Tailed Tit were the only additions as I wandered down through Whitfield, exploring a few potentially interesting slight detours on the way. It didn't take too long to reach the Dighty Burn where I hoped to find Sedge Warbler in one of the spots I'd seen one last year. A Goldcrest was singing from the trees on the south side of the burn and the Long Tailed Tits were in their usual spot. As I wandered along the path, a Buzzard suddenly flew across in front of me. Thankfully, the camera performed well and I was able to get a frame-filling, in-focus sequence of the bird passing by just ahead of me. The local corvids also spotted it as it perched in the trees. Unfortunately, there were too many branches between me and the bird but before I could get a clearer view it was off again with the Crows in pursuit.
There was no sign of any Sedge Warbler at the small stand of taller reeds by the small footbridge, which was disappointing. Continuing on again, a Great Spotted Woodpecker landed in a tree near me. A cyclist stopped to let me know there were a couple of Roe Deer a bit further along the path. From the far side of the burn, I heard another reeling Grasshopper Warbler from within the fenced off area to the west of the police station, which was unexpected. As I wandered on along the burn, I managed to spot the Kingfisher before it spotted me and managed to get a few photos as I passed by. The Roe Deer pair wandered out onto the path without noticing me and I was able to get some decent photos before they realised I was there, at which point they just wandered back in below the trees. A few Swallows and House Martins were hawking for insects between the two stands of trees behind the recycling plant and I spent some time trying to get flight shots of the fast moving birds.
A few Whitethroats were around in the same area and these showed really well, as did more of the same species along the rest of the length of the path to the dual carriageway. Pied Wagtail and Dunnock were noted and I spent time photographing Mallard, Dipper and the Whitethroats before crossing the road to check one of my previous Grasshopper Warbler sites. There was no sign of any there, though the presence of a small but vocal group of smokers from one of the industrial units might have played its part in keeping the birds quiet (if indeed any were present). I passed the smokers and continued on. As I reached the mature trees, I realised that I could hear a Sedge Warbler from the weedy area behind the industrial unit on the south side of the burn. I failed to definitely see it - I did spot movement that might have been the bird, but it was inconclusive, but nevertheless the species, the second of my targets, was safely on the list.
Jackdaw and Rook were seen to the east as I wandered through the trees. A sneak Sparrowhawk attack happened in a flash obscured by a low bush and I didn't manage to see the outcome. Another Sedge Warbler was heard to the northern end of the trees and there seemed to be a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the same general area. A few pairs of Stock Doves were around by the track along to the 'cemetery crossroads'. Yellowhammers, Long Tailed Tits and a few other species were noted on my slow wander along. I could see a van parked in the area I wanted to check for warblers. It turned out to be one of the seemingly ubiquitous dog-walking businesses. The dogs could be seen charging around, though the 'walker' wasn't seen anywhere near them. If, as suspected, this is a regular spot for this 'dog walker' then the likelihood of some of the warblers breeding there would seem to be diminished, which is frustrating given that we've potentially lost the other bit of decent warbler habitat at the other end of the city, courtesy of the Scottish Government's obsession with planting trees (look how 'green' we are!).
Thankfully the van left as I headed up the track, navigating around the concrete blocks at the bottom of the track which would appear to be there to stop vehicles - even though they leave an off-track area open to the side of the blocks, rendering them somewhat pointless. Things were quiet as I wandered up past where the van had been parked, not surprisingly, but on the walk back down there were a few Whitethroats, Blackcaps and even a couple of Sedge Warblers, one of which showed well enough for me to grab a few record shots and to be able to remove it from the 'heard-only' subsection of my Dundee145 list. There were a few Linnets around behind the stables. A pair of Mute Swans on the Dighty were a surprise, a little upstream from the bridge and between the 2 fields.
I crossed the dual carriageway to head down to the estuary. However, I was taking a different route from normal. A Hoopoe had been reported in a 'Broughty Ferry garden' on Monday but with no further details. I had a look on Google Earth for prospective Hoopoe habitat (despite rather limited knowledge of what Hoopoes preferences actually are). I had settled on Forthill cricket pitch so had decided to check it out, just in case. I knew my chances were very low as there was no guarantee that the bird hadn't just moved on again overnight. Sure enough, it proved to be a waste of time, though there were a couple of Oystercatchers there. Chiffchaff, among other species, was heard as I continued downhill and finally made it to the lifeboat station at around 1110.
A surprise as I neared the castle was a small skein of Pink Footed Geese which were heading north across the river but turned westwards as they made landfall. I spent some time at the castle, mostly photographing a couple of Rock Pipits as they picked around on the grass. I wandered along to Balmossie though birds seemed to be in short supply, both out on the water and along the shore. Black Headed Gull was noted flying past. A pair of Red Breasted Merganser and an Eider were the only additions at Balmossie, despite plenty of scanning out over the burn mouth and the river. I routed back westwards via the small local nature reserve and distracted myself by trying to photograph and film the small bees which burrow into the sand to lay their eggs there. I suspect these are Sandpit Mining Bees (Andrena barbilabris).
The walk back along the river proved to be very quiet with Common Gull and Cormorant added but very little activity otherwise. The usual Rabbits were in their usual places at the Stannergate. I decided to continue on to check City Quay but not unexpectedly this proved to be a waste of time too. Overall however, the day's exertions covered a distance of just over 18 miles, delivering a total of 61 species, of which 2 were new for my Dundee145 list (in bold). My legs were rather heavy by the time I made it home. My Dundee145 list had reached 115 species, 'just' 30 short of my target figure. That 30 species only contains around 10 species that I feel confident of being able to catch up with though. There are still a decent amount of species I 'might' be able to get but time and circumstances will determine how close I get to that target figure, and whether the combined efforts of myself, Keith, Lainy, Mark and others can produce a total of more than 150 species between us. I only need to average 4 species in Dundee per month between now and Hogmanay.....
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Yellowhammer |
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Shelduck, Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Roe Deer
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Grasshopper Warbler
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| Buzzard |
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| Dipper |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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| Kingfisher |
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House Martin
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Roe Deer
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| Whitethroat |
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| Snail |
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Long Tailed Tit
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Sedge Warbler
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Pink Footed Goose
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Rock Pipit
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| Linnet |
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Sandpit Mining Bee (female)
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Sandpit Mining Bee (male)
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| Goldfinch |
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Herring Gull
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Pied Wagtail
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Song Thrush
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Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dipper, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grasshopper Warbler, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
