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Tree Pipit
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The weather forecast on Saturday the 15th was mostly wet so I decided not to go anywhere and almost inevitably it didn't really rain. Sunday's forecast was similar but the sky did look a lot less promising than Saturday's had. Despite this I really didn't want to spend all weekend at home in my living room. With heavy rain due sometime around lunchtime I realised there was a bit of a window of opportunity to squeeze some birding in. My plan was to head for City Quay then walk along to the Stannergate, then up through Eastern Cemetery to Swannie Ponds then home again.
I headed out just before 1010. Magpie, Jackdaw, Herring Gull and House Sparrow provided the first few species for the day. Wren, Blue Tit, Robin, Carrion Crow and Feral Pigeon soon followed as I headed down towards Dens Road. Blackbird, Starling, Woodpigeon and Goldfinch were added as I continued down towards City Quay. Unfortunately, when I got there I found it was as busy as I've ever seen it with a horde of students from St Andrews virtually everywhere at the water park. This didn't bode well for seeing much. Lesser Black Backed Gull and Cormorant were spotted out on the river. A Dunnock sang from a brick wall below the flats overlooking the Tay.
A few Swifts were seen to the north and a Pied Wagtail flew over but the outer quay area proved just as quiet as the rest had been. I crossed the footbridge and headed east towards the cycle path. I found an interesting looking gull among the roosting Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls but it ultimately turned out to be just another Herring Gull (thanks to Mark Wilkinson for helping to firm up my suspicions - so far all my odd-looking gulls have been 'just' Herring Gulls). I stopped briefly to photograph a Linnet which was sharing the top of a bush by the railway line with a Goldfinch, though the windy conditions made it tricky to get a clear shot.
A pair of Sand Martins overflew a little further on. I weighed up whether I was likely to add anything new by continuing on to the Stannergate or not, and came down on the side of 'not'. Instead I headed uphill in the direction of Swannie Ponds. Chaffinch and House Martin gave me a couple more species for the morning before I made it to the ponds. There were a few more Black Headed Gulls around including 'white J0214' (a Norwegian ringed returnee). The Mute Swans still had 7 of their original 9 cygnets. A Moorhen with a couple of youngsters was in among the rocks near the boating ramp at the top pond, with another Moorhen seemingly sitting on a relatively easy to miss nest behind.
A single Coot youngster was seen, though there were a few adults still on nests dotted around. Plenty of eclipse plumaged Mallards were still around too. An Oystercatcher in flight was heard calling from somewhere nearby. A Common Blue Damselfly which landed on the edge of the path, by the water, was a bit of a surprise given how windy it actually was. I watched a Grey Heron catch a few sticklebacks before some of the local gulls chased it off. I headed for home just before noon having managed to see or hear a total of 29 species.
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| Cormorant |
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Herring Gull
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| Linnet |
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Sand Martin
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| Swift |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Common Blue Damselfly
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| Moorhen |
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Black Headed Gull (J0214)
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| Coot |
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| Mallard |
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Grey Heron (& Stickleback)
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Grey Heron
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| Moorhen |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Starling, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Dragonflies - Common Blue Damselfly.
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My original plan for Saturday the 22nd was to get up early and head for Riverside Nature Park in time for the tide going out. When the alarm went off, I rolled over and went back to sleep. I still made it out of bed relatively early but I was lacking in both enthusiasm and energy. Riverside Nature Park felt like a bit too far to go. My other options were all fairly limited. Swannie Ponds - I've visited a few times recently, Baxter Park - Spring Grove is too overgrown these days, and Trottick Ponds felt a bit too far away for what was likely to be very little return. Caird Park didn't feel particularly tempting either and City Quay had proved to be very disappointing the previous Sunday. That only really left the Top of the Law, which felt a bit 'out of season'.
Swift and Herring Gull made for a very quiet start to what was expected to be a rather underwhelming spot of birding. Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Starling, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Blue Tit and Coal Tit soon followed however. It took a few minutes to add anything else though with Carrion Crow and Blackbird noted on Main Street. As I neared the hill I saw two birds flying over which I thought sounded like Crossbills but a passing car drowned out most of the calls, so I decided that I would err on the side of caution and not count them. The small area of bushes at the foot of the steps proved to be very productive with Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Magpie and Great Tit all noted with close views, albeit brief ones, from the Blackcap and Willow Warbler in particular. Unfortunately for me, my camera was still in the bag.
A rather relaxed Rabbit was on the path so out came the camera and binoculars to get a few photos, though the birds in the bushes proved a bit less conspicuous than they had been a minute or so previously. Chaffinch was first onto the list from the top of the hill. Checking Cox's Stack for Peregrine proved to be a good idea with a bird perched on one of the corners. Chiffchaff was heard singing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker landed in the top of one of the conifers at the back of the hill. A few House Martins zipped around the monument. I heard what sounded like Crossbills approaching from the northeast and soon spotted a reasonably decent sized flock of around a dozen birds. They were indeed Crossbills, a nice surprise.
Wren, Goldcrest and Long Tailed Tits were noted next before a Peregrine was spotted in flight. A Curlew heading north was another slight surprise a few minutes before a few Swallows swooped around the mast before continuing on again. I heard another Crossbill calling but failed to see it, though it sounded as if it might have been in the trees on the west side of the hill. Five minutes later I turned round just in time to see 2 Peregrines heading northwest. There was what appeared to be a third bird noted interacting with the others nearer to the Stack. I suspect it may have been a juvenile bird.
Around 1010, I spotted a small passerine flying directly towards me from the west. It landed in one of the conifers on the eastern side of the hill, where it was immediately displaced by a previously unseen bird from below. I moved closer for a better view of the perched bird which appeared to be a pipit. Unfortunately, the branches were blocking my view of most of the bird. Tree Pipit was the likeliest but without a clearer view I knew I couldn't be absolutely certain. (I had heard a Tree Pipit over Balgay Cemetery on the 18th, number 128 for my Dundee145). Thankfully, it did drop down from its perch, while I was pointing the camera at it from halfway down the steps which allowed me to get a few photos that confirmed it was indeed a Tree Pipit.
A pair of Buzzards were picked out very distantly in the direction of Camperdown Park. The woodpecker was heard again from the same area I'd seen it earlier. One of the adult Peregrines appeared overhead and made a half-hearted pursuit of the flock of pigeons circling to the east of the hill. What appeared to be a darker looking Peregrine was seen flying around near Cox's Stack and I watched it go into a long stoop but lost sight of it against the background of houses to the west. Another raptor spotted circling turned out to be a Sparrowhawk rather than a Peregrine or Buzzard. Around 1120 I decided I'd had enough and headed homewards adding Robin, Dunnock and a heard only Grey Wagtail which took the total for what had been a rather interesting, though not overly busy, few hours birding to 34 species.
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Herring Gull
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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| Crossbill |
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| Magpie |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Peregrine |
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| Curlew |
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| Swallow |
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Tree Pipit
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Carrion Crow
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Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Peregrine, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit.
