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Red Throated Diver
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With the Curlew Sandpiper finally on my Dundee145 list thanks to Mark Wilkinson, my attention for my Wednesday off turned to trying to get Mediterranean and Little Gulls on the list as well as hopefully something else. There have been unexpectedly high numbers of terns and skuas in the Tay recently with Mark having seen both Arctic and a Long Tailed while fishing across the Fife side off Lucky Scalp, as well as a Merlin which flew towards Broughty Ferry. I've been thinking about taking my 'good' scope down along with a tripod. Unfortunately this means I have to leave my camera at home as the extra weight means a relatively tiring walk becomes even more tiring. Knowing I would be walking back into a strong westerly gale made this prospect even less appealing. The camera would have to stay at home - I knew this would mean I would probably miss out on something 'good' (but most likely distant).
I tried various combinations of bags and equipment but I eventually had to accept that a camera was going to be missing from my kit for the day. I headed out around 1100 for the walk down to Broughty Castle where I planned on sitting on the east side of the building sheltered from the wind and scanning out towards Tentsmuir Forest and Tentsmuir Point. A Blue Tit was heard as I stepped outside. Feral Pigeon and Starling were seen in flight. Magpie, Carrion Crow and Robin were added as I wandered along Dundonald Street. A few Herring Gulls hung in the air above Manhattan Works and as I noticed there were still a couple of lingering House Martins around a Sparrowhawk swept through upsetting some nearby Feral Pigeons.
I continued on to Baxter Park adding Jackdaw along Park Avenue then a flyover Meadow Pipit as I entered the park. Goldcrest and Goldfinch were both noted as I walked across the park. A Red Admiral butterfly was seen near the gate on the eastern side. Once outside the park I added Greenfinch and House Sparrow to the list. The weight of the scope and tripod and the rather awkward fit of the bag I had to use to save some weight was already starting to annoy me. I checked the times of the next bus to Broughty Ferry and decided I might as well save a mile or two's walking. I got off the bus at the Post Office Bar/Gulistan stop and headed down to Beach Crescent.
A Goosander was just offshore and a Redshank was wandering along the water's edge on the pebbles. There were 4 Razorbills in the harbour at the castle along with Oystercatcher, Grey Heron and Black Headed Gulls. A Cormorant was seen flying downriver before I wandered round to the shelter of the leeward side of the castle. I set up the tripod and scope and sat on the small wall. There were Sandwich, Common and a few Arctic Terns passing close in as they flew upriver. There were a few more Razorbills visible out on the water and a bit of scanning found a Guillemot not too far away. I didn't have to wait too long to curse the fact I didn't have a camera with me when a dark phase Arctic Skua headed upriver relatively close in to the castle.
Another couple were seen more distantly out by Tentsmuir Point though at times the light was making young gulls look much darker. A few Pied Wagtails were picking around on the sand and grass nearby and a pair of Rock Pipits also put in an appearance. Gannets could be seen distantly out off Tentsmuir Point though it didn't take too long before a few started to head upriver. A few Bar Tailed Godwits and Dunlins were seen flying over the river towards Lucky Scalp and Tayport. A Common Gull flew upriver making a change from the numerous terns doing likewise. A Grey Seal popped up out in the river. I was struggling to get comfortable using the scope as the eyepiece was just a little too far away from where I was sitting. I decided to move up nearer the castle wall.
This meant I had to lower the scope slightly as well as the legs on the tripod to their minimum heights. This turned out to be only slightly better as the handles on the tripod got in the way of being able to rotate the scope freely from left to right. A Curlew was seen in flight across the river. I heard a few Siskins and a few Meadow Pipits migrating over following tyhe line of the river. A Red Throated Diver was picked out not far from the x-pole just a little offshore. An all dark bird seen distantly shearing out towards Balmossie caught my eye but I lost it against the dark water, before it sheared up again. On this second arc I spotted a pale patch on the underwing catching the light. A Sooty Shearwater surely? It landed among the waves somewhere along near Balmossie and I lost sight of it. I put word out on twitter and the ADBC grapevine.
A Wheatear showed up close by and spent 5 minutes or so feeding on the grassy area to my left. I took some video of the bird with my phone but it was far fromt ideal. A skein of Pink Footed Geese (though perhaps they could've been early Barnacle Geese - oh for that camera) were seen struggling against the wind out beyond Tentsmuir Point, despite flying rather low over the water. More scanning found a Shag among the waves and a small flock of half a dozen Swallows were seen wave-hopping as they tried to make their way westwards. I picked up a dark bird heading upriver in my general direction before it arced upwards showing off the underwing. It had to be the same bird I'd seen earlier as the behaviour was exactly the same. However, it wasn't a Sooty Shearwater but a Skua - most likely an Arctic, though having seen some confusion on twitter a few days previously about a skua in the Forth, I wasn't 100% certain.
I decided that I should put out word that it seemed likely that I'd called my Sooty Shearwater a little too hastily, just in case anyone was going to try to see it sitting on the river in Monifieth Bay. I'd rather own up to my errors rather than pretend they didn't happen, or double down on them as a few birders do. I do increasingly feel that doing so much of my birding in Dundee, rather than further afield means I'm getting rather rusty with species I don't run into often these days, which is more likely to lead to mistakes like that one. Not ideal but as I'm definitely in no hurry to use public transport at busier times, or over longer than 10-15 minute journeys, it is unlikely to improve any time soon. I added Eider to the list before deciding I should probably head along to Balmossie to check the gulls there. I wasn't particularly looking forward to that and the Sooty error was niggling at me.
The wind on the walk along was annoying though it didn't stop me scanning a few times. I spotted Jon Cook scoping from the relative shelter of the steps near the end of the esplanade and joined him. We were then joined by the lady I'd spoken to on Saturday on my walk down to the Ferry for my boat trip. After a while of not seeing anything much other than a passing Grey Wagtail, we all went our separate ways. I wandered along to the footbridge over the railway to check the birds at the Dighty mouth. I scanned through the gulls which added Lesser Black Backed Gull to the list but failed to find anything out of the ordinary. There were a number of Turnstones around, plenty of Mute Swans and Wigeon but overall it was rather disappointing. I eventually headed back along towards the Castle where I packed up my gear after one last scan over the now rather quiet river.
I took a more sheltered route home after buying a white pudding supper that was at least twice the price of the last one I bought(!), but was probably less than half as good (chips were decent enough but white pudding wasn't particularly warm, though it was tasty enough). I finally added Woodpigeon to the list for the day before I was hit by a run of relatively heavy rain showers. Coal Tit and Collared Dove were added before I finally made it home around 1815. My total number of species for the day was 50 species, which considering I'd only really birded down by the river in less than ideal conditions was a reasonably decent total. Overall though the advantages of the 'good' scope were outweighed by the disadvantages and it probably will only see further use in Dundee in specific circumstances.
(All photos featured are from 2021 and 2022).
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Rock Pipit
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Pied Wagtail
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| Wheatear |
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| Cormorant |
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Common Gull
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| Curlew |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Goldfinch |
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Grey Heron
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Black Headed Gull
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| Guillemot |
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| Wigeon |
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| Turnstone |
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Razorbill
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Arctic Skua
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Birds - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Ten, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Hering Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Turnstone, Wheatear, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies - Red Admiral.
Mammals - Grey Seal.
