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Red Throated Diver
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I had been hoping to get to Balmossie for another visit for almost a fortnight as it seemed to offer my best chance of catching up with a Mediterranean Gull, and perhaps a Little Gull too. The saga of the Bearded Tits however had put paid to that plan. With only another 2 weeks of my 'half-week' holidays left, I knew I had to get there again, likely more than once. October got underway with the weather on Sunday being less than helpful for fitting in some birding. However, things were a little more promising for Monday, so I decided that would be where I would go for what would at the very least be a change of scenery.
With high tide being much later in the day there was no real rush and I knew I could take my time on the walk down. Although I had initially considered an early start and a walk via the Dighty Burn I had a bit of a lie-in and it was around 0915 before I headed out. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Song Thrush, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, House Sparrow, Starling, Woodpigeon, Robin, Jackdaw, Blackbird and Blue Tit made for a rather productive first 4 minutes outside. I decided to check the Mains Terrace bushes and trees just in case of a grounded migrant. A Meadow Pipit overflew as I reached the western end. There were a few Goldfinches in the closest trees and a few Pink Footed Geese flew over northwards.
A bit more slow wandering added Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch and Dunnock before I moved on for a look at Swannie Ponds. Mute Swans, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Hering Gull, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Common Gull were all seen there but there were no Tufted Ducks or any sign of a Grey Heron. A Grey Wagtail was added and a flock of 5 Swallows sped over at tree-top height. Eastern Cemetery was my next location to check out. An Oystercatcher was heard in flight as I crossed Old Craigie Road. The cemetery proved to be more productive than it usually is. A Kestrel flew past but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo. Another passed over a bit higher a minute or two later.
There was some definite migrant movements overhead with Lesser Redpoll, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Mistle Thrush all being spotted overhead, while Stock Dove, Greenfinch and Wren were all expected species at the site. A surprise as I was about to exit the cemetery was a group of 6 adult Rooks flying low over there and the adjacent supermarket car park. Heading down to the Stannergate, the first Siskins of the day passed over westwards. Having just crossed Broughty Ferry Road I spotted a third Kestrel a good bit to the northeast which continued over in the direction of the docks before I lost sight of it. That third bird in such a short period of time did have me wondering whether any of the 3 seen might have also been migrating. I have seen a Kestrel coming 'in-off' at Fife Ness in the past, though I did also see one flying out over the sea a few days earlier (though probably not the same bird - although it would be possible it was hunting incoming small birds).
A small flock of Linnets circled round over the road just before I reached the river. With the tide quite far out there was plenty activity down on the shore with a few Redshanks and a Bar Tailed Godwit, which I'm not certain I've seen there before, as well as the expected Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls. Continuing on slowly eastwards, I added another few Oystercatchers, a Grey Heron and a Cormorant. The first Turnstone of the day flew off along the shore having been spooked by a landing gull. A Curlew and another Redshank were seen down by the water's edge before I reached the sailing club sheds. I spotted 2 birds on the water among the boats offshore. The glare from the bright sun on the water made confirming my suspicion that they were indeed Shags a bit tricky but I eventually managed to do just that.
As I neared Douglas Terrace I happened to glance round and looked across the railway line. Just above the roofs of the houses behind I caught sight of a Buzzard which disappeared behind a large tree before reappearing with a Carrion Crow giving chase. Further on I spotted a Red Throated Diver in the bay off Beach Crescent and headed round to the eastern side for a better view with the sun in a better position for photos. It turned out that there were at least 2 young Divers and an adult, though the adult was only seen twice. In addition there was a single Goosander, 2 Guillemots and 2 Razorbills in that small area. I ended up spending a fair bit of time watching them all.
A trio of Razorbills were at the harbour mouth when I finally did move on, and another pair of Guillemots swam past the castle westwards. There were at least 3 Rock Pipits and a few Pied Wagtails around at the Castle. What was likely the same adult and juvenile Goldfinch I had seen on my previous visit was seen on the grass on the eastern side of the castle. The Rock Pipits, Pied Wagtails and a pair of House Sparrows were photographed in between bouts of scanning out over the river. Compared with my previous visit things were clearly much quieter though there did appear to be good numbers of gulls further out. A Great Black Backed Gull was on the beach further to the east and a flock of Lapwings were spotted in the air across the river at Tayport. I eventually figured I should head along to Balmossie to check through the gulls there, otherwise the birds might be moved on by the incoming tide before I got there.
As I walked along the new path, I could see a lot of the birds at Balmossie were on the move including Curlews, Goosander and Wigeon which I spotted flying off in the direction of Lucky Scalp and a good number of the gulls also took flight for reasons unseen, due to the distance. I heard Long Tailed Tits calling from the end of the esplanade. I stopped to check through some of the gulls on the beach from halfway along the new wildflower meadows which are under construction at the moment. These were mostly Black Headed Gulls and a few Common Gulls but I failed to find anything among them. It was quite windy stood up on the bridge and there were good numbers of gulls and Mute Swans at the burn mouth.
I slowly scanned through these gulls without finding anything. The diggers and fences as well as the wind made things trickier than they might've been but as I scanned through them again I suddenly found a red-billed, white winged adult gull among the main Herring Gulls group - a rather nice adult Mediterranean Gull. Mission accomplished - my target species for the day and number 144 for my Dundee145 list. Other than a few Turnstones, Redshanks and Oystercatchers I failed to find any other waders on that stretch of beach. As it was by this time almost 1500 I decided to head back westwards. I stopped in at the local nature reserve but it was very quiet, though it did provide a bit of respite from the wind and a Red Admiral butterfly was noted there.
The walk back along the river did provide a few photo opportunities with the Turnstones on the shore as well as a couple of Rock Pipits by the Douglas Terrace ramp while out on water, Red Throated Divers again (an adult and a youngster), a few Razorbills and Guillemots made for a bit more interest than usual. I made it home around 1715 having managed to see a total of 58 species with the main highlight naturally being the Mediterranean Gull taking me to within touching distance of my target figure. What will be number 145, assuming I actually get there? There are possibilities such as Brambling, Barnacle Goose and Whooper Swans as well as unexpected migrants, which as late Spring showed, can turn up anywhere. Hopefully Waxwings will turn up a bit earlier this winter. Assuming I do reach 145 sometime soon, how close to 150 can I actually get in the remaining (almost) 3 months? Time will tell...
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Grey Wagtail
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Common Gull
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| Kestrel |
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Lesser Redpoll
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| Rook |
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Herring Gull (& Squat Lobster?)
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Lapwing |
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Red Throated Diver
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Pied Wagtail
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| Goosander |
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Meadow Pipit
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| Swallow |
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| Razorbill |
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Grey Heron
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| Curlew |
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Rock Pipit
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House Sparrow
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| Shag |
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| Goldfinch |
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Mediterranean Gull, Black Headed Gull & Herring Gull
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| Goldcrest |
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| Guillemot |
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| Turnstone |
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| Linnet |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Hering Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterfly - Red Admiral.
