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Red Breasted Merganser
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I like to get out birding on Christmas Day. Places tend to be that bit quieter for most of the day except for a few hours around lunchtime and early afternoon when entire families venture out for a festive walk together. That early part of the day can mean better opportunities with less disturbance than usual. Unfortunately, this year the weather had other ideas with rain due late morning then continuing for the rest of the day. On the plus side, and in complete contrast to the previous day, there was to be little wind, which was definitely a bonus. Although the rather short window of opportunity wasn't ideal, I decided to make the most of it anyway. I would head out before sunrise and have another go at catching up with the Black Redstart at Broughty Ferry (though obviously there are no guarantees it is even still around, but if you don't try....).
As it takes roughly 75 minutes or so to get to Broughty Castle, I wanted to be there for sunrise. I would only have about an hour after that before I needed to be headed back homewards if I wanted to avoid getting wet. Although sunrise was roughly 0845, I headed out into the darkness a little earlier at 0715. I took my thermal imager with me, so that I could still spot birds, even in the dark - though identifying them does need them either to call, or for there to be enough light for the binoculars to pick out some sort of detail. Robin, Blue Tit and Herring Gull got things underway. 10 minutes later, I added Redwing in Baxter Park, followed by Wren and Blackbird on my way along Bingham Terrace.
Carrion Crow made it onto the list at Old Craigie Road but it was another 20 minutes before the next bird onwas on the list - a Black Headed Gull at the Stannergate. There were a few Rabbits around there and a number of Blackbirds were spotted using the thermal imager, picking around on a patch of Rabbit-cropped grass. I continued out along towards Broughty Ferry and managed to pick out Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatcher in the gloaming. A Grey Heron was stood in the water a little offshore and a Turnstone handily called as it flew off. I found a Dunnock near the sailing club sheds before a Common Gull glided past me as the sky lightened further. A Chaffinch 'pinked' loudly from a large garden on Douglas Terrace, and a Goldcrest was heard from another nearby. Further on, a Starling roost was waking up though still hidden in a large patch of ivy on a house wall.
A Cormorant and an Eider were seen out on the river and the first Red Breasted Mergansers of the morning were seen flying past. A Pied Wagtail and a Rock Pipit were wandering around on the jetty to the west of Beach Crescent. A single Feral Pigeon was seen in flight over the rooftops. I made it round to the castle before sunrise and could hear a Collared Dove calling from somewhere beyond the playpark. There was no sign of the Black Redstart or much else at Beach Crescent or even around the castle. There were quite a lot of walkers, dog walkers and joggers around, despite it still being quite early. A Shag was seen offshore along with another Cormorant. Despite much looking and hoping, it was more of the same with the only birds around being ones already seen on the walk out to 'the Ferry'.
As the light improved (slightly) I started to take a few photos of the birds at the harbour. Across the Tay I could see a swan on the beach at Tayport and another 2 which flew towards the same area from the direction of the duckpond. I noted these as Mute Swans as theose are resident there, and are far more likely than Whoopers. I photographed a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers off the next jetty as I started my journey back homewards, with the drake catching what appears to be a Butterfish (thanks to a few folk on social media for the ID). A Goldfinch flew past and a Grey Seal was seen heading upriver from Douglas Terrace. There were House Sparrows by the railway line and a Siskin was heard flying over. The first Woodpigeon of the day was perched in a tree to the north of the railway line a bit further on. I spotted a trio of small waders landing down near one of the sailing club slipways and managed to see that they were Ringed Plovers. They flew off as I got closer along with another 4 which must have already been there.
The first Magpie of the morning was finally seen as I neared the Stannergate car park. A Great Black Backed Gull was on the slope at the edge of the docks. Although the sky wasn't looking particularly promising I decided to head along to City Quay as I had done the previous day, rather than head for home directly. There were Long Tailed Tits across the railway line near the start of the Docks Way cycle path. A Greenfinch was in the trees a bit further on. I heard geese and turned to see a skein of Pink Footed Geese approaching from the east. They seemed to hesitate slightly before continuing on upriver. Movement caught my eye by the fence on the north side of the path, which turned out to be a pair of Bullfinches. The female seemed completely unperturbed by me taking photos from about 6 feet away. I heard a Grey Wagtail flying over as I photographed the Bullfinches.
City Quay proved disappointing with only 2 Red Breasted Mergansers noted there along with a probable Sinensis race Cormorant which was perched atop a lampost at the former dry dock - exactly where I found my first of this race back on Christmas Day 2012 - though this time there was no Red Throated Diver (25/12/12 was when I found 'Dave the Diver' - the injured bird which spent the next few years in the quay giving countless photo opportunities before vanishing). It also began to rain quite heavily - almost exactly when it had been forecast, so I headed for home. I found a Mistle Thrush guarding a tree which still had some berries on it, on King Street. This took the total for the morning to 40 species, 8 more than the previous day's haul. While not a classic Christmas Day birding outing, it was good to get out and about for some fresh air and exercise, and the birds weren't too bad either.
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Herring Gull
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Carrion Crow
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Common Gull
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Shag (& Rock Pipit)
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Black Headed Gull
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| Turnstone |
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Rock Pipit
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Red Breasted Merganser (with Butterfish)
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Rock Pipit
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Pied Wagtail
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| Eider |
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| Cormorant |
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Curlew
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Redshank |
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Ringed Plover
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| Cormorant |
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Grey Heron
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Redwing |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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Cormorant (probable Sinensis race)
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Siskin, Starling, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
