 |
| Sanderling |
As New Years Day was a wee bit of a wash-out and I didn't make it to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie as I'd planned to do, my plan for the 2nd was to make it to Balmossie. I had the offer of a trip up the coast to Montrose Basin with Paul but decided to turn it down as my focus for the year is on reaching that figure of 145 for Dundee. As the weather forecast was bright and sunny but rather chilly my initial plan was to replicate the plan for the 1st but when I checked the tides I decided a better plan might be to get to Balmossie as quickly as I could and work back from there, coming back along the Dighty. I had made a list of prospective species I might be able to get on the day with 29 species on it. I knew it was very unlikely that I'd get all of those in one go but I was hopeful I might get at least half.
I headed out in the pre-dawn light at 0815. Rather than head for the Swannie Ponds I took the direct route to Baxter Park instead. Herring Gull, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, Robin, House Sparrow and Blue Tit were all noted before I made it to the park. Dunnock, Goldfinch, Magpie, Woodpigeon and Redwing were added as I hurried across the width of Baxters. Reaching Bingham Terrace I watched as my first year-tick of the day, a
Collared Dove, flew in and landed on the chimney of a house on Dalkeith Road. A Wren called from a garden opposite. I continued on to Eastern Cemetery where Chaffinch, Great Tit and Buzzard were all found as well as numerous Rabbits and a Grey Squirrel or two.
A Mistle Thrush flew over as I headed down to the river. The sun was just a little above the horizon when I reached the Stannergate. Black Headed Gulls and Oystercatchers were seen almost immediately, just before an unexpected flock of Fieldfares following the river passed overhead. A pair of
Red Breasted Mergansers showed out on the river - another year-tick as a Curlew wandered along the shore. Further on, a Common Gull flew past, and the first of plenty
Turnstones were also seen. A Goldcrest was heard from one of the gardens on the north side of the railway line. I reached the Douglas Terrace section of the waterfront at 0920. A
Redshank, a few Turnstones and Oystercatchers and a
Rock Pipit were all visible.
There was a young
Eider that I almost overlooked in the harbour by the castle but things were otherwise fairly quiet. As I was in a bit of a hurry to get to Balmossie while there might be a chance of seeing some waders I pushed on, rather than stopping for a better look. On the other side of the castle, the beach was already full of walkers, mostly with dogs and mostly not on leads. The tide also looked a bit further in than I'd hoped it would be. I decided there wasn't much point in continuing to hurry as it was highly likely there would only be the usual Turnstones and Redshanks roosting by the burn mouth.
Instead I detoured into the local nature reserve, having drawn a blank on Meadow Pipit and Stonechat, though I did add a Pied Wagtail by the road. Greenfinch, Bullfinch,
Coal Tit, Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Siskin were all noted along with Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Long Tailed Tits in the wee reserve. I stood in below one of the trees just off the path and watched the birds feeding around me. Eventually I decided I should probably move on again. I could see there were birds on what was left of the beach just to the east of the small car park. I could make out
Ringed Plover and a couple of
Dunlin. Just off to one side was a
Grey Plover. Having struggled to get the plover on my Dundee list in both 2021 and 2022 this was a pleasant surprise.
Although the flock was flushed by walkers, most of the birds stayed nearby, though the Grey Plover did fly off before I got close enough for a decent view. There were a number of
Wigeon feeding just offshore along towards the burn mouth, and I eventually managed to find a
Goldeneye too. There were a number of Eider further out as well as some gulls. Despite checking I failed to find anything unexpected though there was a single Pink Footed Goose bobbing around out on the estuary. I had a short chat with a lady I've met there a few times previously. I sat and watched the birds feeding between the burn mouth and the first slope down to the beach for a while before deciding to head back towards Broughty Ferry.
I had a chat with a lady who had recently moved from Kirriemuir and who was just getting used to the coastal birds. A bit further on again, the Grey Plover dropped in with the Ringed Plover and Dunlin giving me better views than earlier, though with the sun behind it. I had to do a double-take when I realised there were also a couple of
Sanderling in with the Ringed Plover flock (and a few Dunlin). Having struggled last year to get Sanderling on my Dundee140 list, it was another good bird to get. A flock of 4
Linnets flew past and dropped down among the rock armour, though they flew past me again a little later in the opposite direction. A little further on again, I had a chat with a younger guy (Mike) who asked if I'd
seen anything good. After a few minutes of letting him know what was
around, we both continued on our way.
The small wader flock was being flushed every minute or two by dog walkers, no matter which direction they flew off in. Eventually the bulk of the flock flew off out over the river, hopefully to relocate somewhere quieter. Just beyond the steps down to the beach a little to the west of the small car park, I found the Sanderling again with a couple of
Dunlin and a handful of Ringed Plover. There were a Redshank and a few Turnstones picking around nearby too. I got a few photos before the Grey Plover flew in and landed not too far away. Although most of the walkers were avoiding that particular section of beach, it didn't take long before the birds were flushed again. Continuing on, I checked a flock of gulls that seemed to be coming to food provided by a couple sat up on the rocks.
Along by the next ramp down to the beach there were now 3 Sanderling and beyond them, a pair of
Bar Tailed Godwits. I had actually photographed 2 distant large flocks of waders out over the estuary earlier that I suspected were probably Godwits but I hadn't checked the photos. Later at home, I discovered that they had indeed been Bar Tailed Godwits too. Two women engrossed with their phones while walking along the edge of the water, saw off the Sanderling and the Godwits and I headed in for another look at the nature reserve in the hope of finding a Treecreeper. I drew a blank on the Treecreeper but I did see some of the same species I'd seen earlier.
I decided that rather than heading back home via the Dighty I would continue back along the river. I checked again along the dunes for Stonechat and Meadow Pipit but only managed a single Wren and a Pied Wagtail. At the harbour by the castle there were now 2 Eider and a relatively lightly streaked Rock Pipit that I tried to get a better view of, but it wasn't possible to see from the end of the harbour wall. A previously unseen
Cormorant flew out of the harbour as I was photographing the Eider pair round the other side of the harbour. The walk back to the Stannergate was mostly bird-free, except for a single Red Breasted Merganser out on the water, a few Turnstones and some gulls.
I decided to continue along the cycle path to City Quay in the hope of seeing a Sparrowhawk on the way, and maybe a Kingfisher or a Guillemot at the quay itself. Needless to say, none of these were seen. I did add a Song Thrush at the start of the cycle path, a pair of Stock Doves and a Redwing north of the railway line, plus a Grey Wagtail near the clock tower flats. There was a Cormorant on one of the pontoons in front of the North Carr lightship. The walk home from there didn't add anything else to the list and I ended the day's birding with a total of 51 species of which 16 (in bold) were new for my Dundee145 list, taking me to 64 after just 2 days. I've set myself a target of getting to 78 (just past the halfway to 145) before going back to work on the 9th. I need another 14 between now and then, which will mean some targetting of particular species and a lot of luck. We'll see how things go. Watch this space...
 |
| Oystercatcher |
 |
Rock Pipit
|
 |
Red Breasted Merganser
|
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
House Sparrow
|
 |
Grey Plover
|
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
| Wigeon |
 |
| Goldeneye |
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
Grey Plover
|
 |
Bar Tailed Godwit
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
 |
| Fieldfare |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
| Eider |
 |
| Redshank |
 |
| Redwing |
Birds -
Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Coal Tit,
Collared Dove, Common Gull,
Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunlin, Dunnock,
Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest,
Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw,
Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose,
Red Breasted Merganser,
Redshank, Redwing,
Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Rock Pipit,
Sanderling, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove,
Turnstone,
Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
