 |
Garden Warbler
|
With a week and a half off work on holiday in the hope of adding plenty of new birds to my Dundee145 having got off to a good start with 4 new species over the course of the weekend, I wanted to try to keep that momentum going on Monday. With Grasshopper Warblers and Sedge Warblers beginning to show up in various locations across the country I decided I would make a really early start and head for Clatto in search of Grasshopper Warbler. Sedge Warbler is also possible there, but there was also the option of routing back via Trottick Ponds. However, my intention was to head out to the west via Templeton Woods and Camperdown Park to try for Wheatear in the fields around Liff after spending some time at Clatto.
I managed to get out of my bed while it was still relatively dark and headed out at just before 0515. I wasn't quite feeling 100% but decided to go anyway. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Hering Gull, Robin, Starling and Carrion Crow started things off for the morning's list. I added Goldfinch a bit further on, then found a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Common Gulls on the football pitches at Fairmuir Park. Greenfinch and Grey Wagtail were both around nearby. Chaffinch, Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher and Collared Dove were spotted on Strathmartine Road before I crossed the footbridge over the Kingsway. Once over I found a few more species - House Sparrow, Goldcrest and Wren.
I chose to take a rather more winding route to get to Clatto than usual, routing along Camperdown Road first. This gave me Feral Pigeon at Macalpine Road shops with a Chiffchaff singing from within the fenced off area around the small pond on the opposite side of the road. Magpie, Song Thrush and Willow Warbler were next on the list as I explored away from the main road. Little Grebe and Moorhen were both seen at the Ardler village pond. Although I thought there might be a slim chance of Sedge Warbler there, if one was around it was silent and well hidden among the reeds. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling briefly. I continued on up towards the driveway to Clatto but decided to ignore the reservoir in favour of checking out the area to the east first. On my previous visit it had appeared to be possible to get down to the area where Lainy and I had tried to get the tree planting plans changed, via Auchinblae Place.
This turned out to be the case. A Pheasant was heard and a Linnet was seen as I gingerly made my way down the steep slope between fences to the rather marshy track round the back of the small hill. I spooked a Roe Deer as I reached the bottom. I found a Reed Bunting before being distracted by another burst of song. It wasn't quite a Blackcap song, and the Merlin song ID app drew a blank. I had a suspicion it was a Garden Warbler, even though it is usually the end of May before we see them there, and Merlin usually flags them up as such. I eventually managed to see a couple of birds moving through the hedge and sure enough, they were Garden Warblers. I eventually managed to see at least 3 of the birds around the same general areas as we usually find them. An unexpected bonus bird.
Long Tailed Tit, Yellowhammer, Great Tit, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were all noted as I wandered around trying to find a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. Skylarks were heard over the fields to the north, and a Coal Tit was found in the wood to the north of the reservoir. As I was back checking out the Garden Warblers having failed to find any sign of Grasshopper Warbler I was surprised to see a pair of Swifts pass over westwards towards the reservoir. Another slightly earlier than usual sighting and another unexpected Dundee145 tick, at least for the 1st of May. I added Sand Martin, Jackdaw and Jay before wandering up to check the reservoir. Things were relatively quiet there with Mute Swan, Mallard, Great Crested Grebe and a Pied Wagtail in addition to Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls.
By this time, I wasn't feeling particularly great and despite the sun finally adding a bit of warmth to the morning I decided to head homewards rather than any of my other options. A pair of Swallows were twittering away on one of the shipping containers in the building site as I wandered down the dirt track back to the main road back through Downfield. I probably missed a few extra species due to how I was feeling as I headed home. Once home, the sky which had been mostly blue and rather sunny, seemed to darken out of nowhere and a relatively heavy shower of rain passed through. Had I been feeling ok, it would have been likely that I'd have been soaked somewhere out to the west of Camperdown Park, as I hadn't been dressed for rain, with none having been forecast.
As the morning progressed, I perked up a bit and decided to head back out for a bit more birding - though staying relatively close to home, just in case. I headed out around 1100 and wandered along to Baxter Park. As I headed for Spring Grove, a large white van was just leaving. It turned out that a new fence appeared to be in the process of being put in place, with a few stakes already in the ground, though not yet firmly fixed in place. It was clear that the van would return, as there were a number of materials left behind. I decided I might as well see what I could see until the van returned. It might be 10 minutes I would have, it might be an hour. Things proved to be much quieter than usual, possibly as a result of the disturbance of the fence work, though there were still a few birds around - Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Starling, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Dunnock and House Sparrow all posed for a few photos.
A Stock Dove showed relatively well in a nearby tree and a Buzzard drifted over high above. A couple of Grey Squirrels squabbled and chased each other behind me. I spent around 45 minutes or so photographing what I could before the van returned. I wandered up to Swannie Ponds to see what I could find there. As it was a holiday Monday, there was a group of children hanging around with their mums, alternating between feeding and scaring the birds. The Grey Heron was once again stood on the rocks just a few feet away from the path. As I crouched down to take a few photos, one of the kids decided to try to photograph it with his phone. As he rather noisily ran towards it, the bird decided it wasn't going to linger and flew off. The Coot on the nest drew the attention of a Herring Gull, which was seen off by the male(?) Coot before it could get at the youngsters below the bird on the nest.
Tufted Duck and a pair of Goosanders were also photographed, as were a pair of drake Mallards fighting over a female, quite literally. A Sparrowhawk circled off to the northwest just before I'd finally had enough at the ponds. I decided I would check out the habitat at Mains Terrace before deciding whether to go anywhere else. There were a few House Martins hawking for insects high above the trees when I got there. I got talking to a lady who was exercising her dog at the grassy part who asked what I was seeing, and what I'd seen there previously. We chatted for a while before she remembered she actually had somewhere she needed to be and I decided to head homewards again. Despite the broken nature of the morning's birding, I'd somehow managed to reach a total of 54 species (including 2 Dundee145/year ticks - in bold) despite feeling a bit under the weather.I've had worse day's birding.
 |
| Moorhen |
 |
Little Grebe
|
 |
Song Thrush
|
 |
Reed Bunting
|
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
Garden Warbler
|
 |
| Blackcap |
 |
| Yellowhammer |
 |
| Swift |
|
Garden Warbler
|
 |
Garden Warbler
|
 |
| Swallow |
 |
| Woodpigeon |
 |
House Sparrow
|
 |
Stock Dove
|
 |
| Dunnock |
 |
| Chaffinch |
 |
Grey Squirrel
|
 |
House Sparrow
|
 |
| Starling |
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
| Coot |
 |
| Goosander |
 |
Tufted Duck
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
House Martin
|
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
