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| Shag |
As the handful of regular readers of this blog will know, this Summer I've been spending some time out on the Tay, courtesy of Taymara who run Tay River Trips for £25 per hour. Bottlenose Dolphins are generally the target of most of the passengers on these trips but I figured there might be a decent chance of seeing a bird or two from the boat that might not be quite as visible from shore. The Dolphins actually showed up and gave good views on my first trip out back in mid-July and a Puffin was a nice surprise among the other auks on my second trip out. I had booked on two back-to-back trips on Saturday the 26th of August, one at 0915, and the second at 1015. As with the previous two trips the weather looked like it might behave once again, at least until the afternoon.
I headed out the door just after 0700 for the walk to Broughty Ferry. The sun was shining, the wind was relatively light and a mostly pleasant day weather-wise, looked very likely. Herring Gull, House Martin, Robin and Feral Pigeon were first onto the list with Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Goldcrest and Blackbird not far behind. Cutting through Baxter Park added Black Headed Gull, Chaffinch, Wren and a flyover Meadow Pipit to those noted previously. Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow and Lesser Black Backed Gull, as well as a rather vocal Grey Squirrel were next. Long Tailed Tits were found near the top end of Craigie Avenue, with Starlings closer to the bottom end and Coal Tit around the area where the roads all meet up from the roundabout.
A Dunnock was heard as I had a look for the local Rabbits, of which only a couple were out and about in the sunshine. Turnstone and Oystercatcher were feeding along the pebbled shoreline, with a couple of Sandwich Terns flying in close before flying off out across the river again. A couple of Grey Herons were by the water's edge a bit further on, though one flew off when I stopped for a better look. A Cormorant was picked out on the water, in between dives, as I wandered on eastwards. Curlew and Goosander were spotted a bit further on and the first Guillemots of the day were seen nearer to Douglas Terrace. I had a quick look for Holly Blue butterflies again, but unsurprisingly drew a blank yet again. A Chiffchaff called from across the railway line somewhere. A Great Black Backed Gull and another Goosander were on the outflow pipe at Douglas Terrace.
I spotted the head of a Grey Seal pop up briefly before submerging again and the first Tree Pipit of the day was heard passing overhead. There were a few Redshanks around by the lifeboat jetty as well as a few more Sandwich Terns, gulls and Turnstones. A large cruise liner sailed past the castle and upriver towards Dundee harbour. I checked for Dolphins, riding the bow wave in front of it but disappointingly found none. A young Blue Tit flew into a hole on one of the flood defence gates and peered out from inside. A few Swallows zipped past low over the river. I wandered round the eastern side of the castle and found a couple of Rock Pipits feeding nearby. On the rocky islet on the other side of the castle, a Great Black Backed Gull and Cormorant were joined by a Shag while an Eider dozed a little closer to the water. While watching the Missel Thrush (the boat I would be getting on) getting closer to the harbour a small flock of Siskin overflew.
Before we got underway I watched a Rock Pipit chasing a Magpie around above the harbour before both birds alighted back on the castle roof. There were a decent number of birds to be seen out on the water, and especially across at Tentsmuir Point, but other than a few Gannets and a Puffin there was nothing too unusual until we were on our way back past Tentsmuir Point on the scond trip. Something spooked the Sandwich Terns and I photographed the flock as they milled around quite near the boat. I didn't realise that among them was a raptor - the cause of the 'dread'. When I did eventually notice it, it was going away from me towards Broughty Ferry and looked to be a small falcon. I was hoping for a Hobby, but it was a Kestrel and it was actually visible in some of my Tern flock photos from a little earlier. An Osprey was seen hovering over the Fife side of the river as we sailed back towards Broughty Ferry and some of the Mute Swans off the mouth of the Dighty Burn were also picked out.
A Grey Heron flew across the river from south to north a bit further to the east and a few Razorbills were spotted among the more numerous Guillemots. Back ashore again I headed eastwards towards Balmossie to check the gulls and waders as best I could from the limited viewing spots now available. Peacock and Small White butterflies fluttered around by the 'new' path on my way there. I spent some time checking and rechecking the birds around the burn mouth and just offshore as the tide slowly receded. Wigeon, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Ringed Plover were all eventually added before I headed back to the nature reserve for a look there. Goldfinch, Great Tit and a Small Copper butterfly were the best I managed to find - the butterfly being my first of the species this year.
I did a spot of scanning out over the river from the castle again which added a Common Tern and more of what I'd already seen before heading in the direction of home. I detoured in for another look for Holly Blue with the same results as earlier in the day. The sky had begun to darken as I'd reached the Stannergate and it appeared increasingly likely I wasn't going to make it home without getting caught in a heavy rain shower. Thankfully, when it did start raining I found a convenient bus shelter and waited it out. On leaving the shelter as the rain abated, a Sparrowhawk flew low over the roofs of the houses behind and out of sight into the trees. I finished the day's birding with a total of 55 species of bird, 4 of butterfly and 3 of mammals. The boat trips were both enjoyable and despite not adding anything new to my #Dundee145 list it was good to find another Puffin on the river, given how uncommon they previously appeared to be on the Tay.
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Herring Gull & Curlew
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Grey Heron
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| Goosander |
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Sandwich Tern
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Great Black Backed Gull & Goosander
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Blue Tit
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| Starling |
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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Cormorant, Shag & Great Black Backed Gull
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| Woodpigeon |
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Magpie & Rock Pipit
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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Sandwich Tern
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| Gannet |
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Kestrel & Sandwich Tern
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| Cormorant |
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| Puffin |
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Small Copper
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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Common Gull
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| Rabbit |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Tree Pipit, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
