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| Cormorant |
Keeping up my run of Tay river trips with Taymara, I had been out for 2 single hour trips on Saturday the 26th and was booked on a trip mid-afternoon on the following Wednesday. The weather had been relatively good for Saturday's trip but August had been quite showery overall. It had rained quite often in the afternoons and I was well aware that my luck might run out at any time and the trip would run into at least a bit of rain. I had been keeping a check on the weather forecast in the preceding days and it appeared that there was a chance that it would indeed rain while I was out on the river, which wouldn't be particularly helpful.
Once again I had planned on an early morning trip up the Law for a spot of vis-migging but the weather didn't play ball and there was some rain first thing. Instead of going birding I had a bit of extra sleep. Once organised, I headed out at noon. Birds were in very short supply with only a Herring Gull noted between leaving the house and reaching Clepington Road. A Small White butterfly flitted by near the top of Court Street. There were a few House Martins around at the Mains Loan crossroads. Feral Pigeon and Lesser Black Backed Gull were spotted before I made it to Swannie Ponds. At the ponds, the Mute Swans still had 6 cygnets of their original brood of 9. Coot, Moorhen, Mallard and Black Headed Gulls were also around. A Magpie flew over to the island as I walked round the top pond. The lower pond had been mostly drained to remove algae and there were 3 Grey Wagtails there.
I headed down through Eastern Cemetery. A Meadow Pipit called from somewhere overhead and a Red Admiral butterfly was seen as I wound my way towards Arbroath Road. Blue Tit, Carrion Crow and Oystercatcher were added in the Cemetery with Coal Tit and Wren being found near the Arbroath Road exit. A Sparrowhawk flew out from one of the trees in the same area and quickly disappeared out of view behind another tree. A Woodpigeon was perched atop a lamp-post and as I headed down towards the Stannergate, House Sparrow, Goldfinch and a Rook were all noted. I reached the Stannergate around 45 minutes after having left the house. A Robin was singing in the bushes there and out on the water was a Cormorant. A pair of Sandwich Terns flew past and a small flock of Turnstones foraged down by the water's edge.
A Peacock butterfly was seen in flight by the railway line and a Goosander was on the water not far offshore. I decided to try again for Holly Blue butterflies. As I headed down the stairs on the north side of the railway line having crossed the footbridge I spotted a small grey-ish looking butterfly above the ivy overhanging the fence, and then it was gone. My first ever Scottish Holly Blue butterfly. My first had been seen early in the 2000s near the Manchester Airport spotter's enclosure as we watched aircraft arriving for the Champions League Final. With the butterfly finally in the bag I continued on towards 'the Ferry'. A Grey Seal was seen a few hundred metres out on the river.
As I walked along Douglas Terrace, I spotted something speeding through the water, just below the surface. It turned out to be a Razorbill fishing. I had reasonable views of it under the water as it passed by a few feet below me. Along towards the harbour a few Redshanks, a Pied Wagtail and a Guillemot were next onto the list and a flock of Starlings were around the castle. I headed up into the castle to photograph Missel Thrush as it headed out of the harbour for its first trip of the afternoon. I then spent the next 45 minutes or so watching the birds and Grey Seals out in the river. A Common Gull flew past and a Rock Pipit was spotted down on the rocks below the castle. I wandered round to the harbour again when I could see Missel Thrush heading back. There didn't appear to be any sign of any dolphins though.
Out on the Tay, it was a similar selection of birds to Saturday's trip. There were plenty of Shags around, as well as a good number of Eider plus slightly fewer Razorbill and Guillemots. There seemed to be an increase in the number of Common Gulls we encountered. Great Black Backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns also kept me occupied. Most of the other passengers stayed seated meaning I was able to scan out over both sides of the boat from a point near the front. There was a cool wind at times that I was slightly under-dressed for but the rain did actually stay away once again. It was still an enjoyable trip even without anything new noted.
Back on land, I briefly stopped at the lifeboat station to check through the Sandwich Terns. On the walk back from there I popped in again for another attempt at photographing the Holly Blues. Although I had 2 brief views this time, they were too quick for photos and it will likely now be next year before I manage to get a photograph of the species here in Dundee. A Blackbird at the Stannergate was my final addition for the day taking the total to a relatively low 38 species, though I no doubt could have added more by visiting the nature reserve or checking the Dighty mouth, and nearby shoreline rather than heading homewards after getting off the boat. As things currently stand I still have one final boat trip to go, but I might yet book another one (or more), as it has been interesting seeing the rather subtle differences between each of the trips.
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Sandwich Tern
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| Razorbill |
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| Razorbill |
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| Turnstone |
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| Goosander |
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Grey Seal
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Rock Pipit
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| Guillemot |
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| Razorbill |
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Common Gull
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Common Gull & Black Headed Gull
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Herring Gull & Common Gull
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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| Razorbill |
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Grey Seal
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| Eider |
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| Cormorant |
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Herring Gull
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| Guillemot |
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Herring Gull
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| Razorbill |
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Common Gull
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Holly Blue, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Seal.
