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Common Tern
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My trips on the Taymara boat 'Missel Thrush' since mid-July have been quite interesting and have given me some relatively unusual photo opportunities but in the end have proved slightly disappointing with nothing seen from the boats that I haven't also seen from land with the exception of Puffin - which clearly appears to spend some time in the Tay in late summer. There is still some potential there for something unusual but I'm not sure that the cost involved and the rather random nature of birds turning up in odd places justify the effort. I may still book myself on a couple of trips next year but I doubt I will do more than a couple. However, I still had one final trip for 2023 booked for Saturday 16th of September. I was meeting up with a non-birding pal, Kirsty on the trip too. The winds were looking almost perfect too for delivering some good seabirds into the outer Tay, and having seen a few Skuas on Thursday there appeared to be really good potential for it all coming together and delivering a 'biggie'.
With the boat sailing at 1500 there was no great rush to get out so it was around 1210 when I eventually did so. Needless to say this did mean things were a bit quieter than they would be with an earlier start. A Meadow Pipit heard passing overhead was a promising start though the only bird seen in my street was a Herring Gull. Heading on towards Swannie Ponds I added Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Blue Tit and House Sparrow as I wandered up Court Street. A Red Admiral butterfly took off from some late flowers in a tenement garden as I passed by. On Clepington Road Feral Pigeon, Starling and Robin put in appearances. I had a relatively unproductive look at Swannie Ponds on my way past with just the usual Mallard, Mute Swan, Lesser Black Backed, Herring and Black Headed Gulls, Moorhen and Coot being noted there.
A Goldcrest was heard from the island and a Grey Wagtail was seen at the muddy lower pond before I moved on again towards Eastern Cemetery. Carrion Crow, Coal Tit and Chaffinch were all seen in the top half of the graveyard with Magpie and Rabbit spotted in the lower half. A few House Martins flew over as I cut along Balgavies Avenue and a Dunnock was added a few minutes later on Craigie Avenue. I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary on the walk out from the Stannergate but with the northeasterly winds there was a slight chance of 'something good'. A Guillemot was seen out on the river and there were the usual Herring Gulls roosting on the shore. A Peacock butterfly was picked out in flight as I scanned ahead along the path, through binoculars.
Curlew, Cormorant, Grey Heron and some Sandwich Terns were next onto the list as I wandered eastwards along the path. As well as the Sandwich Terns there were a few Common Terns which were a slight surprise but very welcome regardless. Common Gull and a Great Black Backed Gull were seen before I fell into conversation with a passing walker who asked what the Turnstones I had just accidentally flushed from close in to the wall on the beach below were called. As she was headed in the same direction I was (though she was headed for Balmossie and then back again) we continued on together, her asking me about some of the birds she sees on her regular exercise walk along that stretch. An Oystercatcher flew past and there was a Goosander on the pipe at Douglas Terrace with a flock of Turnstones.
A Redshank noisily flew off from the shore between the lifeboat jetty and Beach Crescent when it was disturbed by the ubiquitous dog walker. I said cheerio to Irene at the castle and with the best part of an hour to 'kill' I had a look around to see what I could find. There were a few Pied Wagtails, a Goldfinch adult and youngster and a pair of Rock Pipits on the grass by the castle which provided some interest as they picked around among the grass. Offshore a Grey Seal put in a few appearances and an Eider slept alongside 4 Goosanders on the rocky islet. Terns, gulls and Cormorants along with a few Guillemots and Razorbills kept things ticking over until I wandered round to meet up with Kirsty just before the boat arrived.
We got onboard and the captain, recognising me, let me know that it didn't look particularly likely that we would be heading towards Tentsmuir Point. Obviously, given the conditions, this was not what I wanted to hear with the stretch up to the bridges usually only having a bare minimum of auks, terns, Cormorants and gulls. However, he did say they would see what the rest of the passengers wanted to do. Once everyone was onboard he let them know there hadn't been any recent sign of dolphins and that the option of sailing up for a look at the bridges and the city was the alternative. The largely elderly other passengers didn't want to see the other wildlife in the outer Tay, so it would be upriver after all. Although I had known this was always likely to happen at some point given how many trips I had booked, it was particularly disappointing on the very day that conditions were exactly why I'd booked on the trips in the first place.
I made the most of the very limited opportunities that sailing up as far as the V&A offered, though with the exception of 1 or 2 passengers pointing out where they lived, it appeared the rest weren't particularly interested in what could be seen, either man-made or natural and were just onboard for something different to do - if the boat had sat in Broughty Ferry harbour for an hour, it looked like that wouldn't have made the slightest difference to their afternoon. A single Shag was the only addition to the bird list from the boat despite lots of scanning and the hour's trip was ultimately very anticlimactic. Kirsty gave me a lift up the road afterwards and I got her to drop me off near the Kingsway - to make navigation homewards for her a bit easier (as she doesn't live in Dundee), which gave me a chance for another look at Swannie Ponds.
A Collared Dove and a Rook were noted on the short walk to the ponds and although the same mix of species were around I also managed to add Long Tailed Tits and Swallows to the afternoon's list taking it to 45 species of birds, 2 of butterflies and 2 of mammals. Although there was nothing reported from the outer Tay on Saturday afternoon, there were some very good birds elsewhere (and generally better options for birders) not too far away. What did I miss? I'll never know for sure but it would appear my best bet of getting to Tentsmuir Point on the boat in future Septembers will be if I actually charter it - though I'm not sure I could find another 11 interested birders to join me as the chances of getting similar conditions are probably rather slim and although there are birds out there, I'd maybe struggle to convince another 11 birders/photographers to join me, even for an hour, let alone the 2 I'd prefer to do. Still, regardless of the birds, it was good to catch up with Kirsty again, so it wasn't entirely an anticlimax of an afternoon.
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| Starling |
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| Curlew |
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Common Gull
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Grey Heron
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| Cormorant |
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Black Headed Gull
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Great Black Backed Gull
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| Guillemot |
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Rock Pipit
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Pied Wagtail
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Razorbill
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Common Gull
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Sandwich Tern
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| Cormorant |
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Grey Seal
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| Goldfinch |
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Carrion Crow
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Pied Wagtail
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Common Gull
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Common Gull & Sandwich Tern
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| Goosander |
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Hering Gull & Auk sp.
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| Razorbill |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eide, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Starling, Swallow, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies - Peacock, Red Admiral.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
