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Meadow Pipit
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Although the final Saturday in November's wanders were all within a mile of home, I wanted to go a bit further afield on Sunday. I was a bit undecided whether to go west to Riverside Nature Park, or east to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie. I figured that my best chance of adding something new to my #Dundee145 list was to head east and maybe catch up with something rarer among the gull roost at the mouth of the Dighty Burn, or perhaps a Great Northern Diver out on the river. Expectation levels were however relatively low. The alarm was set for early enough but I went back to sleep again when it went off.
I eventually headed out at 0930 with my expectation levels even further diminished. It didn't really help that I had other stuff playing on my mind. I really needed to get out birding to focus on just the birds to take my mind off things, but my enthusiasm to do so was still rather lacking. Things started off with Blackbird, Blue Tit, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, House Sparrow, Great Tit and Herring Gull. Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Carrion Crow, Starling and Jackdaw soon followed in a reasonably steady trickle as I headed for a look at Swannie Ponds. Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan, Coot and Goosander were noted at the partially frozen ponds. Redwing and Siskin overflew before I continued on my way.
Dunnock, Woodpigeon and Mistle Thrush as well as Grey Squirrel and Rabbit were seen in Eastern Cemetery but it too felt rather quiet. I continued down to the Stannergate where Oystercatcher, Linnet, Red Breasted Merganser and Cormorant were all seen on the walk along towards the small car park. Just past there I heard the distinctive call of a Waxwing and hurried back to the car park for a look from there but there was no obvious sign of the bird I'd heard. The walk along the river added Curlew, Turnstone and Redshank down on the shore. A Great Black Backed Gull was roosting on the pipe at Douglas Terrace and a drake Goldeneye flew upriver.
Rock Pipit and Eider were both found near the castle. Having left home later than intended I was not surprised to find the beach beyond the castle rather busy with walkers - some with and some without dogs. Birds, unsurprisingly were in very short supply. I did manage to find a Meadow Pipit among the fenced off dunes and a distant Red Throated Diver was seen somewhere out in mid-river. A detour through the local nature reserve also proved to be busier with dogs and people than it was with birds. I did eventually get Goldcrest and Bullfinch there as well as a few Redwing.
I added Common Gull to the list near the end of the Esplanade. I spotted a duck landing on the water not too far out from shore which turned out to be a female (or 1st winter male) Common Scoter - not a particularly common bird in the Tay - though there can be 100s a few miles to the south of Tentsmuir Point. It didn't linger very long though. A walk along to the railway bridge only succeeded in adding Wigeon, Rook and a few Sanderling to the day's list. My mood hadn't really improved much despite finding the Common Scoter, so I decided to head homewards rather than linger. A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew over and a Wren was seen on the fence in the dunes. I had better views of what was likely the earlier Meadow Pipit as it perched atop some vegetation.
Continuing on back along the river, I added Goldfinch and Fieldfare in flight. I stopped to chat to a lady I've spoken to before further on and we spotted a Grey Seal out on the river as we were discussing birds. Between there and home, there was only 1 more species found - a Coal Tit near the top of Craigie Drive. Although the walk had mostly kept my mind off other things, the experience as a whole was rather frustrating and I probably ended up in a slightly worse frame of mind than when I'd started. I did somehow manage to reach a total of 51 species of bird for the day and I also managed to get some reasonably decent photos too. Overall, I just about broke even.....
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Black Headed Gull (J0214)
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Mistle Thrush
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| Curlew |
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| Siskin |
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| Redshank |
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Great Black Backed Gull
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| Turnstone |
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Pied Wagtail
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| Bullfinch |
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Common Scoter
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Common Scoter
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| Wigeon |
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| Rook |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Meadow Pipit
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| Eider |
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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Common Gull
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Rabbit |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Siskin, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Waxwing, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
