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| Fieldfare |
Back in December when we had a week or so of sightings of colourful nacreous clouds high in the atmosphere I remember reading a suggestion that a 'beast from the east' type cold spell could be on the cards for sometime in January. Locally, it hasn't been too bad - it has been pretty cold but other than Sunday's flurry and some slightly heavier snow on Tuesday which didn't result in much more than a centimetre or two on the paths, we've missed the worst of it (thankfully). With the 'feels like' temperatures for early on Wednesday forecast to be around -10C, I decided to stay in bed. When I did finally surface, I found a clear blue sky and sunshine outside. Ideal birding weather - other than the temperature, so I got organised and headed in the direction of Balmossie (where I hoped it might feel slightly less chilly), via Swannie Ponds...
It was already 1100 when I headed out. Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow got things off to a fairly slow start. Blackbird and Herring Gull were next a few minutes further on. House Sparrow, Magpie, Woodpigeon and Blue Tit were added as I walked up towards Clepington Road. There was a Jackdaw on a tenement chimney stack, and a Starling flew over as I continued on along to the Swannie Ponds. Unsurprisingly they were still mostly frozen, with most of the ducks, swans and Coots now in a smaller unfrozen section by the island. Black Headed, Common and Herring Gulls were stood around on the ice. Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot and the Shoveler pair were all still around too. A lone Pied Wagtail was stood by a smaller area of open water looking very cold. A Coal Tit was seen in the trees and a pair of Skylarks caught the low sun on their undersides as they passed overhead.
I headed in the direction of Baxter Park next to check Spring Grove.Things were very quiet in the park though Redwing and Robin were noted. Eastern Cemetery was next. Siskin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and a few Grey Squirrels were all found relatively quickly. There appeared to be good numbers of Fieldfares in the trees and bushes. A flock of Skylarks headed over westwards as did more Fieldfares. I accidentally flushed a Buzzard before spotting a few Mistle Thrushes guarding 'their' trees from the Fieldfares. A Wren was one final addition before I left the graveyard en route for the Stannergate. Rabbits and a Dunnock were glimpsed as I wandered down to check the shoreline and river. A Cormorant was fishing offshore. There were a few gulls around while out on the river there was a flock of Red Breasted Mergansers most of which were flushed by the pilot's boat from the docks as it headed out to meet an incoming cargo vessel.
As I walked out along the river, I found Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone and Grey Heron. A distant skein of Pink Footed Geese were seen heading upriver. There were numerous flocks of Fieldfares passing westwards, with a few groups of Redwings and the odd Skylark or three also passing by. I even photographed a lone Song Thrush among these 'cold weather movments' which were happening all along the coast from Aberdeenshire southwards. I found a few Eider out on the river off Douglas Terrace. Looking towards the castle from the lifeboat shed I managed to pick out a drake Long Tailed Duck quite close in to the harbour wall, so I hurried in that direction. Unfortunately before I got there someone decided to check out the rocky outcrop (sometime island) just off the harbour wall, which sent the Eiders and Red Breasted Mergansers further out onto the river. There was no further sign of the Long Tailed Duck, which was disappointing. I did manage to add a Rock Pipit though.
I wandered along the edge of the dunes where only a single Wren was heard. There was a decent sized group of Bar Tailed Godwits down by the water with a single Dunlin amongst them and a few gulls. As I headed up off the beach a small bird lifted from among the grass and flew off to the other side of the road. The low sun gave me a clear view as the bird took off and once it landed I grabbed a few photos which confirmed I had another year-tick - a Reed Bunting. I had a look at the flooded western end of the local nature reserve where I could hear Redwings. I found some feeding in below the trees as I wandered out along the roadside path. I had a quick look in the reserve around the halfway mark for a few minutes but it was mostly Chaffinches, Redwings, Long Tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits that were around.
Heading back for another look at the estuary, I scanned ahead along the beach, checking through the waders. I found a single Sanderling and a few Ringed Plover, though there was no sign of any Grey Plover or Knot this time. A lone Great Black Backed Gull was loitering out on the river. The usual Wigeon and Mallards were feeding among the small waves just off the beach. A Rook was seen down on the beach as I checked through the gulls in the hope of finding something good. I spotted a very distant Red Throated Diver in flight towards Tentsmuir Point. I heard a pipit calling and saw a bird in flight along the railway line. I grabbed a few photos more in hope than expectation to ascertain whether it was a Meadow Pipit, as I suspected. Thanfully, the photos showed that it was - my second new bird for the year, and another one closer to my 150 species target.
The walk back along the river was a very chilly one. I bumped into Barrie Hunter at Beach Crescent and had a short chat about birds before continuing on again. There wasn't too much to see as the sun sank closer and closer to the horizon, though a Sparrowhawk with a full crop did overfly Craigie Avenue as my rather tired legs carried me homewards. I cut up through Eastern Cemetery again in the hope of a Kestrel, but had to make do with a Goldcrest instead which took the total number of species for the day to 56, of which 2 (in bold) were unexpected, though very welcome Dundee150 ticks, numbers 90 and 91. Despite being less than 3 weeks into this year, I'm already more than 60% of the way to that target, though it will definitely now get tricky to add anything new between now and early March (unless I'm very lucky) when the Spring migrants start to creep back in.
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| Goldfinch |
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Blue Tit
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| Buzzard |
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Mistle Thrush
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| Fieldfare |
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| Greenfinch |
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Carrion Crow & Buzzard
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| Robin |
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| Cormorant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Redwing |
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Curlew & Oystercatcher
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| Skylark |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Turnstone |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Eider |
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Common Gull & Bar Tailed Godwit
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Reed Bunting
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Mute Swan
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Meadow Pipit
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Pink Footed Goose
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Grey Heron
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| Curlew |
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| Sparrowhawk |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, 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, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
