 |
| Kingfisher |
This is now the 11th year of this birding blog. The first post of 2024. My target for this year is to try to reach a total of 150 species of bird from within Dundee. Time will tell if I can do that. A lot of luck, and assistance in a variety of forms from others, will be required to even get close. I will be putting in the effort, and the miles, to do so though. 2023 was an exceptional year for birds in Dundee, with numerous surprises along the way. What will 2024 bring? Who knows....(but I'll be posting about those birds here anyway). I always try to get the year off to a good strong start by getting out and about early to try to make the most of the rather limited amount of daylight available. I had a route planned and was ready to get out just after 0800. The weather forecast was relatively favourable. How would I get on?...
Unfortunately for me, I wasn't feeling 100% when I headed out and this feeling persisted to the detriment of my birding and resulted in a few changes of plan along the way which of course had the knock-on effect of reducing the number of species seen. My first bird of 2024 was a Herring Gull, heard shortly after breakfast, with one seen from my living room before I headed out. It was a similar story once I did actually step outside with a couple of the birds gliding over and a small flock of Feral Pigeons circling round in the pre-dawn gloom. A Blue Tit was heard calling from a tree across the road. Continuing on I added Blackbird, Starling, Magpie and Woodpigeon. A detour through part of Baxter Park added Great Tit, Wren and Redwing.
I'd received a message via Flickr on Hogmanay with a photo of a Gadwall seen at Swannie Ponds that afternoon. As the species is never particularly common in Dundee I was hoping it would still be around. There were plenty of Black Headed Gulls, and a couple of Common Gulls on the lower pond while Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Goosander, Coot and Mute Swan were all noted along with more Herring Gulls on the top pond. I thought I saw the Gadwall early on, but as the light improved I had another look for the bird and couldn't find it, despite doing a full circuit of the top pond, so unless it flew off when I wasn't looking, or sneaked up onto the island and out of sight, it would appear I was mistaken. A Pied Wagtail was added before I set off for Eastern Cemetery.
House Sparrow was noted as I wandered along Rodd Road. At the cemetery, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush, Goldfinch and Greenfinch were quickly added and the first mammal sightings of the year were the not unexpected duo of Rabbit and Grey Squirrel as I wandered down through the graveyard. A skein of Pink Footed Geese arrived overhead from the north as I neared the exit. However, a slightly odd sounding corvid caught my attention and I went looking for the source of the call which turned out to be a Rook. I added Dunnock, Goldcrest and Long Tailed Tits as I wandered along to the 'Scott Fyffe circle' before heading up through the Asda car park on my way to the Dighty Burn. A flock of Siskins flew over as I headed down Douglas Road.
The Dighty Burn has burst its banks a few times already this winter and there was still some surface water on the football pitches with a number of gulls and Oystercatchers in attendance as well as a few Mallard. Heading east along the burn I soon added the first Dipper of 2024. A Grey Heron flew past as I watched a Buzzard fly across the burn towards the houses opposite. I was able to walk right past the Heron without it paying me any attention. I found a few Bullfinches in the trees close to the feeders. I grabbed some video of another Dipper a bit further on but things were rather disappointing overall. I passed up on the opportunity to get the thermal imager out to search for Water Rail and Snipe due to how I was feeling.
I contemplated ignoring the West Pitkerro Industrial Estate section and instead heading for Broughty Ferry as I'd had a message from Mark Wilkinson letting me know he'd had a Common Scoter off Tesco Riverside which had been drifting downriver. Although my chances of actually intercepting the bird were minimal I did consider giving it a go. However, I continued on along the burn adding another Grey Heron and a Song Thrush. From the end of Barlow Avenue I spotted a pair of Stock Doves in flight well to the north. I talked myself out of checking the track along to the 'crossroads' at Clearwater Park and headed back the way I'd came. I had a nice chat to a couple out walking their dog before deciding to head for Douglas Terrace via the Broughty Ferry Victoria Road.
I reached the river just after 1100 and immediately added Red Breasted Merganser to the day's list. In addition, I found a few Redshanks and Turnstones (and Oystercatchers) along the shore. From beside the castle I was able to add a Shag in the water and a Cormorant flying upriver. A Rock Pipit was heard and I could see some distant Bar Tailed Godwits and gulls further along the beach to the east. The beach was already quite busy with walkers and dogs aplenty. I decided not to continue on eastwards to Balmossie. I have plenty of time to check that stretch later on in the week when things are likely to be much quieter with most folk back at work etc. I headed back towards the city instead. Other than Red Breasted Mergansers the river was very quiet. What was likely the same Great Black Backed Gull I'd seen at the Stannergate 2 days previously was stood on the rocks just offshore by the small gull roost.
I continued on towards City Quay in the hope I might see the Otters which Steven Neish has seen a few times recently but it wasn't to be - with just 3 Cormorants and a Red Breasted Merganser noted there. A quick look at the river failed to provide anything new with a small group of Cormorants and some distant Mergansers all that could be seen. I contemplated checking Swannie Ponds again for the Gadwall but decided to pop home first. This allowed me to shed some weight from my bag and after 5 minutes or so at home I headed out again. I chose to visit Caird Park first where Kingfisher was just one of a few possibilities. I added a Jackdaw on the walk up Court Street. Having crossed the Kingsway at Mains Loan, I spotted 2 Roe Deer on the 1st hole at the golf course.
At the ponds it didn't take too long to find the Kingfisher and I was able to get some photos and video from relatively close by. The Grey Heron there allowed me to walk along the path behind it while it stood at the water's edge. As I watched the Kingfisher a Great Spotted Woodpecker called from one of the nearby trees. I headed back up towards the Kingsway on my way to Swannie Ponds for the second visit of the year. Near the RPC a flock of Fieldfares flew over quite high. I drew a blank on the Gadwall at the ponds again. I did manage to add a few Collared Doves on the walk back from there to home though. These were the 53rd species of the day's birding - which was around 10 fewer than I'd hoped to find, but given how I'd been feeling it wasn't particularly surprising. It was a fairly run-of-the-mill selection of species too with nothing even slightly unexpected seen. There's still plenty of time left for that sort of thing though....
 |
| Siskin |
 |
Great Tit
|
 |
| Dipper |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Great Black Backed Gull
|
 |
| Redwing |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Roe Deer
|
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
| Kingfisher |
 |
Common Gull
|
 |
Black Headed Gull (white 2XJH)
|
 |
Black Headed Gull (with 1 leg)
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dipper, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
