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| Eider |
As my day off on Wednesday had drawn closer I watched as the weather forecast seem to get progressively worse with heavy rain forecast for most of the day. Eventually, however the rain seemed to decide to arrive a bit earlier and the forecast for the afternoon actually seemed reasonable, though rather cold and windy. Having had a lie-in and wasted much of the time available to actually do something productive I decided that I would head down to Balmossie in the afternoon. Expectations were rather low for adding anything new to my Dundee150 list but I've been surprised on many occasions previously, so....
I headed out at 1230 to find that it didn't seem quite as windy as it was supposed to be, and it wasn't raining. A Blue Tit was heard calling and a Herring Gull was perched on a a nearby chimney. Feral Pigeon, Starling, Woodpigeon, Magpie, House Sparrow and Robin were noted on a realtively quiet walk to Clepington Road where once again Jackdaw was easily found atop the tenement block to the east of the retail units. I continued on along Clepington Road towards Swannie Ponds finding Carrion Crow and a singing Dunnock on the way. A lot of the birds at the ponds were resting up on the island including the Shoveler pair. Goosander, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Black Headed Gull and Herring Gull were all present too as expected.
I headed for Eastern Cemetery next. A singing Song Thrush was heard from the Territorial Army camp while a Wren was heard from a garden opposite. I added a few species in the cemetery - Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Coal Tit and Greenfinch. The Rabbits were in their usual spots when I reached the Stannergate. Out on the river I could see a few Eider and Red Breasted Mergansers. Further on I found the first Redshank of the day and a Turnstone flew past just offshore. There was no sign of the Stonechat at the bushes where it has been seen previously. Further on towards Broughty Ferry the first Common Gull of the day was down by the water's edge. A Cormorant was seen well out on the river.
Heading onwards along Douglas Terrace I spotted a Sparrowhawk which circled out over the river before going into a shallow stoop which took it over the roofs and out of sight again. There were a couple of Oystercatchers down on the pebbles by the water's edge. A Pied Wagtail was scurrying around at Beach Crescent while at the other end a Rock Pipit was among the seaweed and assorted detritus on the beach. With nothing noted at the dunes I detoured into the local nature reserve for a look which gave me Long Tailed Tits, Bullfinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing and Great Tit. I had a short chat with a few folk (whose names I've forgotten in the intervening period (maybe Lindsay and Jack?) - sorry!) before wandering back to check along what remained of the beach due to the tide state.
I spotted a birder scoping from just beyond the car park and asked him if he'd had any luck. Wayne, an ecologist from Dundee, and I then had a chat about the birding and birds in Dundee while adding Wigeon, Dunlin, Goldeneye, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Curlew to the list before we went our separate ways - him continuing east over the Dighty footbridge and me heading back in the direction of the castle. By this time, the forecast strong winds had arrived and it was hard going walking into the wind. I did manage to find a Great Black Backed Gull on the beach as I searched through the waders and gulls for something unexpected. Continuing on, I found the football pitch full of Oystercatchers (and a Pied Wagtail) but a young Peregrine sent them all skywards in a panic before it disappeared over the trees and the railway line beyond.
With the tide receding by this time I was able to find a few Bar Tailed Godwits and Sanderling down on the sand but drew a blank on any Grey Plover, Knot and Ringed Plover. As I neared the castle a Siskin flew over giving me what would be my final addition for the day. The rest of the walk home proved to be rather quiet though the strong (and icy cold) wind did make searching with binoculars a bit trickier until I headed up the rather more sheltered brae towards Arbroath Road. I made it home around 1745 having managed to find a total of 51 species during the course of the afternoon's birding. Although it was far from a classic afternoon's birding it was good to cross paths and have a chat with with a few more Dundee birders.
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| Turnstone |
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| Redshank |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Eider |
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| Turnstone |
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| Redshank |
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Herring Gull
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Pied Wagtail
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| Bullfinch |
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Great Black Backed Gull & Common Gull
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Common Gull
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| Sanderling |
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| Dunlin |
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Herring Gull
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Curlew |
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sanderling, Shoveler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit.
