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| Eider |
Having visited Riverside Nature Park on Sunday, I decided against heading in that direction again on Wednesday despite there being some potential for early returning migrants. Once again the weather forecast wasn't looking particularly promising for my midweek day off, though it was meant to brighten up later in the day. It was to be cold and windy which is never particularly ideal. There was also a chance of the odd shower but I decided to take a chance that it wouldn't be too bad if it did rain and to head for Balmossie. The tide times weren't particularly favourable either with low tide around mid-morning. Although it was still a little early for the first of the Spring migrants from further south it did appear that there was some ongoing movement of species which are also resident birds (making it difficult to be sure if the birds being seen were migrants or not), such as wagtails etc.
I headed out at 0935 to a fairly typical initial mix of species - Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling and Blue Tit. Continuing on towards Swannie Ponds I noted Goldfinch and Carrion Crow but things seemed rather quiet overall, most likely as a result of the strong-ish wind. Wren, Dunnock, Greenfinch and Woodpigeon were added as I reached the ponds. Goosander, Mallard, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Coot and Moorhen were on the water but surprisingly there was a distinct lack of gulls (with just a couple of Herring Gulls and a single Lesser Black Backed Gull seen but no Black Headed or Common Gulls). A Great Tit was spotted just before I set off for Eastern Cemetery.
A Chaffinch was the only 'new' species found between the ponds and the Stannergate which was rather unusual though the wind was clearly keeping a lot of smaller birds hidden in cover. At the Stannergate the tide was rather low. Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Redshank, Cormorant and Curlew were found relatively quickly among the seaweed and pebbles down on the shore. A Robin was seen near the car park and an Eider pair were spotted just a short distance out from the beach. Continuing on, both Black Headed and Common Gull put in brief appearances. Although it wasn't particularly obvious at first glance there were a few Red Breasted Mergansers out on the river. I could see that rain was approaching from the west and it looked like I was going to get a bit wet. Thankfully I was close to the relative shelter provided by the lifeboat station as the rain started and tucked myself in the corner on the beach on the eastern side of the building until the shower passed through within a few minutes.
Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit were noted around the castle but there was nothing new out on the water, nor among the dunes. I diverted into the local nature reserve which did give me Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Bullfinch and Coal Tit for the day's list. I headed on towards Balmossie and the Dighty mouth stopping at various points to check the shore and the river beyond for anything of interest. Wigeon, Bar Tailed Godwit, Great Black Backed Gull, Jackdaw, Dunlin, Goldeneye, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover were found over the course of the next hour, as well as a Grey Wagtail which flew past. The walk back along to the castle was into the wind and wasn't particularly pleasant, though I did manage to see a Red Throated Diver flying downriver. The tide was coming in quite fast by this time leaving very little beach - though that didn't deter the dog walkers, of which there were a few, tempted out by the improvement in the conditions as the afternoon progressed.
A skein of Pink Footed Geese almost managed to sneak over undetected but I spotted them in time to grab a few photos. A single Siskin flew out over the river near the Glass Pavillion restaurant. Despite the wind I decided to do a spot of scanning from the castle. A drake Long Tailed Duck swimming upriver was a bit unexpected, though they have been turning up in unusual places this winter. The walk back along to the Stannergate was relatively quiet, as it often is. I considered continuing on to City Quay but instead headed up to Eastern Cemetery which added Rook, Goldcrest and a Long Tailed Tit pair collecting nesting material and a Grey Squirrel. I had another look at Swannie Ponds where there were a few more gulls around by this time but nothing new otherwise. I ended the day's birding having managed to find a total of 54 species which wasn't too bad considering the mostly cold and windy conditions (though the sun did come out for a while during the afternoon).
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Redshank |
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Herring Gull
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Rock Pipit
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| Bullfinch |
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Redshank & Bar Tailed Godwit
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Dunlin & Ringed Plover
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Grey Plover
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| Wigeon |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pied Wagtail
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Long Tailed Duck
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Red Throated Diver
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| Shag |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Rock Pipit
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Long Tailed Tit
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Herring Gull (& Black Headed Gull)
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| Goosander |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
