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Whooper Swan
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Having spent the previous 2 days at Riverside Nature Park in less than ideal conditions, I decided to head in the opposite direction with a trip out to Balmossie on Friday. Rain wasn't forecast to any great degree, and the winds of the previous day had dwindled away to very light. Sunshine was also likely at some point. Expectations of adding to my Dundee150 list were relatively low, though Sand Martin and Wheatear looked like being the most likely of the potential additions. With the weather forecast being much better than the 2 previous days, I was able to get out much earlier and despite a bit of a lie-in I was ready to go for 0930.
Swannie Ponds was to be my first 'stop' en route to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie beyond, so I headed towards Clepington Road first. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Magpie, Starling and Carrion Crow were noted on my way up to 'the Cleppie'. Jackdaw and a flyover Grey Wagtail were spotted as I wandered on to Mains Loan and the SuDS pond where a Pied Wagtail was running around on the mud while a Dunnock sang from the other side of the road. A Great Tit was the only addition among the trees and bushes at Mains Terrace.
The ponds were relatively quiet with a few Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls on the water along with Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Moorhen and Goosander. The smaller gulls seem to have moved off to their breeding grounds already, though the larger duo are more likely to be nesting somewhere nearby. A Chaffinch was in the trees by the ponds. A few Meadow Pipits passed overhead as I continued on to Eastern Cemetery. Goldcrest, Stock Dove and a few Rabbits were the only things 'new' found there. The next leg of the walk, down to the Stannergate, proved to be very quiet.
I did add a few Long Tailed Tits from within the bushes at the end of the docks while a Redshank and a few Oystercatchers were seen down on the shore. A Grey Heron was stood just beyond the first outflow pipe and a calling Greenfinch was heard from what was left of the previously well vegetated nursing home-to be site, sandwiched as it is, between the sewage tank, the road and the railway line. Just the sort of place for Granny to live out her latter days... A young Mute Swan swimming close in to the beach was a bit of a surprise. A Curlew was heard from somewhere down by the water a little further on but I failed to see it, though another was more easily found later. A skein of Pink Footed Geese headed over northwards and I managed to pick out a few Eider and Red Breasted Mergansers out on the river - though numbers of the latter in particular were well down on previous visits.
A Common Gull flew past and a Robin was spotted across on the opposite side of the railway line. A Rook called loudly as it passed overhead having flown over rom Fife. The first Turnstones of the day landed down by the water's edge as I walked by. Black Headed Gull and a passing flock of Bar Tailed Godwits flying upriver were noted before I reached Douglas Terrace. Other than a handful of the species already seen things were relatively quiet as I wandered along to the castle. A surprise at Beach Crescent was a displaying Rock Pipit which landed on a hedge in one of the gardens. Not behaviour I've seen before from the species though it did make for an unusual photo. Another pair of Rock Pipits were flitting around at the castle as I headed up to scan from the raised viewpoint the site provides.
I soon picked out a distant line of swans flying low over the water, heading upriver towards the castle. My suspicion that these were Whooper Swans proved to be correct as the flock of 10 flew by and continued on towards the docks and bridges beyond. A nice start to my 'riverwatching' session. I didn't have to wait too long for the next sighting of interest as a Red Throated Diver headed upriver too. Another flock of Bar Tailed Godwits did likewise though much higher than either the Red Throated Diver or the Whooper Swans. A Grey Seal showed briefly out on the river just a minute or two before I realised that the 'cloud' of gulls I could see out towards Monifieth Bay were congregating around a fishing Osprey - my first of the year and a very welcome Dundee150 tick, with the species being notable by its absence at the other end of the city, in Invergowrie Bay, thus far. The bird flew closer to the castle before crossing the Tay towards Lucky Scalp and Tayport. Either it, or possibly another Osprey were seen later off Tentsmuir Point.
Twenty minutes later, I had my second Dundee150 tick of the day when a Razorbill floated upriver on the incoming tide. A Cormorant was seen fishing a little to the east. As the castle was getting a bit busier with tourists I decided to head on towards Balmossie to catch the birds there before the tide moved them on again. A Skylark was heard passing overhead before I stopped to talk to a man who was looking for dolphins out on the river. We chatted for a while before going our separate ways (though as it turned out, we were actually both heading in the same direction). I added an overflying Siskin to the list before picking out a Shag on the water, near the yellow X pole. By this time, the cloud had cleared and the sun was shining, making for rather pleasant conditions.
A Chiffchaff was heard singing from the nature reserve. By the time I finally reached Balmossie things were relatively quiet with not many gulls and mostly species I'd already seen among the waders I could see. There were a few Wigeon around as well as a pair of Goldeneye. I found a few Dunlin in with the Redshanks and Turnstones but nothing more exciting. There were Oystercatchers and Bar Tailed Godwits around though the latter didn't linger long. Neither did I, with apparently little to be gained from doing so. I headed back westwards via the nature reserve where things were very quiet with only a Wren new for the day. A Coal Tit at the Stannergate was my final addition for the day.
As I wandered up towards the main road, I spotted a bird off to the north that had a 'not gull' feel to it, despite superficially resembling one from the angle I was looking at it. At home, the photos initially puzzled me, with a Harrier species being considered for a moment or two until the realisation hit me that the bird was another Osprey with the tail and wings looking narrower than they usual do, most likely due to the angle of view and the bird flying over on its way somewhere rather than the more usual fishing. The Coal Tit took the total for the day to 56 species of which 2 (in bold) were new for my Dundee150 and year-list (which are the usually same thing these days). All in all, a pleasantly surprising day's birding with both winter migrants heading home and summer migrants arriving.
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Grey Heron
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Mute Swan
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Pink Footed Goose
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Herring Gull
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Common Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Rook |
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| Eider |
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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Whooper Swan
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Red Throated Diver
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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| Razorbill |
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Grey Heron
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Pied Wagtail
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Pied Wagtail
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| Wigeon |
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Wigeon, Redshank & Oystercatcher
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| Goldeneye |
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| Eider |
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Red Throated Diver
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| Osprey |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Siskin, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
