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Cormorant (Sinensis race)
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The weather on Wednesday made it more or less pointless to try to squeeze in any birding, so I was keen to get out birding when the following weekend came around. Unfortunately, the forecast was for strong winds - which generally aren't helpful, as well as a possibility of some showers. My mind was made up that I would head out to Balmossie though, regardless of the conditions. With Sand Martin, Blackcap and Wheatear (among others) still on the 'need' list, I was hoping that I might manage to run into at least 1 of the 3 species (or maybe even something else new for my Dundee150 list). As Sand Martin can sometimes be seen down by the Dighty, my plan was to head out along the burn before cutting down through Barnhill to Balmossie before heading homewards along the river.
I headed out the door at 0825. First onto the list for the day were Blackbird, Starling, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and House Sparrow, all within the first minute outside. Dunnock, Magpie, a flyover Meadow Pipit and Robin were added as I headed up towards Clepington Road where both Jackdaw and Collared Dove were noted atop the tenements on either side of the road. Siskin, Chiffchaff and Wren were found at Mains Terrace, but the SuDS pool was a bird-free zone. Bullfinch and Chaffinch were spotted near the Forfar Road at the end of Lammerton Terrace. Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Coot, Mute Swan, Moorhen and a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls were at Swannie Ponds. A Great Tit was in the trees on Pitkerro Road as I headed towards the Kingsway. It was cold and very windy, so I decided to change my plans.
I figured that the weather would keep a lot of the fair weather dog walkers at home, meaning that there would potentially be less disturbance on the beach - increasing my chances of stumbling upon a Wheatear. Instead of continuing down to the Dighty Burn, I instead chose to change course to head for Stannergate and the river via Eastern Cemetery. Goldcrest and Rabbit were the only additions at the Cemetery. I reached the Stannergate around 50 minutes after leaving the house. A pair of Oystercatchers flew over and a single Red Breasted Merganser was in the bay off the end of the docks. I counted 7 Black Headed Gulls just offshore along a short stretch of beach a bit further on before adding the day's first Eider and a calling Greenfinch. A Common Gull was seen near the sailing club sheds. Redshanks were sheltering from the wind on the pipe at Douglas Terrace while a few Turnstone foraged on the beach among the seaweed.
A Red Throated Diver took flight and headed upriver a few minutes later. A Pied Wagtail was down on the beach by the lifeboat shed and a Cormorant was seen out on the river. I had dressed for the temperatures predicted by the Met Office app, which down by the water were rather too optimistic. My cap also didn't feel too secure on my head in the stronger gusts of the wind. I decided to visit a charity shop or 2, in search of a woolly hat. As it turned out the first shop I tried had cheap woolly hats (and gloves) and these were purchased before I returned to where I'd left the river, now feeling slightly better prepared. Despite the wind, I decided to try to scan out over the river from the castle, which proved to be easier said than done. There were a couple of Rock Pipits which gave me close views within the castle grounds.
Down on the river, a Shag was spotted fishing. I took a few photos and realised it had a white ring on its leg. I changed the settings on the camera and attempted to get a shot which showed the code on the ring, as the bird leapt out of the water at the start of each dive. This rather surprisingly proved successful, more than once, and the code HCJ was easily read off from the resultant photos. I'd had a similarly white ringed Shag in the same area in 2022 and I wondered if they might be the same bird. They weren't. The 2022 bird was EBT, ringed near Cromarty whereas HCJ was an Isle of May bird. I continued on towards Balmossie after photographing the Shag and a 'Sinensis' Cormorant closer in to shore from the beach by the castle, as both birds fished among the waves. The tide was much further in by this time than I had hoped it would be. I managed to find Bar Tailed Godwit, Wigeon, Great Black Backed Gull, Curlew and Goldeneye from near the end of the esplanade but there seemed little point in continuing on to Balmossie.
The walk back along the river proved to be rather fruitless, as is often the case. A hunting male Kestrel near where the Stonechat had been hanging around earlier in the year was a bit of a surprise, though a welcome one. As I neared the Stannergate on the walk back I weighed up my options. I could head up to Eastern Cemetery and Baxter Park/Swannie Ponds or continue on along the Docks Way cycle path to City Quay. I figured that there was a slight chance of adding Blackcap by the railway line among the bushes and trees beyond the closed-off stone bridge over the railway. A distant Buzzard was spotted circling to the west from near the start of the path. Having not heard Blackcap for a while, the song wasn't completely clear in my memory, but my subconscious alerted me to the possibility that I'd maybe just heard one as I was walking past the area where I had thought I might find one. I stopped to listen but as I did so, I was joined by a lady who I bump into regularly along the river and we chatted for 10 minutes or so, while I attempted to pick up the Blackcap song.
An adult Peregrine appeared overhead and circled a few times before disappearing off to the north. As the sky wasn't looking very promising, the lady decided to hurry on towards Broughty Ferry and I resumed my hunt for a Dundee150 tick. I spotted a pale looking bird just across the railway line which turned out to be a male Blackcap, which started to sing from a small tree opposite. I was able to get a few photos and even a short rather shaky video clip before the bird moved further back among the vegetation. With the Blackcap on the list, and little likelihood of further additions at City Quay I decided to head up Dalkeith Road to Baxter Park to have a look at Spring Grove. As it turned out there wasn't much to see at the Grove but as I left there, I noticed 2 birds flying up from the grass into a tree near the 'new-ish' building between the pavillion and the playpark. This pair of birds turned out to be Mistle Thrush, taking my list for the day to a surprisingly reasonable total of 52 species including 1 Dundee150 addition (in bold). Despite the cold and windy weather that I had been slightly underprepared for, it had been worthwhile making the effort to get out and about, even if I had changed my plans and not quite made it to Balmossie in the end.
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| Oystercatcher |
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Herring Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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Red Throated Diver
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Pied Wagtail
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| Goldeneye |
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Rock Pipit
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| Shag |
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Herring Gull
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Shag |
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Cormorant (sinensis race)
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| Shag |
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| Curlew |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Robin |
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Black Headed Gull
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Pied Wagtail
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Cormorant (Sinensis race)
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Kestrel |
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Rabbit |
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| Peregrine |
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| Blackcap |
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Blue Tit
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| Chaffinch |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit,
Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot,
Cormorant (Sinensis race), Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black
Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan,
Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail (& White Wagtail), Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Siskin, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit.
