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Sandwich Tern
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Following on from the madness that was Tuesday, I had a choice for Wednesday of Riverside Nature Park or Balmossie/Broughty Ferry to properly test out my new scope on actual birds. The weather forecast was relatively good and so was my mood, though my expectation levels were very low (as I figured I'd likely used up ALL my luck for the year in 20+ minutes the previous morning). I settled on the Balmossie/Broughty Ferry option as the light was likely to be more favourable there around high tide, than looking into the glare at Invergowrie Bay would be. I did set the alarm for a very early start but it didn't quite happen...
I was still out the door for 0725. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch, Starling and Magpie made for a slow-ish start to the morning's birding as I headed in the direction of Swannie Ponds via the 'low road' route. Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Robin, Greenfinch, Song Thrush, Blackbird and a Grey Squirrel did add a few more common species to the list via a detour into Baxter Park, before I reached Swannie Ponds. Things feel very quiet at the ponds just now with the smaller gulls off breeding elsewhere. I did still note Coot, Mallard, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Goosander, Tufted Duck and a Grey Wagtail there, though there was no sign of any of the resident Moorhens.
I spotted a rather 'juvenile' looking Oystercatcher as I was about to leave the ponds and managed to sneak closer using a length of hedge for cover. It turned out to be (almost certainly) the same bird with a deformed 'cross' bill that Lainy and I had photographed at a rather snowy Eastern Cemetery back in December. It was still managing to feed but I suspect the inability to actually probe into the ground for food has resulted in a delayed moult and the resultant rather 'scruffy youngster' look. I then headed down Pitkerro Road noting House Sparrow and Dunnock before finding a Dipper on the Dighty Burn, just beside Iceland (the shop rather than the country).
I wandered along the paths by the burn adding Great Tit, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Wren and Goldcrest before reaching the section between Drumgeith Road and Baldovie Road which tends to be the most productive part of the Dighty for me. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen before I had a chat about the local wildlife with a dog walker (who turned out to be the dad of Wayne, the ecologist I'd met earlier in the year at Balmossie). Continuing on, Long Tailed Tit and Buzzard were spotted. I was disappointed to find no sign of any Whitethroats, nor any Grasshopper Warblers, and instead I had to make do with a single male Reed Bunting and a Collared Dove. I chose not to continue out to Clearwater Park and instead headed down to the river via Victoria Road. A Swallow was seen at the former ice skating 'pond' opposite Claypotts Castle and a Coal Tit was in trees by the Military Veteran's residences.
A pair of Bullfinches were in one of the first gardens on Douglas Terrace and a Common Gull was next onto the list as I wandered along in the direction of the castle. A Grey Seal was seen out on the river. A Curlew flew upriver past the harbour while a Linnet was heard calling but went unseen. Rock Pipit and Pied Wagtail were both found at Beach Crescent. The castle had yet to open when I arrived just before 1000 so I had a look from round on the grass on the eastern side while I waited. A Black Headed Gull flew past and there were a few Sand Martins hawking over the water's edge where a Grey Heron was wandering around. After a few minutes the castle opened and I headed up to my usual spot, in one of the former gun emplacements, where I set up the new scope on my monopod to try it out properly.
Unfortunately for me, things were much quieter out on the river than they had been on Monday. I did pick out a few distant Eider and a Cormorant before the familiar call of a Sandwich Tern reached my ears. I quickly managed to locate the pair of birds (just like the 'Sith' in Star Wars there are always 2 - well, almost always), fishing relatively close in to the castle. Another welcome Dundee150 tick for me. Red Throated Diver and Razorbill were found over the next while as I scanned from the castle and a Guillemot was spotted out on the river when I left around 1115 to walk along to Balmossie to scan through the waders and gulls there on the incoming tide.
A pair of Sparrowhawk were seen high above the western end of the local nature reserve and I had a short chat to a lady walking in the reserve a little further on. A Peacock butterfly was spotted but things were relatively quiet overall despite the sunshine. I headed back out to the river and was surprised to see a trio of Greylag Geese heading west out over the water. There appeared to be hundreds of gulls by the burn mouth but before I got there a number of walkers (one with a larger lens on his camera which led me to think initially that they were perhaps birders with a complete lack of fieldcraft, rather than the usual dog walkers) decided to walk out on the Monifieth side to photograph the Mute Swans up close resulting in the majority of the gull flock and a substantial number of other birds (including waders) heading off elsewhere.
This was very frustrating but feels increasingly inevitable, regardless of what time of day I visit (early morning/later, weekdays/weekends) I invariably seem to be just close enough to see that there are plenty of birds awaiting me, when someone will send most of them skywards and off elsewhere leaving a much smaller number of Redshank, Turnstone, Wigeon and Herring Gulls. It was a depressingly familiar story though I did find a single Knot with the remaining small group of Redshank. A single Bar Tailed Godwit and a Great Black Backed Gull, a pair of Dunlin, a few Jackdaws and 4 Shelduck were all added, though I did wonder what else I might have missed as a result of the 'swan fans' (- if anyone really wants/needs Mute Swan photos, much closer views of the ones at Swannie Ponds can be easily had without disturbing hundreds of other birds).
There were plenty of plusses, though also some negatives, to the scope (compared to the small Svbony I used previously) and I will no doubt get used to it soon enough and work out a system of scanning with binoculars and scope that gets the best from both, but I wasn't quite yet completely comfortable with it. I packed it away and headed back along the river. A Siskin was heard at the castle where I'd stopped for another look out over the river. Things were still very quiet on the water, and the castle had too many people coming and going by this time, so I didn't stay long. As I was walking back along Douglas Terrace I remembered that the Holly Blue butterflies had been seen recently and with the sun shining I figured I might have decent chance of getting them on my first attempt this year.
Initially I drew a blank among the copious amounts of Ivy, but after a few minutes a single female butterfly flitted past me and disappeared behind the fence. I waited to see if it would reappear but it didn't. As I headed up towards the footbridge again I spotted another (though possibly the same one) and managed a few very poor 'record shots' from a distance. From the footbridge I saw another butterfly flitting around behind the Ivy, but rather than the hoped for Holly Blue it was a Small White. The lady who discovered the Holly Blues, and who I've met a few times locally, happened to be passing as I headed down off the bridge and we had a chat while walking along until she had to turn back homewards again. I continued on west along towards the Stannergate.
A Grey Heron was seen circling to the north a little further on. An interesting looking immature gull was in the roost at the wind turbine 'park' at the Stannergate, but heat shimmer and impatience rendered the resultant photos almnost useless - though I settled on 'just a Herring Gull' from the visible detail when viewed later at home. I decided to head along towards City Quay in the hope of getting a Whitethroat by the railway line. I was out of luck however, though nice views of a Buzzard against the blue sky did provide a little consolation. There were a few finches and warblers around but nothing I hadn't already seen earlier in the day. I made it home having managed to find a total of 64 species, including 1 Dundee150 tick (in bold) as well as 3 butterfly species and 2 of mammals. All in all, not a bad way to round off my first of 2 short Spring breaks off work.
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| Goosander |
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Grey Wagtail
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| Oystercatcher |
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Song Thrush
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Reed Bunting
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Willow Warbler
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Long Tailed Tit
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Collared Dove
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| Eider |
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Pied Wagtail
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Grey Heron & Sand Martin
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Eider & Cormorant
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Rock Pipit
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Cormorant (Sinensis race)
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| Greenfinch |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Peacock Butterfly
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Greylag Goose
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| Shelduck |
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Knot, Oystercatcher & Bar Tailed Godwit
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Rock Pipit
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Holly Blue
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Grey Heron
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| Buzzard |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird,
Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot,
Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted
Woodpecker, Great
Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull,
House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sand
Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Starling, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon,
Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Holly Blue, Peacock, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel.
