STONEFACTION BIRDING: 1250 : You Never Know....

1250 : You Never Know....

White Tailed Eagle

Somehow this is my 1250th blog-post since starting way back on Hogmanay 2013. Back when I started I used to spend a lot of my time birding anywhere other than Dundee, though Riverside Nature Park was pretty much my 'patch' when it opened in 2011 and visits there were regular for the first few years at least. Other parts of Dundee however were rarely visited. Only when the Covid-19 lockdown hit in 2020 did my birding horizons begin to shrink. My numbers of visits to birding spots outwith the city began to dwindle into single figures and my focus began to change to focus primarily on what I could find within the city's boundaries. Dundee's location could be better and it could be worse, and the same could be said for the variety of habitats within the city. However, there aren't all that many birders doing much birding within the city on a regular basis. Those of us that are however are finding some surprisingly decent birds despite the relative 'averageness' of the city's location and habitat.

For this post I'm mostly going to concentrate on those birds that I've been lucky enough to find within the city since 2020 (with some mention of others I've seen found by Keith, Lainy, Ian, Mark etc). A 1st year White Tailed Eagle in late March was the precursor to a number of sightings of this species I've been fortunate enough to have had from within the city since then, including a number from the relative comfort of my living-room. Mostly these have been the Fife pair but as with the first sighting a few have been unidentified younger birds too. A calling Long Eared Owl youngster in early July 2020 as I walked home from work in a bit of a downpour was also very unexpected. One week later, I chanced upon a Nuthatch at Balgay Park, which may or may not have bred/been born within the park. Now these birds numbers have increased and have started to appear at other sites within the city more regularly and are a relatively easy bird to get on the 'year-list' without having to step outside Dundee..

On 4th of October I photographed a small group of non-calling geese late in the afternoon heading south across the river and assumed they would be Pink Footed Geese. Only later did I realise that wasn't the case, and that they were actually Taiga Bean Geese (which were reported at their Slamannan wintering area on the following day). It would be interesting to find out whether these birds regularly pass over Dundee/the Tay on their way south or back north again. A couple of days later I was at Riverside Nature Park around lunchtime when I heard what I thought sounded a bit like an odd pipit but when I took a few photos of the bird in question, it turned out to be a Hawfinch. I had a second Dundee sighting almost a year to the day from the top of the Law and another in Caird Park in 2022 around the same time, suggesting that around October 5-8th is the time to watch for migrating Hawfinches passing over Dundee.

I had my first Dundee Red Kite sighting in early April 2021 from Riverside Nature Park. A second sighting came 6 months later also from Riverside Nature Park. In 2022 I had another sighting over Ninewells in late March and a second very probable in June from the Law while photographing insects. March 2023 saw another sighting from Riverside Nature Park with another from the Baldovie recycling plant area 10 days later. I've had 3 sightings in 2024 already with 1 over the Law, 1 giving close views along the northern edges of the city and a pair circling over Dundee's northern housing schemes. Red Kite would now appear to be an expected species from within the city especially around March/April. On 5th of May 2021 during a visit to Balmossie I spotted an unexpected Hooded Crow crossing the Tay before landing at the mouth of the Dighty and topped that recently with a sighting of 1 (possibly even 2) from my living room window early in the morning on 23/4/24.

A Great Skua heading upriver over Broughty Ferry Castle on 25/8/21 was a surprise, though another early in the morning heading west high over Brantwood Avenue a few days later was even moreso. In October 2023 during Storm Babet, I had 2 together off Broughty Castle. On 18/9/21 I had a brief sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher at Dundee Law and on the 23/8/23 Keith and I found another at Riverside Nature Park (Keith had one there a little earlier and Lainy has had a family of these birds at Templeton Woods also in Autumn 2023). A Ring Ouzel in Balgay Cemetery on 18/10/21 was unexpected and a second bird was picked out in a small flock of Mistle Thrushes over the Law on 10/9/22. Keith and Ian Ford had another at Riverside Nature Park during Storm Babet in 2023. A group of 6 Ravens north over Dundee Law following Storm Arwen in November 2021 was a bit of a shock but Ravens are increasingly being seen, primarily around Templeton Woods/Clatto and the Law, and are now more or less part of the expected species within the city despite their previous scarcity.

A visit to Riverside Nature Park on 28/12/21 found me puzzling over a rather plain looking bunting which showed a faint yellow tinge. I wasn't completely convinced it wasn't just a very plain young Yellowhammer and settled on that as the ID as I couldn't make it into any of the much rarer bunting species. However, it continued to niggle at me for a long time and it took fresh eyes online to see the obvious that I had missed due to it being a very out of context Corn Bunting. August 2022 saw an unexpected ringtail Hen Harrier passing over Invergowrie Bay on the 10th (a Marsh Harrier was seen in the same area just to the north of Invergowrie where I lost sight of the bird, 20 minutes later, making it a 2 Harrier species day from within the city, which isn't something I expect to repeat). I didn't expect to see another Hen Harrier over the city but my 155th species in Dundee in 2023, was another ringtail Hen Harrier circling over Broughty Ferry beach just to the east of the castle as I was looking at nacreous clouds on my way home from Balmossie on the 20th of December.

Another unexpected sighting in August 2022 was a Pine Marten well within the city boundaries, another (non-avian) species which is starting to encroach around the edges of the city. One of the biggest surprises I've had while focusing on birding within Dundee was a young Rose Coloured Starling at Balmossie on 11th of September 2021. It was so unexpected that I couldn't actually work out what it was (due to the underside, going away from me view and photos showing the wings half closed). Thankfully, Mark Lewis in Aberdeen provided the solution via Twitter when I posted photos when I got home. A Green Sandpiper found by Keith on 2nd November 2022 was a new bird for me within the city though I wonder if there might be the odd one wintering unseen by birders along the Dighty.

2023 proved to be a very unusual year within the city. On 4th of February after years of checking the Tufted Ducks (just in case) at Swannie Ponds I found a female Ring Necked Duck, which unfortunately only stayed for the day before returning back to Birnie and Gaddon Reservoirs in Fife (where it was assumed to have been from). In late May I found a male Red Backed Shrike at Riverside Nature Park which was only my second sighting within the city (my first was also at RNP in May 2013). However, Ian Ford topped this sighting the following Friday when he found a Blyth's Reed Warbler just 500 metres further on, by the dual carriageway. Working nearby meant I was able to catch up with the bird after work, though views were frustratingly brief (and I didn't have a camera with me). Still, it was my only lifer thus far in Dundee since Lesser Whitethroat back in 2011.

An adult Pomarine Skua complete with 'spoons', heading down the Tay in late July was a very welcome sight, and as a bonus it was joined by an Arctic Skua for a short while. An additional bonus was that the photos I managed to get were actually in focus despite the distance and summer heat shimmer. A couple of noteworthy species found by others that I was lucky enough to catch up with were a Cuckoo found by Keith at Riverside Nature Park (Keith's second there in July 2023 - I missed the first one) and Bearded Tits at the Invergowrie station reedbed found by Mark Wilkinson. It took me 3 attempts to see these birds from the hide at the Nature Park to allow me to count them on my Dundee145 list for 2023. Being let down by a tradesman on 20th October I had taken the day off work to wait in for meant I could pop down to City Quay to see if Storm Babet had blown anything into the Tay. It had - a Storm Petrel gave me great views as it danced on the waves relatively close in to shore. Keith and Ian Ford had another at Riverside Nature Park (as well as Arctic Skua, Kittiwake, Little Gull, Yellow Browed Warbler and Ring Ouzel!). I had to make do with Little Gulls, Kittiwake and a couple of Bonxies when I walked out to Broughty Castle after a visit home to charge the camera battery up.

Things had calmed down on the river the following day, though the strong easterlies and some rain were still around. A return visit to City Quay got me another bonus bird in the shape of a Little Auk - my first since 2016 on the Tay. Lainy found a Firecrest at Broughty Ferry local nature reserve but despite only being 15 minutes away and spending a few hours looking for it, I failed to see it (though a trip to Carnoustie with Lainy and her husband, Adam to see a trio of Grey Phalaropes was a nice consolation prize). I ventured down to Riverside Nature Park on the 22nd to find that a lot of migrant birds that had been held up by Storm Babet were on the move that morning. A pipit that I thought might be an Olive Backed Pipit turned out to be just a late Tree Pipit movement, but trying to get the ID of that firmed up meant I forgot about another bird I had photographed which was also puzzling me. This one eventually turned out to be a Twite, another new species for the Nature Park list, taking us to 168 (now 169 following Keith finding a Merlin early this year). Unfortunately, a Siberian Chiffchaff influx of at least 3 birds on the 19th of November didn't count as a new species for either the park or my Dundee150 list, though they were nice to see, and distinctive enough that they possibly should be considered a different species.

So far in 2024 my only really unexpected sightings have been the recent Hooded Crow sighting and the Merlin sighting which followed it by just over 20 minutes - both from my living room. Hopefully, 2024 will throw up some more unexpected birds that I can count towards my target of 150 species within the city. There are still a handful of birds that 'should' be possible that I've yet to see from within the city and almost any migratory bird could conceivably turn up, or pass overhead even though we don't seem to be on a main migration route. The main 'flyway' seems to follow the coast from Barry Buddon over to Tentsmuir though some bird do obviously continue following the river. I'm still hoping for a Honey Buzzard or a Hobby, though a Bee-Eater would be nice too. As things have shown already, you just never know...