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| Wheatear |
Following the successes of adding Sedge Warbler and Garden Warbler to my Dundee150 list on Wednesday at Riverside Nature Park, and Thursday at Clatto Reservoir respectively, I decided to head out east to Balmossie and Broughty Ferry on Friday. I decided to try to get out as early as I could in the hope that the likelihood of lower levels of disturbance might produce a few birds feeding on the shore that wouldn't be there once the dog walkers arrived en masse. Although, my chances were rather slim of having any luck with this plan, I knew that if I didn't at least give it a try, then I definitely wouldn't have any luck. I didn't have any particular target species in mind for the day, but I would certainly be happy to add something new.
I actually managed to get out of my bed as early as I had hoped and was out the door for 0530. The streets were still very quiet with few people on the move, either on foot or in cars, so there seemed to be more birds around, compared to what I encounter an hour later when I'm usually heading off to work. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Starling were all noted as I headed along to Albert Street. On reaching Baxter Park a few minutes later, I was able to add Song Thrush, Robin, Wren, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Great Tit and Dunnock. Collared Dove, Blue Tit and Blackcap were all found on Bingham Terrace with Magpie joining them on the list as I cut down Deerpark Road (a Dundee street name I was unaware of, despite having walked down the actual street a few times, and also having passed it by numerous times).
I reached the Stannergate at 0555 and found plenty of Rabbits around. Oystercatcher, Linnet, Black Headed Gull, Greenfinch and Rook were quickly noted as I walked along towards the small car park. Continuing east along the river, I added Eider, then a Grey Heron and a Pied Wagtail, though out on the river things seemed very quiet. I didn't linger around the castle and harbour, instead choosing to push on quickly to Balmossie for the tide coming in. I added Goldcrest during a quick detour via the local nature reserve. I reached Balmossie around 0750 and started scanning with the new scope. Bar Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Mute Swan, Shelduck, Wigeon, Goosander, Red Breasted Merganser, Common Gull and Jackdaw were easily found over the course of the next hour or so. Unfortunately, I failed to find anything 'new'.
I decided to wander back along to the castle to see what I could see from the raised viewpoint the castle offers. On my walk back a Willow Warbler was singing at the eastern end of the local nature reserve. Stock Dove and Bullfinch were found among the trees by the railway line there too. I reached the castle around 15 minutes before it was due to open, so I sat on the rocks behind and scanned from there. This did produce a Red Throated Diver but things still seemed relatively quiet, though there were decent numbers of Eider over towards the Fife Side of the river. Just after 1000 I wandered round to the front of the now open to the public castle. Before I wandered up the ramp into the grounds I scanned across the harbour. To my surprise, there was a bird perched atop the 'Phibbies' hut, and it appeared to be a Wheatear. I grabbed a few photos which confirmed the ID before hurrying round for a much closer view from the viewing platform behind the shed.
Thankfully the bird stayed put, allowing me to get numerous photos and even some video of a welcome #Dundee150 tick. I've seen the species around the castle in the Autumn before but this was my first Spring bird there. They do pass through Riverside Nature Park in Spring, though luck is needed to be in the right place at the right time to see them there. A Cormorant was fishing not far offshore. I messaged Barrie Hunter about the Wheatear, saying that it looked settled. As soon as I hit 'send' the bird dropped out of sight down the other side of the shed and I didn't see it again. I headed up into the castle a bit later than intended. I spotted a few Bottlenose Dolphins across towards Tayport and pointed them out to a Spanish family on holiday from Valencia. Unfortunately they had left before the dolphins came in much closer to the castle a bit later in the morning, giving me relatively good close views.
I added a few Razorbill and passing Swallows from the castle as well as having some close views of the resident Rock Pipits, before deciding to head for home as the early start was starting to tell on me by this time. I found a few Turnstones at the Grassy Beach on the walk back, including a lone bird in almost complete breeding plumage. I tried Eastern Cemetery and Swannie Ponds, finding Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Moorhen at the latter, taking my total for the day to 53 species (including 1 Dundee150 tick - in bold). All in all, another decent day's birding, with the unexpected bonus of a year-tick in the mix.
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| Rabbit |
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Black Headed Gull
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| Linnet |
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| Eider |
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Grey Heron
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| Eider |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Pied Wagtail
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| Greenfinch |
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| Linnet |
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| Shelduck |
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Beetle sp.
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Bee sp.
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| Hoverfly (Epistrophe eligans) |
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Green Longhorn Moth
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| Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare) |
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| Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) |
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| Wheatear |
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Cormorant (Sinensis race)
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Bottlenose Dolphin
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Bottlenose Dolphin
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Rock Pipit
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| Eider |
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| Turnstone |
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| Rook |
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Herring Gull
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Goosander & Mallard
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| Moorhen |
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Pied Wagtail
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird,
Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot,
Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great
Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull,
House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet,
Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wheatear, Wigeon,
Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Rabbit.
