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| Whimbrel |
When I went to bed on Sunday night the weather forecast for the Monday of my holiday week was rain all day. This meant that I would have an opportunity to catch up with some of my photo-editing and blogging back-logs. I got up at the same time as I would be on any normal working Monday and the weather certainly didn't look particularly promising. I rather half-heartedly had a look at some of the photo editing back-log after my breakfast but procrastination seemed to have the upper hand and I found lots of other things that I didn't really need to do, to keep myself occupied while I should have been doing some of the more necessary and productive stuff. Around 0900 I looked at the Met Office website and noticed that the rain now appeared to be more or less stopping around 1000.
With high tide around lunchtime, I worked out that I might make it to Balmossie in time for there being some beach left, if I jumped on a bus to get there. I figured that the rain would have deterred most folk and the bus should be quiet enough to be worth the risk (I try to avoid crowds where possible, so still only use buses when they are likely to be very quiet, or for very short journeys). I got organised and headed out just before 1020, to try to catch a bus around 1030. My target species for the day was Whimbrel. There had been quite a few around further to the east and elsewhere on the coast though I knew my chances weren't great, but they were better than zero.
As I was in a bit of a hurry to get to the bus stop on Arbroath Road the birds spotted on the way were in relatively short supply. Blackbird, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon and Chaffinch were noted en route and Goldfinch was seen from the bus stop while I waited. With the upstairs windows of the bus being steamed up the only birds seen from the bus were Woodpigeon and House Sparrow. I reached Bridge Street in Broughty Ferry around 1045 and got off the bus for the short walk down to the waterfront near the end of the Esplanade. A pair of Oystercatcher overflew as I hurried down to check the shore. The tide was already further in than I had expected it to be. I managed to pick out Dunlin, Eider, Goosander, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Curlew and a few Linnet. I was then joined by Graham Smith for a few minutes and we had a brief chat. Just after he left, I spotted a mid-sized wader that hadn't been there previously, stood atop some seaweed. A quick look through the scope confirmed that I had my hoped for Whimbrel. Mission accomplished.
I shouted to Graham who was still within earshot and pointed the bird out to him. It then flew closer to where I was standing and foraged down among the stony parts of the still exposed shore for the next 10 minutes or so. Suddenly, it took flight and flew out over the river before swinging back northwards and flying part-way up South Balmossie Street before again changing its mind and flying off towards Barry Buddon. The bird was calling quite a lot and the sound carried for some distance which made it easy to keep track of. The bird again changed direction and flew back towards me before heading off across towards Tayport. A bit more scanning picked out Red Breasted Merganser, a few Jackdaws, a Pied Wagtail down on the shore and Blue Tit, Starling and Willow Warbler in the trees behind me.
Out on the water I managed to find a large raft of Common Scoter, though there seemed to be fewer birds than there had been just 24 hours earlier. A Sand Martin swept past heading up the Dighty and a distant pair of Red Throated Divers were seen distantly in Monifieth Bay. While scanning from the raised viewpoint offered by the footbridge over the railway line, I spotted a Bottlenose Dolphin fin off to the west. With the tide relatively far in and my target species for the day already on the list, there seemed no point in lingering at Balmossie, so I hurried along the new path towards the river off the Glass Pavilion area where the dolphins appeared to be. Thankfully they were still around when I got there. Over the course of the next hour or so I pointed them out to some of the passing walkers who were mostly oblivious but pleased to get to see the animals so close.
Eventually some of the dolphins moved further over towards Tayport while a few others lingered nearer the Broughty Ferry side. I chatted to a dog walker and her friend for a wee while before I finally headed off towards the castle to see if there were any birds passing by, between there and Tayport. However, I discovered there was an information stand by the dolphin sculptures and ended up chatting there for a while, mostly to the Countryside Ranger I'd previously met at Templeton Woods. Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, and a lone Common Scoter were spotted while a Common Seal popped up not too far offshore for a look around. Just before 1500 I decided I should probably head homewards and set off in that direction. An Oystercatcher and a Grey Heron were perched atop the jetty railings at the lifeboat station.
Chiffchaff and Robin were both heard from gardens along Douglas Terrace and a Cormorant was having a bath not too far off the Grassy Beach. Greenfinch and a number of flyover Rooks were noted at the Stannergate. Dunnock and Great Tit were both found on my walk up Craigie Avenue. Eastern Cemetery was full of Rabbits (I counted 48 on my walk up the western side). I dropped in to Swannie Ponds for a look and a few more new additions for the day - Lesser Black Backed Gull, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard and Tufted Duck. A few Swallows were seen hawking for insects behind the former bus depot/future transport museum. I added what was surprisingly the first Magpie of the day on my walk back home from the ponds which took my total for the day to 43 species, including a Dundee150 addition (in bold) which was my 5th of my holiday. I now needed 2 more in 2 days to take me to a nice round 130 though my possibilities did seem a bit limited (though I thought Swift was probably the most likely). Could I reach 130? Time would tell....
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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Common Gull
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| Eider |
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Red Throated Diver
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Common Scoter & Eider
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Bottlenose Dolphin & Salmon
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Bottlenose Dolphin & Salmon
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Bottlenose Dolphin & Herring Gull
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Common Scoter
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Bottlenose Dolphin
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Bottlenose Dolphin
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Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Gull & Herring Gull
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Common Seal
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| Eider |
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Pied Wagtail
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| Oystercatcher |
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Grey Heron
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Grey Heron
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| Cormorant |
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Carrion Crow
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| Rook |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Herring Gull
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, 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, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Starling, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Whimbrel, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Seal, Rabbit.
