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| Cuckoo |
My birding buddy, Steph isn't able to get out birding with me very often for a number of reasons but we usually manage to cram in a fair bit when the chance does arise. We had made provisional plans for one of the mornings of the first weekend in June. With migration more or less over for the Spring and breeding well under way, I struggled a wee bit to come up with a plan that might give us a decent mix of birds. In the end I decided on a route around some of the better warbler habitat that I know of along the northern edges of the city. An 0700 start on Sunday morning was finalised on Saturday afternoon and I worked out a route that mostly limited doubling back on ourselves. However, it appeared that I would end up walking around 14 miles or so, with Steph doing around two thirds of that distance.
Having arranged to meet Steph at the western end of Jack Martin Way at 0700, I had to decide just how early I needed to be out to get there on time. I couldn't quite remember how long the 2 mile walk usually took me, so settled on an 0620 departure, giving me 40 minutes to get there. It was quite a pleasant morning though not overly warm to start off with. House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Swift, Dunnock, Starling, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon got things started for the morning. Blackbird and Carrion Crow were added as I headed up Court Street. Jackdaw and House Martin were both seen around their usual spots on Clepington Road. Willow Warbler and Song Thrush were both around at Mains Loan/Mains Terrace. With no water in the SuDS pool, there were no birds to be found there either.
Caird Park proved relatively productive with Blackcap, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Greenfinch, a trio of Jays, Magpie, Mallard and Wren (though not in that order) as well as a Grey Squirrel and a few Rabbits. I had to change my route through Mill O'Mains to avoid a bit of possible 'hassle' with a bit of shouting going on. This did however get me an Oystercatcher perched on the corner of the shop roofs (where it probably nests). Heading up Forfar Road to wait for Steph added Whitethroat and Black Headed Gull. Steph messaged me to let me know she was going to be slightly late. I said I would have a wee wander and then head back when she messaged me as she passed Caird Park.
There were a number of Swallows zipping around among the trees on Jack Martin Way. Skylarks were heard. I spotted a couple of Roe Deer in one of the fields as well as seeing a singing Song Thrush, Linnets, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Goldfinch and another Whitethroat. I wandered back to meet Steph, perfectly on time as her husband dropped her off. I gave her a rough run through of the plan for the morning and we set off eastwards along the largely closed road. Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Stock Dove and Pheasant were all picked up as we wandered along, as well as a few more Linnets and Goldfinches. A pair of Stonechats were a bit of a surprise, and the 3 youngsters they had in tow with them, were even moreso. We'd had a flock of Starlings which also contained young birds - which Steph hadn't noticed before, so these and the young Stonechats provided a good learning opportunity as neither look particularly like the adult birds of the same species.
As we were just leaving the Stonechats behind, I happened to turn around and caught sight of what my brain thought was a raptor, but which was very quickly amended to an adult Cuckoo! The bird flew across the road and towards some trees behind Cheviot Crescent though I'm not sure if it kept going or landed in the trees. The photos that I managed to quickly grab were mostly a bit blurry, but showed enough detail to give me record shots of a very unexpected sighting so close to Fintry, where I grew up (a long time ago). We had a quick look at the small pond on the corner which got us Moorhen, a female Mallard with a load of ducklings and a Little Grebe. Blackcap was heard singing in Middleton Wood but the pool in the field was very disappointing with only a Carrion Crow.
We headed across the scrubby area between the pool field and 'Tarzan's Island' towards the Balumbie Golf Course. Steph spotted a pair of raptors ahead of us - a Kestrel and a Buzzard. The Kestrel caught a vole which was promptly stolen by the Buzzard, which was then ambushed by some of the local Carrion Crows, though it appeared to manage to keep hold of its 'stolen goods'. The Kestrel went back to trying again and we continued on to the driveway at the golf course. There were plenty of House Martins and Swifts around and we had a brief glimpse of a Pied Wagtail on the roof of one of the houses bordering the course. As we wandered on through Balumbie, Steph spotted a distant skein of geese, which appeared to be Greylags (which was confirmed later from photos).
We cut along Drumsturdy Road, which was already relatively busy for pre-0900 on a Sunday morning, to the dirt track along to the 'crossroads'. There were plenty of birds around - Stock Doves, Woodpigeon, Wren and Great Tit along the track to the crossroads then Linnet, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackbird and Song Thrush were found on the walk up to the cemetery. We wandered along the fenceline on the south side, noting an Oystercatcher on the grass as well as Jackdaws and Carrion Crows. I spotted a couple of birds running away from us which surprisingly turned out to be a pair of Grey Partridges - away from the only area I know of in Dundee that has the species. They were also a lifer for Steph, which was a nice bonus.
We wandered down from the cemetery towards the stables where we watched House Martins dropping into the crops to get mud for their nests from an unseen puddle. A few Swallows were also around. A young Song Thrush appeared on the track ahead of us. before we headed down to the Linlathen Iron Bridge I suggested we check out an area I'd noticed on Google Earth on Saturday night. Before we got there however, I noticed that the birds on the wires weren't the expected Swallows or House Martins but an unexpected group of Sand Martins - a couple of which were mating. These were Steph's second lifer of the morning. The area I'd wanted to check out did indeed look interesting, though there wasn't too much to be seen, but I will definitely have another look next time I'm down that way.
As we crossed the bridge I noticed a Sparrowhawk circling to the south, with a Herring Gull giving it some attention before they disappeared over the trees by the Rookery. Sparrowhawk was a year-tick for Steph, though it is highly likely she has already seen one - though she wasn't completely certain of the ID of the birds she had thought might have been Sparrowhawks. There were a couple of Rooks visible in the trees and a Small White butterfly was flitting around over the trackside vegetation. We walked along the dual carriageway to Sainsbury's. A couple of distant Buzzards were seen out to the east and another was off to the north. We had a quick look at the Dighty behind Sainsbury's and heard a Kingfisher, though the height of the vegetation kept the bird itself hidden. We then crossed the road and headed west along the burn.
A Dipper was heard but not seen, though we did find a vocal fledged youngster a bit further on. We had stopped to check out something when the sudden appearance of a very vocal (and prehistoric sounding) Grey Heron from the opposite side of the water gave a walker a bit of a fright. We had a chat to the lady for a few minutes before we were interrupted by a couple who stopped to join in with our chat about birds. A Grey Wagtail was heard while we chatted. Eventually the couple moved on and the lady frightened by the Heron's sudden squawk moved on as well after another couple of minutes. We stopped to watch a family group of Long Tailed Tits, with a few of the youngsters showing really well at times. Coal Tits were heard from the trees on the opposite side of the burn and a male Orange Tip butterfly flew along ahead of us, refusing to settle.
As we neared the end of the path at Drumgeith Road we heard Bullfinches calling from within the trees giving us another species for the day. Steph had messaged her husband to pick her up at the Odeon car park at 1215, so we headed up there a bit ahead of schedule and sat and had a blether until he arrived a little early. Steph headed homewards and I decided I might as well head for Eastern Cemetery and Swannie Ponds on my way back home. I failed to add anything in the cemetery despite finding a bench with a reasonable view of the sky, though Swannie Ponds proved more productive, with 4 drake Tufted Ducks, the Mute Swans now with only 6 (of 7) cygnets in tow and a couple of Coots with a couple of well grown youngsters. There were also some well grown Mallard ducklings with their mother. I arrived home at around 1320, having walked just over 14 miles, finding 60 species, including a welcome #Dundee150 tick (in bold) and a couple of lifers for Steph. It had been another productive and enjoyable morning's birding for the both of us.
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| Mallard |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Linnet |
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| Stonechat |
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| Cuckoo |
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Kestrel (with Vole sp.)
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Carrion Crow & Buzzard (with Vole sp.)
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| Kestrel |
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Greylag Goose
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Garden Tiger caterpillar
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Grey Partridge
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| Buzzard |
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Sand Martin
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Willow Warbler
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| Dipper |
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Long Tailed Tit
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Song Thrush
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Moorhen |
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| Coot |
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Coot, Cuckoo, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies - Orange Tip, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
