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| Waxwing |
I seem to say that it has been a bit longer than intended every time I post a round-up of my sightings on my walks to and from work, but I think this might be the longest gap yet (I think it is something like 15 weeks!) since the previous round-up post appeared. Back then, the winter migrants were starting to head back north and the incoming spring migrants weren't too far away. A lot has happened since then with some obvious changes and some not quite so obvious. Among the more obvious has been the dispersal of the Black Headed and Common Gulls to their breeding grounds, with the Black Headeds going first and the Common Gulls dwindling to zero a little later. The Pink Footed Geese, Redwings etc headed northwards and the warblers came in from the south....
Redwings were still around way back in March with sightings on the 11th and again on the 19th. There were still some Pink Footed Geese around on the 12th, 18th and 22nd of March, though as with the Redwings I did have later sightings elsewhere in the city. Waxwing was a species I had only previously recorded once on my walks to and from work, with a single bird in flight back in November 2023. However, that changed over the course of around 6 weeks, with multiple sightings in the Ancrum Road area in what appeared to be 4 very distinct spells with gaps of varying duration in between. A flock of around 20 in a tree behind houses on the opposite side of the road (ruling out use of binoculars) were dismissed as Starlings as I walked home on the 18th of March (they were also seen in the same tree on the 19th). I actually heard the birds calling on the 20th on my day off and realised my mistake. They were still around on the 21st and 22nd, but there was no sign on the Saturday.
I was surprised to find more of the birds in the same general area again on the 2nd and 4th of April, which promptly vanished. However, there were more around again from the 8th until the 12th. I assumed that would be my last Waxwing sighting of the Spring, but a very familiar (by then) sound as I walked home past Lochee Park got me a flock of 25 or so which landed in a tree across the road for a few seconds before they flew off again. Numbers of Black Headed Gulls at Lochee Park dwindled to zero with the last sighting (bar a surprise sighting on May 10th) on the 25th of March. The Common Gulls held on a little longer with the last birds at the football pitches on the 15th of April. There were however a couple of the species between the football stadiums on my way home on the 17th of May.
The first of the incoming migrants noted were overflying Meadow Pipits between 14th of March and 19th of April. The first of this Spring's Chiffchaffs was found on the 18th of March around the bottom end of Loon's Road. The species has been heard (or sometimes even seen) on most of the days since. The 8th of April was the date of my first Blackcap on my walks to work for this year and as with the Chiffchaff they have been fairly regular ever since. A week off work at the start of May meant that the Swallows had returned by the time I was back at work on the 9th though further sightings of the species have been rather sporadic. House Martins are relatively uncommon along my normal route to/from work, though there were a few sightings in late May/early June. Swifts are generally the easiest of the 'fork tailed four' to get on my way to/from work, and although insects have been in very short supply, Swifts have been relatively easy to see around both ends of my journey, though numbers have mostly been low single figures, since the 10th of May.
I have had 5 records of Willow Warbler this Spring with a singing bird on the 15th of April, followed by 3 more in May, and 1 in June (mostly around the north side of the Law, though heard from Byron Street). Another summer visitor to the area was noted on the 7th of June as a small skein of Canada Geese headed north low over Lochee in the morning as I wandered down Loons Road. During the period covered in this post, Bullfinch has been very regular, though not quite every day. Both Pied and Grey Wagtails have been noted several times, with Pied not surprisingly having been noted the most. Another bird spotted more than a handful of times, without being almost daily, has been Siskin, though there have been Coal Tits making very similar calls of late. Treecreepers and Nuthatches sightings have been fairly hit and miss with the latter being most vocal in April then going very quiet since then.
Of the larger species, Jay, Stock Dove, Rook, Collared Dove and Great Spotted Woodpecker have all turned up multiple times. The escaped Saker Falcon was seen perched on Cox's Stack on the 25th of March, the 8th of April and also the 18th but hasn't been seen since. The Law's male Kestrel was seen on the 14th of March flying over Byron Street towards the hill in the morning and also on the 17th of May round the other side of the hill as I walked home in the rain. Sightings of Sparrowhawk were into double figures during the time covered here, though Buzzards only appeared 4 times. Other larger birds seen were a single Grey Heron on 18th of March over my work, 2 more flying along the north side of the Law on the 15th of April, with another over Ninewells Avenue on the 17th of May. A Cormorant headed south over Balgay Hill on Tuesday the 11th of June as I headed into Balgay Cemetery on my walk to work.
There were a trio of species of birds which I only managed to see once during the time-span covered here. An unexpected Lesser Redpoll flew over Ninewells Avenue as I headed home after work. A small flock of 6 Linnets were perched together atop a house next to Dens Park on the 4th of April. I have seen this species once or twice in the same wider area in the past but the overgrown area behind the football stadium at Dens Road which looked quite favourable for them has been cleared up, as has most of the suitable Linnet habitat in the city (Stannergate - nursing home site, behind Clatto where gorse has been ripped out, Broughty Ferry along the dunes where most of the gorse was removed to make way for the 'new' path for all - except for the wildlife that already lived there!). The one new species for my 'on-foot commute' list that I managed to add was a Raven (number 85). Given how many sightings I've had over the past couple of years, mostly around the Law, it was just a matter of time when I'd get one. I didn't expect to get one circling over South Road, which was where I spotted it on the 24th of May.
During the time period covered in this post (11/3/24 - 14/6/24) I managed to see, or hear, a total of 55 species of bird, as well as 2 of butterfly (Orange Tip on 9/5 and Small White on 10/5) and 1 of mammal (Grey Squirrel numerous times, mostly in Balgay Cemetery). All photos here are from my archives - though the Waxwings pictured are from the Ancrum Road area flocks mentioned above, though taken at weekends.
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Song Thrush
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Common Gull
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Pied Wagtail
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Grey Heron
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Robin |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Swift |
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| Kestrel |
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Carrion Crow
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| Magpie |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Swallow |
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| Chaffinch |
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Collared Dove
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Buzzard |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Waxwing |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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| Wren |
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| Siskin |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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| Waxwing |
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Coal Tit
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| Greenfinch |
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| Nuthatch |
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Raven, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Waxwing, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Orange Tip, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
