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| Magpie |
With the temperature forecast to be even hotter on Sunday than it had been on Saturday I really didn't fancy going very far. I had considered a visit to Riverside Nature Park on Saturday morning but as it feels like a long tiring walk home (with some uphill sections) I soon talked myself out of it and stayed at home instead. There is also a lack of shade at the park so with higher temperatures I decided against a visit again on Sunday. Instead of the park, I settled on the easy-ish option of a trip to the top of the Law. The day had started off with a few minutes of birding from my living room window while trying to gauge how warm it was. I had no sooner opened the window when I realised I could hear a Whitethroat singing. This was a new species for my 'house list' and a bit of a surprise given just how urban my location is, with very little in the way of either bushes or trees. The bird sounded like it was in a Buddleia bush along with some House Sparrows. Also noted from my window were Swift, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon and Collared Dove.
I headed out for the walk to the Law at 0735. There were a few of the species noted earlier around - Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Swift. In addition, Magpie and Blackbird were nearby. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was perched atop the Jackson Steel Structures building opposite Tannadice. Goldfinch and Starlings were in the trees behind the tenements across from Dens Park. Blue Tit and Chaffinch made it onto the list at Canning Street. Coal Tit, Song Thrush, Blackcap and Chiffchaff were all found on the final uphill stretch to the hill itself. Halfway up the rather steep steps there, I stepped out from under the trees to see the local Kestrel hovering almost overhead. Not a bad start. A Willow Warbler was heard singing as I made my way to the trig point marker near the back of the hill. The Kestrel made a few more hunting forays over the course of the next 20 minutes or so before disappearing for the next 80 minutes. Things were mostly rather quiet and it wasn't quite as warm as I had hoped it would be (having dressed for the forecast warmer temperatures).
A Swift flew past just after 0805, and I spotted the first House Martin of the morning around 10 minutes later. There were a few more Swifts around as 0830 approached. A Lesser Black Backed Gull circled up with a group of Herring Gulls and a pair of Jackdaws overflew. Great Tit was added to the morning's list around 0840. A Goldcrest was heard singing at 0855 and another couple of Swifts flew past a few minutes later. I had a slow wander around the hilltop to try to warm up a little as I was beginning to consider heading for home to grab an extra layer of clothing, or even just to stay at home. I found a recently fledged Dunnock and what I suspect was a Yellow Shell moth at the front of the hill, just below the wall. A Wren was heard but not seen.
Around 0915, a pair of apparent birders appeared, looking like they were on the hunt for something in particular. As it turned out this was indeed the case. Matt and Becky who were still relatively new to birding had come to the top of the Law in search of Crossbills. I was able to confirm that Crossbills do indeed turn up there but that they are far from reliable. Matt knew of me from Twitter and the 3 of us had a chat for a good while about birds and birding in Dundee (and roundabout). The Kestrel put in an appearance and even better were a pair of displaying Sparrowhawks a few minutes later. As we chatted, the grey clouds began to disperse and the sun came out, warming me up enough to reconsider heading homewards. Matt and Becky had to head off shortly after.
A Sparrowhawk was spotted off to the north. Things were rather quiet for the next half an hour, though with the sun shining, it wasn't nearly as much of a struggle to stay put by this time. The Kestrel put in another appearance around 1020 and the first Buzzard of the morning was seen to the north 20 minutes later. I had another Sparrowhawk sighting at 1045 and a Whitethroat was heard from somewhere down the west side of the hill just after 1100. Things proved to be rather slow over the course of the next couple of hours with House Martins, Magpies, Carrion Crows, Herring Gulls and Swifts giving me something to look at from time to time. The Kestrel was seen soaring at noon, and a pair of Buzzards were noted over Balgay Hill around 1220. After 5 hours at the top of the hill, I headed homewards at 1300, stopping to watch a Robin by the steps on the way down from the top. I finished the day's birding having recorded a total of 30 species.
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Swift |
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Carrion Crow
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| Jackdaw |
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| Dunnock |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Swift |
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| Magpie |
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| Magpie |
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House Martin
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| Robin |
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Hering Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
