1289 : Sula Bonanza (17/8/24)

Bullfinch

As my most recent outings had been mostly focused on birding (and butterflies) around the western end of the city, I decided I would head out to Balmossie and Broughty Ferry on Saturday the 17th of August. With strong westerly winds forecast, my chances of adding anything to my #Dundee150 list were likely to be rather slim, but Mediterranean Gull, or maybe a Skua or an Arctic Tern or even a Puffin were not completely inconceivable. High tide was around 1400, so there was no huge rush to get out to Balmossie. I also thought it unlikely, though not impossible, that I might see the Bottlenose Dolphins as we are now coming to the end of their 'season' for visits to the Tay if previous years are any sort of indicator.

I headed out at 0835 with my first stop intended to be Swannie Ponds to see if there was anything unusual there. Herring Gull, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch and Woodpigeon provided accompaniment to the walk up to Clepington Road. There were a few House Martins hawking above the Mains Loan junction. Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Starling and Lesser Black Backed Gull were noted along the final stretch of road before I reached the ponds. The normal selection of Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Mallard, Coot and a Common Gull were present, though I didn't see any Tufted Ducks, though they may have been asleep round the back of the island. A Blue Tit was heard from the trees there.

As I wandered into Eastern Cemetery via the top entrance, an unexpected pair of Greylag Geese flew over. A Large White butterfly fluttered about just inside the adjacent allotments and a few Swallows overhead zig-zagged their way west, making relatively slow progress into the wind. Both Rabbit and Grey Squirrel were found in the lower half of the cemetery, as were Coal Tit and Robin. Long Tailed Tits were feeding in trees at the top of Craigie Avenue. A Red Admiral butterfly was spotted on the buddleia at the Stannergate. Down on the shore there I picked out a few Oystercatchers and a Curlew among the gulls. Offshore, a rather distant Sandwich Tern was seen (and heard) fishing out towards the middle of the river. A Cormorant flew downriver. There was another flock of Greylags spotted just as they disappeared out of sight behind trees, heading inland.

Grey Heron and Turnstone were found as I wandered on eastwards towards Broughty Ferry. A Sparrowhawk was seen to the north, being pursued by a few crows. A couple of Goosander were on the grassy beach pebbles near the boat club sheds and another was sleeping on the pipe at Douglas Terrace. I spotted a Gannet flying upriver, past the lighthouse on the Tayport side, which I think is the furthest upriver I've seen one. I had a brief chat to a passing work colleague before continuing on along towards the castle. Things were relatively quiet on the walk to get there with nothing new added on this stretch. From the rather windy viewpoint of the castle I did find a Great Black Backed Gull perched atop the yellow cross marker pole just to the east of the castle. 

There were 2 Pied Wagtails feeding down on the sand just beyond the castle and an Osprey was seen over the river towards Tentsmuir. A few Swifts were spotted, hawking for insects, likely on their way south again. I added Eider to the morning's list as I continued on out towards Balmossie. There were a few Linnets around and a few Rooks were down on the beach with the waders. Unfortunately, the waders were just the usual Redshanks and Turnstones with some Curlew and Oystercatchers. A Stock Dove was a slight surprise when it landed down among the other birds on the beach. I failed to see any Skuas however. A fast moving bird low over the river turned out to be a marauding Peregrine.

A large flock of birds off Tentsmuir Point were initially assumed to be gulls flushed from the beach by dog walkers, but they weren't. There were 100s of Gannets, and the flock grew further in size to somewhere between 500 and 1000 birds though the flock diminished in size again, almost as quickly as it had grown, though given that the usual number of Gannets in the Tay tends to be low single figures, it was still a much larger flock than usual. Walking back towards the castle I detoured into the local nature reserve where I had close views of a couple of young Bullfinches with the adult male and also saw a Wren, a Chaffinch pair and a Robin. 

I headed back towards the river and walking along the top of the rock armour, I spotted a Ringed Plover which landed on what was left of the beach, only to be flushed again almost immediately by a dog walker. Continuing on, I found a Stinkhorn fungus. I thought it was very odd that it was growing on sand and took some photos. Later at home, I reached the conclusion that it was likely to be a Dune Stinkhorn, which appears to be rather rare. I tried alerting various groups/people but although it is seemingly rather uncommon, no-one got back to me that night. A trio of Dunlin sped low over the water and continued on past the castle. Sandwich Tern and Gannet were watched over the water, reasonably close to the Dundee side of the river.

There were a couple of Redshanks on the lifeboat jetty and a Grey Seal was seen out on the river. A Buzzard to the north of the road was a slight surprise as I headed for the Stannergate and a Greenfinch was heard once I reached the Stannergate. The walk home from there produced nothing new and I ended the day's outing with a total of 49 species of birds, 2 of butterfly and 3 of mammals. Whilst not a classic day's birding, the sheer numbers of Gannets in the Tay was worth seeing, as previously the only times I've seen anything close to such a large flock they have been in close proximity to their breeding site at the Bass Rock, near North Berwick.

Grey Heron
Goosander
Carrion Crow & Sparrowhawk
Gannet
House Sparrow
Cormorant
Oystercatcher
Redshank & Turnstone
Gannet
Goosander
Stock Dove
Rook
Stock Dove
Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull & Redshank
Turnstone & Redshank
Great Black Backed Gull
Gannet
Peregrine & Eider
Gannet
Black Headed Gull
Dune Stinkhorn
Bullfinch
Bullfinch
Robin
Gannet
Sandwich Tern
Redshank

Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Butterflies - Large White, Red Admiral.

Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.

1288 : Lucky At The Lochan (14/8/24)

Green Sandpiper

With nothing much on the agenda for Wednesday's birding, I decided that I might as well have another go at the same butterfly walk route that I had attempted a few days previously on Sunday. I decided I would make some slight tweaking to the route, and adjustments to the amount of time spent at a few of the spots. Despite planning an earlier start I still didn't get out the door until 0850 - the same time as Sunday morning. The weather wasn't quite as nice as Sunday had been though it was still fairly sunny and warm. 

Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie and Carrion Crow were on the list almost immediately but it was another 5 minutes before I added the next birds - a pair of Jackdaws in their usual place. Blue Tit and Feral Pigeon were found on Canning Street. As I wandered up the hill to check the same garden I'd found Small Copper in on Sunday, House Sparrow, Coal Tit , Dunnock and House Martin were all noted but I failed to find any butterflies this time. Further up the hill, I added Chiffchaff to the bird list, before Green Veined White and Large White were found near the 'whalebone arch'. Willow Warbler and Chaffinch were also in the same general area. Heading back down the other sideof the hill got me Blackbird and an overflying Lesser Black Backed Gull.

On the walk along Pentland Avenue I stopped to watch a Small White butterfly settle which let me  positively ID it. I tried the White Letter Hairstreak Elm and saw 2 small butterflies in flight, one at the top and one further down the right hand side but neither settled in view. Most likely Hairstreaks but both Purple and White Letter have been seen in that tree recently including a sighting by Lainy of both settled not too far apart. The Buddleia on the triangle 'island' produced Peacock, Red Admiral and even a Comma which was a nice surprise. A Buzzard flew over. I headed up the hill to check the Elm at the top. There didn't appear to be anything flying around or visible in the tops this time, despite much scanning. I did however add Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Swift and Swallow. 

At my 'go to' Speckled Wood area on the hill I actually managed to find a trio of the butterflies chasing each other around but failed to get a shot of one settled when I failed to find it in the viewfinder due to the vegetation in the way. I did get a few record shots of 2 in flight, but they are of 'record shot' only quality. I headed back down off the hill and had a Sparrowhawk fly over as I checked the Buddleia again. I walked down to Western Cemetery noting a Robin on the way. On Sunday I had wondered about the Ivy overhanging the western wall being a decent spot to find Holly Blues. I was right and managed to not only see a few, but also finally managed to get decent photos of a couple of settled butterflies and even a decent flight shot.

With the photos of the Holly Blue 'in the bag' I decided to continue on out to Riverside Nature Park rather than spend too long at the cemetery as I had done on Sunday. I reached the park around 1150. Robin, Woodpigeon, Chiffchaff, Magpie, Wren, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Herring Gull got the bird list off to a reasonable start. Butterfly-wise it seemed quite quiet at first but a bit of exploring did conjure up a couple of Meadow Browns as well as a Red Admiral. Unlike the previous visit, Comma proved remarkably easy when one actually landed by the edge of the path as I was passing - though it was a rather worn looking individual this time.

I headed up into the top half of the park which appeared rather quiet. As I wandered down the path to the Lochan I said out loud, "please let there be something good here....even a Wood Sandpiper would do". Needless to say there wasn't a Wood Sandpiper there. However there was a rather unexpected Green Sandpiper wandering around on the water's edge opposite the screen. Number 138 for my #Dundee150 list, and only the seond for the park list - the first being found by Keith down in the bay. I put word out on the local grapevine and messaged Keith (who was in Fife), Lainy (who was elsewhere also) and Mark (who was at work). I spent a while watching and photographing the bird. The local Moorhens chased it about a few times but it didn't seem in any great hurry to leave the Lochan.

After half an hour or so I headed round to check the bay for Mediterranean Gull. I spotted a Whitethroat on the way round. Down in the bay were a few Common Sandpipers, Black Headed Gulls aplenty, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Black Tailed Godwit, Redshank, Common Gull, Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher, Carrion Crow, Curlew, Lapwing, 2 Little Egrets, Mallard, Dunlin and Lesser Black Backed Gull. There were a few Long Tailed Tits in the bushes nearby and a Jackdaw flew over calling as it went. There were a few Feral Pigeons passing overhead along with regular flocks of Woodpigeons. More careful scanning of the bay added a couple of returning Teal. I spotted a very obvious pale looking potential Mediterranean Gull across the far side of the bay with the Black Headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns, but there was slightly too much heat shimmer to be absolutely certain of the ID though some of the photos did look quite convincing, without being 100%.

A few Swallows headed out over the bay and a Stock Dove flew in the opposite direction before I wandered back round towards the Lochan with the intention of having another look at the Green Sandpiper. Once again, I had a couple of Tree Sparrows within the park and a Small White was flitting around on the slope down from the raised banking. The pair of Mute Swans appeared from somewhere previously unseen, down in the bay. Mark messaged to say he was on his way down to see the Green Sandpiper and I was able to confirm it was still in situ around 30 seconds later. When Mark arrived, it was partially hidden by vegetation towards the western end having been chased there once again by a Moorhen. It relocated fairly quickly to opposite where we were stood, giving us both good views over the next 20 minutes or so. There were plenty of Common Darters and a few Common Blue Damselflies hunting around over the algae on the Lochan.

A Yellowhammer dropped in for a drink and once Mark headed off again, I had another wander which got me Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Blackcap for the park visit list. Back round at the bay I managed to pick out a couple of distant Ospreys just before a Sparrowhawk swept past. I had another look at the Green Sandpiper and discovered why the Lapwing is lingering at the Lochan - it actually has no feet, but can move around a little bit on the remaining stumps. More wandering produced a few more butterflies - Peacock, Green Veined White and Large White. I added what were surprisingly the first Rabbits of the visit as I headed for the exit around 1610. I was going to walk back via Balgay Hill but was feeling a bit leg-weary, so instead decided to catch a bus into town and walked home from there. I had managed to see/hear 53 species of bird (24 outwith Riverside Nature Park and 43 at the park) including another year-tick for my #Dundee150 list (in bold), just 9 species of butterfly this time, 2 of dragonfly/damselfly and 1 of mammal during what was a rather decent day's birding (and 'butterflying' - which doesn't actually seem to have this name, or any actual name for the activity).

Peacock
Comma
Buzzard
Speckled Wood
Sparrowhawk
Holly Blue
Holly Blue
Holly Blue
Small White(?)
Buzzard
Buzzard
Meadow Brown
Green Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper & Moorhen
Green Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Moorhen
Lapwing
Osprey
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk
Comma
Comma

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Swift, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.

Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Green Veined White, Holly Blue, Large White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White, Speckled Wood.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Green Veined White, Large White, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.

Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Blue Damselfly, Common Darter.

Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.