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