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| Peregrine |
Having spent so much time and effort at Riverside Nature Park of late, to relatively good effect, it felt like I had been rather neglecting the Balmossie/Broughty Ferry end of town. The chances of possibly adding Arctic Tern, Black Tern, Arctic Skua or Great Skua to my #Dundee150 list are generally at their strongest in August and September, therefore it makes sense to get there as often as I can during that time period, which was something I hadn't really been doing. However, it is impossible to be in two places at once so one of the two always loses out. With that in mind I decided that I really should head out there on my first Autumn Thursday off work. An early start fell by the wayside but I was still out the door just after 0730, roughly an hour after sunrise.
Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull and a flyover Meadow Pipit were all noted as I headed along Dundonald Street. There was still a small flock of House Martins feeding in the sky behind the Police Station and a small group of Starlings flew over. Jackdaws were on the roofs in Balmore Street and a Pied Wagtail was heard in Park Avenue. I counted a flock of 11 Pied Wagtails together on the grass in Baxter Park and there were other small groups around at Broughty Castle later in the day. Woodpigeon and Swallow were next onto the list followed by Chaffinch and Grey Wagtail at the start of the Docks way cycle path. Song Thrush and Greenfinch were the only other additions on the walk out from there, though there were a few Rabbits on the grass by the roadside at the other end.
Withe the sun shining and some evidence of migrants on the move I decided that I would check out the slightly overgrown area to the east of the Alpha Projects (and other companies) buildings. I had made a brief recce of the area recently but I wanted to see its potential for migrants. In its favour were the location - along a known migration route, its relatively undisturbed nature - I've only ever seen one dog walker in there, - and quite a lot of cover. There were a few Linnets around in the Brambles on the eatern slope of the area. I wandered along into the area which was largely cleared for the planned nursing home, surprisingly finding it to be easily accessible - given that it is fenced off from the road. As this area was quite open and relatively quiet I decided to concentrate on the rectangular area at the western end instead.
A Tree Pipit was heard passing over as were a few Meadow Pipits. Standing still and watching for movement in a sheltered corner proved quite productive with Dunnock, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Wren, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Magpie and Song Thrush all being noted. Wren and a couple of Sparrowhawks were seen later and Swallows and House Martins were also moving through. An odd call caught my attention. It bore some similarlity to Greenish Warbler, which had been reported from a few locations on the east coast in previous days. I had listened to that call to try to familiarise myself with it but chose to listen again having heard the 'odd' call. Over the course of the next hour or so, the bird would call a few times then go quiet for ages before reappearing a little further away from where I was.
Eventually I managed to get a few photos of the bird, frustratingly, from behind, so the head markings and features were hidden. I also eventually managed to record the call on the Merlin app. It wasn't a direct match for Greenish Warbler so I kept up the search. My suspicion was that it was probably going to be a Chiffchaff. As I had photos, albeit not hugely helpful ones and a recording and sonagram of the call, I eventually decided to move on. As I crossed the road towards the end of the docks, I heard the odd call coming from somewhere along the edge of the fenceline, just before a small bird flew across and dropped into the Gorse and Brambles behind me where it called again. I headed back in and after a brief spot of stalking it I finally managed to see the bird in the open and it was.... a Chiffchaff.
Mystery solved but a slightly disappointing result. A few Sand Martins flew past as I checked out the shoreline. A couple of Oystercatchers and a Curlew were feeding among the seaweed alongside the usual Herring Gulls. I had a chat to an older lady on holiday from France, (though she was originally from the UK, and had lived in Fife previously), with binoculars who was checking out the birds on the shore and as it transpired we were both heading for Broughty Ferry while looking for birds, we teamed up for the walk along the river. We soon picked up Grey Heron and Goosander as well as a Common Gull. Things were very quiet out on the water, even moreso than usual with just a few Goosanders dotted around. A Greenshank wandering along the water's edge was a bit of a pleasant surprise.
Moving on again, a Goldcrest was heard from the opposite side of the railway line and a family group of Mute Swans were visible over at the Tayport side of the river. We heard a few Sandwich Terns and eventually managed to see a few, with one perched atop a large buoy being the most prominent. Redshank was seen near the outflow pipe at Douglas Terrace and a Cormorant flew downriver. I said cheerio to the lady by the lifeboat station only to spot a Turnstone picking around among the pebbles and a flock of Wigeon high overhead, which I pointed out to her, before carrying on to the castle. There were a number of Pied Wagtails and a lone Rock Pipit feeding to the west of the castle along the edge of the harbour wall and on the grass. A Buzzard overhead was mobbed by a few gulls before it drifted over towards Fife.
I headed up into the castle where I was able to try out my new 'footed' monopod that I had waited in for the previous day. The extra stability provided by the feet made things so much easier and I was even able to let go of it to take photos (something impossible with just a 'normal' monopod). From the castle I was able to pick out distant Mute Swans, Eider and a Gannet, as well as a few more Cormorants and Sandwich Terns. A Grey Seal head appeared from below the water, had a look around for 20 seconds then disappeared again. I happened to turn around and saw a bird perched on the fence at the western edge of the Castle. It was my second Broughty Ferry Wheatear of the year, though it didn't stay as long as the first had. I decided I had better move on to Balmossie before the tide state moved on most of the birds there.
On the walk out I saw a few Large White and Peacock butterflies. Another flock of Wigeon, along with a passing flock of Teal, was seen and a Bar Tailed Godwit was found feeding in a pool on the sand. There was no sign of the Dune Stinkhorn though there was clear evidence that at least one dog (and possibly a law breaking dog-walker also) had been along the same track. I spotted an Osprey passing by heading in the direction of the castle. Not long after, I happened to look up from the scope and saw probably the same bird flying low along the water's edge carrying a large flatfish. This suggested it intended to stop somewhere close to eat its catch and this was indeed what it did, choosing a large rock just offshore. The monopod's feet meant I was able to let a few passing folk see the Osprey through the scope, though it did start to fall over at one point due to a gust of wind (thankfully it was caught in time).
When the Osprey flew off with what was left of the fish, I continued on out to Balmossie. I scanned through the gulls adding the first Black Headed, Lesser Black Backed and Great Black Backed Gulls for the day. There were a few House Sparrows and Starlings down on the beach as well as Jackdaws and Rooks. I failed to find anything of note among the 'normal' waders though I was joined a little later by Graham Smith who found a Knot (and a couple of Teal). A Kittiwake dropped in, not quite in full adult plumage, but it was another nice surprise addition to the day's birds. A Stock Dove also landed down on the shore. A young Peregrine caused some brief indignation among the birds on the beach but quickly headed off inland rather than make a proper attempt at some hunting.
I decided to set off homewards. The walk back was fairly uneventful though I did stop briefly at the castle where the Rock Pipit and some of the Pied Wagtails were still around and then at the lifeboat jetty where there were a number of Sandwich Terns resting among a few gulls with the usual Turnstones and Redshanks below. A few of the terns were ringed but none were readable. Another Grey Seal munching on a couple of fish (a possible Salmon and a flatfish) was seen further on towards the Stannergate. Other than that it was House Sparrows, Goosander, Cormorant and Turnstones which provided some interest on the walk back. I finished the day with a total of 59 species with a few less common birds (Wheatear, Greenshank and Kittiwake) amongst them. I've definitely had worse days out.
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| Linnet |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Blackcap |
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Willow Warbler
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| Dunnock |
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House Sparrow
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Chiffchaff |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Greenshank |
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Mute Swan
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Pied Wagtail
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| Buzzard |
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Grey Seal
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| Cormorant |
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| Wheatear |
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Grey Heron & Herring Gull
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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| Osprey |
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Wigeon & Teal
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| Osprey |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Teal |
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Rock Pipit
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Sandwich Tern
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| Goosander |
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| Turnstone |
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Grey Seal (& Salmon?)
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock,
Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House
Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine,
Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook,
Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal,
Tree Pipit, Turnstone, Wheatear, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Large White, Peacock.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
