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| Chiffchaff |
The 13th of October is a big date in my birding timeline. Back in 2013, over at Denburn Wood in Crail on an ADBC outing, I found my first (of two - in the same small urban wood, second was on 5/10/16) Red Flanked Bluetail. The following year on the same date, I got my first (of three) self-found White Billed Diver when one flew north past Fife Ness. However, restricting myself to birding in Dundee these days the chances of getting anything even approaching those sorts of rarities are rather minimal. However, you just never know what can turn up, as the Blyth's Reed Warbler near Riverside Nature Park in June 2023 found by Ian Ford showed. My initial plan was to head for Riverside Nature Park but I slept in, so a change of plan was needed.
The top of the Law got the nod and I headed out at 0735. It was quite a nice calm morning, not too cold, not too windy and relatively sunny. Feral Pigeon, Robin, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Herring Gull, House Sparrow and Black Headed Gull got the day's list going. Magpie, Starling and Chaffinch were noted near Dens Park stadium. Wren and Woodpigeon made their way onto the list at Harcourt Street. Blue Tit, Dunnock and Goldfinch were found around the Law Road/Law Crescent/Hill Street junction. I made it to the top of the hill just before 0800. Things were very quiet, with not even much in the way of bird calls from the trees. The local Magpies and Carrion Crows were active and did provide some initial interest. A skein of around 150 Pink Footed Geese headed northeast-wards around 0803. Siskin was heard from the trees on the east side a minute later.
A female Bullfinch showed in the tops of one of the trees at 0812. Siskins were heard again at 0815 and 4 flew past eastbound at 0817. A Chaffinch was seen at 0820. It was looking like being an even worse visit than my previous abandoned one had been 9 days previously. I could see a cruise ship off Carnoustie and decided I might as well head down to City Quay to see it coming in to dock at the harbour, rather than just going home. With a bit of luck I might add a few more species, though it appeared that given the lack of migrants on the move, anything unusual was even more unlikely than it had been before I'd left the house. A Collared Dove landed in a tree by the small car park as I headed down off the hill, on my way down to the top of the Hilltown. A Grey Wagtail was heard as I walked down Kinghorne Road.
Further down the Hilltown, not too far from the top end of the Wellgate Centre, a Grey Squirrel was seen. A Coal Tit was heard as I exited the underpass at the end of the Cowgate. A Grey Heron was stood, looking rather out of place, on one of the Wild Shore inflatables in Victoria Dock. There were Cormorants out on Submarine Rock but the Tay looked rather quiet. A Pied Wagtail was seen perched on a roof and a single Pink Footed Goose headed upriver. A trio of vocal swans arrived from the north and circled round over the river for a few minutes, looking like they were going to land but then apparently changing their minds. I initially thought they might be Whoopers but they were young Mute Swans (from later sightings, it would appear they may have been Swannie Ponds youngsters).
As I watched the swans, I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye in amongst the small Buddliea bushes just the other side of the fence. This turned out to be a Chiffchaff, which did show quite well at times, though it rarely stopped feeding and did appear to be quite wary. A larger skein of Pink Footed Geese passed over heading inland to the northeast. Another skein headed west a little later. A Sparrowhawk swept over 'on the hunt' at 0945, thankfully without spotting the feeding Chiffchaff. By this time, the cruise ship was visible to the east of Broughty Castle and my attention was shared between the boat, the Chiffchaff, the still loitering Mute Swans and another skein of Pinkies. A pair of Oystercatchers flew into the quay around 1010 and I had a brief flypast by the Kingfisher as I sat by the lock gate. Attempts to reloacte the Kingfisher proved fruitless, with Sea Cadets learning to sail occupying much of the area to the north of the damaged lock gate.
A small flock of Skylarks flew over quite high and a larger group of 10 passed by a little later in the morning and also a bit lower. A Magpie flew out over the river and a Common Gull was seen flying past upriver before heading back the other way. With the cruise ship having now docked, I weighed up my options. I decided to head for Swannie Ponds. A Buzzard was seen circling over the quay before it too headed out over the river, passing over the top of the boat as it went. I found one of the young Mute Swans on the water by the Unicorn. I wandered up through Weavers Yard which got me a Blackbird and a Song Thrush feeding on berries in a Rowan tree. It was now getting rather warm for October and I was a few layers overdressed. I was also feeling quite tired and decided to give Swannie Ponds a miss and headed home instead. A total of just 34 species was relatively disappointing and I suspect an additional 4 or so species at Swannie Ponds wouldn't have made too much difference to that feeling.
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| Magpie |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Bullfinch |
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Grey Heron
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Grey Heron
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Herring Gull
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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Mute Swan
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Mute Swan
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| Chiffchaff |
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Mute Swan
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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Carrion Crow
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| Oystercatcher |
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Common Gull
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| Skylark |
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| Buzzard |
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| Cormorant |
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| Robin |
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Grey Heron
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Mute Swan
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Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Magpie, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
