1324 : Out To The Castle (2/11/24)

Pied Wagtail

I'm never particularly keen on visiting Broughty Ferry and Balmossie at weekends as it is almost guaranteed that there will be more people (and dogs) about, meaning more disturbance, leading to more frustration. However, given the time of year and the lack of 'new' birds showing up at other locations I decided to welcome in November with a trip out to 'the Ferry'. Tide times meant I wasn't in any particular hurry, with high tide around 1500. A later than usual start - around 1040, meant I could expect to get to Balmossie around the optimal time for seeing birds - assuming I didn't get too sidetracked along the way there.

Feral Pigeon was first onto the list for the day with Robin and House Sparrow next just around the corner. Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Magpie and Carrion Crow were found a minute or two later and then followed almost immediately after by Starling and Jackdaw while I made my way towards the wasteground at Mains Terrace, where 'winter thrushes' were the target. I did manage to get Dunnock, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit and Wren in addition to Redwing and Mistle Thrush making it a successful short detour. Siskin was noted on Lammerton Terrace. At Swannie Ponds it was a fairly familiar line-up with Mallard, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull and Mute Swan (plus the usual Herring Gulls) all being noted there. 

A Sparrowhawk was seen in flight a bit out to the east as I headed for a quick look at Spring Grove in Baxter Park. I was able to put Long Tailed Tits on the list at the park, but there was little else of interest other than Coal Tit and a heard-only Treecreeper. Walking along to Eastern Cemetery produced a Grey Squirrel by the church on Bingham Terrace. Rabbit and Oystercatcher were both found at the cemetery but the walk down to the Stannergate from there proved rather fruitless, though given the timing that wasn't completely unexpected. I wandered in for a quick look at the 'migrant hotspot' but was interrupted by the arrival of the escaped Saker Falcon overhead. It circled round a couple of times before rather surprisingly heading out over the river towards Fife and the estate out behind Tayport, from where gunshots could be heard. Fingers crossed the bird passed overhead unharmed.

With regards the site at the Stannergate, I have recently started paying more attention to, I have recently discovered the planned nursing home development actually failed to be approved by the council, meaning the habitat which was needlessly chopped back, will now hopefully get a chance to grow back and thus increase the desirability of the site for both breeding birds, such as Linnets and visiting birds dropping in for a feed on passage. The walk out to the castle wasn't overly productive though I did manage to see Cormorant, Turnstone, Grey Heron, Eider and Pied Wagtail. As I was running a bit later than I had intended there were already birds roosting on the lifeboat station jetty, among them a Redshank perched on the top rail with Black Headed and Common Gull.

A Rock Pipit was in the harbour by the castle. A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed by and a Greenfinch flew over. From the castle, I picked out a couple of distant Red Throated Divers before a group of Whooper Swans flew upriver. There were thousands of Eider visible off Tentsmuir Point, quite possibly with other interesting but too distant to see, birds amongst them. A mixed group of Teal and Wigeon headed west past the castle but things were rather quiet. I debated continuing out to Balmossie as I had originally intended, but with the tide more or less in already, I chose to head homewards instead. I managed to find Grey Wagtail and Linnet on the walk back which took my total for the day to 49 species (and 1 escapee), as well as 3 species of mammal. Unfortunately, once again I failed to add anything to my #Dundee150 list. That target figure is looking increasingly difficult to reach, though time will ultimately tell if I can do so, or not.

Blackbird
Goldfinch
Grey Squirrel
Magpie
Rabbit
Saker Falcon (escaped)
Saker Falcon (escaped)
Black Headed Gull
Cormorant
Turnstone
Grey Heron
Common Gull
Oystercatcher
Eider
Black Headed Gull, Redshank & Common Gull
Black Headed Gull
Red Throated Diver
Pink Footed Goose
Eider
Greenfinch
Whooper Swan
Whooper Swan
Wigeon & Teal
Oystercatcher
Redshank & Turnstone
Linnet

Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Throated Diver, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.

1323 : There May Be Stubble Ahead... (30/10/24)

Kestrel

This Autumn has been very disappointing not just for migrants as a whole, but most of my vis-migging attempts have been very poor with hardly any birds seen moving over Dundee. Surprisingly, there has been next to no movement of Redwings and Fieldfares over the city, that I've been in the right places to have seen, at least. With that in mind, I decided to head up to the top of the Law on Wednesday the 30th of October to see if there might be a chance of some 'winter thrush' movements, and perhaps even a Brambling or a Hawfinch passing by. Although neither Redwing or Fieldfare was 'needed' for my #Dundee150 list, it was these potential 'extras' that were my main hope. As with most of my birding latterly, expectations were however still very low.

I headed out just before 0735. Robin, Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull and House Sparrow were all early onto the list as expected. The Curlew that flew up Arklay Street however wasn't a common sight so close to home. Dunnock, Starling, Carrion Crow and Magpie were all regulars as were Jackdaw and Woodpigeon. Grey Wagtail does seem to be semi-regular these days, often around the industrial units and the football stadiums, and although Black Headed Gull isn't the most common of gulls in the vicinity of home, it is also regular enough to not be too much of a surprise. Both birds were still welcome additions to the day's list though. Blackbird, Chaffinch, Wren and Collared Dove completed my pre-Law visit list.

At the top of the Law, a flock of about 10 Mistle Thrushes headed over southwards just after I'd got organised which I hoped would bode well for my prospects. A skein of 20 or so Pink Footed Geese passed over southwards and a distant much larger skein of around 100 were seen out to the northwest. A trio of Fieldfares almost managed to sneak past unnoticed but thankfully I happened to turn around just in time to see them. A Crossbill was heard calling but went unseen, and may have been below my line of sight. A Coal Tit was heard and a Chaffinch flew past eastwards just after 0820 while another relatively small skein of Pink Footed Geese headed northwards. With only very light passage noted I decided I would head for Riverside Nature Park to see what I could find there, rather than take the easier option of heading home again.

Heading down off the hill added Goldcrest, Blue Tit and a Sparrowhawk in a shallow stoop further down the western side 'Law Steps' path. Great Tit, Bullfinch and Goldfinch were rather surprisingly, and disappointingly, the only additions seen or heard between the Law and the Nature Park. I reached the western end of the park just before 0935. There had been a bit of mist visible from the Law, and there was some still hanging around out over the river. Pink Footed Geese had been seen departing to the north as I'd wandered through Ninewells Arboretum and there were still more geese in their hundreds heading low over the park to the north, with some appearing to be turning towards the fields at Dykes of Gray, while others continued on over the hospital and out of sight.

Robin, Feral Pigeon, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Rook, some passing Skylarks, Woodpigeon, Wren, Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Blackbird and Goldfinch were all noted around the western extremeties of the park before I wandered in the direction of the Lochan for a look there. A Stock Dove was seen in flight before a couple of Siskins went over. Things were relatively busy at the Lochan with a couple of Snipe (again), Teal, Mallard, Moorhen and Little Grebe all seen. A Pied Wagtail flew over as I left the Lochan to head round to check the bay. A Grey Heron flew past but before I had a good look at the bay, I decided to check the trees and bushes in 'the bowl' to the north of the picnic tables. This delivered Bullfinch, Greenfinch and Magpie.

Checking the bay, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Common Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Redshank and Little Egret as well as a Song Thrush in the bushes below all made it onto the list. I could hear Long Tailed Tits in the bushes, calling loudly to each other. More scanning as the tide came in produced Goosander, Dunlin, Great Black Backed Gull, a late lingering Lesser Black Backed Gull, Greenshank, and slightly surprisingly a lone Greylag Goose which flew a circuit over the bay before continuing on again. Dunnock was heard and a few Meadow Pipits added to the passing migrants. House Sparrows were heard chirping loudly from somewhere down among the bushes and a few Starlings headed towards the airport. A small group of Bar Tailed Godwits headed in a similar direction around 10 minutes later.

By this time, the tide was quite well in, so I walked round to the hide to get a better view of the waders still remaining on the mud. This did succeed in getting a small group of Knot, and a couple of Snipe were seen along the edge of the reeds over by the station. There were a few Jackdaws down by the pipe and a Blue Tit was seen foraging in the trees around the hide. Once the remaining waders were dispersed by a passing train I weighed up my options. Although I had barely scratched the surface of the park, I decided to have another quick look at the Lochan then to head up through Invergowrie and past the Landmark Hotel to check the geese flocks at Dykes of Gray. I added a Great Tit on the walk to the Lochan but there was nothing else to be found. I left the park having managed to see or hear a total of 49 species despite concentrating on the very western ends of the park.

The walk up through Invergowrie didn't add anything new. A Jay flew over the grassy area to the north of the dual carriageway, once I was back within Dundee's boundaries. I did a spot of exploring by the small reedbed behind the Landmark Hotel but failed to find anything, except a Grey Squirrel. I cut the corner by wandering across a stubble field but instead of returning to the road, I decided to cut along the front of the large wood instead. A flock of Long Tailed Tits and a Common Darter draagonfly were seen before I set off along the edge of the wood. Unfortunately for me, I had failed to remember the route taken by the water in the area, which meant I found myself back by the NCR building rather than where I wanted to be.

Once I had made my way back to where I actually needed to be, I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling and a Buzzard was seen rather distantly being harassed by a few crows. Although there were some Pink Footed Geese in the same field as before, there weren't nearly as many, so I decided to check out the stubble field again. A Buzzard was seen circling to the northwest. A couple of Greenfinches were perched on the wires across the fields and were joined by a Yellowhammer. The flock of Linnets was seen again and a Kestrel drew some mobbing from them as it flew over heading west. With nothing too exciting happening and no rare geese I headed in the direction of home.

Somehow I ended up cutting through the grounds of Ninewells Hospital (book-ended by overflying RAF Typhoons and a pair of low-flying USAF F-35s). Balgay Hill proved to be rather quiet, though Common Gull and the ringed Oystercatcher (6A5) were seen on the football pitches. I ended up back at the top of the Law again but nothing new was seen there. My final addition for the day was a Pied Wagtail as I passed Tannadice Park, which took my 'outwith the park' list to 40 species for a combined total of 63 species. My legs were a bit heavy after the day's walk but despite the failure to add anything new for my #Dundee150 list, it was still an enjoyable, and relatively interesting day's birding, which was just what I was needing.

Pink Footed Goose
Blackbird
Fieldfare
Snipe
Grey Heron
Black Tailed Godwit
Teal, Redshank & Greenshank
Greylag Goose
Bar Tailed Godwit
Goosander
Redshank, Dunlin & Knot
Dunlin
Curlew
Common Gull
Little Egret
Jay
Pink Footed Goose
Pink Footed Goose
Greenfinch & Yellowhammer
Skylark
Linnet
Linnet
Linnet & Kestrel
Carrion Crow

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Dragonflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Common Darter.

Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.