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| Buzzard |
With the lastest in a seemingly endless conveyer belt of 'named storms' due to arrive early in the afternoon of Sunday the 21st, available birding time was at a bit of a premium. Another extra hour or two in bed also closed that available window even further. Having already been more successful than expected in January, most of the 'easy' options were already on my list. One species still missing however was Jack Snipe. Lainy and I had found one using my thermal imager back in December but my attempts so far in 2024 had drawn a blank. With limited time to play with, I decided I might as well try for Jack Snipe, though my expectation levels were practically nil.
It was just after 1025 when I headed out. House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon and Woodpigeon were first onto the day's list followed almost immediately by Blue Tit, Starling and Carrion Crow. Blackbird and Robin were noted on Arklay Street as I headed for Caird Park golf course first. Around 10 minutes later as I headed down through the middle of the 18 hole golf course I spotted a raptor circling out to the west. It turned out to be the escaped Saker Falcon but I had lost sight of it behind the trees by the time I had got my camera out from the bag. A Sparrowhawk was seen just before I spotted a pair of Roe Deer on the next fairway. They were soon joined by a third. One of them eyed me warily while the others had a bit of a feed on the fairway. A Jay popped out onto a branch from near where the third deer had appeared.
Long Tailed Tits, Redwing, Chaffinch and Great Tit were all found as I wandered along to the ponds. It didn't take long to see the Kingfisher as well as a few Moorhens, Mallards and a Wren. I added Siskins as I headed for Claverhouse Road. A Black Headed Gull was seen in flight as I crossed the road and headed towards Trottick Ponds. The first Magpie of the morning was seen in the trees by the houses before I reached the ponds. A Grey Heron, a few Mute Swans, a number of Mallards, Moorhens and more Black Headed Gulls were quickly added. Another Grey Heron was stood by the SuDS pond further up the track. I then cut down the rather muddy path to the burn and crossed the footbridge. A quick scan with the thermal imager found just 2 obvious heat sources, which was slightly disappointing. I scanned the same area with the binoculars but couldn't see anything obvious.
I changed my position slightly and tried again. I could see a Snipe but even with a photo I wasn't certain if it was a Snipe or a Jack Snipe though I was favouring the latter. I had another look and soon realised that there was actually a second bird stood a metre or so away from the first bird. Rather than risk flushing the birds I headed round to the other end of the trees for a look from the closer and more raised viewpoint. The photos from there showed that they were indeed a pair of Jack Snipe. I hadn't really expected to see one, let alone two side by side, so I was fairly pleased to get it on the list. I managed a few more photos from a third angle, though I kept back and let the zoom of the lens close the distance before heading back towards the ponds again.
A Grey Wagtail and a Dipper were both heard, as was a Skylark passing overhead. Having just passed the ponds on my way back towards Caird Park, I looked up and spotted a Buzzard perched low down in the tree next to me. I took a few photos and tried to continue past without flushing the bird, but it had other ideas and flew off to another tree by the burn, though a trio of noisy dog walkers and their charges on their way along the path towards it soon convinced it to move on again. I added a Goldcrest in Caird Park as well as a Treecreeper and a Song Thrush. Mains Terrace proved to be rather fruitless and it had begun to rain, though relatively lightly.
I headed along to Swannie Ponds where I met Craig, who had alerted me to the presence of the Gadwall on Hogmanay (and who has a YouTube channel - The Swan Family And Friends, with videos mostly from the ponds) and we had a chat for a while about the birds at the ponds. The usual species were about as were the Gadwall drake and the Shoveler pair. Coot and Common Gull were both new for the day. A Pied Wagtail was heard before I walked down to Baxter Park for a quick check of Spring Grove. I added Grey Squirrel, Goldfinch and Dunnock there but the light was already poor so the bathing Long Tailed Tits went unphotographed. As the rain was by this time getting heavier I headed for home, having successfully found my target species for the day (in bold) among the 40 species noted.
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Roe Deer
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| Moorhen |
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| Kingfisher |
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Grey Heron
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Jack Snipe
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Jack Snipe
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Jack Snipe
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Jack Snipe
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Jack Snipe
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Redwing |
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| Blackbird |
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| Wren |
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Grey Heron
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Common Gull
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| Shoveler |
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| Shoveler |
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| Shoveler |
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Grey Squirrel
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Dipper, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, [Saker Falcon], Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
