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| Chaffinch |
My last round-up of birds seen, or heard, on my walks to/from work was back in late December. Since that time, the sunsets have got later and later in the day to the point where I'm now coming all the way home in daylight (thankfully!). The mornings too are progressing in the right direction, though sunrise still has a little bit further to go until I'm walking to work in daylight all the way, though over the next few days (as I type this) it will be sunrise as I'm leaving the house. Spring isn't all that far away now and neither are the incoming summer migrants....
Early in January however it was still rather dark at both ends of the day. That didn't stop Song Thrushes from beginning to make themselves heard regularly in the pre-dawn gloom as easrly as the 8th of January. Redwings and Pink Footed Geese were the main highlights for most of the first few weeks after I returned to work following a very successful first week of the year off work and out birding, trying to find as many species as I could. My first Fox of 2024 was spotted on the 9th and a few days later on the 12th I was able to find, and see, a vocal Tawny Owl in Balgay Cemetery thanks to having the thermal imager with me. Oystercatchers were around, rather earlier than usual, on the 11th and the 12th. Pink Footed Geese and Redwings were the main birds of interest in the early part of the 3rd week in January (15/1-19/1), but a Fieldfare was noted on the 18th and the 19th produced a Grey Heron struggling into the wind over Balgay Cemetery and then a surprise commute tick, a Woodcock as I took a different route home via Pentland Avenue, after work.
Foxes were noted on the 22nd and 25th of January, but the bird highlights were mostly just Redwings and Oystercatchers. The gulls arrived back at the football pitches at Lochee Park on the 1st of February though it took a while until they were there (almost) every morning. Both Black Headed Gulls and Common Gulls were noted with a few Herring Gulls but despite plenty of searching I've yet to rustle up anything more interesting - but I will keep on checking, just in case. Jay and Pink Footed Geese were also seen on the 1st. A Cormorant heading inland on the 6th as I headed down Loons Road was a bit of a surprise. A Sparrowhawk was seen from Ancrum Road as I headed home after work.
Monday the 12th of February provided a Grey Wagtail at Dens Park, following on from my first sighting of 2024 of what I'm sure is Oystercatcher 'white 6A5' (though the ring is still unread) in company with an unringed bird at the Lochee Park football pitches where I found it last year in a similar time period. As of yet there is still no sign of the Norwegian ringed Black Headed Gull that was also frequenting a similar part of the pitches in 2023. The 13th of February saw Bullfinch and Buzzard make the list, with the former also noted on the Thursday and Friday of the same week. Siskin, Sparrowhawk and Treecreeper were also found on Friday the 16th.
Another Cormorant was seen on my way home on the 19th and the escaped Saker Falcon showed nicely over Balgay Cemetery as I headed home slightly earlier than usual on the 20th. Both Grey and Pied Wagtail were seen the same day, as were Sparrowhawk and Siskin once again. Siskins were still around on the 22nd and 23rd and Pied Wagtails were also noted on the 22nd. With increasing amounts of daylight at both ends of the day, the numbers of species making the list kept creeping upwards with the figures consistently above 20 all week (24, 27, 25 and 23). This trend continued into the following week with 22, 25, 27 and 27. Highlights included Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail and Pink Footed Goose on the Monday and the Tuesday, with Siskin, Redwing and Song Thrush also on Tuesday. Yet another Cormorant was seen on the 29th as were Redwing again and Treecreeper. A Peregrine was spotted on the 1st of March as was a Sparrowhawk. Stock Dove and Pink Footed Goose were also relatively noteworthy that day.
The first full week of March saw figures of around 30 species on all 4 days - 29 on Monday the 4th and Tuesday the 5th, 31 on Thursday the 7th and 30 on the 8th. Not bad going for so early in the year. Among the birds on the 4th were the first Lesser Black Backed Gull of my 'on foot commute' for 2024, as well as a Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail and the Law Kestrel (which passed over me heading back to the hill as I wandered along Byron Street early in the morning). Stock Dove, Treecreeper, Siskin, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Geese and Pied Wagtail kept things interesting on the 5th. The ringed Oystercatcher was back again at the football pitches on the 7th of March. A Jay, Stock Dove and Treecreeper were all added as I successfully tracked down a calling Nuthatch in Balgay Cemetery in the morning. Bullfinch, Siskin and Song Thrush were also among the 31 species that day.
The 8th of March found 3 or 4 Lesser Black Backed Gulls among the other gulls on the football pitches, both Grey and Pied Wagtails were noted as were Siskin, Song Thrush, Stock Dove and Treecreeper. The total number of species noted during the 2 month spell covered by this post was a reasonably decent 44, of which the Woodcock was the main species of note - and a new bird for my 'on foot commute' list, which now stands at 85, in just over 4 years. Repeated sightings of Cormorants were also noteworthy and may be linked to an increase in their number at Clatto Reservoir in recent months. With incoming migrants such as Chiffchaff, Osprey, Blackcap, Sand Martin not too far away now, the next few months should hopefully see even more variety, and hopefully better weather. Time, as always, will tell though...
All photos used to illustrate this post are from this year's sightings (though not from my walks to/from work).
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Song Thrush
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Common Gull
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Lesser Black Backed Gull & Herring Gull
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| Robin |
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| Kestrel |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Buzzard |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Peregrine |
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| Dunnock |
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Pied Wagtail
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Great Tit
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Stock Dove
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Blue Tit
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| Magpie |
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| Fieldfare |
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Grey Wagtail
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Long Tailed Tit
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| Nuthatch |
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Coal Tit
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| Goldfinch |
Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, [Saker Falcon], Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tawny Owl, Treecreeper, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Fox.
