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| Starling |
I was undecided on where to go for my mid-week birding on Wednesday May the 15th. Despite there not being any particularly great reason to head for Broughty Ferry and Balmossie, I couldn't particularly muster any enthusiasm to go to any of the alternatives, so a trip along the river to the east won out by default. Broughty Ferry is a bit quieter during the week, so there is marginally less disturbance on the beach though it can still be incredibly frustrating to walk for an hour and a half to see hundreds of birds roosting and feeding around 500 metres away, only for Fido to send them all skywards and off in all directions, leaving just a tiny fraction of their numbers, before I'm able to get quite close enough to be able to scan through the flocks properly. This happens with depressing regularity....
Despite this prospect, I was out the door by 0825. House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Herring Gull and Swift were first onto the day's list. My expectations for the day were rather low but I didn't want to waste the day sitting at home. Robin, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie and Song Thrush were all added on the walk to Swannie Ponds. At the ponds it was more or less normal service with Coot, Mute Swan, Mallard, a late lingering Goosander, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon and Lesser Black Backed Gulls all being noted, along with Herring Gulls and Feral Pigeons. I found a Dunnock as I wandered down Dalkeith Road on my way to Eastern Cemetery where Chaffinch, Wren, Rook and Goldcrest were found along with the day's first Rabbits. The first Oystercatcher of the day was heard as I crossed Greendykes Road, though I did manage to see more of the species later. Blackbird and Linnet were spotted near the Stannergate car park. The walk out along the river felt very quiet though I did manage to get a couple of Eider on the water and a group of 4 Shelduck were seen in flight. After much searching and scanning I found a flock of 13 Goosander out on the river.
When I reached Broughty Ferry, a Pied Wagtail was wandering around on the path at Beach Crescent. I spent a few minutes attempting to photograph Swallows and Swifts over Castle Green. A visit to the Castle itself saw Common Gull, Rock Pipit, Great Black Backed Gull and Black Headed Gull find their way onto the day's list. With things rather quiet from the Castle, I continued on eastwards towards Balmossie. A visit to the local nature reserve got me the day's first Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Bullfinch, Blue Tit and Stock Dove. A Small White butterfly flitted about near the footbridge over the railway line. I looked for Speckled Wood butterflies but drew a blank. Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Blackcap were in the trees and bushes as I photographed the Longhorn Moths on the vegetation at the eastern end of the small reserve. The Barnhill Rock Garden added a very active Orange Tip butterfly that refused to settle. A Green Veined White was slightly more obliging, but not by much. I accidentally flushed a moth from a flowerbed but the views were completely unsatisfactory.
A quick check at Balmossie proved to be a waste of time with only a quartet of Shelduck worthy of mention. Heading back I had another couple of encounters with flighty unidentified moths. A pair of Cormorants flew downriver. I photographed a female Orange Tip butterfly near the tennis courts before flushing yet another moth. Thankfully, this one landed where I could see it, and the photographs showed it to be a Silver Y - and Twitter posts seemed to confirm that there had been a sizeable influx of these and some butterflies down much of the east coast. The walk back home from there proved to be largely as fruitless as the walk down had been. A search for Holly Blues turned out to be pointless with hardly any insects of any sort seen let alone the butterflies I was hoping for. The only additions for the day's list before I made it home were a Greenfinch at the Stannergate and a few House Martins hawking for insects near Baxter Park. The haul for the day was a rather disappointing 45 species of bird with 3 species of butterfly, 1 of mammal and 2 of moths as the supporting cast. As my expectation levels for the day's outing had been rather minimal I wasn't as disappointed as I might have been with the day's total. I've had better days, but I've also had worse days, so...
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| Rabbit |
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House Sparrow
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| Eider |
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| Goosander |
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Starling |
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| Swallow |
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| Swallow |
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| Swift |
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Herring Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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Rock Pipit
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Rock Pipit
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Long Tailed Tit
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Longhorn Moth
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Longhorn Moth
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St Mark's Fly
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| Shelduck |
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| Cormorant |
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House Sparrow
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Green Veined White
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Silver Y
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Spider sp.
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Orange Tip
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Spider sp.
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Hoverfly sp.
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Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Small White.
Mammals - Rabbit.
Moth - Longhorn Moth, Silver Y.
