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| Linnet |
Although my plan was to try and get out birding every day while off on holiday, I'd had a bit of lazy non-birding day on Wednesday the 11th of September. However, I had another 'new toy' to try out - a new head for the monopod to make using my scope a bit easier. A bit of a drawback is the resultant cumulative extra weight of the scope, monopod and head combination has taken the weight of my birding kit back close to when I had the Nikon camera gear. This isn't ideal but the overall extra 'reach' the scope/monopod' combo gives me should result in fewer 'ones that got away' in future, at least until my body waves the white flag (again). For Thursday's birding I decided to head out to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie as I would be meeting Steph at Riverside Nature Park on Saturday morning, all going to plan. I could have a trial run there on Friday, or go elsewhere.
I headed out at around 0820. Herring Gull, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit and Carrion Crow got things underway. Feral Pigeon, Starling, Woodpigeon and the first overflying Meadow Pipit of the day were all added on Court Street. Magpie, House Sparrow and a solitary House Martin were noted on Dundonald Street. Wren, Greenfinch and Goldcrest were all found in Baxter Park with Long Tailed Tits in the trees on Bingham Terrace. At the Stannergate, I popped into the area I'd checked out the previous week. Things were much quieter this time round but I was still able to add Chaffinch, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Great Tit, Song Thrush and Coal Tit before my walk out along the river to Broughty Ferry.
A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed overhead, the first of many throughout the day, though none of the individual skeins were particularly large. A Grey Wagtail flew past near the Stannergate car park. Goosander, Curlew and Oystercatcher made for a rather quiet walk along to Douglas Terrace. A Cormorant was perched atop the yellow marker pole offshore. There were a few birds on the lifeboat jetty - Black Headed, Herring and Common Gull, as well as a few Sandwich Terns. On their usual perches below were a number of Turnstones and a couple of Redshanks. There were more Turnstones foraging among the shingle on the beach. A flock of Goosanders flew past behind the castle. I wandered up into the castle grounds but I decided that it made more sense to move round to the grassy area at the eastern side of the castle, out of the wind.
There were a few Pied Wagtails and Goldfinches around there as well as a few House Sparrows. I moved on again at 1045. A Grey Heron flew past, and a few Swallows were seen hawking low over the river as they headed westwards. A relatively large flock of Bar Tailed Godwits passed by going in the opposite direction just a minute later, heading towards Balmossie just as I was. I spent the next couple of hours at Balmossie, scanning through the gulls and assorted other birds by the burn outflow, on the shore and out over the river, as well as over Barry Buddon and Tentsmuir Point. There were a few Rooks and Jackdaws down on the beach with Starlings and House Sparrows. A lone Sparrowhawk circled briefly to the north. There were a few Grey Seals seen hauled out on a sandbank.
More Pink Footed Geese arrived overhead from the north. Wigeon, Mute Swan, Dunlin and Ringed Plover were all new for the list before I spotted a lone Little Egret a little to the west. A Linnet landed on the rock armour in front of me as I was photographing the Egret. A distant Buzzard was picked out circling over Barry Buddon. A pair of Stock Doves landed on the beach but appeared very wary, as this species often seems to be compared to the other pigeon/dove species we have here. Great Black Backed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls in low numbers were in amongst the more common gull species on the shore. A huge flock of a few thousand Eider out on the river were flushed by a fast moving RHIB, as the slightly smaller Scoter flock was earlier in the year. If only the sea duck flocks in the outer estuary were afforded the same level of 'respect' as the Dolphins are....(as they are meant to be, according to the WISE guidelines).
I had noticed the sky looking like we were going to get some rain so had set off towards shelter though the rain arrived before I made it to the general area of the 'hut' on the hill. I did however make it there within a few minutes of the rain starting. I was able to scan out over the river from there and found a single Shag, a single distant Gannet and a few passing Sand Martins before the rain stopped and the sky cleared enough that it looked safe to continue on with my walk. I detoured into the local nature reserve but found it to be very quiet, noting only a Grey Squirrel. Having left the nature reserve again, an unidentified caterpillar was photographed as it crossed the path when I was nearing the castle. The walk home from the castle failed to add anything new to the birds list but I did get a pair of butterfly species - Red Admiral at the end of Dundee Road, and a Peacock at the Stannergate. Overall though, the walk back home was very quiet. I did contemplate routing via Swannie Ponds to add a few more species but the extra weight I was carrying convinced me otherwise. I ended the day's birding having found a total of 56 species of bird, plus 2 of mammal and 2 of butterflies.
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Cormorant |
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| Turnstone |
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Sandwich Tern
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Turnstone & Redshank
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| Goosander |
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Pied Wagtail
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Grey Heron
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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| Rook |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Little Egret
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| Linnet |
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Little Egret
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Little Egret
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Sand Martin
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| Gannet |
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Great Black Backed Gull (& Ringed Plover)
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Caterpillar sp.
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull,
Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock,
Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed
Gull,
Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring
Gull, House Martin, House
Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet,
Little Egret, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook,
Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock
Dove, Swallow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon,
Wren.
Butterflies - Peacock, Red Admiral.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel.
