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| Sparrowhawk |
I wasn't sure where to go on the 4th of October. Having been to Riverside Nature Park and Balmossie over the course of the previous couple of days, I didn't see much point in visiting either so soon after having done so. I decided I would head up to the top of the Law first, to see if anything was passing by. Although there had been a decent amount of movement seen from Riverside Nature Park the day before that didn't guarantee that things would be even remotely similar, in a different location, 24 hours later. Once the movement at the top of the Law dried up I would move on elsewhere.
I headed out at 0735 for the walk to the Law. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Robin, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Black Headed Gull and Grey Wagtail made for a decent enough start. Starling and Woodpigeon were next as I headed up past the football stadiums. Magpie on Sandeman Street and a Goldcrest calling from the trees on Moncur Crescent were added to the list. The walk up to the top of the hill from there got me Dunnock, Blue Tit, Wren, Blackbird, Great Tit, Sparrowhawk, Goldfinch, Collared Dove and Chaffinch. Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit were noted as I headed up the steps to the top of the Law.
Around 50 Pink Footed Goose were seen heading north east, rather distantly. Another Sparrowhawk was seen out to the south and 4 Chaffinches headed west at 0808. There was a bit of a lull until 0822 when a Kestrel flew past towards the northeast. A pair of Starlings were noted before I called it a day due to a blaring car stereo which made picking out distant calls more tricky than it should have been - though there weren't all that many anyway. I decided to head for City Quay instead. A Song Thrush was seen on the walk down. At the quay a Grey Heron was stood atop onr of the water park ramps. I added Cormorants out at Submarine Rock as well as an Oystercatcher. More Pink Footed Geese flew past and a Curlew was seen out among the seaweed on the rocks close to the Oystercatcher. I spent a bit of time near the lock gate. A Kingfisher was heard calling and eventually seen just a little to the south of the lock gates.
After a while I decided to head along the river to the railbridge before heading up to Balgay Hill to see if I could find anything interesting there. The walk along the river from City Quay got me Common Gull for the day. Good views of Curlew and Grey Heron were had near the roadbridge. A Pied Wagtail was seen perched on the apex of a roof. Continuing on out along past the V&A towards the railbridge I spotted a Rock Pipit flying past, a Rook flew over and a Cormorant was seen in flight over the river before a Grey Wagtail was seen near a sewage outflow pipe towards the railbridge.
A flock of Long Tailed Tits were in the trees at Magdalen Green and as I stopped to talk to an ex-neighbour of mine on Seymour Street a small flock of geese overflew, which turned out to be Greylag Geese rather than the expected Pink Footed Geese. A Kestrel being harassed by a Carrion Crow was also an uexpected addition as we chatted. A Sparrowhawk was seen circling over Balgay Hill as I reached the western end of Victoria Park. At the hill a Buzzard was heard calling loudly from the trees and a Jay appeared to be trying to find a hiding place for an acorn or two. As I wandered around at the hill I found a Grey Squirrel and added Jackdaw to the day's sightings while Great Spotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper were both 'heard only' birds.
Although it was unlikely that I would add anything at the top of the Law, I decided to return there as I would be passing anyway. From the picnic tables on the western side I spotted a Kestrel hovering and hurried up the final set of steps as fast as I could (which wasn't particularly fast given I was rather tired by this point). Thankfully, the Kestrel was still hunting over the long grass at the front of the hill. A young female Sparrowhawk took exception to it and there was a bit of a tussle which allowed me to get some decent photos. A Buzzard put in a brief appearance before I headed for home, having managed a total of 41 species over the course of a 10 mile walk. Given that I hadn't really had much of a plan when I left the house, it had worked out relatively well, albeit without adding anything new to my Dundee150 list.
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| Kestrel |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Magpie |
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Grey Heron
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| Oystercatcher |
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Herring Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Cormorant |
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Grey Heron
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| Curlew |
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Grey Heron
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| Starling |
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Grey Wagtail
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| Rook |
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Pied Wagtail
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Greylag Goose
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Kestrel & Carrion Crow
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Grey Squirrel
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| Woodpigeon |
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Kestrel & Sparrowhawk
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Kestrel & Sparrowhawk
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Buzzard |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
