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Pied Wagtail
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Mark messaged me while I was at work on Thursday the 14th to let me know he had found 5 Puffins on the Tay between Tayport and Broughty Castle. Puffins are not a common species in the Tay, even moreso this late in the year. Auks, in general, have been exceedingly scarce in the river this year with hardly any Guillemots or Razorbills. There have been more than usual over the past few years, possibly as a result of Bird Flu and climate related issues in the North Sea, so the scarcity of these birds this year has seemed even more extreme. As I was working again on Friday, it would be the weekend before I would be able to try to catch up with the Puffins. The weather for Saturday was looking rather windy though mostly dry, which wasn't particularly ideal, but I would have to give it a go regardless.
With high tide in the early afternoon, there was no great rush to be down at Broughty Ferry early. It takes me roughly 75 minutes or so to walk from home to Broughty Castle (barring any distractions en route), so it wasn't any great problem that it was 1020 before I headed out. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were the first birds seen when I stepped outside. Carrion Crow, Blackbird and Starling were noted on my way to Baxter Park. Although there was no particular rush, I decided to take the most direct route. Black Headed Gull, Redwing, House Sparrow and Goldfinch were added as I cut through the park. Robin, Magpie and Woodpigeon were seen on the way along Bingham Terrace to Eastern Cemetery. I found Wren, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Oystercatcher, Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Grey Squirrel and Rabbit within the cemetery, more or less justifying the slight detour.
I reached the Stannergate just after 1100. Linnet, Chaffinch and Greenfinch made it onto the day's list before I scanned out over the beach and the river. Things were relatively quiet down on the shore though a couple of Grey Herons were visible in addition to small numbers of (mostly) Herring Gulls. A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew upriver. Long Tailed Tits were heard from the bushes over towards the railway line as I passed the small car park. Further on, the first of a few Red Breasted Mergansers were picked out flying low over the river. As I neared Douglas Terrace, a few Turnstones flew up from among the pebbles down on the beach. A Redshank was roosting on the outflow pipe and a Buzzard was being harassed by a large group of corvids as it drifted over the houses.
What was rather surprisingly the day's first Cormorant was spotted out on the river as I reached the lifeboat station, and a Great Black Backed Gull was a welcome addition from the other side of the building. A Pied Wagtail gave me close views at Beach Crescent. I had a quick look from the Castle grounds which did put Eider on the day's list but the rather exposed position made me relocate to the relative shelter of the grassy area just to the east of the castle. Nestled out of the wind (mostly), I was able to pick out more Eider, as well as a passing drake Goldeneye, a Grey Seal which was hanging around beside the marker pole where a Cormorant was resting and a Rock Pipit wandering around on the beach. I picked up a possible Puffin among the waves, rather distantly, but lost sight of the bird beforeI could firm up the ID and despite plenty of effort, failed to refind it.
Things were overall rather quiet and my chances of adding Puffin to my #Dundee150 list were looking slim. The tide was still on its way in however, and I figured that around high tide might still provide my best chance of getting the birds, assuming they were still in the Firth. A Red Throated Diver was seen, shortly before 1300. More Eiders were seen over towards Fife but it was looking likely that I would have to head back up into the castle. A very distant Little Egret was seen on the shore at Tayport. An unexpected rain shower passed through and I decided to see what the view was like from the observation deck at the top of the castle. Unfortunately, the quality of the glass made it difficult to pick out anything at all, though the relative warmth of being indoors was very welcome. After 20 minutes or so, I bit the bullet and headed back outside to scope the river from the former gun emplacement at the front of the castle.
The wind wasn't particularly helpful, though the strength of the gusts was still reasonably manageable and I scoped along the areas where the choppier water met the calm patches, as this appeared to be where the majority of birds were favouring. Eventually this bore fruit, with an auk being seen bobbing around, moving slowly upriver on the tide. It did appear to be a Puffin, and given the shortage of other auks recently, it was highly likely to be my target species, but watering eyes and a shaky monopod were not helping. I decided to try and get some record shots to help with the confirmation of the ID. I eventually got a handy point of reference on the Fife shore and used that to target the right area of the river. Thankfully, this did work out enough times to be able to put Puffin on the list for the day, and more importantly, the year, though there were also plenty of photos taken where only small bits of the bird could be seen, and others where only water showed.
The wind started to pick up almost immediately after that, and with my goal for the day achieved, I headed back down from the castle and headed in the direction of home. Common Gull was spotted at the lifeboat station, where one was roosting with Black Headed Gulls on the walkway guardrails. This proved to be my only addition on the walk back to the Stannergate, though there were a few photo opportunities and lots of passing Pink Feet. I was able to add Rook to the list in Eastern Cemetery and decided I might as well take a look at Swannie Ponds before I made it home. One of the surprising omissions for the day was Curlew and as I reached the top pond a couple of small flocks overflew from the direction of Caird Park, heading in the direction of the river. Mallard, Coot, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck and Goosander were expected additions and all were easily seen.
My final bird for the day was a Sparrowhawk in hunting mode which swept up and over a tenement roof on Court Street after passing low over the gardens in Strathmore Street. My final total for the day was 46 species of bird (including the 1 year-tick and #Dundee150 tick, in bold), and 3 of mammal. I was quite pleased to have managed to get Puffin (thanks to Mark for the heads-up) which gave the likelihood of reaching my target figure a little push in the right direction. My expectations for reaching 150 were still rather low, given that I had already seen most of the expected winter species and there really weren't many reliable species left, with almost all of the most likely being very hit and miss birds here in Dundee. Still, 2 new species in November were more than I had expected, and neither of those had been in the 'most likely' category, so....
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Pink Footed Goose
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Turnstone |
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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| Buzzard |
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Grey Heron, Turnstone & Redshank
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| Turnstone |
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Eider & Herring Gull
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Rock Pipit
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Pied Wagtail
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Cormorant & Grey Seal
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| Puffin |
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| Puffin |
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| Puffin |
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| Redshank |
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| Redshank |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Rook |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye,
Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Linnet, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie,
Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail,
Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Woodpigeon,
Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
