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| Grey Heron |
Normally on Christmas Day, I walk out to Broughty Ferry as a trial run for my 1st of January efforts the following week. However, having been to Broughty Ferry on both the 21st and the 24th, there was no real desire to revisit the area once again quite so soon. I wasn't feeling particularly like getting out at all but I really didn't want to stay at home on Christmas Day when I actually could be out birding. I decided I would head out to the northern edges of the city at the 'back' of Fintry in preparation for my early January birding. Grey Partridges were very much on the radar, having found 21 of the birds all in a single field just under a year ago. Other farmyard species such as Yellowhammer, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Tree Sparrows were also on the 'hoped for' list for the day.
On Christmas Day, and New Years Day I usually try to get out before sunrise to maximise my chances of a decent length of list for the day's efforts. However, my lack of motivation meant that it was 1000 before I headed out the door. It was a rather overcast day, though reasonably mild and with no rain forecast. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Starling, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, House Sparrow and Jackdaw got things underway as I headed up Arklay Street. Robin and Great Tit were noted on Clepington Road. The football pitches off Graham Street delivered Curlew, Woodpigeon, Common Gull and Black-headed Gull. There were also some Goldfinches in the trees along with a few Redwings and a small skein of Pink-footed Geese overflew.
A flock of Long-tailed Tits were in the trees along the edge of the former golf course as I crossed the Kingsway. Wren and Siskin were found on the walk down towards the Gelly Burn. There was no sign of either Dipper or Kingfisher on the burn, or at the ponds. Mallard, Moorhen and a Grey Heron which looked as fed-up as I was feeling were found there. A male Bullfinch showed briefly in the pond-side reeds before flying to the bushes opposite. I had close views of a Grey Squirrel but the light was awful for photos, though that didn't stop me trying. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over before I crossed the 9-hole golf course to head down towards Trottick Ponds. I knew there had been work planned on the bridge there but wasn't sure when it was due to be completed. Unfortunately, that particular entrance was still closed. As the detour round to the western entrance was unlikely to add much, I decided to cut up past the primary school to check the fields to the north before heading over to the Fintry side of the dual carriageway.
A Blackbird on a chimney, a distant Buzzard in a field and a calling Goldcrest were all I had to show for the Claverhouse area check. The area across the road had been very productive previously but building work there has decimated the available habitat now so my expectations were relatively low. I stopped to photograph a small flock of Siskins for a few minutes in one of the first trees. Further on there were a few Linnets flying around and a Grey Wagtail flew past as I continued on eastwards. A couple of Tree Sparrows in a patch of brambles were a slight surprise. A Song Thrush was heard but not seen. Scanning over the fields to the north and east failed to produce any Partridges though there were a few Pheasants and a small flock of Mistle Thrushes. There were a few Rooks down among the stubble.
A small group of Skylarks flew up from one of the fields as I wandered past the deserted pond. I decided against diverting into Middleton Woods which sounded very quiet. Things were still very quiet as I wandered up the hill towards the farm that sits just inside the Angus boundary. Thankfully the road to the north comes back within Dundee's boundaries. This was also very quiet though I did spot a couple of distant Roe Deer to the north. There was no sign of any Grey Partridges at any of the spots where I've had them in the past which was mildly frustrating. Hopefully, there will be some around on my next visit, sometime in early 2026. I did pick up a young Peregrine perched atop a pylon which flew off to the north after I watched it for a few minutes on my way past. There were some Goldfinches and Greenfinches in the trees by the cottages next to the farm buildings.
I decided to walk through the stubble field on the north side of Powrie Brae, rather than risk the sometimes fast moving traffic by walking downthe edge of the road on my way back downhill. This actually worked out in my favour with a mixed flock of finches and buntings in the trees, including Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Linnet. I eventually found a Meadow Pipit a bit further down towards the Black Watch memorial. Dunnock and Chaffinch were then added down near the house on the eastern side of the road. I decided against heading along to Trottick Ponds, instead deciding on another look for Kingfisher at Caird Park. A Jay flew into the trees at the bottom end of the park as I attempted to cross the suddenly rather busy road.
Unfortunately, the park appeared to be full of people roaring along footpaths and over the grassy areas on motorcross bikes of various sizes, rendering any attempts to see any birds at all rather pointless. I headed up to Mains Terrace which was also rather devoid of life and then had a quick look at Swannie Ponds. Tufted Duck, Coot, Goosander and Mute Swan were all new for the day but there was no real reason to linger. I cut through some of Baxter Park which provided a calling Treecreeper. My final addition for the day was a Pied Wagtail which flew across the road towards me as walked down past the Stobswell Bar. This took my total for the day to a nice round 50 species of birds as well as 2 of mammals. Overall however it once again felt like another slightly underwhelming outing.
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Siskin |
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| Siskin |
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| Siskin |
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| Siskin |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Tree Sparrow |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Greenfinch & Goldfinch |
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| Reed Bunting & Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Linnet |
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| Yellowhammer & Linnet |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Common Gull |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Roe Deer.
