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| Pied Wagtail |
The weather and my mood weren't the best at the weekend, meaning I didn't go anywhere. Sunday was supposed to be the better of the 2 days, but turned out to be the opposite, so although I was going to try to get out somewhere the weather put paid to that. Although the weather for my day off on Wednesday wasn't to be much better, I decided I really needed to make the effort to try to get out birding somewhere. A decent day's birding would hopefully lift my mood out of the rut I'm currently in. With winds from the east, I figured that Balmossie might give me the chance of a few more species for my currently rather stagnant #2025Dundee150 list. At the very least, Sanderling and Grey Plover, along with Little Egret were possibilities. High tide was around 1500, so I reckoned I needed to be at Balmossie for around noon at the latest.
I headed out just before 0910. Robin, Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow and House Sparrow were all noted in the first two minutes and a quartet of Redwings called as they overflew northwards. Starling and Wren were around at the Dura Street car park area. Magpie and Jackdaw were next along with Woodpigeon, all before I reached Baxter Park. A number of Black Headed Gulls were visible on the grass towards the southern end of the park. Chaffinch, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Blue Tit were all found within the park. Goldcrest was heard from one of the large gardens on Bingham Terrace. Eastern Cemetery provided Coal Tit, Goldfinch and a few Rabbits for the list but overall it was very quiet. The walk down to the Stannergate was rather uneventful. I picked out 2 Curlews beyond the wind turbine blades at the harbour area, as I scanned from the bridge over the railway line. A few Greenfinches overflew as I made my way down to the river.
There seemed to be a bit more activity out on the river than there has been lately when I've been down that way. Cormorant, a few Red Breasted Mergansers, Common Gull, Eider and a Red Throated Diver were all found as I wandered along the path in the direction of Broughty Ferry. I had a bit of a blether to someone whose name unfortunately escapes me (possibly a Dundee Nats member?). Down on the shore we saw Oystercatchers, Curlew, Redshank and a small flock of Turnstones. What appeared to be the wing of a goose was on the beach to the east of the lifeboat station. A Pied Wagtail showed quite nicely a little further on. I scanned out over the river but failed to find anything new. I then scanned from beside the castle adding another Red Throated Diver sighting before continuing along towards Balmossie. The walk out proved to be disappointingly quiet though I did still manage to add Great Black Backed Gull, Wigeon, Dunlin and Ringed Plover.
When I reached Balmossie, I scanned out over the relatively sparse selection of birds around the Dighty Burn mouth, picking out a distant Shag and a few Goldeneye. I spent a while checking and rechecking the far lower than normal numbers of birds there but failed to find anything of note. On the walk back towards the castle, I photographed another Red Throated Diver out on the water as well as one heading upriver and another downriver, as well as a Shag fishing not too far offshore. Further over towards Fife there were hundreds of Eiders but the easterly wind made for a rather choppy river with waves that were easily able to hide an Eider, diver or auk. Back at the castle, I photographed a Rock Pipit down on the sand and up in the castle grounds a Pied Wagtail chose to bathe in a small puddle at the gun emplacement as I sat perched on the edge scanning out over the river. A couple of Linnets flew over.
Despite plenty of effort and a rising tide there appeared to be nothing of note out on the river, or closer in to shore which was very disappointing. The wind had an icy chill to it and I eventually had to call it a day and head in the direction of home. The walk back along the river saw Long Tailed Tits and Dunnock added. Detouring up through Eastern Cemetery got me Stock Dove for the day's list and a visit to Swannie Ponds took the total for the day to something resembling 'almost respectable' with Mallard, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot and Goosander all found there. Part of the Greenfinch roost flock circled round a few times. Distant flocks of what were likely Pink Footed Geese were seen towards the river but I couldn't get the camera to focus on them to confirm that they were even geese.
I headed home having eventually managed to reach a total of 47 species. Overall, the list for the day reads like a list of almost all of the common birds that anyone could expect to see along the route I'd taken, at this time of year. The Red Throated Divers were the closest thing to 'less than common' though they are not a difficult bird to see on the Tay in winter. The combination of having found nothing at all out of the ordinary, the relative dearth of birds at Balmossie and knowing I'd carried the extra weight of my scope and monopod on what was a fairly bitterly cold day all the way there and back made for a fairly dispiriting day's birding, in what feels like an extended run of days with a very similar feel. A change of fortune, and for the better, can't come quickly enough...
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| Redwing |
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| Cormorant |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Curlew |
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| Cormorant |
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| Common Gull |
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| Redshank |
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| Curlew |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Wigeon |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Turnstone |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Cormorant |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Rabbit.
