 |
| Buzzard |
There are a few species proving to be rather elusive around Dundee this year (at least, so far) including Jack Snipe - though Lainy did manage to catch up with one a few weeks ago, and Crossbill, which appear to have (hopefully temporarily) vanished from all of their usual haunts. Having visited both Riverside Nature Park and Broughty Ferry recently I decided I would have another go at catching up with both of these species. I would try for Jack Snipe at Trottick Ponds using the thermal imager, and then head up to Templeton Woods in search of Crossbills, with the possibility of also trying Camperdown Park if I was unsuccessful at Templeton Woods. Getting to Trottick Ponds before the majority of dog walkers are out and about is probably beneficial but unfortunately for me, my decision to head there was a late one, which meant I was unlikely to get there before around 1000.
I headed out a bit later than ideal at around 0930. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon and Blue Tit made for a fairly typical mix of species to get the day's list underway. Heading up Arklay Street added Magpie, Jackdaw and Woodpigeon. Graham Street produced a few more species with Blackbird and Starling near the top end, and Redwing, Curlew, Common Gull and Black Headed Gull at the football pitches. Walking down across the golf course produced Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Robin. Unsurprisingly there was no sign of Kingfisher at the ponds, though I did get Moorhen and Mallard there along with a singing Song Thrush and a Wren. A Grey Wagtail flew over as I crossed Claverhouse Road on leaving the park.
A female Sparrowhawk was seen a couple of times as I wandered along the old road by the burn towards Trottick Ponds. A Goosander then flew over as I passed the row of houses next to the entrance to the ponds. Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Siskin were noted in the trees at the small reserve and among the Black Headed Gulls on the partially frozen ponds was White 2XJH - a Swannie Ponds regular. Mallards and Moorhens plus a couple more Goosander made for a rather poor haul at the ponds themselves. Unfortunately things were even worse at the reedbed where I spent around 10 minutes trying to locate a heat source I could see with the thermal imager across the other side of the marshy area. There were a couple of Roe Deer around and they proved to be 'behind' the mystery heat source.....
Leaving Trottick Ponds, I headed up Harestane Road noting Goldfinch on the way. A Bullfinch and a flyover skein of Pink Footed Geese were seen as I neared the driveway into Clatto. Dunnock, Chaffinch and Greenfinch made it onto the list as I wandered along behind the houses where there are a few bird feeders hanging on the trees. The reservoir was still quite frozen with a decent number of mostly Black Headed and Common Gulls stood around on the ice. A Cormorant was on the wooden raft, a pair of Mute Swans and a Coot were on the water and there were a few Goldeneye, Goosander and Tufted Ducks about, in addition to the usual Mallards and Moorhens. A Grey Heron was perched in a tree on the northern island.
I had a look for Woodcock using the thermal imager in the small wood to the north of the ponds but not surprisingly drew a blank. Stepping just outside Dundee into Angus found around 25 Pink Footed Geese in a field down the bottom of the hill. A pair of Buzzards were seen distantly towards the Sidlaws as was what appeared to be a Raven but the views were inconclusive and brief so it didn't make it onto the list for the day. As I headed back down through the trees towards the reservoir again, I heard a Pheasant calling from the fields to my right just before another Buzzard glided over with a Carrion Crow giving it some grief. The walk past the farm proved to be very disappointing with only a few Woodpigeons in one of the fields, and a small group of Bullfinches in the corner of the same field just where I crossed the ditch to enter Templeton Woods.
The woods themselves proved to be just as disappointing with just a Jay, a couple of crows and a Buzzard seen around the sundial area. I found a couple of Roe Deer and a decent sized flock of Redwings (as well as another Jay) as I headed down through the lower half of the woods. I decided against crossing into Camperdown Park as it appeared it was going to be yet another rather futile sort of day. The walk home added just one more species for the day - a single Great Spotted Woodpecker which took my total for the day to 43 species on what was largely a rather frustrating day's birding, once again.
 |
Black Headed Gull (White 2XJH)
|
 |
| Goosander |
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Grey Heron
|
 |
| Moorhen |
 |
| Moorhen |
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Tufted Duck
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
Buzzard & Carrion Crow
|
 |
Carrion Crow
|
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
| Jay |
 |
| Jay |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
Roe Deer
|
 |
| Redwing |
 |
| Redwing |
 |
Roe Deer
|
 |
Coal Tit
|
 |
Redwing & Chaffinch
|
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Roe Deer.
