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| Curlew |
Although it never seems to happen as often as I would like, getting out nice and early, even before the sun clears the horizon, is almost always worthwhile. Getting out before the dog walkers (or at least most of them....as there appears to be at least one, no matter what time of day OR night) is in itself a fairly major plus. For the last day of my half-week holiday, I decided to try to get to Broughty Ferry as early as I could. With it being a Sunday, I knew it was likely that I wouldn't actually get too long before there were people and dogs everywhere but there was a slight chance of perhaps a passing Wheatear, or some other migrant down on the beach, or flying over, or past the castle.
I was out the door for 0545. Herring Gull, Dunnock, Great Tit, Feral Pigeon, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Oystercatcher and Blue Tit made for a steady beginning to the day's proceedings. Starling, Jackdaw, Song Thrush, Greenfinch, Magpie, Chaffinch and Wren were added as I crossed Baxter Park before heading down to the Docks Way cycle path. Once again, I was hoping to run into either Grasshopper or Sedge Warbler by going that particular route. Instead I had to make do with Lesser Black Backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Buzzard, Jay and Willow Warbler, as well as a very young Rabbit, before I made it to the Stannergate.
Although I've had more productive walks out along the river, there were still birds to be seen with Linnet, Turnstone, Cormorant, Eider, an unexpected pair of Goosander, House Sparrows, Blackcap, a Common Sandpiper, Black Headed Gull, a trio of Grey Herons, a Grey Seal and a Rook all being noted before I reached the jetty to the east of the lifeboat station. A distant diver turned out to be a relatively unexpected Great Northern Diver, which was a welcome surprise, even without it being a new species for the year. I moved round to the grassy area to the east of the castle, from where a distant Osprey was picked out over the Fife side of the river. Rock Pipits were flying around, to and from the beach and castle walls. Out on the river, I was able to pick out a few distant Guillemots thanks to the scope. A few Swallows headed low upriver and across on the Fife side a small group of Shelducks chased each other around.
A Red Throated Diver was seen out on the water and a pair of Mute Swans could be seen over by Tayport. A Sparrowhawk flew over with something in its talons, pursued by a Pied Wagtail. A Curlew was added before I moved on as the beach got busier, in the direction of Balmossie. Goldcrest, Robin and Long Tailed Tit were seen at the local Nature Reserve. I reached Balmossie at around 0920 and found a bench overlooking the Dighty mouth from where I could scan through the birds there. Wigeon, Great Black Backed Gull, Common Gull, Redshank and 2 Bar Tailed Godwits were noted in addition to a few distant Sandwich Terns, a pair of much closer Shelduck, and another Osprey which did a spot of hovering around the burn mouth, moving on the bulk of the birds in the area, as a result.
This seemed as good a time as any to move on again, back westwards. I scanned a few times on the walk back along the waterfront. A pair of distant Red Breasted Mergansers were added by doing so. Another detour into the nature reserve got me a pair of Bullfinches but there was no sign of any Speckled Wood butterflies or of any other species. The walk back along the river failed to deliver much but a pair of Bar Tailed Godwits near the halfway steps were a bit of a surprise. An Orange Tip butterfly was seen by the railway line from the Docks Way. My final total for the day was 55 species of bird, 2 of mammals and 1 of butterflies. The early start had been worthwhile despite failing to add anything new once again. The Great Northern Diver was a definite highlight, despite being rather distant even if I couldn't turn it into a White Billed Diver.
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Great Northern Diver |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Guillemot |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk & Pied Wagtail |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Redshank |
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| Curlew |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Osprey |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Curlew |
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| Rook |
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| Common Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Turnstone |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Blackbird |
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| Goldfinch |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Northern Diver, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Orange Tip.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
