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| Curlew |
Having finally managed to catch up with one of the recent waders at Riverside Nature Park on Saturday, I wanted to get out to Broughty Ferry on Sunday (the 3rd of August). With lots of recent activity in the river (dolphins, gulls, terns etc as a result of shoals of young fish) there was a possibility of skuas being drawn in to what should be a 'target-rich environment' for these pirates of the air, and even a slight chance of a Puffin as auks are often apparent in the Tay around this time of year. With high tide around 0930, sleeping in hadn't been a particularly great idea, though getting to Broughty Castle shortly after high tide would hopefully still allow me to get some birds around the Castle before wandering out to Balmossie to see the waders and gulls increase in number by the burn outflow as the tide receded again.
I headed out at around 0840. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Swift, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, House Martin, Blue Tit and Starling got things underway as I headed towards Albert Street. Robin, Wren, Goldfinch and Magpie were noted as I crossed Baxter Park, with Carrion Crow and Greenfinch being found on Craigie Avenue a bit later. Long Tailed Tits were in the trees by the railway line and the day's first Oystercatchers noisily flew over as I neared the Tay. Down by the river, Black-headed Gull, Curlew and some summer plumaged Turnstones were all seen along with plenty of Sandwich Terns fishing out over the river. The walk out to Broughty Ferry turned out to be rather quiet though I did get Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Common Tern perched atop a buoy and a Cormorant struggling with an Eel it had caught.
At the lifeboat station, there were a few birds roosting on the gantry - Common Gulls, Redshanks and a Grey Heron all being new for the day. A pair of Pied Wagtails were feeding among the cobbles on the next jetty along and a Grey Seal was fishing quite close in at the end of it. Round by the eastern side of the castle (closed until 1230 on a Sunday - which makes little sense on what can be a very busy day at the waterfront in summer), I set up my scope and tripod and started scanning. Although things weren't overly busy I was still able to pick out the day's first Kittiwake and Gannet. I had brief glimpses of a few Bottlenose Dolphins as they headed back out past Lucky Scalp. A few Swallows and Sand Martins passed by, heading upriver low over the water. I picked up a few distant Mallards off Tayport as they flew up from the burn on the Fife side.
An Osprey was seen distantly but not photographed and likewise an even more distant Buzzard circling up above Tentsmuir Forest. Around 1110 I spotted a dark bird heading upriver from the east. I'd already had a couple of potential skuas seen from the front at a distance that turned out to be juvenile gulls but this one proved to be the 'real deal'. Knowing the rather frustrating limitations of my current camera gear when shooting distant birds against the water, I took a lot of photos to help get an ID, as some skuas can be a bit of an ID nightmare, but it appeared to be an Arctic Skua and the photos don't appear to contradict this. A new bird for my #2025Dundee150 list which felt like justification for my decision to head to Broughty Ferry. A few minutes later a small flock of Crossbills overflew, heading west - which tend to feel a bit 'out of context' at 'the seaside' but in reality are just another migrant species following the river westwards.
With the beach beginning to get rather busy with people, I decided to head out to Balmossie to see what I could find there. Blackbird, Grey Wagtail and Linnet were noted en route and I could see the Mute Swans off the Dighty outflow from quite a distance away. Out on the river I was able to pick out Goosander, Eider and an unexpected lone Greylag Goose. At Balmossie, over the course of the next 3 hours I only managed to add Shag, Bar-tailed Godwit, Great Black Backed Gull, Jackdaw and Rook to the species already on the list, despite lots of scanning through the birds on the beach. I did eventually get distracted by a pod of dolphins off Tentsmuir Point which seemed to be having a great time, with sometimes 3 or 4 breaching at once. Despite it being the run-up towards low tide, a small group were seen heading east off Lucky Scalp. Walking back along towards the castle again, I detoured into the nature reserve where an alarm calling Blackcap and a vocal young Chiffchaff were both found as was a Collared Dove. Comma, Large White, Green-veined White and Red Admiral butterflies were also spotted.
As I reached the dolphin sculpture just to the east of the castle, I could see lots of people stood right at the edge of the beach, down by the water. As it was now just 10 minutes before low tide, I was extremely surprised when a couple of Bottlenose Dolphins surfaced not far offshore (much closer to the sand than either the yellow marker pole, or the small orange buoy just east of the castle). I headed down for a closer look, and to get some photos (but not before putting out word on social media, of the very unusual low tide activity by the dolphins). I hung around for a while before eventually calling it a day and heading homewards. I added a couple of calling Sparrowhawks at Stathern Road while waiting for a bus, and another was seen overhead when I got off the bus at Blackscroft. I finished the day with a total of 52 species of birds (including a new bird for my #2025Dundee150 list - in bold), 4 of butterflies and 2 of mammals. The close-in views of at least 3 dolphins were also a highlight.
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Curlew |
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| Common Tern |
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| Turnstone |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Redshank & Turnstone |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Common Tern |
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| Gannet |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Mute Swan, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull & Goosander |
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| Osprey |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
Birds - Arctic Skua, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Comma, Green-veined White, Large White, Red Admiral.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Grey Seal.
