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| Kestrel |
Despite Autumn being the best time of year for surprises turning up, it can also sometimes feel like a bit of a hard slog. Dundee's lack of an obvious 'best' site for migrants doesn't help - though Riverside Nature Park would probably have the strongest claim, and despite September having been quite productive I was struggling to find the motivation to get out anywhere by Friday the 26th. Balmossie and Riverside Nature Park felt just a bit too far away, so after some deliberation I decided I would head up to the Law to see if there was any activity there. If I felt like going elsewhere I would already be part way there, though given how I was feeling, I didn't think that particularly likely.
I decided to take a rather meandering route to get to the hill. Yellow-browed Warblers had started to trickle into the country over the preceding days and I wanted to maximise my chances of finding one in Dundee, even if that was quite unlikely. Robin, Herring Gull, Dunnock, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Grey Wagtail, Starling, Goldfinch, Siskin, Chaffinch and Magpie were all noted on the way to Canning Street via Dens Road. A Chiffchaff was in the taller trees between Mortimer Street and Leng Street. I heard a Meadow Pipit call as I wandered up towards the hill, and saw a flock of Redpoll pass over. A Grey Squirrel by the allotments and Coal Tit, Blue Tit and House Sparrows were all noted before I headed up to the top of the hill.
A Goldcrest was heard in the trees. The first 2 birds seen flying past almost sneaked by silently, but one let out a thin 'tseeep' and I managed to grab a couple of photos that showed they were my first Redwings of this 'winter'. More Meadow Pipits and Redpoll were heard before 2 Swallows headed west. A Kestrel was seen circling up by Cox's Stack but was chased off by a crow. More Siskins and Meadow Pipits were heard. A skein of 35 Pink-footed Geese were seen heading over southwest. Another larger skein of around 50 followed in a more southerly direction a few minutes later. Another 53 went west a few minutes after those. A flock of 20+ Siskins headed over westwards just before 0800.
There were around 100 'baby' snails on the wall at the front of the hill and I tried to get some photos but was a bit overlensed, though I did eventually get a couple of photos that weren't too bad. Starling, Lesser Black-backed Gull, a heard-only Crossbill, a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker, more unseen Crossbills, Siskins, 2 Chaffinches, then skeins of 40 and 68 Pink-footed Geese then yet more Crossbills (again heard only) kept things relatively interesting over the course of the next hour or so, with Redpoll and Meadow Pipit noted before the clock ticked past 0900. Things slowed down considerably after that, as often happens at this time of the year. I did add a Red Admiral butterfly as well as a Sparrowhawk and Blackbird before calling it a day and heading homewards. Long-tailed Tit, Jackdaw, Song Thrush and Great Tit took the morning's total to 32 species in 3.5 hours.
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| Redwing |
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| Kestrel |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Snail |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Snail |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Siskin |
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| Siskin |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Magpie |
Birds - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Crossbill, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redpoll, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies - Red Admiral.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
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The following day the feeling of general malaise hadn't lifted and the weather forecast wasn't looking overly great. I considered trying a bit further afield for Yellow-browed Warbler having drawn a blank the previous day, but the motivation was severely lacking to even head outside, let alone walk 5 miles and then 5 miles back again. I contemplated catching up with editing photos or typing up more of my blog back-log but neither felt like something I really wanted to do, and I knew I would likely just sit and procrastinate for most of the day rather than do something productive with the time. Eventually I decided to go for a walk, with my camera and binoculars and just see what, if anything, I might find. I wouldn't stray too far from home, so that heading back home would always be an option.
It was 1140 by the time I headed out. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling, Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail and Woodpigeon were all noted on the walk up to Clepington Road. Having avoided Mains Terrace since seeing the clearing of some of the habitat by some locals at the beginning of the breeding season, I decided to see just how bad it had turned out. Thankfully, it appeared that what I'd seen in Spring was actually the bulk of what had been done. That isn't to say that more habitat destruction won't happen but if it does hopefully, it will be a very slow gradual process. A small wildlife pond would be a nice, worthwhile and most importantly wildlife-friendly addition (if any of the 'improvers' happen to be reading this!) and would go some way to off-setting what has been done to what was previously a quiet, fairly undisturbed area of habitat that the smaller birds seemed to like. If too much clearing of habitat happens then I suspect the area will look more appealing to developers and the new housing development opposite will spread across the road and the remaining habitat will disappear for good.
Jackdaw, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Robin and Wren were noted at Mains Terrace and a Chiffchaff was heard calling as I crossed Forfar Road near the crossroads. Swannie Ponds wasn't particularly productive though most of the usual suspects were around - Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull (including white 2XJH) and Lesser Black-backed Gull. There was no sign of any Tufted Ducks once again. I continued on to Eastern Cemetery where a few Grey Squirrels showed relatively well, along with Greenfinch, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit and Rook. I wandered down to the Stannergate for a look there.
House Sparrow, a Red Admiral butterfly, a few Rabbits, Song Thrush, Great Tit, Siskin, Redpoll, Goldfinch and Dunnock were added to the list as I checked out the area by the railway line. Checking the river and shoreline produced Oystercatcher, Curlew and Cormorants as well as a few gulls. Out low over the river were a few juvenile Gannets. At some point, I suspect one of these youngsters will venture upriver and we will be able to finally add the species to the Riverside Nature Park list (a Gannet has actually turned up at the airport once before, though it was apparently not in great condition). I decided to head along the Docks Way cycle path to check City Quay next.
A Buzzard was circling high over the dual carriageway near the beginning of the cycle path. Things were however rather quiet along most of the length of the cycle path which wasn't a surprise given the time of day. I did add Chaffinch and a skein of Pink-footed Geese, with a Grey Wagtail heard near the oil tanks beyond. A few Linnets were heard at City Quay but things were very quiet overall with only a Cormorant and Grey Heron within the actual quay area. I then checked the river which got me Guillemot and 3 unexpected Teal out on the river. I thought about checking The Howff but I decided to head home instead. I'd rather surprisingly managed to get a total of 43 species of birds (plus 1 of butterflies and 2 of mammals) on the wander, though nothing too out of the ordinary. Most importantly I'd got some fresh air and exercise, rather than wasting the day sat at the computer.
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| Mallard |
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| Moorhen |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Grey Squirrel & Magpie |
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| Wren |
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| Wren |
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| Robin |
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| Gannet |
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| Buzzard |
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| Rabbit |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Guillemot |
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| Teal |
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| Cormorant |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Red Admiral.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
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I was still struggling to muster some enthusiasm to get out birding by the time Sunday came around and I ended up staying in bed till around 0900. Once I did get up, I sat about trying to decide whether to waste the day (even if I planned to do something productive, I knew the way I was feeling meant actual results were likely to be largely elusive). I eventually settled on a return visit to the Law, although there was unlikely to be much happening due to it being already almost 1100 and the morning tends to be the most active part of the day there for bird activity (and the earlier the better). One possibility was raptors with fairly good soaring weather on the cards.
I headed out at 1055 for the walk to the hill. Blue Tit, Robin, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Feral Pigeons got things underway. A skein of Pink-footed Geese overflew from the north as I headed up past the football stadiums. Pied Wagtail, House Sparrows, Woodpigeon and Goldfinch were added around Dens Park. A Goldcrest was heard at Fraser Street with Chiffchaff and Wren seen on the walk up Law Road. Chaffinch, Blackbird and Dunnock were noted by the steps at the hill but things felt quite quiet. I reached the top of the hill at 1120 with low expectations. Unsurprisingly things were relatively slow with Meadow Pipit, Siskin and Redpoll being noted during the first 30 minutes.
Red Admiral and Small White butterfly were seen flitting around and a Starling passed by before the day's first raptor put in an appearance - a Sparrowhawk. The day's first Buzzard showed up a few minutes later at 1210. A Grey Heron flew past from the northwest and a pair of Swallows went south at 1230. A Sparrowhawk tussled with 2 Carrion Crows out to the northwest and another Buzzard was seen out to the northeast. More Pink-footed Geese were spotted very distantly out to the west. There was more Buzzard activity between 1240 and 1250. A Meadow Pipit was heard and a Chaffinch went over westwards. Next a Buzzard drifted east and another was seen out to the north. Long-tailed Tits were heard from somewhere down the western side of the hill. A Crossbill put in a brief appearance around 1320 towards the north side, and I heard what sounded like a small flock of these birds a few times over the next few hours but failed to see them.
Bullfinch was added around 1330 and a Kestrel showed up - I suspect it may not be the 'usual' bird, though there is no way to be completely sure. It spent some time perched at the top of the mast and with little in the way of wind, it didn't do any hovering but appeared to be hunting insects in flight instead, like a Hobby (though I'm not sure how much success it actually had). Skylarks were heard flying by somewhere high above but not seen. Buzzards provided the main interest over the next hour or so, with 4 out to the northeast and 4 overhead a little later. I had another Sparrowhawk sighting around 1440 and between 1500 and 1530 Buzzards again were the main interest before I finally called it a day and headed homewards.
The weather had been fairly calm and reasonably warm given that it was almost October and although the birds didn't throw up any real surprises it had actually been a relatively decent 4 hours or so at the top of the hill. Coal Tit, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Black-headed Gull were noted on the walk home taking my total for the day to 34 species of birds and 2 of butterflies. There was one further surprise to be had just after sunset when I looked out my bedroom window to see a (probable Pipistrelle) Bat flitting around - though by the time I retrieved my camera it had vanished.
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Buzzard |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Buzzard |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit,
Crossbill, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser
Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail,
Pink-footed Goose, Redpoll, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Red Admiral, Small White.
