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| Tree Sparrow |
I had seen online that SaltDog Marine were doing a series of end of season 4 hour 'pelagic' trips out from Broughty Ferry and round some of the Fife coast and back. The Friday trip seemed to offer the best timing for me, and would also be a way to round off my Autumn migration holidays in a bit of style. However, I wasn't totally sure of the logistics of taking a camera (and camera bag) on a RHIB. I decided to head down to Broughty Ferry to do a bit of research (by asking the boat skipper himself) and see what else I could find there bird-wise. My expectations were relatively low, but there were quite a few birds that seemed likeliest to turn up around there and around this time of year, that I still required for my #2025Dundee150.
I headed out just after 0720 for the walk to Broughty Ferry. Robin, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Magpie, Wren, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon and Great Tit were all noted between home and Baxter Park. Coal Tit, Goldcrest and Carrion Crow were found as I headed along towards Craigie Avenue where House Sparrow and Starling were both added to the day's list. I reached the Stannergate at around 0800 and soon managed to find a few more species down by the river - Black-headed Gull, Turnstone, Linnet, Curlew, Cormorant and Common Gull, as I set off along the esplanade. the day's first Grey Heron, Oystercatcher and Rock Pipit were all spotted as I made my way along towards Douglas Terrace. I spotted a pair of Mallards way across towards Tayport just before a Stock Dove dropped in to pick something off the beach.
I spotted the SaltDog RHIB heading across from Tayport towards Broughty Castle and made it to the harbour at roughly the same time. As it turned out the other person aboard was Jacqui Herrington, a bird photographer/birder from Fife I used to sometimes go birding with back in the pre-covid days. We had a bit of a chat while other passengers were arriving. Although I did get a brief chance to chat with Ian (the SaltDog owner), he got sidetracked by other passengers arriving before I got a chance to ask about the logistical side of taking my camera & bag etc on a 4 hour boat ride. I was still undecided about booking Friday's trip but asked Jacqui to let me know what they saw on their trip, in order to help me make up my mind, and she said she would.
Dunnock, Pied Wagtail and some overflying Skylarks made their way onto the list before I wandered round to the castle - on the rocky islet were a couple of Cormorants, a Grey Heron and 2 Carrion Crows as well as a Great Black-backed Gull. Although the castle was closed I was able to add a few more species from round by the eastern side - Eider, a skein of Pink-footed Geese and a Red-throated Diver, then a flock of Bar-tailed Godwits, a small flock of Tree Sparrows, some Goldfinches and a couple of Greenfinches, plus a Grey Seal out in the river. Before moving on, a small flock of Redpoll overflew and as I photographed a Pied Wagtail perched in a tree, a Chiffchaff showed quite well in the same tree. With the scope I was able to get a Little Egret across the Fife side of the river. A flock of Long-tailed Tits were heard before I finally headed off along towards the nature reserve. A small group of Crossbills passed overhead before I made my way into the small reserve.
A Swallow - possibly my last of the year, swept low over the tree-tops heading west. Things were surprisingly quiet there and my only other new birds for the day there were Chaffinch and a Song Thrush. At the burn outflow along at Balmossie, I was able to pick out Redshank, Wigeon, Mute Swan, a couple of Knot, a very distant Shag, a few Red-breasted Mergansers, a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Goosander and Rook. More scanning found a yellow ringed Great Black-backed Gull (X-135). A single Dunlin was seen wandering around among the Redshanks before I set off back along towards the castle. A distant pair of Red-throated Divers headed upriver. I failed to add anything new on the walk backto the castle and I had a brief chat with Jacqui again when the RHIB came back in (their main highlight was a couple of Minke Whales), before heading homewards.
I detoured up to Swannie Ponds on the way home where I was able to add Tufted Duck and Coot. I then bumped into a couple (one half of which I know via work) who I usually run into at Broughty Ferry and we had a fairly lengthy but enjoyable chat about birds and migration. While we were chatting I spotted a high flying Buzzard then an even higher Sparrowhawk, which took my total for the day to a nice round 60 species. This was a relatively good total even without managing to add anything new for my #2025Dundee150 list, which is beginning to look like it might be trickier than usual to reach this year. Time will tell, but I feel like I'm needing a bit of good fortune, and soon....
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| Curlew |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Dunnock |
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| Starling |
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| Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron |
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| Eider |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Cormorant |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Robin |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Linnet |
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| Knot |
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| Great Black-backed Gull (X-135) |
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| Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Grey Heron |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed
Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow
Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail,
Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Redpoll, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal.
