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| Grey Plover |
While far from being a big Waxwing irruption year, there already appears to be more of these Scandinavian stunners around this year than across the whole of last winter. A few small flocks had been seen in Aberdeenshire and Moray as well as a bit further north on the islands. A report of a single bird the previous Sunday within Dundee showed that there might be birds already this far south - though oddly there have been no reports from either Montrose or Arbroath which usually have decent sized flocks at a few regular spots before birds get anywhere near Dundee. For something to do on Saturday the 8th of November, I decided to take a chance on trying to find some Waxwings for myself. My plan was to check a few previously regular spots for the birds, before heading for a quick look at Balmossie and Broughty Ferry on my way back home.
I was far from optimistic that I might actually succeed in finding a Waxwing. With none so far reported along the Angus or Fife coasts (as far as I was aware), chances were that I would draw a blank. With Waxwings the main target species for the day I decided not to take the scope and tripod with me. I headed out at 0940. Blue Tit, Robin, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Magpie and Carrion Crow made for a relatively busy, if unspectacular, start to the day's list. Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Starling and Redwing were added as I headed for Swannie Ponds. Black-headed Gull, Mallard, Coot, Goosander, Tufted Duck and Mute Swan were found there and a skein of Pink-footed Geese overflew. A Blackbird was also on the grass by the lower pond. I crossed the Kingsway to check the row of trees in front of the houses at Mid-Craigie but found a grand total of zero birds of any sort in them, along the entire length of the street.
I continued on down the Kingsway finding an unexpected Lesser Black-backed Gull perched atop the new-build houses on the western side of the road. With Waxwings often being found along Craigie Drive in years gone by (not so much latterly though) I was headed for there next, just in case. Oystercatcher was heard as I routed down Brington Place. Goldcrest, Goldfinch and Dunnock were next onto the list as I reached Craigie Drive. Birds were in very short supply along the length of the street too with just a Coal Tit and a Great Tit heard. Further on, Chaffinch and Collared Dove were noted on Strathern Road. Ballinard Road took me to my third and final potential Waxwing site - Balgillo Road. I did manage to find Long-tailed Tits and a male Bullfinch there but things were very quiet as I continued on eastwards.
I contemplated detouring down to Sheill Street and the Broughty Ferry local nature reserve but instead decided to continue on along to North Balmossie Street and from there down to the mouth of the Dighty Burn. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker just before I reached Elcho Drive but couldn't see the bird. Having crossed the road, I was very surprised to hear, loud and clear, a Waxwing calling - though just once. I glanced around but couldn't see where the loud call had come from. I headed for a couple of trees in a front garden but there was no sign of any birds there. I walked down to the tennis courts but again there was no sign of any obvious birds. I continued down the road to check the trees by the Dighty Burn, by the small heronry site. I set off along behind the houses but changed my mind and turned around to head back towards the road. The Waxwing call was then heard again - this time from up in the air, and I managed to see the distinctive shape of the Waxwing as it flew past in the direction of Wyvis Road. Unfortunately, my camera was still in my backpack at this point in time.
The camera was removed from the bag. A few Curlews overflew as I tried again to relocate the Waxwing. A Dipper was seen down on the burn, a Sparrowhawk flew over, a Meadow Pipit was heard overflying and a large flock of Mistle Thrushes were seen high in the sky. A few Fieldares were spotted shortly after. There were numerous groups of Starlings around, which were rather distracting, given their similarity of shape to Waxwings. Rooks and Jackdaws were in trees to the north of the burn and I was able to add a calling Kingfisher to the list as I doubled back on myself again up towards Elcho Drive. A Grey Wagtail was also heard down on the burn. There was still no obvious sign of any Waxwings though. Having seen one, there was no real reason to hang around - except to maybe get a photo or two, so I decided to head down to Balmossie as I had originally intended doing. I had messaged Lainy who was out looking for Waxwings in the western half of the city, to let her know I had actually found one, but I had missed her reply. Just as I crossed Elie Avenue, Lainy and Adam arrived at the same junction. I had a chat to them for a few minutes telling them where I'd seen the bird and where I'd looked for it. Having the car, they stood a better chance of refinding the bird, and so it proved.
I had continued down towards Balmossie - stopping to photograph a Grey Squirrel (and seen a second one that briefly showed there as well). Having just crossed Dalhousie Road, Lainy phoned to tell me they'd managed to find a small flock of 5 Waxwings feeding in a tree but they had flown off having been startled by a revving car. I said I was going to continue down to check the beach and the river as planned. They were going to try to refind the Waxwings. Again, they were successful - though once again the birds flew off. It had started to rain as I reached Balmossie and this made scanning through the birds on the beach a bit trickier than was ideal. I did note Redshank, Wigeon, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Grey Heron, Eider, Little Egret, Bar-tailed Godwit and Pied Wagtail though. I could hear a loud call from the shore that I didn't immediately recognise. I soon tracked down the culprit, and was very pleased to have done so. It was a Grey Plover - my first of 2025, and following on from the Waxwing which was number 147, took my total for Dundee to 148.
Out on the river I managed to pick out a distant Shag and a Red-breasted Merganser or two. With the now continuous rain proving to be a nuisance I decided to head back up to where Lainy and Adam had found the Waxwing group instead of heading homewards along the river. Needless to say, I failed to see the birds though Siskins along Balgillo Road and a Treecreeper in Dawson Park (along with a few Bullfinches) were added to the day's list as I continued on in the direction of home. I had planned on heading back up the Kingsway but instead decided to try Eastern Cemetery. I found a Greenfinch there but little else, bar a few Mistle Thrushes and Redwings. A quick check of Swannie Ponds got me a Moorhen, which took the total for the day to 59 species of birds (including 2 new for my #2025Dundee150 list - in bold) and 1 of mammals. Also at the ponds was a Grey Heron and a Common Gull. Given the very low numbers of Waxwings around in Scotland so far this winter, I was rather surprised to have been successful in my efforts to find one (and Lainy and Adam finding 5 of the birds in the same area, and managing to get a few photos, were the icing on the proverbial cake). Although I ended up having walked 14 miles in total it had been worth it.
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| Starling |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Starling |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Dipper |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Wigeon & Grey Heron |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Redshank |
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| Little Egret |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit & Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Common Gull & Black-headed Gull |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Moorhen |
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| Goosander |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose,
Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shag, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Waxwing,
Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
