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| Mistle Thrush |
I wanted to get out birding on Wednesday 12th of November but once again wasn't feeling particularly in the mood to do so. I don't like to waste a day off work and I didn't have the motivation or energy to go to either Riverside Nature Park or Balmossie/Broughty Ferry. It didn't help that there was some rain forecast, though mostly brief showers. Adding anything new to my #2025Dundee150 list seemed unlikely, given that I have more or less run out of 'strong possibilities' and am more or less in the 'unreliable visitors' section of what else I might be able to find now. By the time I had argued with myself repeatedly before finally getting organised it was already around 1015.
I headed out to find the usual winter trio of Robin, Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon almost immediately. Carrion Crow, Magpie and a flyover Grey Wagtail were found on the walk up Court Street. I didn't really have an actual plan for where I was going but detoured in for a look at Mains Terrace. Things were rather quiet there with only Jackdaws, Goldfinch and a Song Thrush added. Swannie Ponds gave me most of the usual suspects - Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Moorhen and Grey Heron. Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit and Coal Tits were working their way through the trees by the top pond. I decided to have a look at Spring Grove in Baxter Park next. An overflying Cormorant heading west, was a bit of a surprise as I entered the gates to the park. Wren and Chaffinch were the only new birds there, though 2 brief but heavy showers did make me contemplate heading back home. The updated weather forecast did suggest that the rest of the daylight hours were likely to remain mostly dry, so I resisted the urge to go and sit at home procrastinating instead of catching up with blog-posts/photo-editing and headed in the direction of Eastern Cemetery to see if there were any 'winter thrushes' there. A Grey Squirrel was seen as I exited the park. Greenfinch was heard as I wandered along Bingham Terrace.
I had a slow wander round the cemetery. There were a few birds around though nothing like the numbers that sometimes spend time there at this time of year. Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush and Redwing were all seen as well as a couple of Oystercatchers in flight. I took a few photos of some of the Mistle Thrushes and later at home was very surprised to spot another bird that hadn't been noticed when I was focused on the Mistle Thrushes. At the edge of a few photos, perched out in the open atop a tree was a single Waxwing. Thankfully, having seen the species the previous weekend I wasn't too bothered by not having noticing it at the time, though if I had, I would have tried for a few closer photos, and probably not have continued on elsewhere. Knowing how scarce Waxwings have been this winter so far, I put word out on the local WhatsApp grapevine in case others wanted to try to refind it. From the cemetery, I decided to head for the Stannergate, noting Dunnock and Starling on the way. The usual House Sparrows were in the bushes behind Alpha Projects and there were a few Rabbits on the grass by the sewage tank. A Pied Wagtail flew acrosss the road but I failed to see anything I hadn't already seen that morning, either along the shore or out on the river, except for a distant Grey Seal.
After 20 minutes or so in the general area I gave up and chose to walk along the Docks Way cyclepath for a look around at City Quay. Nothing new was heard or seen on the 20 minute wander along to the quay area and only a couple of Cormorants appeared to be in the outer section. As I walked past the clock tower flats I spotted a large-ish bird on the water over towards the Unicorn. Surprisingly, it was a goose. The glare on the water made it tricky to see what species it actually was so I headed for the bridge so as to have the light behind me for a better look. As I crossed the bridge I noticed the bird had apparently vanished - though it certainly hadn't flown off. When I got round to the stern of the Unicorn, a bit of movement below the semi-collapsed wooden jetty caught my eye. It was the 'missing' bird, a Pink-footed Goose, seemingly hiding below the structure. I took a couple of photos and moved on quickly to allow it to get back to what it had been doing before it had spotted me.
While checking the outer quay area, a Rock Pipit flew across towards the Sea Cadets buildings. A Kingfisher flew in and landed in an overhanging Buddleia, but flew off again quite quickly towards the Unicorn. There were 3 or 4 Cormorants (including at least 1 Sinensis race bird) in the water but I couldn't see any sign of Little Grebe, which often spends some of the winter there. I had a look out over the river noting a very distant Red-throated Diver. I picked up a bird in flight, head-on to me beyond the oil rig. I thought it was an Egret but I lost sight of it when it flew behind the rig's towers. Looking at the few photos on the camera it appeared to be 'just' a gull, though there was little to go on, given the distance and angle. A few minutes later I happened to look back over the quay and spotted what was definitely a Little Egret catching the sunlight against a backdrop of dark grey clouds. I took a few more photos as the bird flew over the city centre on its way westwards (to Invergowrie Bay?) before wandering back along towards the footbridge. A Grey Wagtail called as it flew over. I spotted the Kingfisher perched on the mooring ropes of the North Carr lightship and ventured closer. From across the quay I heard a second Kingfisher call but couldn't see where the call had come from. Despite staying away from the fenceline and then using Buddleia bushes as a screen, the original Kingfisher flew off before I got anywhere near it.
I decided to head homewards via a quick look at the bookshops in town. As I reached the rear of the Lightship, I stumbled upon where the Kingfisher had relocated to. It flew from the end of the wooden walkway used by the water park and out across the quay. I failed to add anything else to the day's list on the walk home, (nor did I buy any books), and was slightly surprised to find I had managed to accumulate a total of 38 species (39 if the Waxwing is counted) during the day's relatively quiet wanders. The birds seen at City Quay were probably the main highlights (though I wonder how much the Eden Project plans for there will impact on the birds when it finally comes to fruition). The Waxwing would likely have been the main highlight otherwise had I actually seen it at the time, though if I had I probably wouldn't have ended up seeing the Kingfisher, Little Egret, Pink-footed Goose on the water or Red-throated Diver.
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| Redwing, Mistle Thrush & Greenfinch |
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| Redwing |
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| Mistle Thrush, Redwing & Waxwing |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Magpie |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Cormorant (Sinensis race) |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant (Sinensis race) |
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| Cormorant |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Cormorant (Sinensis race) |
Birds - Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Red-throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Song Thrush, Starling, Tufted Duck, [Waxwing], Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
