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| Nuthatch |
Following on from what felt like a couple of underwhelming days of birding on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I was really undecided on where to go on Boxing Day. Once again the weather forecast was overcast but relatively mild and dry. The high tide times were 'wrong' meaning that by the time daylight arrived the tide would already be well on its way back out. This meant if I was to carry the scope and tripod with me, I would get fairly limited use of it and be burdened with the extra weight for the rest of the day's birding, which was obviously far from ideal. With Riverside Nature Park generally needing a couple of circuits on top of the walk to get there and back, I decided against going there. I would instead head there on Saturday when the tide was still likely to be more or less in, as long as I got there in time for sunrise.
I slept in and by the time I got myself organised and something resembling motivated to get out it was already after 1030. I was still rather short of inspiration but decided to head for the top of the Law for a look there and then continue on to Balgay Hill after that. My mood was rather low and yet somehow my expectations and motivation were even lower but I forced myself out as I knew that I would be even more fed-up if I stayed in, at home. Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Magpie, Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Robin, an unexpected pair of Collared Doves, a few Starlings, a Blue Tit and some vocal House Sparrows were all noted between home and Provost Road.
Coal Tit, Chaffinch and Wren were found in the trees at the foot of Law Road. There was nothing to see at the top of the hill and the trees were rather silent, though a single Goldfinch did make it onto the list before I gave up and headed towards Balgay Hill. Blackbird was added as I made my way down towards Inverary Terrace. I detoured along City Road to see if there were any Waxwings around Ancrum Road. Needless to say, this was a waste of time. There were a few Common Gulls on the football pitches along with Black-headed Gulls and a few Woodpigeons. Things were very quiet around the hill, though a Jay was heard but not seen. There seemed to be more Grey Squirrels around than there were birds.
I eventually managed to find a Nuthatch near the Observatory and another couple further over to the east by the Planet Trail hillock. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling from a tree on the south side but I failed to see it. I did find a few Bullfinches while looking, as well as another Nuthatch. More wandering added Stock Dove and a couple of Jays recovering acorns from their winter cache. There were a few finches and tits around but overall it was fairly hard going at the hill. I decided to try somewhere else, rather than just take the easy option and head homewards, tempting though that was. I chose to walk down to Riverside Drive via Magdalen Green and to wander along to City Quay from there.
Birds were in very short supply on the way down and bar a single Carrion Crow the football pitches by the river were also empty of birds. I did manage to see a Grey Heron flying low upriver and a couple of distant gulls on the water. A Pied Wagtail flew past near the railway bridge and a small skein of Pink-footed Geese headed over silently northwards. The head of a distant Grey Seal broke the surface out in mid-channel. The walk along to City Quay continued the relatively birdless feel of
the day's efforts, though there were a few Cormorants seen flying
upriver between the bridges. There were a few more at Submarine Rock along with some Herring Gulls but with nothing to see on the river itself I cut in past the office blocks to check the quay area itself.
A few Herring Gulls were around the water park and I flushed the Kingfisher from somewhere unseen at the 'dry dock' then had another fleeting glimpse of the bird at the outer section of the quay. There were a few Cormorants fishing there and a single Oystercatcher was on the pebbles by the lock gate but flew round to the raft when it spotted me. A trio of roosting Grey Herons dotted around broke the monotony slightly and some more scanning out over the river did eventually rustle up a single distant drake Eider. With the already dingy light starting to go, I called it a day and headed home, even more fed-up than I had been before I headed out. My total for the day was a rather poor 34 species of birds and 2 of mammals.
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| Coal Tit |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Great Tit |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Great Tit |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Jay |
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| Jay |
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| Jay |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Cormorant |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Herring Gull |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel.
