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| Turnstone |
Yet another 'named storm' hit Dundee on Friday the 24th of January but this one was a proper BIG one with gusts of around 80mph even within the urban areas of the city. On the plus side, the main wind speed was only around 40mph or so, but it certainly made for an interesting journey home from work. Thankfully, the stronger gusts of winds coincided with a swing round to the southwest, which is the 'normal' direction so the amount of damage caused was probably a lot less than it could have been if the main wind direction had been different. Things quietened down somewhat overnight, though there were still gusts of around 50+ mph forecast for Saturday. I decided to head for Broughty Ferry to see if anything interesting had been blown in or had taken shelter in the Tay. With the winds having been from the southwest I wasn't expecting too much, but given the wind strength it was potentially possible something could have been blown right across the country from the west coast. Though this was unlikely, I decided to give it a go anyway....
I headed out at around 0850. It was still fairly windy but with the wind behind me it didn't feel too bad (unlike when I'm struggling to walk into the wind). Feral Pigeon, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Starling, Magpie, House Sparrow and Robin made for a steady start to the day's birding. Jackdaw and a Collared Dove were seen on Clepington Road, as was the day's first Woodpigeon a bit further on. Swannie Ponds held the usual winter selection - Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull and Common Gull. One white ringed Black Headed Gull was seen but it was too far away for the ring number to be read off. Carrion Crow and Greenfinch were noted on the walk along to Eastern Cemetery. There didn't appear to be too much damage at the cemetery, though there were some sizeable bits of trees down - mostly parts of conifers. Bird-wise it was very quiet with only Blackbird and Chaffinch being found, and a few Rabbits running around among the gravestones.
As I neared the river an Oystercatcher flew in from the north and a few Goldfinches were heard from the bushes by the Alpha Projects building. The walk out along the river was possibly the quietest I've seen for birds - with only a couple of Oystercatchers and a handful of Black Headed and Common Gulls looking for food along the water's edge as the tide continued to rise. I reached the lifeboat jetty around 1030 and weighed up my options. I decided rather than heading round to the east side of the castle I would first scan from the area by the 'Phibbies' shed, to the west of the castle. There were a few Turnstones wandering about, and I tried to give them a wide berth so as not to cause them any needless flying in the still strong winds. I tucked myself in behind the viewing platform and scanned out across the river. A Red Throated Diver wasn't a bad way to start things off, with one bobbing around among the waves not too far offshore. Despite this, I struggled to get a decent photo of the bird.
A couple of Cormorants also put in an appearance and a Pied Wagtail was seen as I wandered back towards Castle Green. Another Pied Wagtail was on the grass on the eastern side of the castle from where I was hoping that something 'good' might be seen. A Rock Pipit was heard a few times before it finally showed itself down on the beach. A Red Breasted Merganser drake flew upriver and a pair of distant Eider were seen out to the east. A young Great Black Backed Gull perched up on the old armoury building. A Grey Seal's snout was spotted near another Cormorant and a Linnet flew over. With very little happening and very little to see out on the water I decided against continuing out to Balmossie (as the tide was already in by this time meaning that the waders I've yet to see this year were unlikely to be around) and instead I headed back round to the 'Phibbies' shed where I spent 10 minutes or so photographing a Turnstone bathing in a small puddle, just a few feet in front of me.
The walk back along the river was just as quiet as the walk out had been, but with the added bonus of walking into the wind - though it had lessened in strength a bit by this time, which was very welcome. I continued on along to City Quay, noting Dunnock and Wren on the walk along the Dock's Way cycle path. There were a total of 7 Cormorants in the quay but nothing else, though as I was packing away my camera, a Grey Wagtail flew past calling, but wasn't seen. This took my total number of species of bird for the day to a relatively disappointing 38, as well as 2 species of mammals. The close views of the Turnstone were the main highlight of the day, though the photos should have been better than they turned out - though they are still fairly good, with plenty of detail and showing some not often photographed (as far as I have seen) behaviour.
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Black Headed Gull
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| Turnstone |
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Red Throated Diver
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| Cormorant |
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Common Gull
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Pied Wagtail
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| Eider |
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Rock Pipit
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Herring Gull
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Grey Seal
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| Cormorant |
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Redshank & Turnstone
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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| Turnstone |
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Black Headed Gull
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Common Gull
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Herring Gull & Cormorant
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Starling, Tufted Duck, Tursntone, Woddpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
