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| Coal Tit |
Having not unexpectedly failed to find Red Kite so far this year, and being at work when Lainy spotted one over her patch the previous day, I decided to try to find my own on Saturday the 5th of April. My expectations were rather low as the birds I've seen in Dundee over the past 4 years have all appeared to looked to have been 'wandering' birds rather than apparent residents. Along with Nuthatches, Ravens and Little Egrets they do look to now to be establishing themselves as part of the local avifauna, which is a plus. However, they are not easy to catch up with yet and a lot of luck is required - though March and April do look like they are a good time to find the birds. With this in mind I decided to try the northern edges of the city where it borders the agricultural land to the north.
In addition to the Red Kite, I was hoping I might encounter my first Blackcap and maybe even Willow Warbler for the year. I headed out at 0930 to the sound of a calling Great Tit nearby. House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon and Herring Gull were also immediately noted along with another migrant Meadow Pipit heading over. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon and Chiffchaff lengthened the list a little before I reached Caird Park. Wren, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Robin further extended the list within the park. Around 20 minutes later I made it to Jack Martin Way just to the north of Fintry, where I grew up. I contemplated heading up Powrie Brae towards the Black Watch Monument but instead decided to head out along the road instead. A pair of Pied Wagtails and a singing Greenfinch were noted near the western end.
I was very disappointed to discover that the entire area to the north of the road around the western end - the majority of the 'weedy' field, was fenced off, most of the gorse and other bushes had already been removed and the rest of the vegetation was also in the process of being removed to be replaced by a warehouse and associated buildings. Given that there appears to be at least a few industrial units lying empty in other parts of the city (as there are numerous empty office buildings dotted around, yet new ones keep on being approved) this does seem like yet more needless habitat destruction of an area utilised by red-listed species such as Linnet, Skylark and Yellowhammer - all of which are (or were) easy to find there, which does rather beg the question as to whether or not any ecological surveys have been done prior to giving the go ahead to the development, and if so, what was actually 'found' (or rather 'missed'). Money talks?
With my overall mood now rather deflated by yet more council approved habitat destruction it felt like a fairly pointless exercise to continue on. But having walked a couple of miles to get there already I decided to continue on for at least a bit. I did rather easily find a flock of Linnets within the fenced off area feeding on seeds left behind after the removal of most of the vegetation. Over the next few fields were a few singing Skylarks but things were much quieter than usual. A Pheasant was heard to the north and a Buzzard was chased off by corvids. The pond on the bend in the road just off Berwick Drive held only a couple of Moorhens. I continued on up the road towards the entrance to Middleton Wood. A couple of Roe Deer watched me from in below the trees as I passed by.
Things were disappoitingly quiet at the wood with almost no bird-song to be heard and notably no warblers of any description. I did manage to see a distant Kestrel hunting just to the south. As I headed towards the exit at The Elms I spotted a couple of very distant dots circling up. Frustratingly trees and other vegetation blocked my views as the birds gained height. I finally managed to get a clearer view and was able to see that one of the birds was a Buzzard and the other was my hoped for Red Kite. It proved to be a struggle to get photos as the long distance (a mile or so away?) and heat distortion made it tricky to get the camera to focus on the ever-changing profile of the circling bird, though I did eventually manage to get a few blurry record shots. Mission accomplished and mood slightly lifted.
I headed next down to the Dighty Burn via Whitfield noting only Long Tailed Tits on the walk down. Mallard, Bullfinch, Sparrowhawk, Collared Dove and Dipper made for slim pickings on the walk from Drumgeith Road to Baldovie Road. Across the road on the stretch of burn by West Pitkerro Industrial Estate I found a female Goosander and a couple of Lesser Black Backed Gulls circled round overhead. Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Rook and a couple of Sand Martins were seen along the stretch from there to Barlow Avenue. I contemplated continuing on up to Pitkerro Grove Cemetery but decided to walk back along the Dighty instead. I wasn't expecting much given how quiet things had been earlier.
A Song Thrush was heard and I found a few butterflies - Small Tortoiseshell and Small White, as well as an active Dipper's nest, with food being brought in to hungry and vocal youngsters. Rather than head back up to the Kingsway from Drumgeith Road, I decided to carry on along the burn. I did find a Grey Heron in the water by the football pitches at Drumgeith as well as a pair of Grey Wagtails. At Finlathen Park, a Jay was seen and a small herd of 'spooked' Roe Deer (unthinkable back when Finlathen Park was a regular haunt of mine growing up in Fintry) which headed up onto the slopes behind the 'swing park' where I spent a lot of time as a pre-teen. From the 'bridgie' I cut up through Linlathen to Swannie Ponds.
Having already seen Moorhen and Mallard elsewhere I was only able to add a further 3 species to the list for the day on the water - Mute Swan, Tufted Duck and Coot. The Black Headed Gulls have moved off to their breeding territories now, replaced in large part by the Lesser Black Backeds that turn up for the summer (a previous summer visitor was ringed in Portugal). Movement high in the sky a bit to the west turned out to be a Peregrine which was a nice way to round of a 5 raptor day in Dundee (Red Kite, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Peregrine). I finished the day's birding with a total of 48 species of birds (including 1 new species for my #2025Dundee150 list, in bold), 2 of butterflies and 1 mammal species.
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Linnet |
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| Pheasant |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Great Tit |
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| Kestrel |
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| Buzzard |
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| Red Kite |
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| Red Kite |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Mallard |
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| Dipper |
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| Dipper |
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| Dipper |
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| Mallard |
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| Goosander |
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| Buzzard |
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| Wren |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Dipper |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Small White |
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| Small Tortoiseshell |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Coot |
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| Peregrine |
Birds - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Coot, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Mammals - Roe Deer.
