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| Tree Sparrow |
Having helped out early last April with the Angus & Dundee Bird Club's Dundee outing, I was asked if I would do the same again this year by chairman Jonathan Patullo, to which I readily agreed. Strong winds and unfavourable tides last year made for a bit of a struggle though somehow I ended up with 69 species on the day. This year both the weather and tide times looked much more favourable and 70+ species definitely looked possible. I had come up with a route that I hoped would deliver a good mix of species, though as it turned out the planned finishing time of around 1400 was around 2 hours earlier than I had expected (impacting on the birds available). The route I had planned was start at Riverside Nature Park, then up to Balgay Hill (for Nuthatch for Jonathan), out to Balmossie, then up to the Dighty (between Douglas and Whitfield), lunch at Pitkerro Grove Cemetery then out to Clatto to round things off. With an 0900 meeting time at Riverside Nature Park I wanted to have enough time for a quick look around before proceedings began. I headed out around 0710. The weather was on the cold side but sunny and calm.
House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Starling, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Common Gull were all noted as I headed up past Tannadice Park. An overflying Meadow Pipit, a few Goldfinches, the resident Jackdaw pair on their chimney stack, a singing Robin, then Chaffinch, Magpie and Blue Tit were all noted before I reached Byron Street. Chiffchaff and Wren, as well as a Grey Squirrel, were noted by the building works at the old underground reservoir. Further on, an Oystercatcher flew over as I wandered down Loons Road. A Buzzard was seen over Balgay Hill as I crossed the football pitches. At the hill I found Great Tit, Stock Dove and Great Spotted Woodpecker with Sparrowhawk, Song Thrush and Goldcrest at the cemetery. Greenfinch was added on Glamis Road. A few Rabbits were on the grass by the railway line and Skylarks could be heard singing from above the airport. Coal Tit was my final addition before I reached the Nature Park at 0815.
Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Robin, Blackbird, Chiffchaff and Oystercatcher as well as a few Rabbits were all noted around the eastern end of the park. Continuing on in the direction of the Lochan, a Curlew flew over and a Skylark ascended skywards from the hill top. Yellowhammer, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Jackdaw and Rook were spotted on the walk along to the lochan where Teal, Mallard, Moorhen and a singing Reed Bunting were all found. Continuing on round to check the bay Stock Dove and Pheasant were added. Cormorant, Shelduck, Black Tailed Godwit, Common Gull, Redshank, Lesser Black Backed Gull and the previously only seen distantly Pintail pair were all down in the bay. Rather surprisingly there were no Dunlin to be seen.
Wren and Feral Pigeon joined the other species on the list as I hurried round to the car park to meet up with the other club members. A pair of Mistle Thrushes over flew as we waited for latecomers. I outlined my planned route to Jonathan before we set off for the walk round to the bay. Bullfinch and Great Tit were new birds at the park for me on the day. My only addition as we checked the bay and the river were a distant pair of Goldeneye. We spent a bit longer than ideally I would have, scanning through the birds at the bay before wandering round to check the Lochan. A Meadow Pipit flew up from beyond the hedge and circled over the group. A Grey Heron was seen at the Lochan and on the walk back round to the car park a couple of Sand Martins swept low over the hill, with another pair seen as we neared the car park.
A trio of Buzzards circled up to the north and a Dunnock gave a loud burst of song. Near the car park I spotted a very distant Sparrowhawk soaring near Ninewells and Long Tailed Tits were in the bushes when we got back to the cars. It took a rather frustratingly long time to get agreement on where best to park at Balgay Hill. I suggested the one quiet entrance, off Elliot Road, which also gave a shorter route to the hill than the western entrance would have. I knew the area around the footbridge would be chock-a-block with dog walkers' and Sunday football related cars while the Pentland Road entrance is almost always packed with cars regardless of the day of the week. Once I finally managed to persuade all participants of the merits of my choice of parking and given directions to get there, we set off for the short drive up to the hill.
Everyone found the correct street and we set off towards the half of the hill at the cemetery. As we reached the top of the stairs, someone spotted a Nuthatch in one of the trees nearby, which was very handy. Rather than spend more time searching this meant we could head back to the cars, though not before a quick visit to the public toilets. We were already a bit behind my hoped for schedule when we headed out to Balmossie, and the choice of car parking spot added a wee bit more walking and time spent there than was really necessary. It was already around 1120 meaning that it was very likely we would have to curtail my planned route. We managed to pick up a few species - Eider, Wigeon, Turnstone, Cormorant, Redshank, Mallard, Curlew, Great Black Backed Gull and Black Headed Gull - though there was no sign of any Dunlin or Ringed Plover that might have been expected.
It was after 12 noon before we set off for Pitkerro Cemetery and lunch - having chosen to miss out on checking the Dighty for Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Kingfisher and Goosander. This meant reaching my 70+ target figure for the day was looking very unlikely. I found a small flock of Tree Sparrows, as well as a pair of Bullfinches and a Peacock butterfly at the Cemetery. As most folk had never been there, after lunch there was some half-hearted exploration. Around 1300 we set off for our final destination of Clatto. I persuaded Jonathan to take the country roads along the back of Dundee in the hope that we might encounter a Red Kite. Despite our slight detour, we arrived at much the same time as the others, though we failed to see any Red Kites en route. Moorhen, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Teal, Grey Wagtail and Tufted Duck were all seen at the reservoir. We had a wander out along the farm track in the hope of a Swallow (last year's visit to the reservoir gave us all 3 species of hirundine) but we drew a blank this time.
There were a couple of Roe Deer visible between the fields to the south of the farm buildings but no Swallows or other hirundines over the fields. I suggested we try the tracks to the east of the reservoir and a quick look over the fields to the north before calling it a day. Chiffchaffs had been seen or heard almost everywhere throughout the day and we added a few more around Clatto. We stopped to watch a couple of Dark Edged Bee-Flies along the track near the lone house for a minute or two. From the top end of the track up past the new houses we were able to pick up a few very distant birds - a pair of Ravens and a Peregrine. Unfortunately there was no sign of any Linnets or Yellowhammers before we headed back to the reservoir and back round to the car park to finish off the outing.
My total for the day was a relatively disappointing 63 species, 6 fewer than last year's outing which had taken place in seemingly less favourable conditions. I found this year's outing a little bit more frustrating than last year's outing had been, though hopefully those who don't usually do their birding in Dundee did find it worthwhile. There were more attendees than last year, possibly as a result of last year's relatively successful equivalent, and the increased numbers may have contributed to the amount of time that felt to me less productively utilised. Overall, there were a decent mix of birds seen but I feel that early April is just a bit too early to get the best out of birding in Dundee, regardless of the constraints involved in being part of a group outing, as the majority of returning summer visitors are still at least a week or two away. Nevertheless, I still think 70 species or more is achievable within Dundee at that time of year, though perhaps a group outing is not the best way to achieve it.
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Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit, Herring Gull, Common Gull & Oystercatcher
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| Pintail & Shelduck |
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| Cormorant |
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| Dunnock |
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| Tree Sparrow & House Sparrow |
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| Tree Sparrow & House Sparrow |
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| Peacock butterfly |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Dark Edged Bee-Fly |
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| Dark Edged Bee-Fly |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest,
Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow
Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal,
Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Peacock.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
