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| Little Ringed Plover |
Owing to increasing levels of frustration with my Olympus OM-1 camera I had bitten the bullet and ordered a replacement (second-hand), along with a new pair of binoculars. I had chosen Saturday for delivery. Although this clashed with the first day of my holiday I figured I could probably get away with a very early morning visit to Clatto for the 2 species of warblers that Lainy had found earlier in the week - Garden Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler. Although there was a very slim chance of my delivery turning up bang on 0800, the reality was it would more likely be much later in the day. However, just in case, I would only spend an hour or so at Clatto before heading home, whether or not I was successful with the birds I hoped to get. The alarm was set for VERY early, so I could be out before 0600.
I headed out just before 0600 as intended. House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon were noted as I walked up past the football stadiums. As I did so, I wondered if there might be a bus I could catch to save some time. There was, but I only had 4 minutes to get to the bus stop. Thankfully, it was only roughly 600 metres away and I made it with time to spare following a spot of light jogging. Magpie and Starling were added from the bus stop. Roughly 10 minutes later I was getting off the bus at Craigowl (the 'housing scheme', not the large hill). The walk up to the area where the warblers were seen, produced a nice mix of birds with Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Great Tit, Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Oystercatcher, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Pheasant.
Wren, Dunnock and Chaffinch were heard before the distinctive 'reeling' sound of the Grasshopper Warbler cut through the hubbub, almost subliminally at first. I watched to see if I could see the bird but I wasn't too bothered as the bird was now on the list regardless. I had yet to hear any hint of Garden Warbler so I wandered down to the area where I've had most success in previous years. There were birds moving through the bushes there but only a Song Thrush and a Willow Warbler were showing themselves. A burst of song that sounded just a bit different from Blackcap started up. The Merlin app confirmed that it was indeed a Garden Warbler. With the sun yet to clear the trees, I decided to wander up for a quick look around the reservoir, before returning to try for the unseen duo on my way homewards, just in case I was missing out on anything else.
Bullfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Jackdaw, Greenfinch and Goldcrest were noted on the walk to the reservoir. Out on the water I picked out Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Moorhen. It was just after 0700 as I wandered along towards the 'beach' at the northwestern corner of the reservoir. As I got closer I spotted movement low over the water. A pair of small waders were heading for the the same corner as I was. I was hoping for Wood Sandpiper, which given the time of year, seemed a reasonable possibility. As the birds landed I got the binoculars onto them. They were Ringed Plovers....but I was just a bit too far away to see if they were Ringed Plovers or Little Ringed Plovers. I was hoping for the latter, and I was also hoping I could get a better view, or a photo before the birds flew off again as they likely would as I got closer.
As it turned out my initial photos were abysmal, with none in focus - highlighting just why I had a new camera on its way to me. As I got closer, I was able to see the birds had a prominent yellow eye ring - they were Little Ringed Plovers - a new bird for me in Dundee and a very unexpected but very welcome #2025Dundee150 tick. I was also certain that Lainy had never seen the species on her patch before, but how early is 'too early' to phone someone? I decided to send a WhatsApp message first, in the hope that would be more acceptable than a ringing phone at 0710 in the morning. It didn't appear that Lainy was awake as the ticks on screen remained grey, rather than blue. On the plus side, surprisingly there were practically no dog walkers around but I knew they wouldn't be far away and that all it would take would be one dog running down onto the beach for the birds to fly off.
I also didn't want to 'spook' the birds, so I was keeping my distance as well. After what seemed like ages, there was still no indication that Lainy had seen the message. I decided to try to phone her but if she didn't pick up after the first few rings I would hang up. There was no answer after a few rings but within a minute, Lainy phoned me back. I explained that the Little Ringed Plovers were feeding along the edge of the beach and so far there were no dog walkers around but that situation was bound to change soon, so if she wanted to see the birds she had best get round as quickly as she could. She said she would be round soon. I added Pied Wagtail, Swift, Swallow, Sand Martin and Robin while I waited for Lainy to join me. After what seemed like ages, I saw her hurrying along the western side of the reservoir. Ahead of her was a dog walker with 2 dogs. She stopped to get a photo, just in case the birds flew off as the dogs passed. Thankfully they didn't, meaning we could both now relax a bit, and just enjoy the sighting.
Lainy joined me and we spent the next hour and a bit photographing the birds as they fed and preened by the water's edge. We were able to sit on the banking without any signs of concern from the birds. Only when a Moorhen, and later a Carrion Crow took exception to them, did they fly a very short distance away. We put out word on the ADBC grapevine, as although the habitat was potentially ok for them to breed there, the reality was that there would be too much disturbance for it to actually happen. We added Grey Wagtail and Grey Heron to the list. Around 0900, we noticed the birds doing wing stretches and we wondered if they were getting ready to leave. At 0904, just over 2 hours after they'd flown in, they took off, flew out over the reservoir, then swung back round and rose up over the trees on the north side and off to wherever they were heading. Lainy gave me a lift home and eventually at around 1915 that evening, my parcel eventually arrived. An unexpectedly successful few hours' birding and well worth the early start.
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Little Ringed Plover & Pied Wagtail |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Moorhen |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Robin |
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| Swift |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover & Mallard |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Little Ringed Plover & Oystercatcher |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grasshopper Warbler, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
