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| Dunnock |
Although I had succeeded in finding, and photographing my 'own' Grasshopper Warbler the previous day (Sunday 4th of May), I hadn't found any Garden Warblers of my own, which wasn't really a surprise. As I didn't have time to wait around on Saturday the 3rd to try for photos - thanks to the lucky find of the Little Ringed Plovers and an impending delivery situation, I decided to revist Clatto early on Monday morning. From there I would then try Templeton Woods and the area around the farm before heading down through Camperdown Park and out through Liff, down to Benvie then back to Dykes of Gray and then wind my likely very weary way home again. Expectations were relatively low, other than catching up with a Garden Warbler with my new camera, but as always you just never know....
I headed out just after 0635 for the walk up to Clatto. A singing Great Tit was a bit of a surprise first bird but the House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon combination which came next were anything but. As I wandered up past the allotments towards Tannadice, a bird atop a lamp-post made me do a double-take. The hunched posture suggested a pigeon to my semi-awake eyes and mind, but having had a proper look I was surprised to see a male Kestrel peering down into the allotments. Out came the camera and I grabbed a few photos before the bird, probably the male from the Law, flew off. Starling, Oystercatcher, Robin, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Magpie, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow and Dunnock were a return to the more usual fayre, along the next stretch of my walk.
As with Saturday, I decided to see if there might be a bus reasonably soon, to save me a mile or two of a walk. There was, so I hurried to the bus stop again. While waiting for the slightly late running bus I did manage to add a singing Blackcap. Less than 10 minutes later, I was off the bus and on my way up towards where I hoped I'd be able to actually see a Garden Warbler, unlike 2 days earlier, when I had to make do with a 'heard only'. Blackbird, Wren, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Pheasant, Yellowhammer, House Martin, Song Thrush, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Rook and a very distant Roe Deer made for a surprisingly productive walk up the dirt track overlooking the fields to the north.
Unlike Saturday, there was no sign of any Grasshopper Warbler and it did take a few minutes to hear the first snatch of Garden Warbler song. Thankfully I was able to track down the culprit, and even managed some almost passable photos. I then managed to get a single photo of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in flight. A couple of Swifts circled round above the trees and Long Tailed Tits flitted through the branches below. A Lesser Black Backed Gull flapped its way over before I spooked a Jay from the ground by the path as I tried to see a 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler that had just started up. I had a short chat to an Irish lady before a Bullfinch flew into a large bush, where I suspect it might have a nest.
A brief glimpse of a Fox and a longer view of a Jackdaw were the final additions before I headed up to check out the reservoir. Mallard, Tufted Duck and Mute Swan were noted on the water and there was a bit of courtship dancing by the Great Crested Grebe pair followed by the non-paired grebe being subjected to a fast chase by the male of the pair across to the far end of the reservoir. A couple of Black Headed Gulls were next onto the list before I encountered Lainy's Common Sandpiper at the 'beach'. Although not quite as exciting as the Little Ringed Plovers, I did end up with much closer views of what was a relatively confiding bird. Common Gull and Pied Wagtail were also seen before I decided to move on again.
I headed on out along the track towards the farm, with Goldcrest and Coal Tit in the trees near the start and Sand Martin and Swallow spotted on the walk along. A surprise find in the last field on the south side of the track was a pair of Grey Partridges - my first at that end of the city. I wandered up through the trees to check out the area near the 'living sundial' which only added Siskin for the day. I crossed over to Birkhill Cemetery for a look. From there I saw my first Buzzard of the day and a very distant Skylark. The walk along the road to Camperdown was fairly quiet as was my crossing of 'Campy', though another Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen. The walk from the western side of Camperdown Park to Liff village is a bit hair-raising at times, with traffic hurtling past, sometimes much closer than it needs to be and concentration has to be on the traffic more than the wildlife. Thankfully, I made it to the slightly safer stretch of road through the village and out the other side.
Greenfinch and a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly were noted as I made my way down towards Fowlis Den. An unexpected Red Squirrel ran across the road from the feeders at the first cottage and disappeared into the trees opposite. A couple of Tree Sparrows were seen around the junction at the end of the road. The walk downhill towards Benvie was quieter than expected with very few birds seen or heard. A Grey Heron was seen flying west from the burn at Benvie and a Sedge Warbler could be heard singing loudly from within the cover of the burn side vegetation. An Orange Tip butterfly fluttered past me as I set off towards Dykes of Gray and a Small White added another species of butterfly a little further on. A Kestrel was seen around halfway along the stretch of track but things were overall quite quiet here too. A Green Veined White butterfly was seen along the cycle path down past the houses at the eastern end and yet another Kestrel was seen as I wandered along the track at Denhead of Gray.
With still 3 or 4 miles to go to get home and the sun now 'splitting the pevement' as we say here in Dundee, I was undecided on which route to take to get home. I had originally considered heading along the back of Ninewells Hospital, but to get there was going to add another few hundred metres to my walk so I instead headed along Dickson Avenue to Balgay Cemetery where a Grey Squirrel was seen. I was feeling rather weary by this point having been out for around 7 hours. I found a bench within the trees in the cemetery to take a bit of a breather. Having just sat down, I was rather shocked to hear the loud hoot of a Tawny Owl from a tree up the slope a little behind where I was. I hurried up to where I thought the bird was, and with some apparent mobbing going on in a tall conifer I thought I might actually manage to see, and hopefully photograph, the Tawny Owl. However, despite spending at least an hour checking and rechecking the same couple of trees from every angle I could find, I drew a blank.
I headed off towards the footbridge around 1430 and as I chatted to an elderly gent, the owl hooted again. I made my apologies and hurried back to find the bird had gone quiet again. More searching again proved fruitless and I finally gave up just before 1500. I found a few Speckled Wood butterflies around the other half of the hill, but there was no obvious activity at either Nuthatch nest site. On the walk home I routed up along the back of the Law allotments which got me another Small Tortoiseshell and a female Orange Tip which posed nicely as well as a couple of squabbling male Orange Tips. I finally made it home around 1630. My total number of species for the day was 59 species of birds, 5 species of butterflies and 4 species of mammals. I had walked another 14 miles taking me past 30 miles for the 'long weekend' with the weather again rather pleasant, though a bit more shade from passing clouds would've been helpful at times....
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| Kestrel |
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| Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon & Yellowhammer |
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| House Martin |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Linnet |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Garden Warbler |
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| Garden Warbler |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Swallow |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Grey Partridge |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Buzzard |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Tree Sparrow |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Orange Tip |
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| House Sparrow |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grasshopper Warbler,
Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge,
Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet,
Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin,
Sedge Warbler, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tawny Owl, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow
Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies - Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Speckled Wood.
Mammals - Fox, Grey Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Roe Deer.
