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| Oystercatcher |
Following on from a couple of days of rather lengthy walks I decided to head for Broughty Ferry and Balmossie on Tuesday the 6th of May. In addition to the rather direct route it also offered a place to just sit and watch birds at the end of the walk. I was hoping I might find a Whimbrel at Balmossie and around the same time last year there was a large flock of Common Scoters around Tentsmuir Point and Monifieth Bay, and with Common Scoter not being a particularly easy bird to catch up with in the Tay (and one I still haven't seen yet this year), I was hoping that the same flock might be around again this May. Obviously there can be a myriad of reasons why they might not be there, but if you don't go to look, then you won't know for sure...
Once again the weather forecast was relatively decent with sunshine predicted, though it was to get a bit windier than ideal as the day progressed. I headed out at 0640 so as to get to 'the Ferry' for around 0800, and to Balmossie for around 0830 or so. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Blue Tit, House Martin, Woodpigeon, Starling and Greenfinch were noted on the walk out to Dura Street. Carrion Crow, Great Tit and Jackdaw were seen from the car park there. At Baxter Park, I found Blackbird, Dunnock, Chiffchaff and Song Thrush. A Blackcap was heard singing as I headed down Clarence Road to Arbroath Road a few minutes further on. Goldcrest and Robin were in the trees by the Mayfield sports ground.
The walk down to the Stannergate was unproductive. A singing Wren added another species before I reached the river and the usual Rabbits were around in their usual places, keeping the grass trimmed short. The day's first Oystercatchers were down on the shore as I set off along towards Douglas Terrace and Broughty Ferry. A Whitethroat was heard among the bushes beyond the fence north of the car park, and a Rook flew over. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen with Herring Gulls loitering offshore and a Linnet was in the Gorse just past the car park. A Grey Heron was down by the outflow pipe. A Stock Dove was seen flying into the trees to the north as I neared the end of the esplanade.
The day's first Swifts were zipping around above the houses at Douglas Terrace. A Swallow swept past westwards. A Mute Swan was in the harbour. Round by the Castle, a Sparrowhawk flew over and a few Rock Pipits were on the grass on the east side. An Eider and an unexpected female Shelduck were hauled out on the rocky outcrop by the harbour. A Chaffinch was heard from the trees by the crazy golf course round the other side of the Castle and a Collared Dove flew over. A small group of Goosander were offshore a bit further to the east as I continued on out towards Balmossie. The day's first Common Gulls also flew past upriver.
At Balmossie, I found a bench that offered a decent view and set up the scope. A distant Cormorant was surprisingly the day's first. A pair of Shelduck flew in and joined the mix of species by the burn mouth. A Pied Wagtail flew past and well out on the river I picked out a Red Throated Diver in flight. Scanning the birds by the burn outflow only added Black Headed Gull and Mallard to the morning's haul. Waders were almost entirely absent excpet for Oystercatchers and there was very little visible out on the river, and certainly no large flocks of Common Scoters which was disappointing. I spent an hour or so checking and rechecking all the birds I could see, but failed to add anything else, though another 3 Red Throated Divers were seen (a pair and a single).
I headed back westwards and popped in to the local nature reserve where I ended up photographing insects. Unfortunately there were no Longhorn Moths as the area where they were prevalent around the same time in previous years has been cut back apparently by a resident whose house is on the opposite side of the railway tracks (so they can have some sort of a view of the river/sea?). Coincidentally, there is only one house that appears to have benefitted from this unnecessary bout of environmental vandalism in a nature reserve. With similar unnecessary habitat destruction having taken place at Trottick Ponds, also within a nature reserve, it appears that there is a belief among some 'entitled' folk that having enough money to be able to afford a 'big house' gives them the right to destroy wildlife habitat within nature reserves (which is surely criminal damage and/or vandalism?), rather than just their own sterile 'garden' area. It doesn't, and I hope that 'mother nature' finds a way to reimburse her losses in some karmic manner.
I spent a couple of hours around the nature reserve but very few birds were seen and insects took priority as a result. There were a few Sandpit Mining Bees (I think) and a few other bee species, hoverfly species and Orange Tip butterflies around. I spent a bit of time scanning from the castle but this was also frustratingly fruitless. I headed for home around 1330 and detoured in to look for Holly Blue butterflies at the usual spot. I was successful, with 2 males chasing each other around, though the photo opportunities were relatively disappointing compared to some other visits. A Small White butterfly was also present and as I crossed the footbridge to head back homewards a Grey Seal was seen far out in the river. This proved to be the day's final addition to the list and I ended the outing with a list of 44 species of birds, 3 of butterflies and 2 of mammals.
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| Stock Dove |
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| Swallow |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Shelduck |
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| Eider |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Goosander |
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| Bee sp. |
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| St Marks Fly(?) |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| Blackcap |
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| Bee sp. |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| Sawfly sp. |
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| Bee sp. |
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| Bee sp. |
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| Bee sp. |
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| Moth sp. |
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| Bee sp. |
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| Bee sp. |
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| Tree Bumblebee |
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| Holly Blue |
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| Spider sp. |
Birds - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant,
Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed
Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock
Pipit, Rook, Shelduck, Song Thrush,
Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Wigeon,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Holly Blue, Orange Tip.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
