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| Little Egret |
Having been to Riverside Nature Park the previous day, I decided to head to the opposite end of the city on Wednesday the 24th of September. I had no particular species in mind as a target, but with a southeasterly wind blowing again, there would hopefully be a chance of adding something else new to my #2025Dundee150 list. I do feel I'm rapidly running out of both time and possibilities on this particular front - though if we happen to get a rerun of 2023's October storms from the east, then you just never know what might be possible. Another Slavonian Grebe, Storm Petrel and Little Auk would go a long way towards me making my target this year.
I headed out just before 0815 for the long walk out to Balmossie. House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Jackdaw, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling and Herring Gull was a reasonable first minute's worth of sightings. Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Chiffchaff followed as I headed up Court Street. Coal Tit and Collared Dove were added on Clepington Road as I made my way towards Swannie Ponds. Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Mute Swan and Lesser Black-backed Gull were seen there though things felt very quiet overall. A Meadow Pipit overhead was noted on the way to Eastern Cemetery where Song Thrush, Blackbird, Goldcrest, Pied Wagtail and Rook were all added to the morning's growing list. The day's first Rabbit was also added at the cemetery.
A Red Admiral butterfly flew up from the bridge over the railway line as I reached the Stannergate. Greenfinch and Dunnock were in the bushes and trees by the railway line while down on the beach I was able to spot Redshank and Oystercatcher amongst the gulls. A single Guillemot was fishing off the southeastern corner of the docks. A Chaffinch was in the bushes behind the car park and the day's first Black-headed Gulls and Cormorant made their way onto the list. A Stock Dove briefly landed on the shore but as usual chose not to linger for longer than absolutely necessary. Both Siskin and Grey Wagtail headed over westwards before I found a few Turnstones down among the pebbles on the beach. Continuing on eastwards got me Common Gull down by the water and a few very high flying Skylarks.
A Wren was in the bushes by the railway track and a Curlew was feeding by the water's edge as I continued on along the north side of the river. An Eider was out on the water. Long-tailed Tit and Great Tit were in the trees by the Holly Blue site but I failed to see anything other than a few Red Admiral butterflies there. I had brief chat with Dundee Naturalist Society's Alban Houghton about butterflies before we continued on in opposite directions. Goosander and Grey Heron were down by the outflow pipe at Douglas Terrace. As I passed the lifeboat station a skein of Pink-footed Geese overflew out over the river in a southwestrerly direction. Rock Pipit was noted by the castle and a small flock of Redpoll flew past westwards. A few Swallows swept out over the river but I wasn't quick enough to get any photos. Tree Sparrows were heard as I scanned out from the castle grounds and a small group of Teal were seen flying upriver over towards Tayport.
I then got rather distracted by military aircraft for the next hour or so, though there didn't appear to be particularly much happening on the bird front anyway. I did still manage to spy a Red Throated Diver as it splashed down across the far side of the river. A couple of pairs of Buzzards approaching from the east were a bit of a surprise. They then crossed the river just before they reached the castle which confirms my thoughts that a lot of migrating birds cross the river at its narrower points though some do actually continue on westwards. I picked up a few distant Gannets towards Tentsmuir Point before deciding to continue on for a look at Balmossie around 1210. A Sparrowhawk followed the same track as the earlier Buzzard quartet but the walk out to Balmossie proved to be rather quiet. I did find a small flock of Sanderling down on the shore by a small pool, opposite the car park at the end of the esplanade road.
I made a quick 'pit-stop' at the gents at the end of the esplanade. As I exited, I had a very brief view of an egret flying past. I crossed the road to be able to see past the roadside trees but by the time I got the camera onto the bird it was well past me. The initial impression of the bird was that it was very long legged and I hurriedly put out news of the bird as a Great White Egret, in case anyone was further along towards the castle. A little later a Little Egret flew past and Ithe view I had of that one made me slightly less confident of the ID of the earlier bird. With quite a bit of glare on the camera screen making it difficult to be certain either way, I decided to wait until I was home again before making a firm decision on whether I had called the first bird correctly, or wrongly. (Later at home it became apparent the bird had actually been a Little Egret with the all dark bill being partially visible in one photo, though the feet didn't look particularly pale).
At Balmossie I scanned through the birds there picking out Bar-tailed Godwits, Wigeon and a Great Black-backed Gull as well as a Little Egret on the beach along towards Monifieth. I found a few Red-breasted Mergansers just off the burn mouth and a few Goldfinches were milling around. I picked out a distant Razorbill out on the river before a mid-sized wader took flight from down among the seweed. The flight style suggested Snipe and I was a bit surprised to find the photos confirmed that it was indeed a Snipe. With the tide well in and no sign of anything else new, I decided to head back towards the castle again. There were still a few Sandwich Terns out fishing over the river but there wasn't too much else to keep me interested. A couple of Grey Seals near the castle and a Grey Squirrel running out of Baxter Park with something in its mouth rounded things off on the long walk home. I finished the day with a surprising total of 65 species of birds, 1 of butterflies and 3 of mammals - though no new additions to my #2025Dundee150 list.
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| Robin & Blue Tit |
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| Rabbit |
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| Guillemot |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Redshank |
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| Turnstone |
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| Curlew |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Cormorant |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Buzzard |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Little Egret |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Snipe |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Cormorant |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Eider |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed
Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common
Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider,
Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch,
Goosander,
Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey
Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring
Gull, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute
Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied
Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Razorbill, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Redpoll, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Wigeon,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Red Admiral.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
