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| Red-throated Diver |
With winds from the northeast on both Thursday and Friday while I was at work, I decided to head out early on Saturday morning to Broughty Ferry. Although the wind was to swing round to a more easterly direction and lose some of the strength from the 30-40mph gusts, it wasn't really until after high tide which was around 1130. My target species for the day was Little Auk. As they tend to have to go where the winds and tides take them there is always a chance of them turning up in the river in wilder wintry weather when the winds are from the east (though I did get one last year on strong westerlies). There were a couple of slight flaws with my plan. Broughty Castle is closed for the winter which rather limits the available raised viewpoints, and picking out a Starling sized bird in choppy conditions from lower down using my small scope is never going to be easy.
Undeterred, I was out the door around sunrise for the walk out to Broughty Ferry. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow were first on the day's list, with Robin being added a few minutes further on, along with Goldfinch. Passing through Baxter Park got House Sparrow, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird and Chaffinch for the list. Continuing on along Bingham Terrace added Jackdaw, Dunnock, Wren, Magpie and Great Tit, with Woodpigeon spotted as I neared Arbroath Road. A couple of Curlews headed inland and a few Starlings were in trees near the top of Craigie Avenue. Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tits were heard from gardens at the bottom of Strips of Craigie Road. A few Rabbits were on the grass near the sewage tank at the Stannergate. The walk out along the river was relatively quiet though Cormorant, Common Gull, Turnstone, Oystercatcher and Great Black-backed Gull were all found on the way. A single Redshank was asleep on the outflow pipe at Douglas Terrace. Near the lifeboat jetty, a pair of drake Eiders (likely the same duo seen in the rain with Lainy on a previous visit) were not too far out from shore.
A Red-throated Diver was in the small bay off Beach Crescent and I was able to get a few close-up photos by moving while the bird was underwater and trying to predict roughly where the bird would surface again. Continuing on round towards the castle added Pied Wagtail, a skein of distant Pink-footed Geese and a heard-only Mistle Thrush. Round the far side of the castle I had a quick scan which provided Red-breasted Merganser and Grey Seal. With roughly 2 hours still to go before high tide, I decided to continue out eastwards to just past the flats before the nature reserve. A raised bit of banking there would hopefully provide a decent amount of shelter from the wind, and although it wasn't completely sheltered it was better than the alternatives. On the walk along the beach to get there, 2 small groups of Meadow Pipits (4 and 3) took flight from within the fenced-off dunes. Once I got the scope set up at the benches I was able to add a few more species - a flock of Dunlin and a few Grey Plovers flew low past and out over the water towards Tayport. A bit later a single Grey Plover landed in the shallows not too far away, though it flew further out when a dog began barking at it before wading out towards the bird a bit though the breaking waves proved to be decent deterrent with the dog turning back. A few Wigeon flew past and the local Linnet flock were seen dropping into the grass a bit further along.
Out on the water, I managed to pick out a Shag, a Guillemot and a couple of Goldeneye in flight. A few more Red-throated Divers were spotted, before I got onto a small-ish black and white duck with very fast wingbeats, zipping low over the water. I was certain it was a Long-tailed Duck but I couldn't risk losing sight of it, by trying to switch to the camera. Thankfully, the scope views were decent enough to confirm I had my 149th species from Dundee for my #2025Dundee150 list. A Mallard, a small flock of Ringed Plovers, then a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits all flew past and having moved on up to beside the brick shelter I was able to add a distant Mute Swan along at Balmossie. By this time, I was getting a bit cold and decided to try to heat up a bit by walking back along towards the castle again. I added Rock Pipit near Beach Crescent, and another Red-throated Diver flew past towards Douglas Terrace. I failed to find any sign of this bird unfortunately on my walk back along the river. Heading up through Eastern Cemetery got me Stock Dove and Sparrowhawk for the day.
I decided to try to add a few more species by popping into Swannie Ponds on the final leg of the journey home. This allowed me to get Grey Heron, Coot, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and Goosander, which was a fairly decent haul and took the day's total to 54 species (including a new one - in bold - for my #2025Dundee150 list). Although I failed to find any Little Auks, I wasn't too surprised as the winds were perhaps just not quite strong enough to drive the birds into the Tay, or maybe they were actually there but hidden among the waves. The only auk I actually saw was a Guillemot flying upriver then later drifting back out past the castle. Managing to get Long-tailed Duck was a nice bonus, as they don't seem to stay too long in the Tay, when they do actually turn up and Saturday's bird followed the same pattern of behaviour. Just 1 more species to get now to reach my target...
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| Cormorant |
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| Eider |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Turnstone |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Curlew |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Robin |
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| Common Gull |
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| Wigeon |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Guillemot |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Moorhen |
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| Mallard |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Linnet, Long-tailed Duck, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose,
Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone,
Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
