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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
I decided that I would head for Broughty Ferry on my first December midweek day off. I was still hoping for a Little Auk, despite the wind direction, or maybe a Slavonian Grebe. Either would be a welcome addition to my #2025Dundee150 list. The weather forecast looked reasonably decent, though there did appear to be a slight chance of a shower or two, though not really amounting to anything to be concerned about. I got organised and headed out not too long after sunrise. It was a fairly sunny morning with plenty blue sky above.
First onto the list for the day were Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Jackdaw and a Grey Wagtail. Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow and Starling were all noted as I headed for Baxter Park. Long-tailed Tits, Mistle Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Song Thrush all made for a fairly productive visit to the park. Greenfinch, Robin and House Sparrow were all found as I continued on along towards Eastern Cemetery. The cemetery was also relatively busy with birds - more Mistle Thrushes, Chaffinches and Long-tailed Tits as well as Redwings, Great Tit, Magpie and Wren. As I neared the eastern end, I once again heard the distinctive call of a Ring-necked Parakeet.
It didn't take too long to locate the bright green bird, sharing a tree with a Woodpigeon this time around. I was again able to get some decent views of the bird feeding and preening, though branches did get in the way numerous times, resulting in almost constant changing of positions. The bird appeared fairly settled, so I messaged Lainy to let her know it was around if she wanted photos. She wasn't feeling great but said she might pop down for a look. The bird moved to a few different trees before it flew out of sight, apparently disappearing into a conifer nearby. Unfortunately I was unable to relocate the bird, as it wasn't in the tree I thought it was, though I did hear it call once a little later. As I was trying to refind the bird I bumped into Lainy and the 2 of us wandered round the western end of the site trying to see if we could find the parakeet, but to no avail. We did add Black-headed Gull, Rook, Redpoll, Blackbird, Skylark, Pied Wagtail and Fieldfare, as well as a few Grey Squirrels though.
As we expanded our search further we chanced upon another Dundee birder - Ged, who was waiting for the local Buzzard to return to a dead Oystercatcher lying amongst the gravestones. We joined him, just as it began to rain, though thankfully the thicker conifers offered some shelter from the shower as well as largely hiding us from the Buzzard's view. Unfortunately, we were out of luck with the Buzzard as although it flew around a bit, it wouldn't drop down to feed. We soon wandered off to see what else we could find and stumbled upon a perched Sparrowhawk, which relocated a short distance once it spotted us. We were able to get some decent photos of the bird perched atop some of the gravestones, before it flew off towards the nearby Dundee High School playing fields at Mayfield. More wandering got us Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit and an overflying Common Gull.
With still no sign of the parakeet and the Buzzard failing to return to the Oystercatcher, we spent some time photographing the winter thrushes instead before Lainy decided to head home. The rain was also lasting a lot longer than had been forecast, though thankfully it did eventually fizzle out. Ged and I continued to wander round the Cemetery to see what we could find. We had a close encounter with a Sparrowhawk being pursued by Magpies and Crows, and a little later, heard what was likely the same bird making a kill. While trying to see where it was, it burst past us, carrying what appeared to be a still living Blackbird. A Collared Dove was perched on a wire along the top edge of the lower half of the Cemetery. A skein of Pink-footed Geese headed west following the river. By this time, the light was starting to noticeably dip and it was obvious birds were beginning to go to roost. We refound the Buzzard, though we didn't immediately notice it was carrying what was left of the Oystercatcher in its talons. Only when it flew off again, was it possible to see the wader remains.
A few small flocks of Curlews overflew before we decided to call it a day at the Cemetery. I suggested we have a quick look at Swannie Ponds on the way homewards. Coot, Mallard, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan and Moorhen were all added there. We also had good views of the Greenfinch flock preparing to go to roost. Still-frames from my phone videos showed around 250 birds in the flock, which was broadly similar to what I've previously counted. I ended the day with a total of 45 species of birds, and 1 of mammals. It had been a pretty decent day's birding, despite spending almost all day at the Cemetery, and it having rained for a fair sized chunk of that time. Having packed my scope and tripod for Broughty Ferry, it did mean I was carrying a bit of unnecessary weight with me, and although we stayed at the site we were almost constantly walking, so we likely covered a decent amount of distance too, and by the time I was home, my legs were rather heavy.
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| Woodpigeon & Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Redwing |
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| Mistle Thrush & Redwing |
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| Buzzard & Magpie |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk & Magpie |
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| Redwing |
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| Buzzard |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Rook |
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| Curlew |
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| Greenfinch |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard,
Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Curlew, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring
Gull, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard,
Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied
Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redpoll, Redwing, Ring-Necked Parakeet, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Rook, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tufted
Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
