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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
Having successfully twitched the Ruff at Riverside Nature Park on Tuesday, I weighed up my options for Wednesday the 19th of August. The weather forecast was fairly decent in the morning though with a chance of rain, potentially heavy, as the day progressed. Going for Quail was a possibility but I felt the chances of success were relatively low. Broughty Ferry and Balmossie seemed to offer a far better chance of adding something with Mark having seen both Common and Arctic Terns across the river at Tayport. Mediterranean Gull, Sanderling or even a skua were also possible. The one downside was that high tide was before 0800. Low tide is never the most productive time so my plan was to get to Broughty Castle for around 0800, then move up into the castle when it opened a bit later.
Somehow I actually managed to get out of bed at 0530 and be organised in time to head out the door at 0620. It was a little later than originally intended but if I'd set the alarm any earlier I would very likely have gone back to sleep. Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Starling and Feral Pigeon got the day's list started. Once again, I decided to take a slightly less 'birdy' route, that I hoped might save me time, but once again I was to be disappointed. Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Wren, Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Willow Warbler, a few Rabbits and a heard only Tree Pipit were all noted as I headed out along the Docks Way cycle path.
At the Stannergate I was able to add Pied Wagtail, Oystercatcher, House Sparrow, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Chiffchaff, Sandwich Tern, Black-headed Gull, Turnstone and Curlew. A little further on, the day's first Redshank was spotted. A Grey Seal was seen out on the river and a Great Black-backed Gull flew past. Cormorant and Common Gull were seen from Douglas Terrace. At Beach Crescent a lone Mute Swan flew downriver past the castle. I headed round to the east of the castle and set up my small scope on the tripod to see what I could find out on, and over, the river. Things were rather quiet, much quieter than expected. Guillemots, Eider and a few distant Gannets were noted while Swallows and Sand Martins passed by. A Rock Pipit was heard calling briefly.
A pair of small pipit-shaped birds flew past shortly after hearing the Rock Pipit. The birds were silhouetted against the sky but I took some photos as I couldn't be sure they were 'just' Rock Pipits. As it turned out, it was very fortunate I had persevered with trying to get photos of the birds in flight as the birds were a new species for my #2026Dundee150 list, and one that really hadn't been on my radar - a pair of Yellow Wagtails. A Grey Heron flew over high towards Tayport and some disturbance over the Fife side of the river resulted in some Mallard flying out over the river. A few small groups of Goosander flew low past the castle while others could be seen out on the flat calm water. A distant Little Egret was seen in flight near Lucky Scalp.
I decided to continue out to Balmossie for the tide receding, in the hope of perhaps getting Sanderling on the way, and maybe even a butterfly or two at the wildflower meadows. A Sparrowhawk was seen low over the road just beyond the dolphins car park area, being harassed by a group of Magpies, though it didn't appear troubled in the slightest. Continuing on added Grey Wagtail. Around the eastern end of the Barnhill Rock Garden I found a few Ringed Plover down on the beach. Small White and Painted Lady butterflies were in the wildflower meadows, along with a flock of Goldfinches. A trio of Linnets were in the rock armour a bit further on. At Balmossie, it didn't take too long to get the day's first, but far from last, Osprey with a failed fishing attempt. A second Osprey however had a bit more success and I managed to get some photos of it overhead pursued by a Lesser Black-backed Gull.
I heard a Greenshank calling just as 2 of the birds flew low past me to land near the burn mouth gulls. Bar-tailed Godwits and a Rook were noted before a Wheatear appeared briefly on the concrete outflow. A Buzzard drifted over to the north of the railway line upsetting most of the birds, before another Osprey showed up. I finally managed to get a Common Tern flying upriver, another new bird for the #2026Dundee150 list. A trio of Dunlin flew in and a small group of House Martins headed over westwards. With nothing much happening, I decided to head back along to the castle to scan from the higher viewpoint available there. I stopped a few times on the walk back, each time I did so I saw at least another Osprey, though I did have 3 in view at one point. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard and a wader seen heading fast and low just off the beach turned out to be a Ruff.
I was able to show a few folk the Ospreys fishing, once I'd set up the scope for them. From the castle I managed to get a few more Ospreys, eventually resulting in a total of 17 individual sightings between 0950 and 1450 when I finally decided to head homewards. Although there were a few birds photographed on the walk back, none were new for the day. The sky had been getting progressively darker and I was beginning to doubt I would make it home before the rain arrived. By some small miracle I made it to my door just as the first few drops began to fall. Within minutes it was extremely heavy and I was glad to be indoors. I finished the day's birding with a total of 57 species of birds (2 new for my #2026Dundee150 list - in bold), 2 of butterflies and 2 of mammals. A better than expected day's birding overall.
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| Turnstone |
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| Redshank |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Swallow |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Goosander |
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| Common Tern |
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| Cormorant |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Linnet |
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| Greenshank |
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| Osprey |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull & Osprey |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Rook |
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| Wheatear |
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| Buzzard |
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| Osprey |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Curlew & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Herring Gull |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Tree Pipit, Turnstone, Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellow Wagtail.
Butterflies - Painted Lady, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
