1492 : A Cautionary Tale.

Although it would be nice if more folk were interested in what birds were being seen in Dundee, this one particular blog-post probably needs a much wider audience than my usual figures, for reasons that will become apparent when you read it. If you agree that the more people who are made aware of what this post is highlighting, the better, then please do share this far and wide. It may save you or someone else a lot of time, confusion and/or frustration at some point in the near future. 

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Last Sunday a photo appeared on Facebook of 2 Swans in flight taken at Loch of Kinnordy that day. The question was being asked as to whether or not these might be Bewick's Swans or the more likely Whooper Swans. Something about the yellow on the bill didn't looks right to me for Bewick's. It appeared to be the wrong shape for Bewick's, but it was also not quite right for Whoopers, (but appeared more Whooper-shaped to my eyes). I messaged the photographer via Facebook messenger to offer my opinion that I didn't think they were Bewick's, and explained my reasoning why. The photographer had also posted the photo to a Bird ID group and there were a few folk on there saying 'Bewick's', though there was one comment from an experienced birder who I'm aware of (but don't think I've ever met), pointing out that the shape of the yellow was more Whooper-like than Bewick's and that Whooper was also far more likely than Bewick's (which more or less mirrored my own thoughts but was explained in much more detail than I had managed).

The Swans photo as posted on Facebook

Not long after I'd spoken to the photographer of the Swans, a WhatsApp message appeared on the local bird club group from the local area Bird Recorder saying that 2 Bewick's Swans had been reported from Loch of Kinnordy. I decided to stick my head above the parapet and said that having seen the photo on Facebook, I didn't think they were Bewick's. Fast forward to Monday morning and there was a new post on WhatsApp saying they looked like Bewick's. At this point, I was at work and not really able to participate in the discussion fully. The previous evening I had been rather fixated on the shape of the yellow on the bill and I hadn't paid too much attention to the head shape. Looking again on Monday morning, the head shape did indeed appear to favour Bewick's more - though the shape of the yellow on the bill still niggled. I quickly posted a reply where I admitted that I may have been wrong - given the head-shape and that I was less convinced about them not being Bewick's than I had been the night before. 

A comment was added by someone else saying they had shown the photo to some 'decent birders' and that the birds pictured were "100% Bewick's". A very experienced local birder then asked to see the photo which hadn't been posted to the chat. As the photographer isn't a member of the WhatsApp group I shared a copy of the photo privately with them and said that I was 'not wholly convinced either way'. However the photo was then posted to the group by another participant. I thought it a bit odd that there was no immediate statement of  "the swans are (whichever)" from the very experienced local birder. However, much later in the day, I received a reply to my message to him where he queried the possibility of AI being involved. This was very much a lightbulb moment for me. I had recently seen another photo online where features of a bird had been inadvertantly changed quite considerably by an 'enhanced editing' option in the software used and hadn't been noticed/queried by the poster of the photo (the AI possibility was spotted by a very experienced birder). 

I messaged the swan photographer to ask if they had the original unedited photo and if so would they mind sending me a copy so I could try to solve the mystery of what species they actually were. They were able to send me a copy of the unedited photo via Facebook messenger on a phone - which did reduce the quality a bit. However, I lightened the photo (without any AI intervention, using the Snapseed app on my phone). I then overlaid 'my' lightened version over a phone photo of the original 'edited' version, and the actual 'truth' was revealed. Despite the slight block-iness of the unedited pic (due to being shared via phone), it was easy to see that AI involvement in the editing process had actually changed the shape of the yellow on the bill, as well as the overall shape of the head, resulting in a false picture of what had actually been photographed at the time of the sighting. 


The unedited photo
(feel free to save and lighten/crop this photo yourself) 

 

 Lightened and cropped edit from unedited original

Overlay of FB posted edit & my edited version of photo to show features together. Non-AI enhanced version is top in each pair.

"100% Bewick's" the swans most definitely were not. However, superficially there was a resemblance, just as there was superficially still a resemblance to what they actually were. 2 Whooper Swans. The resultant AI enhanced photo were clearly identifiable as 'winter' Swans, but didn't look fully like either of this migrant species pair, though it is perhaps understandable why such 'definite' IDs were offered up, as we all expect photos to be a 100% true representation of what was actually seen by the camera, when the photo was taken. My basic edit (cropped and lightened only - no AI) showed that the birds photographed were Whooper Swans. 

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It appears that increasingly we can no longer trust the 'reality' of photos posted online. Although Photoshop etc has made it possible to edit photos extensively for many years, it is much more time-consuming/labour intensive to create similar results to that which AI can do in seconds with a single click of a mouse button. AI should get better in time, but as things currently stand, it creates a huge problem with regards to photos as evidence of bird sightings. In cases such as these photos, the end results have been 'created' inadvertantly, just by trying to lighten underexposed photos. You wouldn't expect anything to change within the photo except the overall brightness, but it clearly had. By way of explanation, it appears that at some point, 'AI enhanced edits' (or something similar) have been OK'd and the software in use is now defaulting to doing what it thinks is 'correct' rather than just the required very basic edits. 

Not everyone is particularly 'tech-savvy' so it is easy to see how easily this can, and will likely, happen, and when it does, the 'AI edits' may be blatantly obvious - changing major ID features, or they may be as subtle as the Swans' bill/head shape seen here. Obviously, not everyone will realise what AI-enhancements can and will do to their photos, and may make the argument that if it saves a bit of time, then why not use it? As can be seen above these sorts of 'AI enhanced' photos can and will likely make local recorders/rarities committees/eBird & Birdtrack assessors tasks harder and more time-consuming than they already are. 

It has also been suggested that AI can be 'influenced' by the file name, so if the photo being edited is titled Great Tit but is actually a Blue Tit then AI may change some features to make it look more like a Great Tit (I have seen AI models being 'eager to please' when particular opinions are being sought, and so can see how this might arise, but as of yet, I have not come across this personally with regards photo edits).

 If your photo-editing software offers 'enhanced' editing, or 'AI enhanced' editing, or 'smart' editing it may be wise to steer well clear of that option, if at all possible. 

I don't know what the overall solution to this particular problem is, but I'm posting this particular blog-post as a 'heads-up' of something that every birder/bird-photographer probably needs to be aware of. There will be, (and already have been) purposely AI-generated 'fake' photos of rare birds in places where they shouldn't ordinarily be. There are also false positives generated by the Merlin app (and similar) now all muddying the waters of what is and isn't a 'genuine' photo of a 'genuine' sighting (or in Merlin's case the identification of a calling/singing bird). Accidentally AI-enhanced photos being introduced into the mix is most definitely not something that is needed. Unfortunately, chances are things are going to get a lot worse before they get better...but the more people who are aware of AI messing things up, the better  - so that it either doesn't happen in the first place - though if it does, then someone may flag up the possibility.



1491 : Reward Regardless (18/1/26)

Rock Pipit

Having managed to miss out on the Glaucous Gull in the Tay the previous day, I figured there was a decent chance it might still be around on Sunday. My plan was to get down to Balmossie early to check the gull roost in case it was there, and then work my way back along to the castle to check the birds across at Tayport, before checking the same area of the river where the bird had been on Sturday afternoon. I slept in a bit longer than I had intended doing but was still organised and out around 45 minutes or so prior to sunrise. 

Robin, Blackbird, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow and Wren were all picked up in the semi-darkness when I headed out. Magpie, Pink-footed Goose, Song Thrush, Collared Dove and Dunnock all followed as I wandered as quickly as I could for the Stannergate again. With daylight rapidly approaching, it was possible to scan out over the river and I made sure to do so at regular intervals as I continued eastwards out along the river. House Sparrow, Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Common Gull, Grey Heron and Cormorant made for almost a full house of those species one would expect along the Tay early in the morning. There was however no obvious sign of any large gulls out on the river and definitely no sign of the hoped for Glaucous Gull.

Goldfinch and Red-breasted Merganser added another couple of species as I neared Douglas Terrace. A flock of Starlings were around at Beach Crescent and a Pied Wagtail showed nicely on the path. A Rock Pipit was heard but not seen. I had a scan over towards Tayport from beyond the castle but there was no obvious sign of the Glaucous Gull, though my small scope doesn't quite have the reach to make it easy to pick out birds at that distance. I continued on towards Balmossie. A few Greenfinches were in the small trees by the crazy golf course. There was a small group of Bar-tailed Godwits down on the shore, which were practically certain to be flushed when the dog walkers arrived. I had a quick look at the nature reserve where Redwing, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Siskin and Stock Dove provided a decent amount of variety. A small flock of Feral Pigeons were seen in flight too.

I headed back down to the riverside path where a distant Little Egret was seen along with a few Wigeon and a few Great Black-backed Gulls were at the burn mouth. I had a short chat to a lady I've spoken to there before (and who reads this blog, and whose name I've forgotten (sorry!)). I hadn't been there very long when word came through from Mark, across at Tayport. The Glaucous Gull was on the beach there. I quickly headed in the direction from which I'd not long arrived. I stopped to scan at various points, though only for very short periods. However, before I made it more than halfway back, Mark messaged to say the bird had just flown off to the west. This wasn't great news, and I was rather cursing my decision to start at Balmossie. Had I stopped at the Castle and stayed there, I would likely have been able to see the Glaucous Gull after all, though with the small scope, far from guaranteed. 

Once I made it back to the area near the castle I spent a few hours scanning and rescanning as the tide rose. Word came through that the gull had been relocated near Morton Lochs, which explained why I couldn't find it on the river. I did however manage to add Shag, Shelduck (across at Tayport, and new for the year), Turnstone and Red-throated Diver. The next report from Fife was that the gull had flown off northwards from Morton Lochs. I had a few possible sightings of the bird in flight and even managed to see where 'it' landed, but the photos I managed (in very poor light) were far from conclusive enough to add the bird to my list. I eventually called it a day around 1430 when the tide had covered most of the areas holding gulls over at Tayport and headed in the direction of home.

I headed up through Eastern Cemetery and had a quick look at Swannie Ponds which gave me a few new species for the day's list - Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Goosander. These final additions took my total for the day to 48 species, including another welcome tick (in bold) for my #2026Dundee150 list - even if it wasn't the one I had been hoping to get. My biggest error appeared to have been to not stop longer at Broughty Castle in the morning, though not taking my 'proper' scope (which does add a bit more weight along with extra reach) was also perhaps not the smartest of moves. However, despite these errors, I had still managed to add a couple of new species to my list over the course of 2 visits to Broughty Ferry, so the effort involved had certainly not been wasted.

Herring Gull
Jackdaw
Bar-tailed Godwit
Grey Heron
Cormorant
Grey Seal
Black-headed Gull
Oystercatcher
Pied Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Herring Gull
Red-breasted Merganser
Eider
Eider
Red-breasted Merganser
Rock Pipit
Herring Gull
Turnstone
Cormorant
Rock Pipit
Rock Pipit
Red-throated Diver
Red-throated Diver
Red-breasted Merganser
Turnstone
Cormorant

Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Mammals - Grey Seal. 

1490 : Glauc Of The Draw (17/1/26)

Kittiwake

My plan for Saturday the 17th of January had been to make a pre-dawn start to try for Tawny Owl in Caird Park, then head to Trottick Ponds as the sky lightened to try to get Jack Snipe before comtinuing on towards Powrie Brae/Jack Martin Way in search of Tree Sparrow and Grey Partridge. Needless to say, the weather didn't cooperate after all, so that plan ended up shelved. I would instead try to catch up with my back-log of blog-posts and photo-editing (or much more likely, a day heavy with lot of procrastination). However, the rain looked like it was petering out around 1300 or so, and I debated heading out somewhere before dciding against it. At 1337, just as I sat down with a freshly made cup of tea, a message came in from Mark who was over at Tayport. He'd just found a young Glaucous Gull on the Tay towards the Dundee side of the river, near the sailing club sheds.

I quickly got organised and was out the door just 12 minutes after the message had come through, largely due to having prepared my bag for the morning's cancelled birding, the previous night. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Magpie and Carrion Crow provided some predictable first birds for the afternoon. I managed to catch a bus along the Arbroath Road which saved me a bit of time (though roadworks didn't help much). Blue Tit, Starling and Long-tailed Tit were noted on the rather hurried journey down to the Stannergate. I scanned quickly out over the river as soon as I was able to see the Tay but there appeared to be almost no birds out on the water, which wasn't promising.

I added Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Red-breasted Merganser and Cormorant as I hurried along to the Eagle Feathers sculpture to scan from the 'high ground' there. Still no sign. I got talking to an older gentleman about birds and ended up wandering along to the level crossing by the sailing club sheds while chatting to him. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Glaucous Gull, despite repeatedly scanning back and forwards over the river. I then tried from the raised viewpoint offered by the footbridge over the railway line, also to no avail. Continuing onwards towards Broughty Ferry I was surprised when an adult Kittiwake landed in the water just a few metres out from the wall. It didn't look particularly healthy, but it was still new for the year for me. Mark had mentioned there was a Kittiwake in the same area as the Glaucous Gull but unfortunately he had had to leave Tayport shortly after putting out news of the gull. 

Still, the Kittiwake offered some modicum of hope. I scanned from the grassy area in front of 'Bob Servant's house' but drew a blank again. I managed to add Curlew, Eider and Oystercatcher on the shore and river, as well as Blackbird and House Sparrow (by the railway line). I continued along to the 'Phibbies' shed to scan from there. I did get a Red-throated Diver, a pair of Rock Pipits and a skein of Pink-footed Geese before finally calling it a day as the light levels dropped away. Grey Heron and Redshank were noted as I started the walk homewards. Robin, Redwing and Wren were added on the walk homewards. Despite missing out on the Glaucous Gull, I did still add 1 new bird for the year (in bold) amongst the 26 species seen (though I didn't take too many photos).

Kittiwake
Kittiwake
Kittiwake
Kittiwake
Red-throated Diver
Redshank
Redshank
Curlew
Common Gull
Common Gull
Eider
Curlew
Curlew
Oystercatcher
Oystercatcher

Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Kittiwake, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Starling, Turnstone, Wren.

1489 : Mixed Fortunes (14/1/26)

Red-breasted Merganser

Having drawn a blank on adding anything new to my #2026Dundee150 list on both of my previous outings, particularly Kingfisher, I was keen to try to get at least something on the second Wednesday of the year. A Greenshank had been found at Riverside Nature Park on Sunday the 11th by Mark, then seen again by Keith on Monday. This would be a decent bird to get so early in the year, so I decided I would head out to the park to catch the tide coming in. I would give the Kingfisher at City Quay another try on my way out to RNP. Depending on how much walking I did at the park, I would maybe route homewards via Denhead of Gray where Tree Sparrow should (hopefully) be a possibility. All I would need was a bit of luck...

I headed out at 0900. House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling and Herring Gull got things started in rather unspectacular form. Jackdaw, Blue Tit and Robin were the only other birds found on the walk down to City Quay, though I did take a different route from normal to get there that was clearly 'less birdy'. There were plenty of Cormorants in beside the lightship and the Coot seen on my previous visit was still hanging around. A Black-headed Gull was seen flying around beside the Apex Hotel. I failed to find any sign of the Kingfisher at any of the previous spots where I've seen it. There were even more Cormorants in the outer section of the quay and a couple of fed-up looking Grey Herons. A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers were fishing in the same area. Out on the river, there were a few distant Eiders and a single Teal dropped onto the water even further away. An Oystercatcher and a Pied Wagtail were noted as I left the river to have another quick look at the 'dry' dock before I walked out to the Nature Park. 

I peered in from a few spots between the overhanging Buddleia bushes but things weren't looking too promising. However, the distinctive call of a Kingfisher suddenly echoed back off the far side of the dock. I looked both ways but couldn't see the Kingfisher. Suddenly it flew out from my left, low across the water, swung a hard right and flew off towards the end of the dock and up and over the bushes beyond. At last!I debated my choices of the routes out towards the park. The Perth Road seemed to present the shortest route, though with the fewest birding opportunities, the path between the Science Centre and Magdalen Green seemed to offer a few birding opportunities but in the end I decided I was probably just as well to continue out along the river, even if it was actually the longest route. Carrion Crow and Dunnock were both found near Discovery Point. A Common Gull was on the football pitches beyond Bridgeview Station Restaurant. Blackbird, Woodpigeon, a flock of Siskins, a Wren plus a heard-only Goldfinch and a feeding party of Long-tailed Tits did provide some distractions en route.

I reached the Nature Park just after 1040. Magpie, Bullfinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Siskin, Herring Gull, Great Tit, Wren, Carrion Crow, Robin and a few Rabbits were all seen in the first few minutes at the park. Things slowed down after that though. Greenfinch, Redwing, Pink-footed Goose, Jackdaw, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a few Fieldfares were found on my way to check the bay. I headed first to the hide, as I was expecting the tide to already be quite far in. Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Turnstones, a female Red-breasted Merganser, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Cormorant, Knot, Grey Heron, some Long-tailed Tits, a young Moorhen, a Grey Wagtail, 7 Greylag Geese and a few Teal were all seen, but disappointingly there was no sign of the hoped-for Greenshank. 

I did notice a gull on the pipe that looked quite interesting, and wondered if it might (at last) be an adult Caspian Gull, but it appears to have just been a Herring Gull with a dark eye (as usual!). I then did a wee bit of exploring noting Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch and Buzzard. I was very surprised to see a few Snipe in hurried flight from the direction of the Lochan. I had a strong suspicion as to why this would be. There were no birds at all seen at the frozen lochan when I passed, suggesting the Snipe had been flushed from the reeds. When I managed to find a gap in the hedge, my suspicions were confirmed. A 'professional' dog-walker (and friend) with at least 7 dogs were wandering along the back of the Lochan throwing a ball for the off-lead dogs to catch. I'm 99% certain it was the same dog-walker who I told she shouldn't be in the fenced off area a few months ago. Her retort at the time was that she was in there all the time. She knows she isn't meant to be there, but goes in regardless. What chance has nature got...

I messaged one of the local councillors for the area, Fraser McPherson, who has passed the message on to the relevant department to get the fences fixed, to keep the dogs out. In about 8 weeks or so, the breeding season will be starting for this year, though if the weather improves drastically before then, it could possibly be even earlier. There used to be small areas around the city where disturbance was minimal, but the proliferation of 'dog-walking' services over the past few years means that there are now multiple dogs being exercised, often multiple times a day, in places where nature previously had the place to itself, to the detriment of both these places and the nature at the sites. There really needs to be multiple fenced-off areas across the city where dogs can be exercised safely. They don't have to be huge, the equivalent of half a football pitch would likely suffice. Everywhere else, dogs should be on a lead, rather than disturbing people and wildlife. I digress though...

The Snipe were new for the year, but I was not happy about how I happened to encounter them. I added Feral Pigeon and Mistle Thrush as I exited the park just after mid-day. I had decided I would continue up to the Dykes/Denhead of Gray area in search of Tree Sparrow. There were a few birds around as I passed through Invergowrie, but all were bird species I had seen already that morning. There appeared to have been some very busy Beavers down by the burn just down from the 'Swallow' Hotel (actually the Landmark - but I suppose it will always be the Swallow to a sizeable number of locals). I wandered along the cycle path to the north of the hotel and chose to explore the scrubby patch near the small burn. There was a slight chance of Snipe, and maybe even Jack Snipe but I was out of luck with both of those.

However, as I headed back towards the bridge over the burn, I spotted a Kestrel hovering across the other side of the road. Another new bird for the day, and the year. I wandered up the road checking the places where I've seen Tree Sparrow before but to no avail. There is a ruined building in one half of a field just north of the cottages at Denhead of Gray, where Tree Sparrows seemed to congregate previously. Unfortunately, that now seems very unlikely as the bang of a 'gas gun' bird scarer came from within the remaining walls. Similarly, despite the weedy central stretch of the field offereing plenty of prospects for food, there were no birds at all to be seen (or heard), bar some distant corvids and gulls. A single Rook overflew. Linnets, Yellowhammers, finches etc were numerous here last winter, and the food source is still there.

Having drawn a total blank on Tree Sparrow I headed homewards, though via quite a meandering route. Coal Tit was added on the walk up towards the Myrekirk crossings. Mistle Thrush, Stock Dove, Bullfinch and Jay were all found at Balgay Hill after I had wandered through the grounds of Ninewells Hospital to get there. Wren, Great Tit, Redwing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker added a few more species for the day before I trudged rather wearily towards home. I walked around 15 miles in all but did succeed in adding 3 new species (in bold) to my #2026Dundee150 list, even though I had actually dipped on 2 of my hoped-for target species for the day. My total number of species for the day's birding was a fairly decent 55 species (38 species at RNP, and 39 outwith). These new additions took my total for the year so far to 91 (I had ran into an unexpected Brambling and 2 Blackcaps as I headed home from work on the 8th and 9th, that I forgot to mention in my previous post).

Coot
Red-breasted Merganser
Grey Heron
Cormoarnt & Herring Gull
Common Gull
Bullfinch
Pink-footed Goose
Redshank, Dunlin, Turnstone & Grey Heron
Redshank, Dunlin & Black-tailed Godwit
Greylag Goose
Moorhen
Herring Gull
Redshank & Black-tailed Godwit
Cormorant
Buzzard
Snipe
Redwing
Magpie
Kestrel
Kestrel
Rook
Jay

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Snipe, Song Thrush, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon,Wren.

Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.