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