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| Buzzard |
For my birding on Saturday the 14th of March, I decided that I would head out along the Dighty Burn again, through Dawson Park and then back along the river on my way home. Other than the Ring-necked Parakeet possibility at Dawson Park, I didn't have any particular target species in mind. I was in no real hurry so my plan was rather elastic, I could spend as much time as I wanted at any particular 'stop' along the way. By the time I got organised, it was already 0945.
Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Dunnock and Woodpigeon made for a wee bit of variety in the first couple of minutes. Goldfinch, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Magpie, Coal Tit and Carrion Crow provided a few more species before I reached Swannie Ponds. Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck and Goosander were noted there. Long-tailed Tits were seen in the trees on Douglas Road, and a Buzzard was spotted as I headed in the gate to the track along the Dighty Burn between Whitfield and Douglas. A surprise was a calling Tree Sparrow on the south side of the burn before I'd gone too far.
As I headed on along the burn, Chiffchaff, Wren, Great Tit, Pheasant, Bullfinch, Greenfinch and Dipper were all noted. A Sparrowhawk was being harassed by Carrion Crows near the Baldovie Recycling Buildings. Siskin was next onto the list and a flash of blue and a familiar call got me Kingfisher for the day's list, as it flew off down the burn. Continuing on to the other side of the main road, I got Robin, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Oystercatcher. Scanning over the fields to the east added Curlew, Mistle Thrush, Jackdaw and Rook. A tractor was ploughing the field to the north and amongst the numeous gulls there, were some Black-headed and Common Gulls.
I spotted some birds in flight over the fields to the east of Pitkerro Grove Cemetery, but was unable to get the binoculars onto them before they dropped behind the trees. I thought they might be geese, which meant I had to go and get a closer look, just in case there was something more interesting than Pink-footed Geese in the flock. Heading up to the track along from the road I was able to add Great Spotted Woodpecker. Birds were in very short supply along the dirt track as it appears the farmer(?) has ripped out all the trackside vegetation to around the halfway mark (so far). Given that the area had supported red-listed Yellowhammer, Linnet and Tree Sparrow this is not good news, and is likely to be yet another nail in the coffin of all 3 species locally (following on from the not insignificant Jack Martin Way habitat loss). No doubt the rest will also be destroyed (regardless whether or not the breeding season is already underway). Countryside custodians?
The extent of the habitat destruction annoyed me and there wasn't much to be seen at Pitkerro Grove Cemetery either. Neither were there any geese in any of the nearby fields, meaning the mile or so worth of detour was basically pointless. Stock Dove, Pied Wagtail and Song Thrush were the only birds found at the Cemetery, along with a couple of brief views of Tree Sparrows. Down by the crossroads, I spotted a couple of Buzzards. Another raptor appeared above the trees but even without binoculars didn't look 'right' for Buzzard. It wasn't. It was a very welcome Red Kite. A sliver of bright light in the day's increasing gloom. A Skylark was seen over the lower field and a couple more Buzzards drifted over. A skein of Pink-footed Geese did overfly down by the Dighty but things were otherwise just more of the same, except for a Yellowhammer in the bushes.
I headed back along Balgillo Road before cutting through to Dawson Park. Needless to say there was nothing of note there, and certainly no Ring-necked Parakeet. I continued down to the river where things were depressingly quiet. A pair of Mute Swans - likely the same pair seen a few days earlier in Broughty Ferry Harbour, were bobbing around by the Douglas Terrace outflow pipe. I did eventually manage to see a single Turnstone towards the Stannergate. A few rabbits were seen in their usual spots at the Stannergate. Rather than cut up to Eastern Cemetery, I headed along the Docks Way cycle path. Unfortunately, this lowered my mood even further with Network Rail having ripped out all the trackside vegetation on the south side between the 2 stone bridges as well as having installed a new fence that blocks much of the view of the other side of the tracks. I ended up cutting up through Baxter Park to Swannie Ponds before I made it home. By then I was feeling rather deflated, despite having managed to add another species (in bold) to my #2026Dundee150 list. My total for the day was 50 species of birds and one of mammals. I've definitely had better days.
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| Rook |
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| Dunnock |
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| Goosander |
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| Pheasant |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Mallard |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Red Kite |
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| Red Kite |
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| Red Kite |
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| Buzzard |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull, Curlew, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Black-headed Gull |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Turnstone |
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| Rabbit |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Great Tit |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Moorhen |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff,
Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great
Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan,
Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Red Kite, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush,
Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Woodpigeon,
Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Rabbit.
