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| Crossbill |
Having more or less fallen asleep much earlier than usual on Friday evening, even before making it all the way through the day's photos, I woke up around 0500 on Saturday morning. The weather forecast was to be fairly decent once again and I was planning on getting out somewhere. As I still needed Jack Snipe for my #2026Dundee150 list, I decided to get organised and head down to Trottick with my thermal imager without bothering with breakfast, which I would have when I got back home a couple of hours later. Then I would decide where to spend the majority of the day birding.
Sunrise was around 0610 and I was out the door just after 0530. Blackbird, Herring Gull, Dunnock, Wren, Magpie, Robin, House Sparrow and Blue Tit were all noted as I headed in the direction of the Kingsway. I had chosen not to go via Caird Park (as I tend to get sidetracked by what I find there) as the Jack Snipe was my main priority for my early morning efforts. Heading down Old Glamis Road added Carrion Crow, Oystercatcher, a low flying Grey Heron, Woodpigeon, Song Thrush and overflying Meadow Pipit. Jackdaws and Chaffinch were found as I headed in through the Trottick Mains cottages.
I managed to see and hear a decent mix of species as I scanned for any signs of Jack Snipe. Redpoll, Moorhen, Mallard, Pink-footed Geese, Redwing, Siskin, Crossbill, Jay and Reed Bunting. In addition there were a couple of Roe Deer and a circling (assumed) Pipistrelle Bat. I eventually spotted a tiny motionless heat source in amongst vegetation. Having successfully sneaked up on a pile of deer droppings previously I wasn't sure if it was even a bird I was stalking. I couldn't see anything obvious using binoculars as I skirted round trying to get a better angle. The heat source remained stationary. I still couldn't see what the source was when I got within a couple of feet of it. Suddenly, a small brown-ish bird exploded upwards to around chest height before flying off low across the open area and dropped down out of sight again. Jack Snipe. Mission accomplished.
I checked the other areas of the small reserve adding Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Buzzard and Goldfinch. As I headed back in the direction of Caird Park, I heard a singing Dipper down on the Dighty and managed to see two of the birds. Cutting up through Cairdie I was able to add Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pheasant, Sparrowhawk, Curlew and Grey Wagtail. Both Grey Squirrel and Rabbit were also easily found, which took the number of mammal species for the morning to 4. Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Collared Dove amd Starling rounded off the morning's sightings before I made it home for about 0830 and some much needed breakfast.
I spent a couple of hours at home before deciding to head back up the Law, having already seen a fair variety of species before breakfast. A decent sized skein of Pink-footed Geese headed low northeast as I wandered up Mains Road. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard from the trees by the Law and a Sparrowhawk was sighted before I made it up to the top of the hill. A Redpoll flew past and a Sparrowhawk was seen circling out to the east at noon. The Small Tortoiseshell seen the previous day was in the same general area again. A Lesser Black-backed Gull glided past and a Meadow Pipit flew over westwards. With the top of the hill relatively busy I decided to go looking for insects again.
I ended up spending a while wandering back and forward along the edge of the allotments on Law Crescent. There were multiple Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells and I managed to get some interesting video of a pair of Small Tortoiseshell displaying pre-mating behaviour. As I was using my phone to record the clip, the microphone was very close to the butterflies. I was surprised to realise later at home, that it was possible to hear the male's antennae apparently being 'clapped' together (though the UK Butterflies website suggests the antennae are being used to strike the female's rear wings - which would make more sense, assuming that the reason isn't auditory, as these butterflies apparently can't hear, though it didn't appear to be the case in the video(s)).
In addition to the butterflies, I photographed a few more Fly species plus some Hairy Shieldbugs attempting to mate, and 7 Pine Ladybirds on a tree trunk between the 2 sets of steps round to the east of the allotments with a couple of these mating too. I had also found a 7-spot Ladybird on my way up to the top of the hill earlier in the day. It is good to finally see some variety of nature again instead of just birds and mammals. It was definitely feeling like Spring had arrived. I eventually headed back up to the top of the Law for another look. There were 2 younger birders watching a Kestrel hovering which was chased off by a Sparrowhawk. One of these I recognised as Cat, who I had met at Swannie Ponds earlier in the year. She was with her pal, Sca (hopefully the correct spelling!) and we had a bit of a blether about local wildlife before they headed off for something to eat.
With things being relatively quiet, I wandered back down to the east side to photograph more insects on my way home (including my first wasp species of the year). I finished the day's birding/insecting (is that even a word?) with a total of 50 species of birds (with my new addition to #2026Dundee150 list in bold), 4 of mammals and 2 each of butterflies and ladybirds. In addition there were a few species of bees, wasp, flies and shieldbugs also noted (though mostly as yet unidentified). The early start to the day had actually been very productive and the afternoon had been rather more relaxed as a result, with my eyes aimed downwards much more than usual.
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| Grey Heron |
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| Little Grebe & Moorhen |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Robin |
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| Buzzard |
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| Dipper |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Crossbill |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Curlew |
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| Rabbit |
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| Siskin |
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| 7-spot Ladybird |
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| Fly sp. |
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| Jay |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Bumblebee sp. |
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| Hairy Shieldbug |
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| Small Tortoiseshell |
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| Peacock |
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| Pine Ladybird |
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| Ant sp. |
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| Fly sp. |
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| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
Birds - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Crossbill, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Grebe, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redpoll, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell.
Ladybirds - 7-spot Ladybird, Pine Ladybird.
Other identified insects - Hairy Shieldbug, Tree Bumblebee.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Pipistrelle Bat, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
