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| Grey Heron |
I had been planning on heading out to the fields around the northern and western edges of Dundee for the previous couple of weeks to try for Quail while the fields are being harvested, but never quite got motivated enough to actually do it, until Tuesday the 25th of August. I had noticed from the top of the Law the previous Saturday that some of the fields had hay bales in them, though the others appeared untouched. So I decided to finally give it a shot, though I was uncertain on which area offered the best chances of adding Quail to my #2026Dundee150 list. On the day, it came down to which required the least effort to get to, so a trip to the northern edges of the city beyond Fintry, was my choice.
There was no point on an early start as rain was forecast for around sunrise, and again around 0900, though when 0900 came around that rain had slipped back to after 1000. Then it didn't actually materialise. Once it looked like it was likely to stay dry, I headed out (around 1040). Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, House Martin and Dunnock were all I managed to see on the walk up to Caird Park. Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Robin, Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Moorhen, Mallard, Willow Warbler, Magpie, Long-tailed Tit, Robin and Carrion Crow in Caird Park went some way towards making up for the dearth of birds prior to reaching the park. Great Tit, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling and Sparrowhawk were the only additions between there and the 'back of Fintry', along with a Red Admiral butterfly.
Things were not surprisingly rather quiet along Jack Martin Way. Black-headed Gull, Swallow, Skylark and Goldfinch were noted with Linnets and Chiffchaff a bit further on towards Middleton Woods. By this time it was rather apparent that I was a bit too late and all the fields had actually been harvested already but I decided to wander on anyway and see what, if anything, I could find. A pair of Stonechats were in the hollow where there is a pool at certain times of the year in the stubble field next to the wood. Things proved extremely quiet after that with very little activity with one exception. A tractor was turning over one of the fields and the gulls and corvids were taking advantage of the opportunity. Rook, Jackdaw and Common Gull were seen though there didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary in the mix behind the tractor.
The walk back to Fintry, via the large field to the north of the Black Watch monument only provided a calling Wren and a rather distant Kestrel a bit to the north. An unidentified (possible) Pipit took flight as I checked out the small field across the road having seen what looked like 2 birds hunkered down in between rows of stubble. Unfortunately, it was lost to sight within a second as it flew into a small roadside tree, and apparently out through the back, as there was no sign of it at all when I had a closer look at the tree. With both Meadow and Tree Pipit on the move just now, and the bird remaining silent, it could easily have been either, so it was left off the day's list. I made it home with a total of 33 species of birds and 1 of butterflies though overall it was a fairly underwhelming wander.
The birding for the day wasn't over however. I had arranged with Rohan to head down to the Tay reedbeds in the hope of seeing a hirundine roost and perhaps some interaction with hunting raptors and the smaller birds. Unfortunately, the wind had picked up a fair bit by teatime, and the sky was very grey with wall to wall cloud. Not promising in the slightest but I figured the pool at Port Allen would be full of birds. Unfortunately, since my last visit (pre-covid) a lot had changed down there, as I was to discover. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Roe Deer and Brown Hare were all we managed to see from the car on the way to Errol. We did see a few House Martins as we started down Gas Brae but things were very quiet. Jackdaw, an overflying Grey Heron and a few Linnets were noted as we wandered down to check the reedbeds beyond the house at the bottom of the track.
We saw nothing here bar a few Black-headed Gulls likely heading to roost out on the river. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard as we wandered through the trees westwards towards Port Allen. There were a number of Pheasants in the field to the north. A small group of Great Tits flew up from the ground into the trees as we passed but otherwise things were eerily quiet. As it had been years since my last visit (and earlier in the year), I was unaware that the large pool I had pinned my hopes on was now very much a tidal pool, due to a hole in the south bank, and with the tide out it was just a lot of empty mud and reeds. Out on the river we were able to make out some distant birds - Cormorants, Teal and Mallard. Rohan managed to see some Canada Geese, that I only heard, with trees blocking my line of sight. Curlew was another heard-only species. Having left the scope at home these were all we were able to make out.
Where the other pool had been was now impossible to see at all with the reeds and Himalayan Balsam or Japanese Knotweed (certainly one of the invasive non-native species) blocking the view completely. With the light rapidly getting worse as the clock ticked towards 'sunset' we headed back towards Errol. We did see some Sand Martins and Swallows heading towards the reeds, as well as noting Carrion Crow, Buzzard, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Wren and Chiffchaff (though some of the smaller birds were 'heard-only'). We had close views of 4 or 5 Roe Deer though the gloom meant the photos were fairly poor despite the close proximity of the individual deer. An (assumed) Pipistrelle Bat was seen as we headed back up the track to the car, rounding off what was a very disappointing evening's birding. Somehow we did manage to find 27 species of birds and 3 of mammals though overall it was a very frustrating and rather pointless outing, largely due to the weather conditions. A disappointing end to a disappointing day though in both cases (morning and evening), pretty much my own fault.
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| Moorhen |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow |
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| Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow & Sparrowhawk |
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| Buzzard |
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| Linnet |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Domesticated Turkey |
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| Kestrel |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Pheasant |
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| Teal |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Roe Deer |
Birds (Dundee) - Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (Dundee) - Red Admiral.
Birds (Perthshire) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Cormorant, Curlew, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Pheasant, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Swallow, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (Perthshire) - Brown Hare, Pipistrelle Bat, Roe Deer.
