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| Whooper Swan & Mute Swan |
My original plan for Wednesday was to head out to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie. Until I got out of bed on Wednesday morning and decided that Riverside Nature Park might be a better bet. The downside however was that with the tide on its way out, I would be stuck with the tripod and scope the rest of the day, with nowhere to just sit and watch the birds (out of the forecast increasing wind), so I reverted to my original plan. A trip out to 'the Ferry' it would be. I got organised (having stayed in bed a bit later than my original plan) and headed out at 0705. With high tide at around 0635, I was likely to miss the best of any action but if my patience held I could wait for the tide to come in again (or at least most of the way in).
Dunnock, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, House Martin, Magpie and Collared Dove made for a reasonable first 5 minutes. Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon and Chaffinch were found in Baxter Park with House Sparrows in a garden a bit further on. Overflying Meadow Pipits and a calling Chiffchaff were next. I reached the Stannergate around 35 minutes after leaving home. Blackbird, Song Thrush, Long-tailed Tit and Linnet were spotted on the landward side of the road with a distant Gannet in flight and a slightly unexpected Razorbill found as I scanned the river. Black-headed Gull, Guillemot, Cormorant, a high flying skein of Pink-footed Geese (the first of many throughout the day), Sandwich Tern and Oystercatcher were all noted on the walk to Douglas Terrace, though overall there was very little to see.
A Stock Dove flew up from the shore and a pair of Goosander were a little further out as I headed towards the Castle. Redshanks and Turnstones (along with a few Sandwich Terns) were roosting on the lifeboat jetty along with a few gulls. A Grey Heron was on the rocks off the Castle. Unfortunately, things were just as quiet from the other side of the Castle with very little to see out on the river, even though it was 'flat calm'. I did add Eider and a Grey Seal, but with nothing much happening, I decided to continue on out to Balmossie, stopping at various points on the way. Curlew, Great Black-backed Gull, a few Shags, a Bar-tailed Godwit or two and a trio of Mute Swans flying down river just about kept things ticking along. I sat by the 'figure' artwork again. Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were on the move, calling as they flew over.
A small mixed group of Ringed Plover and Dunlin landed nearby as the tide receded and a Common Gull was seen. Despite lots of scanning, I failed to add anything else though there were hundreds of Gannets fishing to the south of Tentsmuir Point, the splashes from them impacting the water being clearly visible despite the distance (around 3 miles, at least) due to the position of the sun. I moved on again after another 30 minutes of scanning for zero return. At Balmossie there were plenty of gulls on the shore and I made sure to check through them for Mediterranean Gull. Word had come through at 0925 from Riverside Nature Park that the adult Mediterranean Gull (likely the same one I didn't see, but had photographed, the week before) was showing in front of the hide. It appeared I had made the wrong choice, though it was still fairly early and my luck could easily still change for the better.
A Grey Wagtail flew past, a small flock of Wigeon landed just off the burn mouth, and a small group of Swallows were seen low over the river heading west. A vocal Rook landed down by the burn but I failed to find any sign of any Mediterranean Gulls among the various roosting gull groups. Lesser Black-backed Gull was as exotic as it got. I did manage to pick out a distant Little Egret in a pool a bit to the west. More scanning failed to add anything else until a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers were seen near the Goosander flock. Around 1110, a flock of swans were seen swimming in from Monifieth Bay towards the burn mouth. These turned out to be Whooper Swans, fresh in from Iceland. Another sign, that it is most definitely Autumn. Somehow I managed to not get (too) bored looking at the same birds countless times over the course of the next few hours.
It was relatively warm and a Painted Lady and Small White butterflies flitted around nearby. A Silver Y moth also showed close to the bench where I was sitting and a Field Grasshopper was heard. A Buff-tailed Bumblebee provided a little bit of further insect-based distraction. Somehow I managed to last there until 1500, sat in the same spot, checking and rechecking the same birds. Thankfully, the Whoopers weren't flushed, though at one point the regular 'professional' dog-walker who seems to spend more time looking at his phone than the multiple dogs in his charge, did flush a lot of the gulls and waders - which is sadly nothing new, and it was probably a good thing that the tide was still quite far out, so the distance between the dogs and the swans was far enough that the dogs weren't tempted to chase them (as they have been seen to do when the tide is further in - which the dog-walker does nothing to stop, or discourage).
I stopped to scan on the walk back in the hope that the incoming tide would bring in something but I failed to even find a single Red-throated Diver. I did however manage to spot an Osprey over at Tentsmuir Point, which may well prove to be my last of 2026, and a Kestrel hunting over the grassland behind it. One final surprise was what appeared to be a Common Darter dragonfly which landed very briefly beside me, near the Glass Pavilion, but took off as I lifted the camera to grab a photo. This was my 3rd in a week in unexpected places (near Douglas Terrace and at the top of the Law being the others) suggesting that these are either migrating insects or are youngsters dispersing (I will need to see what I can find out from my books and online). With a long and likely empty walk home, I walked up and caught a bus back to Blackscroft and walked the much shorter distance home from there. I finished the day's birding with a total of 56 species of birds, 1 each of bees, grasshoppers, moths, dragonflies and mammals, and 2 of butterflies.
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| Razorbill |
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| Guillemot |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern & Turnstone |
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| Shag |
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| Gannet |
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| Ringed Plover & Dunlin |
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| Linnet |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Rook |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit & Herring Gull |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Common Gull & Black-headed Gull |
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| Mute Swan, Whooper Swan & Wigeon |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Whooper Swan & Mute Swan |
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| Red-breasted Merganser & Goosander |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Redshank & Curlew |
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| Little Egret |
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| Osprey |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Razorbill, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Bees - Buff-tailed Bumblebee.
Butterflies - Painted Lady, Small White.
Dragonflies - Common Darter.
Grasshoppers - Field Grasshopper.
Mammals - Grey Seal.
Moths - Silver Y.
