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| Little Egret & Carrion Crow |
The first week of October sees the arrival of Barnacle Geese from their breeding grounds in the Arctic. The majority of them head down the coast in long lines, often low over the water, but a few do tend to route up the Tay on their way down to their wintering grounds around the Solway Firth in southwest Scotland (and northwest England). Barnacle Goose should already have been on my #2026Dundee150 list as I actually photographed one back in January on a very grey and slightly misty day, in a small skein of Pink-feet heading down the Tay, as I wandered down to Broughty Ferry. With the geese being just darker grey shapes on a slightly paler grey background it wasn't a surprise I missed it at the time, but it was a bit frustrating nonetheless. I would head down to Broughty Ferry on Sunday morning (the 4th of October) in the hope of getting a 'Barnie' onto the list.
The weather forecast wasn't brilliant, being quite windy from the west and with a chance of some rain at some point, as well as not being overly warm. It was just after sunrise when I headed out for the walk down to Broughty Ferry. Herring Gull, Grey Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Pied Wagtail were all I managed to find on my way down to the Frankenstein Steps en route to the Docks Way cycle path. Woodpigeon and Goldcrest were found near Eden Terrace. I changed my mind about heading along the Docks Way choosing to head along the side of the road instead. Wren and Dunnock, plus a black Rabbit were unsurprisingly the only finds along the much noisier route. House Sparrow, Robin, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and a westward bound Meadow Pipit were added as I reached the Stannergate area.
Along the river, Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Buzzard, Great Black-backed Gull, Curlew, Starling, Turnstone, Rock Pipit and a family group of Mute Swans in flight made for a slightly more productive walk to Douglas Terrace than usual. Goosander was the only further addition before I reached the castle with Eider seen from near the Glass Pavilion. I popped into the local nature reserve just in case there were any grounded migrants sheltering from the rather strong westerlies but things were even quieter than usual. Heading back out towards the beach, I set the scope up by the metal figure artwork and scanned out over the river as best I could. A few Linnets were nearby and a small mixed group of Swallows and House Martins were seen low over the river headed west.
Common Gull and Black-headed Gull flew past before I picked up a long line of geese headed south across the mouth of the river from the direction of Barry Buddon. I had a feeling these were Barnacle Geese but they were just too distant to be absolutely certain. There were around 40 or so in the skein which eventually broke into 2 halves around Tentsmuir Point. Just as it was looking like I wouldn't be getting Barnacle Goose confirmed from that group, I spotted a much smaller party of geese heading into the Tay over the beach at Tentsmuir Point. Once I got the scope on them, I was able to see that they were indeed the hoped-for target species for the day, Barnacle Goose, and I even managed to get a few record shots, despite the conditions and distance. Wigeon, Rook and Guillemot were added before I moved on to the brick shelter for a bit more protection from the wind and a slightly more raised viewpoint.
Grey Heron, Razorbill, Shelduck, Dunlin and Little Egret were all added from the brick shelter before I decided to continue on to Balmossie to check through the birds there. Redshank, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit were noted en route, as was a Mistle Thrush in the Barnhill Rock Garden trees. Things were relatively quiet at the mouth of the Dighty though I did see a few interesting looking gulls which disappointingly all appear to have been Herring Gulls (as usual). New additions for the day there were Lesser Black-backed Gull, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser. Amongst the gulls I found a single Jackdaw wandering around. This bird had a noticeable pale collar, though not nearly as bright as the 'northern' Jackdaw I had found earlier in the year at Riverside Nature Park. It was still a very distinctive bird and being on its own, it may well have been a new arrival from the continent.
I gave up at the Dighty mouth around noon and headed back along the river. A few Ringed Plover were found and I had closer than usual views of a single Little Egret feeding in pools along the beach. The walk home from there failed to add anything at all, until I reached Eastern Cemetery where Grey Squirrels were spotted. With the day's list still a little on the short side I decided to pop into Swannie Ponds for a few more species instead of going via Baxter Park to get home. Swannie Ponds got me Coot, Mallard, Moorhen, Shoveler and Tufted Duck, plus a single Goosander. I finished the day's birding with a total of 58 species of birds, including 1 new (in bold) for my #2026Dundee150 list, and 2 of mammals. The weather was very autumnal though the successful goose hunt took the edge off that, (at least a little).
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Curlew |
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| Turnstone |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Cormorant |
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| Linnet |
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| Barnacle Goose |
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| Guillemot |
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| Razorbill |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Common Gull |
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| Herring Gull & Jackdaw (monedula subspecies?) |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Herring Gull, Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser & Oystercatcher |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Little Egret |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Carrion Crow & Little Egret |
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| Eider |
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| Curlew |
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| Goosander |
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| Black-headed Gull (white J0214) |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Moorhen |
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| Shoveler |
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| Shoveler |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Barnacle Goose, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Razorbill, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Starling, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
