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| Little Egret |
Ordinarily, the 4th of January would be spent trying to mop up some of the species I hadn't yet tried for, dotted about in one of the halves of the city (as long as I wasn't back at work). However, I realised that although this was definitely an option, a better bet might be a return visit to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie. I had missed out on a number of species there on the 1st due largely to the tide state and times (and also the 'Dook'). These species included Rock Pipit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Red-throated Diver, Shag, Sanderling and Little Egret. I decided that was the better option after all, so a return visit it was. The weather was much the same as previously with an icy cold wind and sunshine, though with little prospect of rain. With the wind having swung round to the north, there was a decent chance that the river would be relatively calm, making birds easier to pick out at a distance, on the water.
I headed out just before sunrise. A flock of Long-tailed Tits made a bit of a change from Herring Gull as the first bird(s) on the list for the day. House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail and Feral Pigeon quickly followed. Needless to say, Herring Gull soon put in an appearance, as did Magpie. Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Robin, Blackbird, Bullfinch, Blue Tit and Starling provided an unexpected amount of variety as I headed in the direction of Swannie Ponds, along Clepington Road. With ice still covering much of the ponds I was able to quickly check through the birds as they were all crowded together. Black-headed Gulls and Mallards were the most numerous, with a supporting cast of Coots, Mute Swans, a couple of Tufted Ducks, Common Gulls and the lingering drake Shoveler.
There were a few Greenfinches leaving the roost as I too left, for Eastern Cemetery. I added Great Tit and Coal Tit on my walk along to the Cemetery where there was also a reasonable amount of early morning activity happening. Chaffinch, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, both Sparrowhawk and Buzzard as well as Grey Squirrel and Rabbit were all noted. I eventually managed to see a few Fieldfares while trying in vain to find the Ring-necked Parakeet. A couple of Oystercatchers flew over as I passed the site of the old Craigiebank Church. I reached the Stannergate around an hour after leaving the house. Wren, Woodpigeon and a skein of Pink-footed Geese were all noted there. The day's first Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock and Grey Heron were all found as I headed eastwards along the river side.
A drake Red-breasted Merganser was picked out, rather distantly out on the water. The Little Grebe pair were seen in the small bay off Beach Crescent, but were staying well out from the shore. I spotted a trio of distant Mute Swans heading downriver, though closer to the Fife side than the Broughty side. A bit behind them was another swan, which turned out to be my first Whooper Swan of the year - a very welcome bonus bird. Around the castle I was able to get Eider, Siskin and Shag, but disappointingly there was no sign of any Rock Pipits once again. This always seems to be the case when I am specifically trying to see them. A bit further along the beach I could see a flock of waders. As expected, these were my third new species for the day - Bar-tailed Godwits.
A Little Egret was in one of the larger pools on the beach but was flushed by walkers before I got anywhere near it, though thankfully, it did fly in my general direction before swinging back round towards Balmossie. As I continued on in that direction, I was able to get Redshank, Wigeon, a couple of Grey Plover, some Knot, and a few Great Black-backed Gulls before I reached the seats I tend to favour, overlooking the main groups of birds. Scanning through them added Turnstone, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. A bit further out on the water I was able to find a few Goldeneye. I scanned through every dot I could see out on the water, some recognisable, some not. I found a Red-throated Diver in Monifieth Bay, and was a bit surprised and pleased to see a Great Northern Diver surface close by. Unfortunately, in typical Diver fashion, it disappeared back underwater before I managed to re-find it with the camera. This was repeated a couple of times before I managed to lose sight of it altogether.
I spotted Anne Reid nearby and called her over to try to get the Divers for her, but unfortunately we were out of luck, though she did see a couple of new species with the aid of the scope. I headed back along towards the castle as the tide came in further. My only new birds for the day on the way back were some of the local Linnet flock. Back at the castle, there was once again, no sign of any Rock Pipits, it looked like I was out of luck once more. However, just as I was about to leave the castle area, a Rock Pipit landed very close by, before dropping down onto the mat of floating seaweed in the corner of the harbour area to feed. I managed to get a few photos before heading back homewards along the river.
I headed back up through the Cemetery again on my way home, just in case the Ring-necked Parakeet had dropped in to roost. If it had, it was out of sight, and staying quiet. I did pick up a small silent skein of geese overhead, which turned out to be Greylag Geese rather than the expected Pink-footed Geese. There were a few Stock Doves around again, perched warily in the tops of some of the taller trees, along with some of the 'winter thrushes' and the odd finch. I had another quick look at Swannie Ponds on the way past which gave me a final 2 species for the day - Grey Wagtail and Goosander. These took my total for the day to a surprisingly good 64 species, of which 7 were new, taking my total for my #2026Dundee150 to an unexpected 86 species in 4 days, all from within Dundee, in less than ideal weather - though it was mostly dry, even if it was icily cold and windy still.
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| Robin |
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| Rabbit |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Curlew |
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| Shag |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Knot |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Knot, Dunlin & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Linnet |
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| Red-throated(?) Diver |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Grey Wagtail |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant,
Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Northern Diver, Great
Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose,
Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe,
Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan,
Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser,
Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Redwing, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Shoveler, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan,
Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
