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| Rock Pipit |
Having been to Riverside Nature Park on Sunday I decided to head for Broughty Ferry on my day off on Wednesday. The second Glaucous Gull of the year at Tayport had been seen again. Despite the likely futility of trying to pick out a single gull at a mile's distance amongst potentially a few hundred other gulls, against the light, with the likelihood of some heat distortion, I still decided to give it yet another go. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained"....(or maybe "the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result", might be more apt).
I was out the door for the walk to the Ferry at 0920. Expectations were low, but there was a slight chance of Sandwich Tern, Osprey or maybe even a Wheatear, if luck was on my side. I forgot to mention that it was also forecast to be rather windy with fairly strong gusts from the northwest. I would make the most of the relative shelter provided by some of the buildings down by the water. House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Magpie, an overflying Grey Heron as I passed Mains Loan (which was a bit unexpected), Carrion Crow and Starling were all noted on my way to Swannie Ponds. Mallard, Coot, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Mute Swan and a very tame Grey Heron were seen at the ponds.
Goldfinch and Great Tit were seen as I headed for the cemetery next. Rabbit, Grey Squirrel, Chaffinch and Long-tailed Tit were all I managed to see at Eastern Cemetery. Rather than heading along the river from the Stannergate I had decided to try Dawson Park on a quiet weekday in the hope of catching up with the Ring-necked Parakeet. Needless to say, I failed in this, instead having to make do with the much less exciting Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin and Oystercatcher. I headed down to the river where I found a single Redshank on the shore off Douglas Terrace. A single Turnstone was feeding among the pebbles by the lifeboat station, and a Common Gull flew past.
A couple of Jackdaws were seen at Beach Crescent. From the relative shelter of the 'Phibbies' hut I was able to add a pair of Eiders close in to the harbour as well as a passing Cormorant, a Curlew in the harbour and a Rock Pipit. Scanning through the gulls across at Tayport gave me false hope a few times but I wasn't having much luck. A Red-throated Diver flew upriver before I decided I was wasting my time and set off for the walk along to Balmossie to see if there was anything amongst the birds at the burn outflow. A Black-headed Gull was seen on the way and there were a few Grey Seals hauled out on a sandbank. A Stock Dove took flight from among the wildflower meadow plants near the brick shelter and the local wintering Linnet flock was still around though the numbers appeared a littl lower than previously.
A Greenfinch displayed from the trees at the Barnhill Rock Garden. At Balmossie I was able to add Wigeon, Little Egret, Great Black-backed Gull and a Red-breasted Merganser. A passer-by stopped for a chat before I headed back along the river, stopping to video the Little Egret as it stirred up the relatively deep water in one of the tidal pools. It flew off unseen as I was chatting to someone else who stopped for a blether, but I managed to relocate it feeding in the shallows at the edge of the beach. I tried Dawson Park again on my way home but needless to say drew a blank again. My only additions on the rest of the way home were Collared Dove and Coal Tit taking what was a rather frustrating and underwhelming day's birding total to just 45 species.
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| Eider |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Eider |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Cormorant, Herring Gull & Grey Seal |
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| Little Egret |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Linnet |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
