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| Curlew |
I spent all day Saturday at Camperdown Park, mostly at the Wildlife Centre, helping out with a Bioblitz event, along with Lainy. Things proved to be rather quiet overall, though having not visited the Wildlife Centre for the best part of 20 years it was interesting to see what was still there, and what was new. The main avian highlight of the Bioblitz was an overflying Osprey I picked up as it headed northwest away from the park. Rohan was feeling a little under the weather on Saturday, so we postponed some evening birding until Sunday morning. We had considered trying for the Cattle Egret at Morton Lochs, but as neither of us were particularly bothered about seeing it, we decided to do some seawatching instead.
This was to give Rohan a bit of a gentle introduction to one of my favourite birding activities. Although Fife Ness and Fishtown of Usan are the main seawatching sites within an hour's travel from Dundee, we decided to try from the far quieter and slightly more accessible Boddin on the Angus coast, by the now crumbling limekilns. Rohan picked me up at 0800, though it was raining once again. However, the forecast was for the rain to move northeast. We decided to stop first at Westhaven, in the hope of a few terns (primarily Roseate and Black), then possibly Arbroath, and then finally spend a bit of time at Boddin. Magpie, Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull were noted before we set off.
Not many birds were added from the car as we drove out to Carnoustie. Rook, Swallow and an unexpected small flock of Mallards which dropped into a farm pond (that I didn't even know was there) after flying across the road, and a small flock of House Sparrows as we drove down the eastern edge of Westhaven were all we had to show for the miles travelled. Things were however, a lot busier at Westhaven. Once we got the scopes set up, we set about scanning the shoreline, rocks and sea. Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Turnstone, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Gannet, Eider, Cormorant, Sandwich Tern, Great Black-backed Gull, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Starling, Grey Heron, Blackbird, Robin, Guillemot and Curlew were all found before we moved on again.
We were going to have a quick look at Arbroath but with time in relatively short supply we headed straight for Boddin instead. A Roe Deer with a damaged hind leg was spotted in a cereal field near Marywell. Having not been to Boddin for a few years, we took a slightly circuitous route to get there, meaning it was around 1010 when we arrived. There were lots of Linnets on the wires at the farm. A couple of birds seen through the slightly distorted view offered by the car windscreen gave off a bit of a Yellow Wagtail vibe but dropped out of sight into the field before I could get a clear look. Instead of lingering to try to see them again, we headed down the hill to the Limekilns. Tree Sparrow, Goldfinch, Rock Pipit, House Martin and Sand Martin all gave us decent views on the walk down.
Eider, Sandwich Tern and Gannets were quickly picked up along with plentiful Guillemots and Razorbills - all birds we'd already seen at Westhaven earlier. Rohan spotted a few Bottlenose Dolphins which gave us decent views with some breaching as they passed the point. A trio of Common Scoters headed northwards as did a single Red-throated Diver. There were a few Kittiwakes and Fulmars around and a slightly larger flock of Common Scoter flew into the bay. A Grey Heron wandered out across the seaweed to the right of our viewpoint. Common Tern was heard but not seen, though a young Arctic Tern did give us a fly-by. A Green-veined White butterfly and a young Yellowhammer were spotted on the walk back up to the car. We spent just under an hour at Boddin before heading back in the direction of Dundee to maximise our birding time before Rohan had to be back home.
A Buzzard was seen over the road as we neared Inverkeilor, and another 2 were seen somewhere near Monifieth. We discussed possible stops as we headed back, eventually settling on a quick visit to Balgay Hill to try to get Rohan a couple of species that she was still surprisingly missing for her year-list - Nuthatch and Goldcrest. En route, we dropped off the scopes and tripods at home, in case I wanted to stay out birding once we were done at Balgay. As it turned out we didn't need to spend much time at all at Balgay Cemetery - quickly finding both Goldcrest and Nuthatch in the same tree just a short distance from the car. In addition, Woodpigeon, Wren, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Coal Tit, Robin, Bullfinch and Treecreeper were all found before we called it a day. I decided to head home and Rohan kindly dropped me off. 46 species of birds were found outwith Dundee, as well as 1 of butterflies and 2 of mammals. Dundee got us 12 species of birds.
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| Gannet & Cormorant |
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| Fulmar |
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| Guillemot & Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Fulmar |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Curlew |
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| Curlew |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Green-veined White |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet & Goldfinch |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Carrion Crow |
Birds (outwith Dundee) - Arctic Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Starling, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (outwith Dundee) - Green-veined White.
Mammals (outwith Dundee) - Bottlenose Dolphin, Roe Deer.
Birds (in Dundee) - Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
