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| Shag |
Having managed to get another new addition to my #2025Dundee150 list in ths shape of an unexpected Spotted Flycatcher at the Law and with the fire next door to Riverside Nature Park still burning away, I decided that a trip to Broughty Ferry and Balmossie was my best bet for some birding on Saturday the 6th of September. Although I didn't really have any particular target species in mind, I was hoping that there might still be a chance of a Great Skua chasing some Sandwich Terns that hadn't yet vacated the Tay for their over-wintering sites. Given the lack of an actual target, it will come as no surprise that my expectation levels for the day as a whole were rather minimal.
I headed out at around 0720-ish. Robin, Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Meadow Pipit, Woodpigeon, Starling, Goldfinch and House Martin provided a reasonable mix of species on my way along to Dura Street. Carrion Crow, Blue Tit and Blackbird were noted at Baxter Park with Coal Tit added on Bingham Terrace. Magpie and Rook, as well as Rabbit and Grey Squirrel were seen as I cut down through Eastern Cemetery. A Collared Dove overflew Balgavies Avenue as I continued on towards the Stannergate. A Greenfinch was seen on the ground at the Stannergate, and there were a few House Sparrows and Chiffchaffs around as I searched for possible migrants by the railway line. A skein of Canada Geese overflew low before swinging back out over the river towards Tayport. Dunnock, Song Thrush and Lesser Black-backed Gull were spotted before I walked down to check the river, a Red Admiral buttefly flitting past me as I crossed the road.
Down on the shore I was able to pick out Black-headed Gull, Redshank and Oystercatcher. Further on Grey Heron, Common Gull, Curlew and a Cormorant were found. Nearing Douglas Terrace I was surprised to see the tern that was fishing close to shore wasn't the expected Sandwich Tern, but actually a Common Tern. There were still a few Sandwich Terns around though, perched atop the nearby buoys. A Great Tit was seen in one of the large gardens at the northern end of Douglas Terrace and a few Turnstones were down by the water's edge near the outflow pipe. A Goosander in flight was noted a bit further on. A Rock Pipit flew past as I was approaching the lifeboat station. Across towards Fife I could see the Mute Swan family. A small flock of Siskins passed overhead. Round by the castle I picked out 2 very distant Ospreys circling together to the east of Tayport. A Fulmar over the river was a bit of a surprise but things were otherwise disappointingly quiet. Gannet and Eider were seen rather distantly and a Chaffinch was heard from the direction of the crazy golf course. A small flock of Teal flew upriver. Another flock of Canada Geese flew downriver towards Monifieth.
There were a few distant Razorbills out on the river and a couple of large flocks of waders - Bar-tailed Godwits and Lapwings, were seen circling around over the Tayport side of the river. I had moved up into the castle grounds when the castle had opened and this helped to spot a Harbour Porpoise surfacing a few times about halfway across the river - quite possibly the very same one I saw a few weeks ago at the same place. A Grey Seal bobbed along too, and a Grey Wagtail flew past. A Great Black-backed Gull was on the water out by the yellow marker pole and I managed to find a few Guillemots further out before deciding to move on to Balmossie to check the birds around the Dighty Burn outflow. I added a few Linnets on the walk to get there but things were otherwise relatively quiet. At the burn mouth I found a few additional species for the day's list - Jackdaw, Stock Dove, Dunlin and Wigeon. A Small White butterfly flew by above the rock armour. A very distant Red-throated Diver flew downriver.
Unfortunately, the majority of birds were then flushed by an out of control spaniel which spent around 5 minutes chasing every bird it could see before the owner finally made an appearance - on the Monifieth side of the burn, where some relatively half-hearted shouts were aimed in the direction of her now distant dog. Another 5 minutes or so then passed before she wandered slowly past me in the direction of her dog which was by this time chasing the few birds that had been feeding and roosting further on the shore to the west. In all the dog spent more than 10 minutes chasing any and every bird it could see (likely upwards of 1000 individual birds - given the mix of Mute Swans, waders, gulls, starlings, corvids, ducks etc in that area), with the owner making minimal effort to get her dog under any sort of control. One day, her dog may meet a larger dog with an equally ignorant owner and be on the receiving end of some aggressive behaviour, well away from either owner. Perhaps then, the resultant vet's bill will cause the realisation that keeping her dog 'under control' might actually be a good idea (even if she doesn't give the wildlife a second thought).
Needless to say, there was very little point in hanging around at the burn mouth so I headed back along towards the castle. I stopped to scan from a few points on the way which added Kittiwake and a Buzzard over by Tentsmuir. I spent a brief spell at the castle again before heading homewards. There were over 100 Sandwich Terns roosting at the lifeboat station but no other tern species with them. A Goldcrest was calling from a Douglas Terrace garden and a Shag was seen fishing close in to shore near the eagle feathers sculpture. My final bird of the day was a Sparrowhawk which upset all the Feral Pigeons as I wearily wandered back along Dundonald Street. The Sparrowhawk took my total for the day to a pretty decent 62 species of birds, as well as 2 of butterflies and 4 of mammals. In hindsight, it was a reasonably decent day's birding, though largely overshadowed by the completely needless beach clearance by the spaniel, and the lackadaisacal response by the owner.
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| Greenfinch |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Robin |
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| Common Gull |
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| Curlew |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Goosander |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Osprey |
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| Redshank |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Teal |
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| Gannet |
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| Guillemot |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Rook |
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| Wigeon |
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| Redshank & out of control spaniel |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Fulmar |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Guillemot & Razorbill |
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| Eider |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Turnstone |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Shag |
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| Black-headed Gull |
Birds - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed
Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock,
Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander,
Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring
Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied
Wagtail, Razorbill, Red-throated Diver, Redshank,
Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock
Dove, Teal, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon,
Wren.
Butterflies - Red Admiral, Small White.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Grey Squirrel, Harbour Porpoise, Rabbit.
