0492 : A Different Kind Of Day (21/2/18)

My usual Wednesday birding outing was cancelled this week owing to me attending a rather good gig in Perth on Tuesday night and choosing to stay over in the city rather than hurrying for a train home afterwards. However, I did some casual birding in Perth with my friend who was at the gig with me as we enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine and wandered along the river and around town before heading for home mid-afternoon.
Grey Heron

A Buzzard greeted us as we left the hotel gliding over as we waited for the pedestrian crossing lights to change. A Carrion Crow was next. A wee detour into Rodney Gardens gave us a selection of songbirds - Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tits, Great Tit, Robin and a Wren. Woodpigeons and Feral Pigeon were also seen. Down by the Tay a pair of Goosanders flew upriver as a pair of male Mallards flew over heading in the opposite direction. We found a larger group of Goosander further upriver and another few Mallards. A Black Headed Gull and a Herring Gull glided over. Greenfinch was heard but not seen. A female Blackbird unconcernedly foraged among the leaf litter by the path.

Further on towards the bridge we added flyover Pied Wagtail and Goldfinch as well as a Coal Tit high in a tree. Jackdaws were perched up in the trees at the far end of the bridge. A seat in the sun at the North Inch as we had something to eat for lunch added a pair of Oystercatchers and a Song Thrush was heard singing further along the path but not seen. We did add a Goldcrest which was also singing as walked along to visit the Museum. Later on the way to the railway station we added a Rook perched on a building not far from the South Inch and there were House Sparrows in a garden as we walked along the main road opposite the park.

From the train back to Dundee we spotted Mute Swans at the fishery below the Friarton Bridge as well as a field full of Pink Footed Geese and as we passed Invergowrie Bay there were a few Greylags very close in to the seawall. Gulls were numerous out in the burn outflow but the train was  a little too fast to be able to identify them.

25 species seen around Perth and on the way home without actually birding (list was only belatedly started after we'd spotted most of the above). Not a bad haul, even if there wasn't anything particularly unusual among the birds seen. No photos were taken as I didn't have my usual birding gear with me.

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Woodpigeon, Wren.

As it was such a sunny day I decided to pay a visit to Swannie Ponds for an hour once I made it home to see if I could find any unusual gulls, or at least record a few ringed birds. I chose a different route from my usual Clepington Road one, taking the more southerly route along to Morgan Academy and up to the ponds that way. Herring Gull, Jackdaw and Feral Pigeon started the list off, followed soon after by a 'singing' Starling on a tenement roof and a flyover pair of House Sparrows. A Black Headed Gull glided past as I neared the Dura Street car park where a couple of Herring Gulls were foraging around the recycling bins.

Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow were seen as I headed up past Baxter Park. A Blue Tit was heard but not looked for. Arriving at the ponds I found the lower one full of good numbers of Black Headed and Herring Gulls but nothing unusual. The top pond held even more birds with good numbers of Black Headeds in particular and maybe around 20 or so Herring Gulls. Mallards (including a couple of the domestic females that 'arrived' somehow fairly recently), Tufted Ducks, the trio of Mute Swans, a Coot and a Grey Heron roosting on the island made up the numbers. A pair of Woodpigeons wandered around feeding on the grass.

A male Chaffinch sang from the trees near the end of the path up to the road. A Moorhen appeared on the island. A pair of Magpies were in the trees above it. A second Coot appeared from around the rear side of the island. There were quite a lot of Black Headed Gulls stood out along the path and I scanned through them looking for ringed birds. First was Green J63P, a fairly recent find - a Norwegian bird. Two yellow ringed birds were next, both regulars here - 2CA6 and 2XLD. I also managed to get photos of a metal ringed bird as it preened and was pleased to find that I could read the full ring number from the photos once at home. Another Norwegian ringed bird - 6181458, a bird I'd seen here in 2015.

A yellow ringed bird that wandered into view as I was adding Common Gull to the list was rather surprisingly a new one - 2BC5. It will likely be another relatively local ringed bird, as the Yellow 2*** birds all are. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the temperature started to drop and my fingers were getting rather cold so I chose to call it a day and head for home. I found a pair of Bullfinches quietly feeding on buds in the trees at the corner by the path up to the road, though on the opposite side from where the Chaffinch had been earlier.

There were a few more species to be added on the walk home with a flyover Goldfinch, a displaying Greenfinch, a Great Tit calling from a tree in a garden all seen. A Robin was heard, but I was surprised to not see any Blackbirds at all. Jackdaws were annoying a Feral Pigeon flock on Clepington Road. A Siskin did fly over as I walked down Court Street and a pair of Collared Doves were perched on a chimney as I neared home.

23 species seen in roughly 90 minutes worth of enjoyable birding with the bonus of another new ringed bird. As the months progress towards Spring the numbers of Black Headed Gulls will probably rise a little more then start to fall again as birds move on to their breeding sites though as the probability of the ponds being icebound falls so does the likelihood of adding more ring records at the site this winter.
Grey Heron

Mallard & Mute Swan

Black Headed Gull & Mute Swan

Coot

Tufted Duck

Grey Heron

Chaffinch

Herring Gull

Herring Gull

Mallard

Black Headed Gull (J63P)

Mallard

Herring Gull

Black Headed Gull (2CA6)

Black Headed Gull (2XLD)

Magpie

Black Headed Gull & Common Gull

Woodpigeon

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Black Headed Gull (2XLD)

Black Headed Gull (6181458)

Black Headed Gull (2BC5)

Black Headed Gull (2BC5)

Black Headed Gull

Black Headed Gull (2CA6)

Black Headed Gull (2CA6)

Black Headed Gull (6181458)

Bullfinch

Species seen - Black Headed Gull, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Starling, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon.

36 species in total seen overall which isn't too bad given that I wasn't really birding for most of the day (though if I'm outside, I'm probably birding to a degree, even if it is just making a mental note of what I can see/hear).

0491 : Kinnordy Afternoon (18/2/18)

When I woke up on Sunday morning following a rather late night I found a message from Jacqui asking where I was, and if I fancied an afternoon's birding at Kinnordy. Having had such a successful day out the previous day and still 'needing' Bittern for the year-list it was an answer in the affirmative that found it's way back. After a bit of discussion we settled on a 1215 pick-up from the same spot as Saturday.

Smew

The list for the day started off as I headed out at just before 1210 with a Herring Gull, the local House Sparrows and a Feral Pigeon. A few more species were added as we headed out of Dundee with Carrion Crow, Starling and Black Headed Gull. Other additions on the way north were Jackdaws, Pheasant and Woodpigeon plus a few Oystercatchers at the flooded pool at Auchindorie Farm. A Buzzard was on a telegraph pole at the farm.

Surprisingly, although there were a couple of cars in the car park, the Gullery Hide was empty when we walked in. A quick scan around gave us Teal, Coot, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, a few Whooper Swans, a drake Goosander, a few Tufted Ducks and a Grey Heron. There were Lapwings and Oystercatchers on the Bogbean islands. Further scanning around found a few Goldeneye dotted around. Jacqui found the first Snipe of the day on one of the Bogbean islands.

A little later I spotted something white behind the reeds slightly to the right of straight ahead where a channel runs away out of sight. It was the drake Smew and it eventually swam out and along the front of the reeds and into the westernmost channel in front of the hide. Unfortunately there was still a lot of ice which possibly stopped us getting much closer views. It then swam further left after a few minutes and we lost sight of it.

A few Greylags flew past, but there was a much larger influx later which included an orage neck-collared bird 'CLZ'. This bird had been ringed in Scotland but has also been seen in Iceland a few times. A Common Gull flew past, and a Moorhen wandered out onto the ice. A female Reed Bunting landed in the reeds to the left of the hide before we decided to check out the feeders and the other hides. There were Long Tailed Tits and Siskins foraging just outside the door of the hide among the branches.

Blue Tit and Great Tit were seen in the trees as we headed for the East Hide. We stopped to watch a party of Chaffinches feeding along the edges of the path. Among them I found a Lesser Redpoll. Tree Sparrows, Robin, Treecreeper and Coal Tit were seen around the feeders. Nothing else was added from the East Hide, and despite much scanning we were unable to conjure up the Bittern from here either. A trio of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen in a tree between the two hides as we were heading back along the path. Jacqui spotted a Weasel which may have been after the Chaffinch flock close by but our presence seemed to encourage it to disappear off into the undergrowth. Another addition to my growing mammal list for the year.

A Wren was the only worthwhile addition from the Swamp Hide so we headed back to the Gullery Hide where we found Trevor Donaldson and the Aberdeen/Deeside RSPB group filling most of the space but having no luck with either Smew or Bittern. Fortunately for them, the Smew flew out from where we'd last seen it and landed in a decent spot for viewing. One of the ladies phoned to alert others from the group who had walked to the East Hide, and within minutes they arrived back and managed to see the Smew. Still no Bittern though.

We were joined by Jimmy Mair down on one of his annual twitching trips south from his northern home on the Moray coast and we had a wee catch-up blether. He'd finally managed to see a Bittern, at Strathbeg, when one wandered out in front of him. Him and his pal had also had a successful day down into Fife and were heading for home. Myself and Jacqui decided it was time to do likewise at around 1600. As we exited the hide a Brown Hare trotting along the path at the end of the wooden walkway spotted us, and ran up through the car park, across the road and up the field opposite and out of sight beyond the rise. Nothing new was seen except a Kestrel on the way home, though I did finally add a Blackbird to the list for the afternoon as I headed down Court Street having been dropped off by Jacqui.

A decent afternoon's lazy birding with the 2 mammals new for the year being my own highlights although a drake Smew is always a welcome sight. 42 species were seen (and 2 mammals).

Whooper Swan & Tufted Duck

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Mute Swan

Oystercatcher

Mute Swan & Tufted Duck

Mute Swan

Lapwing & Snipe

Greylag Geese

Smew

Smew

Smew & Greylag

Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye & Wigeon

Mute Swan, Greylag Goose & Smew

Buzzard

Reed Bunting

Long Tailed Tit

Greylag Geese

Greylag Geese

Greylag Geese

Greylag Geese

Greylag Geese

Lesser Redpoll

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Whooper Swan

Snipe

Mallard & Smew

Snipe

Pheasant

Pheasant

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Smew, Snipe, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Mammals seen - Brown Hare, Weasel.