Stonefaction
Dundee Birding....(target 150 in 2024).
This isn't a 'trip report' as such, though it is a 'vacation' report, so I hope it is ok to post it here to give folk an idea of what the general area covered can offer.
For those that don't know, Dundee sits on the Firth of Tay, roughly half way between Aberdeen and Edinburgh on the east coast of Scotland and is within an hour or so of a nice variety of habitat from the expansive reedbeds further up river, to the Angus glens, and also moorland, hills, mountains, cliffs, beaches (sandy, rocky and pebbled), estuary, rivers, burns, lochs, reservoirs, urban parks and forests and woodland all around. With fairly decent transport links it offers a pretty good base if birding is not the main reason for a holiday (it can't rival Speyside, though that area can be reached within 2 hours) with plenty options around in addition to the wildlife.
Without much of a built-in 'travel' urge most of my birding is done locally around Tayside and Fife (with a few trips further afield to Aberdeenshire, Lothian and Perthshire mostly), and mostly at weekends. I rely on public transport and lifts from friends to get around, though I do a lot of walking as well. With a week off work timed to hopefully coincide with some decent birds being around I intended to get out and about birding on each of the 9 days before I had to be back at work.
In that 9 days I managed to see 127 species of bird, and added 13 species to my year-list. I also saw Bottlenose Dolphins twice, and Fallow and Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Bank Vole, Rabbits, Red Squirrel on the mammal front without trying.
A far more detailed write-up of each day's outing is on my blog (links provided below highlights).
Saturday 9th May. Led a guided walk at Riverside Nature Park in Dundee in the morning with Goosander, Swift and a patch tick in the shape of Ringed Plover the (rather low-key) highlights. Into the city centre later to see how our local long-staying injured Red Throated Diver (known as Dave) was doing.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/weekend-walk-9515.html
Sunday 10th May. Out with a friend to Loch of Kinnordy and farmland near Kirriemuir where Golden Plover and Dotterel had been seen the day before. Managed to see both species in the rain. Marsh Harrier, Snipe, Common Sandpiper and Wheatear were bonus birds.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/stars-on-sunday-10515.html
Monday 11th May. Bus trip to Montrose Basin and nearby Ferryden. Little Egret, Common Tern and Purple Sandpiper the target birds with all three successfully ticked. Whimbrel and Wheatear the bonus birds today. Great prolonged views of Dolphins around and in the mouth of the river for 2 hours or so.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/ferryden-foray-11515.html
Tuesday 12th May. Windy weather kept the birds mostly out of sight so highlights along the Angus coast to Arbroath were minimal though Kittiwakes, Razorbill and Guillemots were seen well while sea-watching from Arbroath cliffs. Dolphins seen again.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/when-wind-blows-12515.html
Wednesday 13th May. Fife Ness and Crail general area. Found a Sparrowhawk nest in Crail, then had great views of singing Corn Bunting as well as Grey Partridge on the way out to Fife Ness. Red Throated Diver, lots of Gannets, close views of Purple Sandpiper and Turnstones. Spotted Flycatcher found at Kilminning.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/nests-and-ness13515.html
Thursday 14th May. A day out in the Angus glens with same pal as Sunday. Lots of highlights as is usually the case at this time of year. Black and Red Grouse, Red Kite, Cuckoo, Raven, Stonechat, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/back-to-glens-14515.html
Friday 15th May. Headed a bit further afield with pal to Killiecrankie to see Wood Warbler. Also managed to see an unexpected Nuthatch and a Garden Warbler. On the way back to Loch of Kinnordy to (eventually) see a Garganey we added Peregrine and Short Eared Owl.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/smiles-and-surprises-15515.html
Saturday 16th May. A bit of birding fatigue beginning to set in meant a bit of local birding to a couple of parks near to home. Highlights were a bit low-key with nest building Moorhen and Long Tailed Tits probably the best.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/on-ponds-16515.html
Sunday 17th May. A final hurrah to round things off with an inland run through of a few sites. Short Eared Owl, Green Woodpecker and Jay probably the best of the bunch.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/sunday-spin-17515.html
Videos of some of the above highlights (and others from the week) can be found on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/stonefaction
Species seen - Red Throated Diver, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Pink Footed Goose. Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Garganey, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Eider, Common Scoter, Goldeneye, Red Breasted Merganser, Goosander, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Osprey, Kestrel, Peregrine, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Red Legged Partride, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Dotterel, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Snipe, Black Tailed Godwit, Bar Tialed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Guillemot, Razorbill, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Cuckoo, Short Eared Owl, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker
Skylark, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Dipper, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Whinchat, Stonechat, Wheatear, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Sedge warbler, Whitethroat, Garden warbler, Blackcap, Wood Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, treecreeper, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting.
For those that don't know, Dundee sits on the Firth of Tay, roughly half way between Aberdeen and Edinburgh on the east coast of Scotland and is within an hour or so of a nice variety of habitat from the expansive reedbeds further up river, to the Angus glens, and also moorland, hills, mountains, cliffs, beaches (sandy, rocky and pebbled), estuary, rivers, burns, lochs, reservoirs, urban parks and forests and woodland all around. With fairly decent transport links it offers a pretty good base if birding is not the main reason for a holiday (it can't rival Speyside, though that area can be reached within 2 hours) with plenty options around in addition to the wildlife.
Without much of a built-in 'travel' urge most of my birding is done locally around Tayside and Fife (with a few trips further afield to Aberdeenshire, Lothian and Perthshire mostly), and mostly at weekends. I rely on public transport and lifts from friends to get around, though I do a lot of walking as well. With a week off work timed to hopefully coincide with some decent birds being around I intended to get out and about birding on each of the 9 days before I had to be back at work.
In that 9 days I managed to see 127 species of bird, and added 13 species to my year-list. I also saw Bottlenose Dolphins twice, and Fallow and Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Bank Vole, Rabbits, Red Squirrel on the mammal front without trying.
A far more detailed write-up of each day's outing is on my blog (links provided below highlights).
Saturday 9th May. Led a guided walk at Riverside Nature Park in Dundee in the morning with Goosander, Swift and a patch tick in the shape of Ringed Plover the (rather low-key) highlights. Into the city centre later to see how our local long-staying injured Red Throated Diver (known as Dave) was doing.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/weekend-walk-9515.html
Sunday 10th May. Out with a friend to Loch of Kinnordy and farmland near Kirriemuir where Golden Plover and Dotterel had been seen the day before. Managed to see both species in the rain. Marsh Harrier, Snipe, Common Sandpiper and Wheatear were bonus birds.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/stars-on-sunday-10515.html
Monday 11th May. Bus trip to Montrose Basin and nearby Ferryden. Little Egret, Common Tern and Purple Sandpiper the target birds with all three successfully ticked. Whimbrel and Wheatear the bonus birds today. Great prolonged views of Dolphins around and in the mouth of the river for 2 hours or so.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/ferryden-foray-11515.html
Tuesday 12th May. Windy weather kept the birds mostly out of sight so highlights along the Angus coast to Arbroath were minimal though Kittiwakes, Razorbill and Guillemots were seen well while sea-watching from Arbroath cliffs. Dolphins seen again.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/when-wind-blows-12515.html
Wednesday 13th May. Fife Ness and Crail general area. Found a Sparrowhawk nest in Crail, then had great views of singing Corn Bunting as well as Grey Partridge on the way out to Fife Ness. Red Throated Diver, lots of Gannets, close views of Purple Sandpiper and Turnstones. Spotted Flycatcher found at Kilminning.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/nests-and-ness13515.html
Thursday 14th May. A day out in the Angus glens with same pal as Sunday. Lots of highlights as is usually the case at this time of year. Black and Red Grouse, Red Kite, Cuckoo, Raven, Stonechat, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/back-to-glens-14515.html
Friday 15th May. Headed a bit further afield with pal to Killiecrankie to see Wood Warbler. Also managed to see an unexpected Nuthatch and a Garden Warbler. On the way back to Loch of Kinnordy to (eventually) see a Garganey we added Peregrine and Short Eared Owl.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/smiles-and-surprises-15515.html
Saturday 16th May. A bit of birding fatigue beginning to set in meant a bit of local birding to a couple of parks near to home. Highlights were a bit low-key with nest building Moorhen and Long Tailed Tits probably the best.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/on-ponds-16515.html
Sunday 17th May. A final hurrah to round things off with an inland run through of a few sites. Short Eared Owl, Green Woodpecker and Jay probably the best of the bunch.
http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/sunday-spin-17515.html
Videos of some of the above highlights (and others from the week) can be found on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/stonefaction
Species seen - Red Throated Diver, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Pink Footed Goose. Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Garganey, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Eider, Common Scoter, Goldeneye, Red Breasted Merganser, Goosander, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Osprey, Kestrel, Peregrine, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Red Legged Partride, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Dotterel, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Snipe, Black Tailed Godwit, Bar Tialed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Guillemot, Razorbill, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Cuckoo, Short Eared Owl, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker
Skylark, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Dipper, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Whinchat, Stonechat, Wheatear, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Sedge warbler, Whitethroat, Garden warbler, Blackcap, Wood Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, treecreeper, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting.
