Back In Time. (1 Viewer)

1100 : Back In Time.

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

To mark my 1100th blog-post I've looked back at the local Bird Reports from 1993, 2003 and 2013 to see what birds were around in those particular years and how they compare to 2023.

 

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That's quite a list of rarities (including some nice American and Siberian ones), but what I also noticed is how many European species that I take for granted are absent or much rarer in the North. An impressive collection of photos, too!

 

[Stonefaction]

Dundee does struggle a little with its location when it comes to attracting migrants and suffers a little with no real 'hot-spot' to cause birds to stop off for very long. In Autumn the birds mostly seem to route down the coast then cross to Fife before they reach Dundee on their way south. There are exceptions though, but it appears that northerly or easterly winds in winter are a better bet to give us rare visitors here in the city (or at least out on the river). In Spring, we get the odd bird but again a few miles east seems to have better luck.

As for taking particular species for granted we have Ospreys and Eider ducks that are very regular sightings (especially the Eiders) but birders from elsewhere especially further south want to see both - though they may not pay much attention to a Hobby, or a Mediterranean Gull on 'their patch'. I'm still hoping for a Hobby here (I know of someone who has seen one over the airport in the past) though Med Gulls are on the increase.