A couple of times a year, usually April or May, and September or October, I lead a guided walk at Riverside Nature Park on behalf of the Friends of Riverside Nature Park, with whom I was involved for a few years after the park opened. The attendance at these varies from 3 to 33, with the average usually around a dozen or so. The Autumn walk tends to be timed to hopefully catch some visible migration, or vis-mig - usually Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Wagtails, Finches and Thrushes. With the winds having been mostly strong westerlies lately prospects looked relatively poor for vis-mig, despite the sunshine and very light winds from the northeast.
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| Whooper Swan |
With an 0830 start for the walk, I headed out at 0750 to meet Nat to head out to the park. I was hopeful that I might pick up some indication as to whether we would get much vis-mig from the park. A Woodpigeon flew up ahead of me from the path. I head the distinctive call of a Meadow Pipit and soon spotted it flying over. Promising. However, there wasn't much else. I did add Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon further on and seconds later a flock of Goldfinches flew through. Just before meeting Nat at our arranged rendezvous point, I heard Pink Footed Geese calling and eventually spotted a skein quite distantly, the sound carrying in the relative quiet of the early morning.
We headed out to the park, where there was only one other car in the car park and a young lady with binoculars stood waiting. There seemed to be plenty of Blackbirds around in the bushes. A Starling flew in to the top of another bush. A few Woodpigeons passed over. A small mustelid - either a Weasel or a Stoat, ran across the entrance road. A Blue Tit flew across the car park, as more folk arrived and joined our increasing band of birders. A flock of Mallards raced over westwards, and as I was explaining the basic details of the plan for the walk a few Siskins overflew. I could hear Bullfinches calling but we struggled to see them in the trees though Chaffinches, Blue Tit and Coal Tit were all spotted among the branches. Pink Footed Geese were arriving from the north in small groups.
Great Spotted Woodpecker flew past and as we walked in the direction of the path up the hill we saw numerous Song Thrushes, no doubt migrants which had arrived overnight and were feeding up. As we neared the hill, a swan overflew. There was no sound from the wings and a short call and a quick photo identified it as a Whooper Swan. A decent bird, and probably another migrant. I picked up our first Meadow Pipits of the morning as we wandered up the hill. Feral Pigeons passed over in small groups. A group of Chaffinches and more Meadow Pipits headed over. Minutes later I heard the distinctive calls of Skylarks approaching and pointed them out. A Pied Wagtail was next. A few flocks of Starlings passed by as did more Song Thrushes.
A scope was set up to check the bay, though with the tide well out, birds were in short supply. Teal, Redshanks, Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls, Curlew and Oystercatcher were seen. Further out in the bay, Carrion Crows were on the mud. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was in the burn. A Swallow zipped over low and headed down the hill towards the bay. More Skylarks and Meadow Pipits passed over. There were some Pink Footed Geese well out on the mud, and more flying over, also on the mud were Mallards and more Teal. Just as we left the top of the hill a flock of around 15 Skylarks flew through on both sides of our group at eye level, giving us great views. We headed back towards the car park en route to Buzzard Wood.
Two Magpies were in the trees by the recycling site. A Chaffinch was perched high in a tree at Buzzard Wood. Someone spotted a Snipe dropping in to the flooded area, so I had a wander through the now very boggy area, with channels hidden by vegetation, but full of water. A Snipe flushed almost immediately, and a second flushed from below the hedge as I got closer. Round the side of Buzzard Wood, I heard Chiffchaffs calling and Gareth Jones who had been on the May walk sotted one high in the Sycamores. Blue Tits, Chaffinches and a few more Chiffchaffs were soon seen, actively feeding on insects among the sun-warmed branches.
There were still Meadow Pipits and Skylarks passing over as well as Woodpigeons and Feral Pigeons. With the time already at 1005 we picked the pace up a bit and headed for the Lochan. A few Mallards to the left, Teal around the edge and a pair of Mute Swans at the eastern end were seen, with the female Tufted Duck still on the water. Nat spotted a wader among the Teal, a sleeping Dunlin. As I spoke to someone on the path, I spotted a Grey Heron flying above the hill, giving us another species for the list. Jackdaws flew over as we walked west to the hide, though expectations were low. I'd asked if anyone was in any hurry to get away at 1030 (the advertised finishing time), but no-one was except Graham Cross from the Friends group committee who headed off.
With less time pressures we could hopefully add a few more species. Feral Pigeons, a Curlew and a few Jackdaws, plus distant Black Headed Gulls were all that was seen from the hide around the burn, though 2 Great Tits were seen out in the bushes. Long Tailed Tits called from the trees behind the hide and 1 was seen flying out followed by a Blue Tit. A Stock Dove flew past as we walked back towards the hill. There were still a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits passing over, and some geese arriving overhead. Redshanks, Teal, Oystercatchers and a Black Tailed Godwit (found by the young lady who had arrived early) were out on the mud. A Grey Heron and a Great Black Backed Gull were picked out well out in the river. More Siskins overflew.
There was a bit of activity in the bay with some loud calling from the waders. I spotted a Peregrine gliding over before it put on a burst of speed and headed west past Kingoodie and out of sight. A Wren was in the bushes in the fenced area at the south end of the hill. We ran into more Goldfinches feeding on seed heads round the corner. Just as we reached the car park, a Jay called from the trees. As I tried to see if I could spot it, it flew out into the open and disappeared behind the trees after giving us all nice views. A quick check of the list for the day as we rounded things off at 1100, gave a grand total of 43 species, which is a decent total. Thanks, and goodbyes were said and everyone headed off quite pleased with the morning's birds.
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Woodpigeon juvenile |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Dunlin |
As Nat exited the park access road onto Riverside Avenue, a Magpie was on the grass opposite. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker call from in the trees and belatedly spotted it on the highest branch at the crown of a tree. While waiting at traffic lights near the Tay roadbridge, I heard and then saw a small flock of House Sparrows. These took the 'outside the park' list to 9 species.
Species seen 'outside the park' - Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Pink Footed Goose, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon.
Species seen at the park - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon, Wren.
