 |
| Sandwich Tern |
 |
| Oystercatchers |
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
| Sandwich Tern |
 |
| Herring Gulls |
I haven't visited my (former?) "patch" too often this year, for a number of reasons, but a chance conversation online turned into an opportunity to visit the park and at a time outwith my more usual visits previously. I had got talking to a lady who was interested in wildlife and conservation and who did a lot of volunteering in this sphere. We arranged to meet up and for me to show her round the park. With a reasonable weather forecast, mostly dry though with rain later, we were to meet at around 1815 in the car park and spend up to a couple of hours seeing what we could find.
I decided to leave the camera gear at home (photos above are for illustration only) and headed down to meet up with Pauline at the park. I somehow managed to arrive early despite the bus times appearing to make that possibility highly unlikely. On the way in, the first bird seen was a Herring Gull gliding over. A Chaffinch was the only bird seen at Buzzard Wood, one flying up from the ovegrown vegetation by the side of the path and into the bushes.
Woodpigeon and a few flyover Swallows were seen while I waited for Pauline to show up. It was rather quiet, with not many birds around. When Pauline arrived a few minutes later, we decided on the best route around the park, leaving the bay and hide until later on, when the tide state would be slightly better. We set off in the direction of Buzzard Wood, a Carrion Crow pair flying up and off as we walked along the paths. A few more Swallows swept through heading upriver towards the roosts at the Tay reedbeds. A Great Black Backed Gull powered its way past heading towards the airport. We found Buzzard Wood to be quite disappointing compared to its usual state, with only a Robin and a few Chaffinches showing themselves.
A few more gulls drifted by, and the odd Woodpigeon flew over as we headed up towards the Lochan. A family party of Long Tailed Tits were in the hedge at the top of the small brae where the paths from the lower half join the other half. A Goldfinch was next on the list as we wandered through the trees where there are usually warblers and tits to see, or at least hear. Like most of the rest of the park, it seemed to be very quiet.
The Lochan was devoid of birds, as it tends to be until the Teal return sometime quite soon, with not even a Crow to be seen. A few Black Headed Gulls headed over in the direction of Invergowrie Bay. A Blackbird spooked as we walked along the long stretch of path heading for the hide. Although conditions weren't brilliant for seeing too much from the hide we did see more species here than we had in the park. Oystercatchers and Redshanks wandered around on the mud, with a few Curlews dotted around. There were Lapwings by the pipe in small numbers. Lesser Black Backed Gulls, adults and juveniles, mingled with the Herring and Black Headed Gulls in the burn outflow and on the exposed mud.
A few Feral Pigeons flew down onto the pipe where a couple of Carrion Crows strutted around as if they owned the place until they got too close to a Herring Gull who put them in their place without too much effort. I could hear Sandwich Terns and it took a minute or two to pick one up out across the bay, and to point it out to Pauline.
We decided to try and get a different perspective on the bay and headed back along the path then down across the grass to the fenceline. House Martins skimmed past us heading out across the bay. With a clearer view across the bay we soon managed to pick out a small group of Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper flew out and away towards the pipe. Looking back up the burn we spotted a few Mallards, as well as Mute Swan and a pair of Teal.
We headed back up to the path to wander round back towards the car park. A juvenile Shelduck was in the outer bay and a Cormorant flew downriver giving us a rather distant view but another species for our list. The rain looked like it wasn't too far away. A few Swallows, Crows and Gulls were all we saw on the way back round to the car park. Pauline offered me a lift home which I gratefully accepted, arriving home a short while before the rain began.
Only 26 species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, House Martin, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Swallow, Teal, Woodpigeon.