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| Willow Warbler |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Rook |
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| Swift |
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| Female Orange Tip Butterfly |
Once again a rather unfavourable weather forecast made making plans to get out and about somewhere worthwhile a bit pointless, and with none of my birding friends heading for the Scottish Birdfair that too was off the agenda. As things turned out the weather behaved better than it was supposed to, so I decided to pop down to Riverside Nature Park to get my 9 days of birding in a row off to some sort of a start.
I left the house at about 1030, picking up Blackbird followed by Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Starling and Woodpigeon before I got on a bus into town. From the bus, Feral Pigeon was added near the Bell Street multi-storey car park. The bus took a rather large detour, so I took the option of cutting through the Howff graveyard and then through the Overgate Centre to catch a bus out to the park. In the Howff a Chaffinch pair were seen, as well as a Blue tIt flitting between trees and a Lesser Black Backed Gull circling around.
On reaching my patch at Riverside Nature Park it didn't take too long before the birds started to show with around a dozen species racked up within the first 15 minutes walk. Carrion Crow and Robin were first, with Starling, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch and Herring Gull soon joining them. A rather vocal Song Thrush, then a showy male House Sparrow on top of a bush and the first Whitethroat of the day following. Goldfinch and Willow Warbler were picked up first by ear then spotted in the trees as I headed for the Lochan. A Great Tit flew low over the path and into the bottom of some bushes. At the Lochan a Shelduck foraged around the far edge, as two Mute Swans swam around together and a Jackdaw hopped and strolled around in the grass.
I headed next to the hide, a singing Yellowhammer next to go on the list. The tide was well in and there was a general lack of birds around in the bay. A few Mallards roosted by the burn, while out on the water Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls mingled and rested. A Feral Pigeon flew over. A Willow Warbler and another Whitethroat seemed to be attempting to outsing each other, both holding territories that probably overlap to a degree.
I wandered around the path overlooking the bay, where yet another Whitethroat announced his presence. There seems to be at least half a dozen singing males dotted around the park this year, which is an increase on last year. A Skylark lifted from the long grass at the top of the hill and flew upwards, singing loudly. I could hear the Blackcap singing from the car park area and it was relatively simple to spot on reaching the area. There were a few dog walkers arriving to join the few already in the park, with only a couple of the dogs being fully under control on leads, despite it being the breeding season. A Blackbird flew out from the bushes by the car park, and I managed to spot a Long Tailed Tit acrobatically feeding in the trees. A few Swallows scooted around, the lack of wind and relative warmth bringing out lots of St Mark's Flies in particular.
A male Sparrowhawk circled round above the field before heading off over the hill. A Reed Bunting called from the bushes by Buzzard Wood, while a few Woodpigeons clattered away from me from in the trees. A pair of Swifts swept over and I spent a few minutes trying to photograph them as they sped around. Not the easiest of subjects but I will get 'the shot' one day....
I made another slow circuit of the park to see if there was anything I had missed around. More views of Willow Warblers, Chaffinches and singing Whitethroats plus flyover Starlings,Woodpigeons and Swallows made up the majority of sightings second time around, though a flyover Pied Wagtail was a new one for the list. A Buzzard glided over, and a crow flying over turned out to be a Rook, which are not common at the park. Wandering back towards the car park after another attempt at the Swifts I added Lesser Redpoll and at Buzzard Wood a Dunnock rounded off the day list before I headed for home around 1415.
Not a classic day but better than staying at home. 32 species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.