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| Greenfinch |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Skylark |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Curlew |
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| Teal |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Magpie |
Before I headed out at around 0735 I had a quick look out of my living room window. Carrion Crows and Jackdaws could be seen on the chimneys in the next street. Outside in the street I encountered a small flock of House Sparrows as I headed for the bus stop. A few Blackbirds foraged below the bushes. Feral Pigeon and Woodpigeon were both added before the bus showed up. A Blue Tit flew in and landed in a tree behind me as I got on the bus.
Having caught my connection with plenty time to spare in town I didn't see anything extra on the way out to the park. As I got off the bus a skein of Pink Footed Geese made their way northwards overhead. A Carrion Crow passed over as well. I headed through the underpass below the railway line and crossed the road to reach the park.
Carrion Crow and Blackbird were the first birds seen in the park, with a pair of Stock Doves taking flight out of the park as I hurried towards the car park. A Woodpigeon was next on the list. A male Yellowhammer was perched in the bush by the entrance to the car park, possibly the first time I've seen one at this particular point in the park. A few Chaffinches were in the trees by the car park.
One by one the participants for the walk showed up. A few committee members from the Friends of Riverside Nature Park (only £5 to become a 'friend' of the park, the money being used for projects in the park - I paid my money for the year on Saturday), a couple of folk I knew, a couple of folk I knew via Facebook and a few others who had heard about the walk from various places. A reasonable number of folk, not too few, nor too many.
As we waited to see if anyone else would show up I spotted a few other species - a Song Thrush and a Blackbird on the path, Blue Tits in the trees, Herring Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gull overflying, a Robin. It was looking quite positive and we hadn't even started the walk yet. I explained the rather loose plan - try for Snipe first then walk round past Buzzard Wood then along to the Lochan and then to the hide before heading back to the car park at the end of the walk.
First stop was to be the flooded area to the east of the car park to check for Snipe. Long Tailed Tits flitted over to the trees by the recycling centre as we walked out into the park proper. I spotted a distant Greenfinch in the trees in Buzzard Wood and pointed it out. A Starling flew over. Unfortunately despite a bit of searching there were either no Snipe (or Jack Snipe) to be found in the boggy area.
We moved on to check Buzzard Wood. There were plenty Chaffinches among the trees and bushes, but it was relatively quiet. A few Jackdaws overflew chacking loudly. Two Oystercatchers were heard then spotted landing over towards the airport boundary. Lesser Black Backed Gull and Herring Gull glided over. I was rather surprised to then spot a female Pheasant wandering along the fenceline by the road. Not the first sighting of the species in the park, but a first live one for me here (did see evidence of a dead male previously). A good patch tick.
We wandered round to check out the small wood nearer the road. Goldfinches flew over. A Great Tit and a Dunnock showed quite well by the edge of the field, but otherwise it was relatively quiet here also. We walked along the path on our way towards the Lochan. I could hear a calling Yellowhammer and soon spotted it perched in the same small tree I'd seen a male in a few weeks ago on my last visit. A couple of Meadow Pipits called as they flew over us, and it took me a few seconds to recognise the call, having not heard one for a few months.
The bushes before reaching the Lochan held three species of finch - Chaffinches, Goldfinches and also a nice pair of Bullfinches. Blue Tit, Great Tit and Coal Tit were also seen here (though I missed the Coal Tit). The Lochan held a sleeping female Mallard and around half a dozen Teal. I heard a Skylark and pointed out the bird heading upwards. It circled over towards us, giving us a great show as it winged its way up and up.
As we neared the junction of the path taking us towards the hide we were treated to even better views of Skylark when 4 showed up. One landed quite nearby as another displayed high above us. A pair of Yellowhammers also gave good views and may be the same pair I suspect bred in roughly the same area last year. We wandered along towards the hide, but not before we had another Stock Dove pass overhead.
WE scanned the bay first from near the hide, then from the hide itself. With the tide well out most of the birds were quite distant with only Redshanks, Carrion Crows and Feral Pigeons in front of the hide. A Grey Wagtail (and possibly a second) popped up near the tunnel. A Blue Tit showed really well in the trees just a few feet to the right of the hide allowing me to get a nice photo of the bird in the sun.
Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull and a few more Redshanks were at the bend in the burn where the gulls rest up. Out on the mud were a few Shelduck and Black Headed Gull. Curlews were further out across the bay. A Woodpigeon flew by as we headed back towards the main body of the park once again.
Unfortunately in the area where we had watched the Skylarks on the ground a dog walker was exercising his dog off the lead. Most of the dogs being exercised in the park that we saw were off the lead with some being exercised in some of the potential Skylark nest sites. So unless something happens soon to change that particular habit any attempts to nest within the park by Skylarks would seem doomed to fail. Again.
Near the junction of the paths again we stopped briefly when I heard geese calling. We couldn't see where the noise was coming from until the small skein appeared from out of the glare of the sun. A Song Thrush showed on the path ahead of us but flew off when it spotted us. We scanned the bay again as we skirted around the base of the hill. More Shelducks, Curlews, Redshank, and Teal could be seen from our raised viewpoint. A single Bar Tailed Godwit was spotted with a few more Redshanks relatively close to where we were watching from.
A few of the group had to leave owing to other commitments so had headed off ahead of the main group. One of the remaining group spotted a small group of soaring Buzzards high in the sky with a few gulls even higher, with the whole group a good bit to the north of the park. The tiny dots were hard to pick out but there were at least 6 raptors (I had a possible Sparrowhawk among the group but lost sight of it and couldn't re-find it).
As we reached the car park I passed comment that we hadn't seen the Magpies. No sooner had I finished my sentence than a Magpie flew in and landed in the tops of the small trees we had just walked past. Despite the 'one for sorrow' part of the well known rhyme it gave us another reason to smile at the end of what had been an enjoyable walk.
I had seen 35 species within the park (2 others were seen - Coal Tit and Cormorant, including a patch tick (Pheasant). 10 species had been seen before I reached the park also.
Species seen outwith the park - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Pink Footed Goose, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Woodpigeon.
Species in the park - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.