When I woke up a bit later than intended on the Thursday morning and peeked outside it looked rather cold and grey and not very welcoming. However, rather than waste a complete day when I could be out and about birding somewhere I wrapped up warmer than I should have to in mid-June and headed out after 1pm with the intention of visiting Riverside Nature Park where it would hopefully be a bit quieter with regards dog-walkers and their pets than it is at weekends, giving me a better chance of seeing some birds, at least in theory.
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| Stock Dove |
Despite it being afternoon, the local House Sparrows were still active and chirping from various locations. Herring Gulls glided above, and a Blackbird fed along the inner edge of the pavement below the overhanging rose bushes. From the bus into town, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Feral Pigeon were both added. Before reaching the park, I managed to add Starling to the non-park list for the day.
On entering the park, a Blackbird was wandering along the path in front of me before flying into cover, and a small party of Woodpigeons were in the field with the rabbits. A Carrion Crow hopped around off to my left and Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch were all seen within a minute or so, in the bushes just inside the park at the eastern end. A Blue Tit flew from there to Buzzard Wood and House Martins hawked low above the grass for insects. Herring Gull drifted over and a high flying Shelduck flew in the direction of the river. Feral Pigeons overflew next as I headed towards the bay. Jackdaws congregated in the field near the Lochan.
An Oystercatcher passed over towards the bay as I watched a juvenile Pied Wagtail skirting the fringes of the Lochan, picking up whatever small morsels it could find. A Song Thrush whizzed past me as I continued along the track towards the hide. Stopping to scan the mud from the slightly raised viewpoint of further up the path down to the actual hide screen, I was surprised to see two small waders feeding along the edge of the wet mud. I could just make out that they were Ringed Plovers, but could not quite completely rule out Little Ringed Plover. Rather than carry my full photography gear I had brought only the Nikon P900 so I decided to check out its capabilities using the digital zoom (equivalent to a 4000mm lens) and the image stabilisation to see if I could resolve enough detail to decide. This actually worked quite well in that respect as the orange on the bill was quite clear, though the photos themselves were little more than record shots.
Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull and Herring Gull could all be seen on the pipe and on the mud, with a few more waders than of late, a single Curlew, a single Redshank and a few more Lapwings as well as Oystercatchers, out on the mud. Mallards were on the burn, and a few Feral Pigeons and Jackdaws were on the upper reaches of the pipe. A rather distant Grey Heron also gave me the opportunity to test the capabilities of the digital zoom, despite it being by the shore line on the opposite side of the bay. A lone Sandwich Tern worked its way round the bay, heading away from me, and a Whitethroat sang from off to the left, showing briefly in a short display flight.
Swallows zipped by and I could hear a singing Reed Bunting near the foot of the hill and eventually tracked the bird down near the hill. A large dog despite supposedly being 'under control' and on a lead, lunged aggressively at me to within a foot of my face, held back only by the owner, who rather than apologise decided it was because the dog didn't like my camera (not the usual gear, and with no monopod), so basically my own fault. I know plenty of responsible dog owners with well behaved/trained dogs, and don't actually mind dogs, but owners like that one severely annoy me (putting it politely). In addition, I was loudly barked at for about ten seconds from a few feet away by another large dog (one of two - the other silent but close by) off the lead and ahead of its owner (who did apologise) and then later growled at by another small dog (again the walker - who had a number of dogs with her, and I suspect was a 'professional, dog-walker - apologised). All within just two hours on a mid-week afternoon. In other words, a quiet spell. Rant over.
Heading further round the bay, I scanned out across the rather grey river looking for Cormorants flying by, but saw none. Well upriver there is a large rock where these birds sometimes congregate and I once again tested the capabilities of the P900 and managed to get identifiable Cormorants on a photo despite the large distance involved. The P900 is far lighter for carrying than a scope but it can be used as a sort of spotting scope, with the added bonus that you get a photo for further evidence as well.
Behind me, a Skylark lifted from the hill-top flying up singing from the side of the raised area. Further round by the compost area, a pair of Linnets flew past me. Willow Warbler was the next addition and I decided to check the Lochan again, this time finding a Stock Dove having a drink just to the left of the relatively new hide/screen here. An adult and juvenile Magpie were on the ground in the open area behind the car park. A Dunnock and a family group of Wrens foraged in the bushes beside the path at the extreme west end of Buzzard Wood.
I decided to call it a day and headed for the exit, via the front edge of Buzzard Wood, where I managed to add a male Yellowhammer perched in a bush with a Goldfinch and a few Starling youngsters. As I got off the bus in the city centre I could hear a bird singing from one of the lamp posts by the bus shelters and spotted one of the local Goldfinches singing away despite the hordes of people passing by and standing around just below. A Chaffinch was singing and catching insects in flight by the bus stops beside Dundee High School.
39 species seen in total (birds seen both in and outwith the park in italics, bird in bold only seen outwith the park)-
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock,
Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Herring Gull, House Martin,
House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover,
Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush,
Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Lapwing |
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| Redshank |
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| Curlew |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Highland Cow |
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| Starling |
