With a reasonable weather forecast and also a favourable high tide time in prospect for Sunday, I decided that I would spend the whole day birding. I would get out early probably head to Riverside Nature Park in the hope of waders passing through on passage as the tide herded them in to the area opposite the hide. I would follow that with a wander around the rest of the park, and then move on elsewhere. Nat had gardening needing done but had said that if she got a bit bored she would text message me to find out where I was and meet up. This would increase the options for the afternoon, as public transport isn't the best on a Sunday afternoon.
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| Herring Gull (?) |
I headed out, prepared for a day's worth of birding, slightly underdressed at 8am to walk into town to catch the bus out to the Nature Park. It was a rather familiar beginning to the day list with Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Blackbird first onto the list then Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow further down the road. Lesser Black Backed Gull was next. Swallow was added from the bus heading along Perth Road. I arrived at the park at about 0835. Carrion Crow greeted me, and a nice surprise was a pair of juvenile Song Thrushes by the path into the eastern end of the park. A flyover pair of Stock Doves was next, while a Woodpigeon flew into Buzzard Wood as I scanned the trees and bushes near the entrance.
Swallows hawked low over the grass and Buzzard Wood seemed to be full of only Chaffinches. Herring Gull and Black Headed Gulls drifted over. Goldfinches sang from the trees behind the car park, while a skulking bird lower down proved to be a Whitethroat. Sandwich Tern was heard calling out over the river, and spotted through binoculars using the call to home in on the source of the noise. A few sleeping Malards were at the Lochan, the remains of the small brood of 6 ducklings hatched nearby earlier in the year. Flyover Feral Pigeons were next as I walked in the direction of the bay.
From the track down to the hide I scanned along the short length of the outflow pipe that was visible above the vegetation. A Cormorant shared it with a Great Black Backed Gull, a few Herring Gulls and a Lesser Black Backed Gull or two. Scanning out across the mud from the hide itself I could see decent numbers of waders, with Lapwings the most numerous, followed by Redshanks, Dunlins, Oystercatchers and Curlews in that order. The wind from the west was making the temperature feel a lot lower than the forecast had predicted, and I was feeling a bit chilly. With the tide still having a good bit to come in, I was going to have to put up with it for a while if I wanted to see if there were any good birds tucked out of sight that might be forced into the receding area of mud as the tide pushed further in.
I did spot a good bird after a short while. A large bird in flight to the northwest over the back of Invergowrie turned out to be an Osprey carrying a fish. Among the Mallards in the burn I spotted a smaller duck and careful scrutiny identified it as a drake Teal in eclipse plumage. I scanned through the juvenile and 1st year gulls but as far as I could tell they were mainly Herring Gulls and a few Lesser Black Backeds. One day I will find a Yellow Legged or a Caspian Gull here (I hope). A few Jackdaws and Carrion Crows dropped in to drink and bathe by the burn, as did a few Feral Pigeons. Scanning and scanning produced none of the hoped for visiting waders with only a few Sandwich Terns as slight compensation.
By now I was really starting to feel the cold and decided that I would move on, hopefully out of the wind, which made it feel more like October than August. A flock of around a dozen Swifts were picked up moving west past the hospital, traveling with a bit of purpose, rather than the usual milling around that Swifts do. A pair of Linnets called as they passed over, and a small flock of Starlings flew by. I ha heard a mewing juvenile Buzzard from somewhere to the north of the park and finally spotted the bird as it glided into the trees behind Ninewells. A Skylark made a half-hearted ascent from the top of the hill before dropping back into the long grass out of the wind.
A Pied Wagtail was seen near the car park, while a Willow Warbler flitted around in the bushes at Buzzard Wood. The small wooded area behind held a Dunnock, a Wren and a Chiffchaff, though it did take a bit of effort to finally see all three. With no sign that the temperature was going to improve I decided to head for the bus home. If I decided to head back out later I would be better prepared for the cold wind. Perhaps unsurprisingly when I got off the bus on Dens Road, the sun had made an appearance and it was actually quite warm. Typical! A Magpie flew across the road into the trees and overhead a few House Martins twittered away as they swooped around catching insects.
37 Species seen (outside park only in italics) -
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull,
House Martin, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet,
Magpie, Mallard, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warber, Woodpigeon, Wren
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| Redshanks, Mallard, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?), Lapwing |
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| Redshank, Dunlin, Lapwing |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull (?) |
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| Teal |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Mallard, Teal, Feral Pigeon |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Stock Dove |
