Owing to other commitments, Nat was unable to meet me for our midweek outing until after 0900, so we arranged to meet at Riverside Nature Park, see what was around, see what was reported from elsewhere and then assess the best options for the rest of the day's birding and take things from there. I had intended to head to the park early but ended up running a bit late, so didn't get the early start I intended.
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| Pied Wagtail |
It was around 0850 when I did eventually get out the door. Birds were few and far between with only a Carrion Crow to show for the walk down to Dens Road where I managed to catch a number 22 bus into the city centre. I was going to jump on a number 5 but the number of road closures around the west end meant I was better sticking with the 22 despite it meaning a long-ish walk to the park. I messaged Nat to let her know I would likely be a bit later than 0930. From the bus I added Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon and also Blackbird. Walking down past the Botanic Gardens I heard and then saw a Mistle Thrush fly off.
Entering the park I managed to see a few species despite my haste - a Robin on a fence, a few Starlings over towards the airport, a Carrion Crow flying over and a Chaffinch near the car park. Nat was running late too and only beat me by a few minutes. There were still Pink Footed Geese flying out from Invergowrie Bay. Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull and Woodpigeon passed overhead. We discussed a plan for our walk around the park. We decided to try for Snipe first and headed for the boggy area. A Blackbird was picking around among the bushes.
I wandered into the rather overgrown and rather marshy area. I hadn't gone too far when the first bird lifted off, silently. A Jack Snipe from close by. A second bird followed which turned out to be a Snipe. Further exploration resulted in another 2 Snipe taking to the air before I wandered back to drier ground. A Wren showed in the bushes in front of me. A small group of Goldfinches flew in to bathe below the bushes and a Song Thrush flew out from the same bushes.
Buzzard Wood proved to be rather quiet with only Dunnock and Blue Tit seen. Our first Goldcrest of the day was in the trees behind Buzzard Wood. A few Siskins flew over as we wandered back towards the car park taking a rather circuitous route. A Yellowhammer pair and a party of 4 Tree Sparrows flew westwards over the hill. A Coal Tit flew into the buddleia bushes near the bend in the path to the west of the car park. Once again the tide was 'wrong' with lots of exposed mud and the birds mostly distant well out in the river. There were Redshanks and Teal relatively close to where we were viewing from, with Curlew, Mallard and Oystercatchers a little further away.
Nat spotted a group of Dunlin some distance away just before we bumped into Ian Ford. We chatted for quite some time adding a number of good flyover birds at the same time - Redpoll (possibly Common/Mealy), Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark and Bullfinch as well as a Sparrowhawk flying low up the burn being harassed by the local Carrion Crows. I spotted a distant Cormorant fly down the river. Despite the tide being out, myself and Nat headed next to the hide. A few Jackdaws and Feral Pigeons were around in addition to the gulls, but little else was seen except a flyover Pied Wagtail.
The Lochan added only Mute Swan to our list, though there were also Teal and Mallard here. Long Tailed Tits were seen as we walked back round to the car park for a spot of lunch before deciding where to go next. After some discussion we decided to stick to the coast and headed first to Balmossie. As we passed through Broughty Ferry I spotted a Buzzard circling to the north near Reres Park. House Sparrows and Starlings were very visible when we arrived at Balmossie and despite the tide still being quite far out we were able to add a few new species - Bar Tailed Godwit, Eider and Wigeon, Common Gull and Oystercatcher in addition to others already seen earlier such as Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Curlew, Cormorant, Redshank and Dunlin. A Grey Wagtail landed briefly and Nat spotted a Grey Plover which I managed to get a video clip of before it was flushed by a jogger with a spaniel off the lead who, completely oblivious to all around, put the entire gull and wader roost skywards as she crossed the burn on foot.
With all the birds in the air we decided to move on again. Rooks and Collared Dove were added as we headed to our next stop at Easthaven. There were Pied Wagtails aplenty around, some near the car park and even more on the beach among the heaped up seaweed washed up by the continuing strong easterlies. A few Swallows passed westwards. A few Greeenfinches were in the bushes at the end of the car park along with a Robin. Nat spotted a Turnstone out on the rocks and a small flock of Linnets circled round. We next wandered round past the houses adding Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow and Wren before we reached the beach again to walk back to the car park. We could hear Pink Footed Geese and searched for them before discovering them much closer and much higher than we had expected. A Grey Heron was discovered among the rocks along with a Great Black Backed Gull.
Next we decided to pay Craigmill Den and the mouth of the burn a visit. A Pheasant was seen from the car as we headed north out of Easthaven. Wandering down through the Den we added Goldcrests, a few Chaffinches, a large flock of Linnets on the wires again and Nat spotted a Chiffchaff across the other side of the burn. Another bird lurking among the leaves turned out to be a Wren a bit higher in a tree than normally expected. I spotted a Stock Dove flying over and we also had Meadow Pipit pass overhead. In addition to the Linnets on the wires there were a couple of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers. A Redwing flew out of a tree across the far side of the burn along with a few Blackbirds. A Grey Heron flew up the burn and the local Buzzard mewed loudly as it flew through.
The gull roost didn't seem to hold anything different to what we had seen already and there were a few Mallards around offshore. One or two Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Curlews were found by scanning around. A Stonechat was in the long grass near the house and a Rock Pipit popped down onto the beach near us before we headed back up the Den to the car. A Sparrowhawk shot through at pace and disappeared up and over the trees at the far side before I could get a photo. The Buzzard appeared again and I did succeed in getting photos of it. We had heard Dipper a few times and Nat spotted it in the burn near the weir. I was able to get a few photos and we added Dunnock to the list before we headed for home around 1600.
A decent, if unspectacular, day out in 2 halves. 38 species seen in the Nature Park, and 52 outside the park (65 in total).
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| Jack Snipe |
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| Snipe |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Dunlin |
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| Redpoll (sp.) |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
Species seen at the Nature Park - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Herring Gull, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercather, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redpoll sp., Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
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| Grey Plover |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit & Oystercatcher |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Linnet |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Buzzard |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Wren |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Curlew |
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| Stonechat |
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| Wigeon |
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| Redshank |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Buzzard |
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| Dipper |
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| Dipper |
Species seen elsewhere - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackkbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
