Over the past few years I have led a number of guided walks around Riverside Nature Park here in Dundee, and have enjoyed letting folk see what the park has to offer bird-wise. The numbers have varied from as low as three up to around thirty three and on most occasions the park has usually delivered a number of good birds and everyone has gone home happy (I hope). Earlier this year I was asked if I would lead a guided walk for the Dundee Naturalist's Society, of which I am a member. Although the timing proposed wasn't ideal - 1000 on a Saturday in November, I agreed to lead the group around the park.
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| Greenfinch |
I left the house at around 0910 to meet Nat in town. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, House Sparrow and a flyover Grey Wagtail got the list underway, soon followed by Starling, Woodpigeon and Blackbird with Carrion Crow and Black Headed Gull being added after I was picked up by Nat to head out to the park as we drove out along Riverside Drive. We were early but as always I was paying attention to what was around. Blackbirds were by the access road and there were Pink Footed Geese flying out from the river. A Robin was in the trees by the car park and Carrion Crows overflew. Woodpigeons were passing over as the number of DNS members grew ahead of the 1000 start time for the walk.
By the time we were ready to set off there were around a dozen members and Ian Ford, the chairman of the Friends of Riverside Nature Park (and a lapsed Nats member). Having Ian along was very beneficial as he knows the park inside out and his knowledge isn't just limited to the birds, but extends to almost the complete spectrum of nature that we could encounter in the park. With a rather high tide due around lunchtime I decided we should head first round to the bay and onto the hide, before coming back via the Lochan and then looking for Snipe at the boggy area and around the lower half of the park before lunchtime.
More geese overflew and there were Blackbirds, Robins and Chaffinches seen as we left the car park to walk towards the hill. A pair of Mallards overflew in the direction of the airport. I heard Redwings passing over and managed to see a couple of birds passing westwards. There were Song Thrushes and Greenfinches in the bushes by the path and Dunnock was spotted a little further round towards the bay. A Linnet and a few Lesser Redpolls overflew as we neared the bench marking the southwest extremity of the park path network. Scanning out across the bay was made easier by the flat calm conditions on the water. A few Skylarks passed overhead. Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls could be seen in the bay towards the railway line.
A Buzzard was spotted to the north of the park, the first of the day, but not the last. Scanning the mud found Redshanks and a few Black tailed Godwits, while well out on the river were a trio of Red Breasted Mergansers that proved tricky to identify though photos showed detail we were struggling to pick out using the scope. A Common Gull flew into the bay and a charm of Goldfinches were in the shrubbery on the slope below the fenceline. There were Greylag Geese and a few Pink Footed Geese over towards the railway line. The Greylags flew off after a little while.
We wandered on in a long strung-out line to the hide. A pair of Stock Doves flew in to land up on the hill but were missed by most of the group. A Meadow Pipit and another larger group of Skylarks overflew. From the hide we added Feral Pigeons and Teal and had better views of the waders. Disappointingly these were mostly Redshanks, with a few Black Tailed Godwits and Dunlin but nothing else. A Pied Wagtail flew over as we walked back along to the Lochan. There were a few Redshanks, a pair of Dunlin and Mallards and some Teal here. A Cormorant headed over in the direction of the bay. I found a small nondescript moth on the path but despite attempts at an ID there was no firm conclusion reached.
A Buzzard was being harassed by Carrion Crows and a second Buzzard was also harassed towards the hospital. There were a number of Rabbit corpses littered around, victims of Myxomatosis. We reached the car park, where the scope was put back in the car to lighten the load and Ian changed his footwear to wellies to make our search for Snipe easier. We appeared to have lost a few stragglers and waited for them to show up but eventually we moved on to the marshy area stopping to check for some fungi that had been reportedly found below the bushes (Wood Blewits, I believe), but we drew a blank. (There were a few areas in the park with Shaggy Inkcap fungi on show).
Ian waded into the wetter areas of the boggy area, while I stayed in the slightly shallower areas. A single Snipe flushed and flew off at speed. Seconds later a second bird flushed silently, this one was a Jack Snipe and Nat standing waiting for the stragglers to appear had great views as it flew right over her. There were no other Snipe flushed but I thought I saw a Dragonfly despite it being almost mid-November and mentioned it to Ian. Minutes later by the corner of Buzzard Wood someone spotted a definite Dragonfly - a Common Darter. Round behind Buzzard Wood we found a Bullfinch in the trees and House Sparrows were in the hedge between the cow fields along with Blackbirds and Chaffinches.
Rather than take the path back to the car park we followed the bushes around the edge of the grassy area to the west of the path. Nat found some 'Star Jelly' on the grass and there was much discussion about what it actually was before we headed back to the car park. With most of the group heading on to the Botanic Gardens for lunch we ended the walk after just under two and a half hours in the park having seen 36 species of bird.
Myself and Ian decided to see if we could add anything else to the list and set off again once the group had left. It didn't take us too long to get Long Tailed Tits on the list and a Ketrel overflew us near the Lochan. We had better views of the Black Tailed Godwits which had relocated to the Lochan. Great Tit and Blue Tit were seen in the trees. A bit of exploring of Buzzard Wood found a Mistle Thrush and more 'Star Jelly' - this time on a fallen tree, before I decided to head for home.
I continued to see if I could add anything else and added Curlew to the list when one flew over from the airport. A Starling flew over and a Wren was in the bushes by the boggy area, while there were two more Mistle Thrushes by the park perimeter. A Great Spotted Woodpecker overflying was a nice addition before I decided to head for home having managed to take the total for the park to 44 species.
With buses along the Perth Road near the underpass at a premium these days I headed for Ninewells to catch a bus home, cutting up through the Technology Park. There seemed to be hundreds of Long Tailed its around although it took a fair bit of effort to finally see some, high up in trees by the path. Robin and Great Tit, as well as Blue Tit made up the numbers. Wren and Redwing were added nearer the hospital in gardens around Thurso Crescent and I missed the bus I wanted to catch by a few seconds having been distracted by the Wren. Thankfully i didn't have too long to wait for another one.
A decent day out with a different experience to the usual guided walks I've led. The public tend to be interested in the birds whereas the Nats members have additional interests in the botany and other nature in the park. A leader for a Nats' walk is in some ways superfluous, though as most of the group hadn't visited the park before I was able to at least highlight which parts of the park held the best chance of seeing certain birds. Hopefully some of them will choose to visit the park more often which will potentially increase the likelihood of finding new species of bird, plant, fungi and insects to add to the park's flora and fauna lists.
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Redshanks |
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| Red Breasted Mergansers |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Dunnock |
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| Carrion Crows & Buzzard |
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| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
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| Redshanks & Dunlin |
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| Redshanks & Dunlin |
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| Black Tailed Godwits |
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| Teal, Dunlin & Redshank |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Kestrel |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Redshanks, Dunlin & Teal |
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| Redshanks & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Blackbirds |
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| Magpie |
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| Rabbit (with Myxomatosis) |
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| Feral Pigeons |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Teal |
44 species seen in the park - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jack Snipe, Kestrel, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
14 species seen outwith the park - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
