With Nat otherwise engaged I made arrangements to get out and about somewhere with Jacqui instead. However, Jacqui wasn't feeling up to going very far, so we settled on a trip to the Tay reedbeds around Errol. The windy weather meant that any views of Bearded Tits would likely be fleeting at best, but I really wasn't holding out much hope of seeing them, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Jacqui also had things to do first so I decided I would head down to Riverside Nature Park first for a few hours and then meet Jacqui there when she had finished what she had to do.
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| Shelduck |
I headed out at around 0725 to catch a bus into town and then out to the Nature Park. It was a bit colder than I was expecting but with the temperature meant to rise later I didn't want to be over-dressed. A Carrion Crow was first on the list, followed immediately by Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon. Woodpigeon was seen from the bus and from the bus from the city centre I was able to see a Magpie near the fire station on Blackness Road. The walk down to the park down Glamis Road added Chaffinch and Goldfinch, both Greenfinch and Bullfinch were heard but not seen calling from some of the large gardens. A Chiffchaff was calling near the gate of the Invercarse Hotel but I didn't spend any time looking for it and failed to see it. A Coal Tit was seen near the railway line as I walked along to the park.
Two Magpies were collecting nest material in the cow field at the entrance alongside a Woodpigeon. Two Skylarks could be seen over towards the airport. Surprisingly an Oystercatcher was wandering along the path behind Buzzard Wood after a short spell of light rain. The trees and bushes here held Blackbird, Long Tailed Tit, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Robin and Blue Tit. A female Mallard was in the field beside two Oystercatchers, Further on I added Chaffinch and at the Lochan I added Teal, more Mallard, and a pair of Shelducks.
Next I wandered along to the hide overlooking the bay, to watch as the tide came in. In addition to Teal and Mallard, there were also Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Cormorants, with a large number of Redshanks and some Dunlin. A Mute Swan was further out in the bay. A Grey Wagtail flew past, and a Curlew appeared from behind the bushes down by the water. A Song Thrush flew out from the shrubbery out in front of the hide. A dozen Common Gulls and a pair of Black Headed Gulls added a bit of variety, before a pair of Gadwall were seen on the burn outflow.
With nothing much else likely I headed back out to wander around the rest of the park. I bumped into Roddy McKenzie for the 3rd time in 5 days and we wandered round, having to stop to speak to 2 dog-walkers about the measures in place to allow the Skylarks to hopefully reed successfully. One was walking across the grass on the hill where a pair of Skylarks had earlier been seen as I walked out to the hide. He said he thought the dog had just to be on a lead, which his was. The second man was on the path but his dog was wandering across the same grassy area the other dog walker had been on a minute or so before. He gave some story about his dog being scared (no idea of what) and that it wouldn't come back, though he showed no sign whatsoever of attempting to get it to come back while we watched, until after we spoke to him, when he put it on the lead. Most of the dog walkers we saw seemed to be paying attention to the signs, which is promising but as always there appears to be a large minority who don't or won't.
As I was talking to the first dog-walker a Great Spotted Woodpecker overflew us. Further round towards the compost area we added a singing Linnet and back round where I saw the Mallard and Oystercatchers earlier a Yellowhammer flew up as we passed. Jacqui messaged me to say she'd be earlier than planned, so I had another walk round to the Lochan. As we caught up to overtake a pair of young mums with toddlers in tow, I realised I knew one of them from work and we chatted for a bit about the park and Skylarks in particular, and I was eventually able to point out a trio of the birds as they flew past. By now, it was time to head back round to the car park to meet Jacqui, so I said cheerio and arrived at the car park just after Jacqui.
We headed for Errol spotting Buzzard and Rook on the way. Jackdaw, House Sparrow and Collared Dove were all seen as we walked down Gas Brae. A Skylark was seen high above the fields and Great Tit, Blue Tit and Song Thrush were seen at the community garden, along with a Linnet. Further on, Yellowhammer was seen. Reaching the house at the bottom of the hill we walked down towards the reedbeds, adding Dunnock and Robin. A Jay flew through the trees behind us calling raucously. Off to the east above the reeds we picked up 3 Marsh Harriers, which appeared to be 2 females and a male, though heat haze made confirmation tricky. Some corvids targeted one of the females and a pair of Shelducks were seen flying behind the melee.
Reed Bunting was seen here also before we walked up into the trees to walk out to the pools at Port Allen. A few Chiffchaffs were heard and one was eventualy seen, though a Blackcap which we could hear singing high in a tree eluded us. A pair of Long Tailed Tits were spotted and after hearing lots a Wren was finally found flitting around. There were a few Grey Squirrels seen, but they tended to see us before we saw them and scurried off up trees. Blackbirds flew ahead of us along the path, before we stopped at the area which overlooks the reedbeds looking eastwards. Despite lots of effort expended we drew a blank on Bearded Tits, as I always seem to do at this point.
A little further on, we dropped down onto the raised banking surrounding the eastern pool. Tufted Ducks, Mallards, Great Crested Grebes and Mute Swan were all seen as we scanned around, but the reeds behind us seemed silent. Goldeneye, a pair of Grey Herons and a Moorhen were added before we walked back up to the path and continued on through the trees to Port Allen. We stopped to scan the reeds from various points on the path through the still bare-branched trees. Cormorant, Kestrel and Lesser Black Backed Gull were seen before I spotted a small bird flying low above the reeds. Usually they frustratingly drop out of sight before a definite ID is arrived at. This one however kept going long enough for me to be sure that it was a
Bearded Tit, though it dropped out of sight before I could risk attempting to grab a photo.
We checked out the western pool where a flushed flock of Teal contained a Shoveler. Another Grey Heron stalked through the reeds. We had good views of a Chiffchaff feeding along the length of a hedge, with a Bullfinch in the trees behind. A Stock Dove and a Siskin overflew before we headed back into the trees and back towards Errol. Jacqui spotted a Treecreeper and a calling Coot eventually showed as it swam out onto the pool. Further on as I stopped to scan the reeds again for Bearded Tits, Jacqui spotted a Kingfisher flying away from us, and I managed to see it through the trees as it sped low across the water.
There was nothing else added to our list, though we did see 4 Marsh Harriers in the air and a 5th in a small tree off to the east. With the time around 1400, Jacqui suggested we head to Monikie to see if we could see any Little Gulls, which had been the other option for nearby places to Dundee to visit for the day's outing. Traffic was much heavier than anticipated on the Kingsway so it took us around 45 minutes for the journey, mostly on the Kingsway. Oystercatchers were seen while we sat in traffic near Caird Park, but there was nothing else new seen until we reached Monikie.
We had intended on going into the park but the sight of lots of gulls on the Denfind Pool as we were driving up towards the entrance prompted us to stop and check from where the recycling bins had previously been. There were lots of Black Headed Gulls, plus Little Grebes, Coots, Tufted Ducks, Teal, Mute Swans and Mallards. It didn't take too long to spot a Little gull though, and once we found one we realised there were many more on the water, with counts increasing from 20+ to 40+ and eventually at least 62. Very few of them were seen in flight with most content to stay settled on the water. A few swam relatively close to where we were stood and I managed to shoot a short video of 1 swimming by.
All in all, a decent enough day out, with some good birds including a year-tick (in bold) although a little on the cold side in the windy conditions. Not as many good photo opportunities either, but still a few nice shots taken.
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| Magpie |
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| Mallard |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Teal |
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| Shelduck |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Dunlin & Redshank |
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| Common Gull |
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| Gadwall |
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| Linnet |
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| Marsh Harrier & crow sp. |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Buzzard |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull, Little Gull & Tufted Duck |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull & Black Headed Gull |
29 Species seen at Riverside Nature Park - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Teal, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
53 species seen outwith the park -
Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Doe, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
