Having been feeling a little under the weather these past few days I didn't want to travel too far on Saturday for some birding. As there wasn't too much of particular interest around that I could easily get to, it wasn't a particularly big deal. With a rather large tide around mid-afternoon I settled on a trip to Riverside Nature Park which would give me the chance to see what was around in the park as well as managing to catch the waders being pushed in by the tide and all before the light became unsuitable for photos.
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| Spotted Redshank, Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit |
It was around 1110 when I headed out to catch a bus into town. A Grey Wagtail flying over was a surprise to start the list, though the species that followed were much more typical - Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull and Woodpigeon. From the bus I was able to add Blue Tit and Blackbird. Nothing else was seen from the bus out to the park where I arrived roughly 30 minutes after leaving the house which via public transport is good going.
A Pied Wagtail flew over and a few Carrion Crows wandered around on the grass in the park. A Buzzard glided over but atttracted the unwanted attentions of another few Carrion Crows which chased it the length of the park. A Chaffinch flew past and a skein of Pink Footed Geese headed for the river. A small group of Redwings flew out from the trees to the south of Buzzard Wood and over towards the gardens beyond the railway line. A Mistle Thrush shared a length of wire with another Redwing over by the access road.
A Robin and a Song Thrush were seen at the front edge of Buzzard Wood while a check of the boggy area resulted in 2 Snipe being flushed. Dunnock, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Great Tit and Long Tailed Tits were all noted along the western edge of Buzzard Wood. Feral Pigeons were seen heading over in small groups to the north of the park. The first Woodpigeon and a Wren were added as I wandered round to the Lochan. On the water were a couple of young Goldeneye, the first time I've seen them here, though I have had them out in Invergowrie Bay more than once. Also there were a few Mallard and some Teal.
Next stop was to be the hide and on the walk along from the Lochan I added Jackdaw and Black Headed Gull to the list. A quick check out over the bay to assess the tide state added Cormorant and a few Curlews as well as a numbert of Redshank. Once I reached the hide a lot of the waders were still hidden by the vegetation which is increasingly rendering the hide rather pointless, even for someone of average height like myself. Scanning through what I could see produced a nice surprise - the Spotted Redshank I had found on my last visit was still around and was relatively easy to pick out mostly due to its paleness compared to its Common cousins alongside.
In addition to the Redshanks and a few Black Tailed Godwits there were a number of Dunlin and a Curlew or two but no sign of any Oystercatchers at all. A Magpie flew over to Invergowrie, a few Mallard were sleeping by the burn. Out in the bay alongside a few Black Headed Gulls were a Great Black Backed Gull adult, and youngster, a number of Herring Gulls and I eventually found a Common Gull. A trio of Snipe took flight from the far side of the bay and headed up over the houses and out of sight. The call of a GreyWagtail drew my attention to one perched by the burn. As the majority of waders had disappeared to roost before the tide was all the way in I headed back into the park.
A Greenfinch flew over near the Lochan and hearing a Great Spotted Woodpecker I hurried round the path to where I had a clear, but distant, view of the bird at the top of a tree. A dog walker asked me what I was looking at and I pointed out the bird to her before it flew off. A Stock Dove flew past as I was heading for the exit around 1430. A few Redwings flew over as I waited at the bus stop and a Pied Wagtail was seen in the city centre before I headed back home.
The Spotted Redshank was the best bird of the 38 seen - with all 9 species seen outside the park (in italics) also being seen inside. A reasonable few hours worth of birding nonetheless.
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| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
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| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Mistle Thrush & Redwing |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Snipe |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Mallard |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Curlew |
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| Black Headed Gull & Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Cormorant |
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| Spotted Redshank, Redshank & Black Headed Gull |
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| Dunlin |
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| Black Headed Gull, Spotted Redshank, Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Redshank, Dunlin, Spotted Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Snipe |
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| Snipe |
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| Redshank & Spotted Redshank |
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| Spotted Redshank & Redshank |
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| Spotted Redshank |
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| Redshank & Spotted Redshank |
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| Common Gull |
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| Spotted Redshank, Redshank & Black Headed Gull |
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| Dunlin, Redshank, Herring Gull & Carrion Crow |
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| Redshank, Spotted Redshank & Black Headed Gull |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit & Dunlin |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Teal |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Magpie |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Mallard |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Magpie |
Species seen -
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit,
Blue Tit, Buzzard,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Grey Wagtail,
Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush,
Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank,
Redwing, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Snipe, Song Thrush, Spotted Redshank, Stock Dove, Teal,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
