For the past few years I have been leading guided walks at Riverside Nature Park here in Dundee, usually twice a year, once in Spring and once in Autumn, though last year only the former. I was asked to lead another one this Spring and agreed to Saturday 4th May as the best date for me, and hopefully providing a decent mix of birds for those participating to see. Lainy and Adam were coming along and we had arranged to head to the Tay Reedbeds afterwards, though as the weather forecast was for quite windy conditions I suggested the alternative of showing them the locations of the birding sites around Ladybank/Letham in Fife.
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| Pochard |
Although it was an 0830 start at the park for the walk I needed to catch a bus in town around 0750, so I headed out just before 0730 to walk into town. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and House Sparrow were noted on the walk down to Dens Road where a Great Tit on some feeders attached to a first floor window and a Grey Wagtail at Bathroom World were added. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was spotted on the bus journey out to the park with a flyover Goldfinch as I walked down to the railway underpass.
On the walk to the car park to wait for others to arrive I managed to find Starling, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Oystercatcher, Herring Gull, Jackdaw and Chaffinch. From the car park Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Feral Pigeon and Great Tit were noted as folk began to arrive. There were 7 plus me and we were joined by Kate from the Friends group committee, further round (incidentally, the Friends group is looking for new committee members, so if anyone is interested in helping to shape the future of the park then get in touch and I will put you in touch with the group). After the introductions and a little game of 'guess how many species we will see' (complete with prizes) we set off into the park towards Buzzard Wood.
The sun was in our faces making it relatively tricky to get good views against the light. A large-ish bird which flew across in front of us was a rather unexpected Jay - not a bad way to start the walk. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Reed Bunting, Magpie and Song Thrush were noted around Buzzard Wood and the (currently non-)marshy area. Having just mentioned the possibility of seeing Swallows hawking for insects to the east of Buzzard Wood, one duly arrived. A Rabbit was noted before we wandered slowly up towards the top half of the park where a few House Sparrows were seen in the bushes at the junction of paths.
Skylarks seemed relatively numerous around the hill and a Stock Dove flew past before we stopped to watch a Yellowhammer and a Blue Tit in the trees by the path. Moorhen and Mallard were on the water at the Lochan though partially hidden among the vegetation though both did eventually show well. On the walk out to the hide we added Dunnock, Linnet and Whitethroat. With the tide well out I wasn't expecting much in the bay but was surprised to find a pair of Mute Swans and a single Sandwich Tern visible from near the hide.
Further round towards the hill we added Black Headed Gull, Teal, Black Tailed Godwit and a very distant Grey Heron. After much scanning I found a Curlew and a few Shelduck though surprisingly there was no sign of any Redshank. A Kestrel flew up towards the hill followed by a male Reed Bunting. Despite my best intentions we had managed to run behind schedule again though no-one was particularly bothered. Pied Wagtails on the path, a Robin, a Green Veined White and a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly were seen before we reached the car park having seen 41 species of bird. The closest guess was 40 and I handed over the book prizes I had brought with me to a happy winner. As a few of us lingered around the car park a House Martin and then a Bullfinch flew over and Lainy spotted a nice male Orange Tip butterfly.
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Curlew & Oystercatcher |
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| Kestrel |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Green Veined White |
Species seen at the park - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bnting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell.
Mammals seen - Rabbit.
Lainy, Adam and I then set off for Fife, via Tesco to pick up some supplies for lunch. A Magpie was on the grass just outside the park. Nothing else new was added until we reached Letham Pools, our first stop in Fife. Things were rather busy here with lots to see - Common Gull, Black Headed Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gulls perched on the fence, while Coot, Gadwall, Greylag Goose, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Shelduck, Mallard, Herring Gull, Mute Swan and Teal were on the water. Sand Martins and a Swallow zipped overhead in the wind. Pied Wagtail, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting and Linnet were noted round about while a Grey Heron, a few Lapwings and Oystercatcher were spotted along the edges of the pools. A pair of Pochard swam in closer than the species usually shows. A pair of Shoveler were found in the smaller part of the pool near the main road.
Rather unexpectedly an Osprey appeared over one of the pools hovering briefly before moving on again. Another car with birders appeared at the top end and as the occupants watched the Osprey I noticed that 1 of them was Tommy Ross (who waved as we passed on our way to the next stop at Mountcastle Quarry). After around 30 minutes or so at the pools we headed to nearby Mountcastle Quarry to let Lainy and Adam see what the site had to offer. A House Martin flew over and a few Rooks were seen in the fields between there and Letham Pools. A singing Blackcap showed but what I suspected was a Garden Warbler singing among the trees remained elusive. Peacock and Green Veined White butterflies were noted before we became even more distracted by insects when I spotted the first of a number of Green Tiger Beetles.
Lainy and I stalked a few of these insects and managed some nice photos of the rather vicious looking beasties. In addition there were plenty of 7-Spot Ladybirds as well as a few Dark Edged Bee Flies and at least a couple of species of solitary bees and a few Hairy Shieldbugs. Having spent longer than intended chasing insects Lainy and I headed back towards the car and Adam. However, we made another attempt at adding
Garden Warbler and I managed to get us both rather poor views through the tangle of branches of a welcome year-tick for me. Long Tailed Tits flitted through the trees nearby. Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Chiffchaff were also spotted while on the water a few Great Crested Grebes and Tufted Ducks were noted.
Next stop was The Wilderness, near Ladybank with Jackdaws seen en route. An unexpected 5 Pink Footed Geese were noted here but otherwise things were fairly normal with a mix of gulls, ducks and other waterbirds but very few waders. Canada Goose and Goldeneye were both new for the list. A text message arrived reporting 2 Garganey drakes at the Eden Estuary and I asked about the possibility of going to see them. I figured that there was unlikely to be any great rush so we stuck with the plan and headed for our next stop at Angle Park. Pheasant was seen from the car near Ladybank.
There was a large contingent of gulls at Angle Park - mostly Herring Gulls from the nearby landfill site, though there were a few Lesser Black Backeds dotted around too. Moorhens were added here as well as a singing Willow Warbler and a flypast by a Stock Dove. A Song Thrush showed nicely on a branch as Lainy and I looked for a Blackcap that was singing in short bursts in the trees by the pools in the forest area behind the road until it started to rain. Rossie Bog and Birnie and Gaddon Lochs were briefly visited to show where the locations were though nothing new was added at either. Starlings and the only Buzzard of the day were seen on the way to Guardbridge.
Arriving in the car park for the Eden Estuary Centre I spotted Paul's car. This was a big plus as I figured he'd have his scope with him which would make what were likely to be distant birds much easier to see. As we headed into the hide we found Paul in the process of sending me a text message about the birds. He had one of the
Garganey in the scope and let all 3 of us see the bird sleeping beside a few Little Egrets with Oystercatcher, 2 Sandwich Terns, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck, Curlew and Mallard nearby. A second year-tick for me and 1 that I thought might be possible at Letham Pools though I certainly wasn't expecting them at the Eden Estuary.
We had reasonable, though distant, views of both Garganey drakes over the course of the next few hours, including flight views for the first time for me. A Carrion Crow with an egg flew across the river and found a hole among the rocks to cache the egg which it then covered with 'straw'. This was the first time I've witnessed such obvious caching behaviour from a corvid. A number of other species were seen including a Whimbrel. Collared Dove, Cormorant, Eider and Tree Sparrow were added until we called it a day around 1730 and headed for home after what had been a rather good day's birding.
74 species seen in total including 2 year-ticks (in bold) with 65 seen outwith the park (following on from the 43 seen earlier in the park). The selection of insects Lainy and I found at Mountcastle Quarry were a nice extra bonus.
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| Pochard |
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| Pochard |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Pochard |
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| Gadwall |
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| Gadwall |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Mallard & Shoveler |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Tufted Duck & Mallard |
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| Shelduck |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Greenbottle (Gymnocheta viridis) |
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| Green Tiger Beetle |
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| Green Tiger Beetle |
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| Early Nomad Bee |
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| Green Tiger Beetle |
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| Green Tiger Beetle |
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| Hairy Shieldbug |
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| Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) |
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| Dark Edged Bee Fly |
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| Dark Edged Bee Fly |
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| Green Tiger Beetle |
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| Eristalis pertinax (hoverfly) |
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| Garden Warbler |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Canada Goose, Mute Swan & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Garganey, Little Egret, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Oystercatcher & Shelduck |
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| Shelduck, Wigeon, Black Tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher & Sandwich Tern |
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| Garganey & Teal |
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| Black Tailed Godwit & Wigeon |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull, Garganey & Teal |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull, Teal & Garganey |
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| Garganey |
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| Garganey |
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| Garganey |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon & Garganey |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Wigeon, Garganey & Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Little Egret |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gadwall,
Garden Warbler, Garganey, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whimbrel, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Peacock.
Other insects - Green Tiger Beetle, 7-Spot Ladybird, Hairy Shieldbug, Marsham's Nomad Bee, Early Nomad Bee.
