Having deferred our usual midweek outing this week for a couple of days in favour of a trip to Scone Palace grounds for the annual chance at getting Hawfinch for the year-list, Paul and I arranged an 0745 start. As the grounds don't open to the public until 1000 that gave us around an hour and a half to have a look elsewhere. We settled on Riverside Nature Park as it isn't too big and can be covered reasonably well in that time as well as providing a variety of species and habitat types, and it was more or less en route.
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| Hawfinch |
We arrived at the park around 0800 and checked the usual area for Snipe but as water is now a rarity in that area, we unsurprisingly drew a blank. Song Thrush, Reed Bunting and a small flock of Redwings were seen in the area though. We wandered off towards the bay, noting 2 Skylarks singing above the hill. The Lochan was relatively quiet with a few Teal, 2 Moorhens and a Mallard pair the only birds around though there were a few more Mallards further over on a second smaller pool. Paul spotted a pair of Stock Doves on the hill. A Yellowhammer was singing from the hedge in the area where the species alwys seems to breed. Another pair were seen further on towards the bay, and another 2 singing males were seen near the toilet, as well as another couple of singing males nearer the car park later on our wander.
A flock of Goldfinches flew over. The tide was already quite far out so most of the waders were along the water's edge. A few Curlews, a number of Redshanks and Dunlin as well as a few Oystercatcher and a Bar Tailed Godwit were seen. There weren't too many gulls around - just a few Herring, Black Headeds and Commons. A Shelduck pair landed before Paul spotted a small group of very distant Mute Swans out on the river. Near the car park we had good views of a foraging Goldcrest. A circuit of Buzzard Wood added Buzzard, Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
We headed off for Scone around 0920 and arrived exactly on time at 1000. We weren't the only birders around - indeed the only visitors initially all appeared to be on the hunt for the same quarry as us -
Hawfinches. I spotted a bird high in a tree but it was a Yellowhammer. A Mistle Thrush also gave false hope as we wandered slowly down the drive from the archway in front of the Palace. The next few birds I spotted high in a tree were our target - Hawfinches. We got another couple of birders behind us onto the birds and tried to alert a group further back but they were too busy looking up to notice.
We spent most of the next couple of hours trying to get better views of the small groups of birds (the most I saw was around 10 together at any one time but a birder with a scope counted around 20 together at one point). Nuthatch and Treecreeper were also seen briefly before we decided to pack up around noon. Unfortunately the wet weather that had been forecast arrived as we headed back to Perth and though we routed back to Dundee via the back of Kinnoull Hill to Glencarse only Pheasant was added to the list for the day. Paul dropped me off at home having seen 43 species, mostly around Riverside Nature Park, though our target for the day had added 1 to the year-list (in bold). A decent enough morning's birding.
Species seen - Dundee & Riverside Nature Park - Starling, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Magpie, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Redwing, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Skylark, Mallard, Moorhen, Teal, Stock Dove, Yellowhammer, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Black Headed Gull, Curlew, Great Tit, Dunlin, Redshank, Shelduck, Common Gull, Cormorant, Bar Tailed Godwit, Mute Swan, Wren, Goldcrest, Buzzard, Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit.
Scone Palace and/to Dundee - Mistle Thrush, Hawfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Pheasant.
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit, Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Redshank, Curlew & Carrion Crow |
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| Teal & Oystercatcher |
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| Dunlin & Black Headed Gull |
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| Dunlin |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Redwing |
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| Woodpigeon & Buzzard |
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| Woodpigeon & Buzzard |
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| Redwing |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
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| Hawfinch |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit,
Hawfinch, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Rabbit.
