With a rather small high tide forecast for around 1130 on Wednesday morning, I decided I would get up early and head for Riverside Nature Park to make a proper attempt to see the Yellow Legged Gull that was found by Mark Wilkinson. Sightings since then had been few and far between but I knew I'd have no chance of seeing it if I stayed at home. I would have to add the extra weight of a scope to my already weighty bag, though thankfully I have a reasonably decent old Opticron scope which though not as capable as my main scope is nowhere near as heavy either. I would rely on a monopod as well to save some weight. Not ideal but it is a long walk to and from the park and a scope and tripod set-up are not required elsewhere in the park, or en route.
 |
Shelduck
|
I headed out into what was a slightly colder than expected morning. It was also quite windy and rain seemed to be blowing through despite not having been forecast. Rather than turn back for home to get a warmer, waterproof jacket I continued on. There was plenty to see along the way with Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Siskin all noted before a Grey Wagtail was seen over Polepark Road, almost exactly where I saw one on a previous walk via that route to the park. Skylark was heard singing at the airport but I was unable to pick out the small dot against the sky. A Pied Wagtail was heard around the Terminal buildings and a few hundred metres further on a singing Chiffchaff was noted in the trees by the railway line.
It was around 0900 when I reached the park and not surprisingly I was quickly able to add a selection of species. I had decided against setting myself a target of 45 species for the park as I felt the time of year and weather conditions made reaching it unlikely. A Yellowhammer and a singing Chiffchaff were found in the lower half of the park. A male Bullfinch was located after a bit of searching having heard the rather quiet call. A pair of Skylarks tussled briefly over the hill. A Meadow Pipit took flight as I stopped at the Lochan where Moorhen, Mute Swan, Mallard Oystercatcher and Teal were all seen.
I reached the bay at around 0925 and found a spot to view the gulls around the pipe. A few Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Herring Gulls of various ages were scanned through but there was nothing particularly obvious that resembled Yellow Legged Gull. Cormorant, a flock of Bar Tailed Godwits (still no sign of any Black Taileds), Redshank, Dunlin, Black Headed and Common Gulls, Shelduck, Greylag Goose still with the lone Canada and white Farmyard Goose in tow were all spotted. I scanned and scanned again as more gulls arrived. Unfortunately a Buzzard then showed up and flushed the lot, with some dispersing off elsewhere. After about an hour the tide had pushed the main group of gulls out of sight so I wandered round to the hide for a better angle.
Although there were plenty gulls and waders to be checked, I failed to find anything that I hadn't already seen from the previous spot among them. A Pied Wagtail flew by before the second raptor of the day arrived - a female Sparrowhawk which gave me good views circling above the hide. A Grey Wagtail then flew by. An unexpected bonus was a small flock of Pintail, which I had expected to be Mallards when I noticed them flying off out of the bay. A nice bonus year-tick. The majority of the waders had flown off when the Sparrowhawk appeared leaving very little to be seen. As the tide receded again it pushed some of the remaining larger gulls further out of view so I decided to return to my first spot. On the way I stopped to chat to the 2 guys who were putting up the signs asking people to stick to the paths and keep dogs on leads to avoid disturbance to the breeding Skylarks, between April 1st and July 31st. With some additional fencing also being added hopefully there will be some successful breeding.
A flock of Jackdaws dropped into the field and a Stock Dove pair flashed by before I wandered down to check the gulls on and around the pipe again. A small group of Curlew drifted in to land in the bay. After 45 minutes of fruitless searching with only a few very unconvincing possibles keeping the attention levels up I decided I should check the rest of the park. I heard a Pheasant calling from near the car park and set out to try and see it. A Chiffchaff showed briefly as did a Song Thrush before the male Pheasant casually wandered out into the open before rather warily crossing over towards Buzzard Wood on foot. Long Tailed Tit and Siskin were seen before I called it a day at the park, having noted an unexpected 46 species, including a year-tick (in bold) though unfortunately it wasn't the hoped for Yellow Legged Gull.
I walked up to Balgay Cemetery where Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Jay and Stock Dove were all seen. A half-hearted attempt to add Nuthatch came up empty and there were no further additions to the day's total along the rest of the walk home. A reasonably good day out with a total of 52 species seen or heard (46 in the park, 27 outwith) including the unexpected Pintails for the year-list (now at 94 species - all in Dundee). The Yellow Legged Gull would have been good to see, but it is at least on the park list which now sits at 147 species recorded from the park since 18/6/11 when the park opened to the public. Although I doubt we can reach 150 species before the 10th anniversary of the opening date it is not completely impossible. Time, as always, will tell.
 |
Blackbird
|
 |
Bullfinch
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Mute Swan
|
 |
Moorhen
|
 |
Bar Tailed Godwit & Redshank
|
 |
Cormorant (possibly Sinensis)
|
 |
Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Redshank & Common Gull
|
 |
Redshank & Dunlin
|
 |
Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Buzzard & Carrion Crow
|
 |
Farmyard Goose & Canada Goose
|
 |
Shelduck
|
 |
Robin
|
 |
Pintail
|
 |
Sparrowhawk
|
 |
Sparrowhawk
|
 |
Sparrowhawk
|
 |
Redshank
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Greylag Goose
|
 |
Greylag Goose
|
 |
Robin
|
 |
Jackdaw
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Stock Dove
|
 |
Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Song Thrush
|
 |
Black Headed Gull
|
 |
Common Gull
|
 |
Jackdaw
|
 |
Curlew
|
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Shelduck
|
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Woodpigeon
|
 |
Oystercatcher
|
 |
Oystercatcher
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Skylark
|
 |
Meadow Pipit
|
 |
Yellowhammer
|
 |
Chiffchaff
|
 |
Pheasant
|
 |
Buzzard
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
Greenfinch
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
 |
Pied Wagtail
|
 |
Jay
|
 |
Woodpigeon
|
 |
Stock Dove
|
Birds -
Bar Tailed Godwit,
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock,
Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw,
Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Riverside Nature Park - italics
Outside the Nature Park - underline
Year-Tick - Bold
