By taking a day's annual leave on the Tuesday after a bank holiday Monday, I am able to have 5 days away from work in one block. With May usually being prime migration time I decided that I would take the Tuesday following the May Day holiday this year in the hope that I could pick up some more new birds for my Dundee 2021 and year-list. Riverside Nature Park has in the past turned up Wood Sandpiper, Red Backed Shrike and Blue Headed Wagtail on Spring passage. As it happened, Ian Ford had messaged me to let me know that Keith Edwards had found an Iceland Gull, in addition to a drake Green Winged Teal over the previous couple of days, so it was a bit of a 'no-brainer' to head for Riverside Nature Park in the hope that both might still be around, as well as perhaps something new.
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Magpie
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My original plan for an 0500 departure from home fell by the wayside but I did make it out around 0705 and set off for the one hour walk to the park. It was a similar sort of list to those I manage when I'm walking to work around this time of year, though there seemed to be a noticeable decrease in the amount of birdsong compared with the previous week. Siskin, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Stock Dove were the highlights en route to the park. I reached the park just a minute or so over the hour that I expected the walk would take. I decided to head for the hide overlooking the bay, via the footpath outside the park, looking in.
I saw a birder walking out from the car park and a quick check revealed it to be Keith Edwards. I suspected our paths would cross in the park later. Carrion Crow, Song Thrush, Oystercatcher, Goldfinch, Magpie and Woodpigeon were easily picked up. Moorhen and Mute Swan were at the Lochan. Jackdaw, Starling and Skylark and a pair of Mallard were seen a bit further on. A Swallow swept overhead as I neared the entrance to the park at the western end. I decided to have a quick look from the bridge over the railway into the bay, which does allow a view of parts that are hidden when inside the park. A Black Headed Gull and a Common Sandpiper were seen down on the mud beyond the railway line. Common Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Shelduck were also noted before I decided to head in to the park proper for a look from the hide.
Robin, Blackbird, a few Teal, Feral Pigeon, Blackcap and Willow Warbler were seen and heard while I was stood at the hide. I could see there were actually 3 Common Sandpipers down by the outflow pipe. Although I'd seen the species at Backwater Reservoir a few days before, it was a new addition to my Dundee list for the year, which is my primary focus this year. I've set myself a target of 125 species, which should be achievable with a bit of luck, though I'm more or less at the point where it gets a lot harder to pick up new species - though hopefully once Autumn migration gets underway again, I will be able to add a few more. I headed out from the hide and found House Sparrows in the hedge by the entrance. A House Martin - new for the year, zipped over towards Invergowrie. I then turned around just in time to see a Sparrowhawk swoop low over the hedge and through the bushes in the direction of the bay.
Keith Edwards arrived to the news about the lack of Iceland Gull and Green Winged Teal and also that he'd just missed a House Martin, which he still needed for his year-list. We had a chat about various local birds before setting off for a look at the rest of the top half of the park. Pied Wagtail, Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch and Long Tailed Tit were all seen over the course of the next hour. The wind made the day feel more like November than May and with snow seen distantly coating the Ochills well to the southwest, the illusion was compounded. Having reached the car park, Keith headed off home and I wandered back around again and back towards the Lochan and then to the bay.
A Stock Dove was the one new addition on this particular leg of my visit. I was joined at the hide by a birder who posts on Birdforum as Mikewander who I met for the first time just recently and we both continued on to check the bay again. The wind from the north meant that there was a small mixed group of hirundines feeding in the relative shelter in front of the tunnel where the burn reached the bay. A few Swallows, at least 3 House Martins and some Sand Martins were there. The trees and bushes surrounding us produced Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Wren, Dunnock and Yellowhammer. With the tide on its way in we waited and scanned and chatted. A Grey Heron dropped in and landed on the pipe as we did so.
A flock of 14 or so Black Tailed Godwits in summer plumage arrived. Surprisingly there was a distinct lack of other waders around. There was constant checking of the gulls coming and going to the pipe and also the ducks dotted around the bay. One slight advantage of the cold temperatures was the lack of heat haze meaning that I was able to catch a flash of white on a Teal right across the bay which needed confirmation. Out came my small Opticron scope from my bag and I was indeed able to add Green Winged Teal to my lists for the day, Dundee and year. A few minutes later, another wader did put in an appearance. Down on the small muddy beach to the left of the hide a partially breeding plumaged Spotted Redshank wandered out and along the water's edge, giving us very good views.
Mike headed off and I put out word of the birds on Twitter and messaged Mark Wilkinson who was hoping to catch up with the Green Winged Teal. Mark replied to say he was in the park and could see the Spotted Redshank and 2 Sandwich Terns (which I needed for the year). I headed out to meet Mark and found that he was on his way to where I was too. We headed back out from there towards the picnic tables to scan the bay again. Despite checking every Teal we could see more than a few times, it appeared the Green Winged Teal had vanished. A bit of a commotion among the gulls resulted in an Osprey with a large flatfish being seen. A trio of Bar Tailed Godwits were seen in the air among the melee. There was no obvious sign of either Sandwich Tern or Green Winged Teal despite us scanning from a few points along the bay side path. Grey Seals shared a sand-bank well out in the river with a handful of Hering Gulls.
A distant Curlew flying downriver and a trio of Dunlin on the outer stretches of the pipe were spotted before Mark had to head off again, as he was squeezing in the hunt for the Teal while on his lunchbreak. I said I'd let him know if I managed to refind the Green Winged Teal. A heavy shower of rain passed over - the composting toilet was used as a handy makeshift shelter, before I scanned the bay again and again. A slightly larger group fo Dunlin were found and a trio of Redshanks were also finally down on the mud as the water levels dropped leaving the route of the burn outflow easy to see. Distant Cormorants were seen on the small island off Kingoodie. I heard a Sandwich Tern calling off to my left and eventually managed to see the bird, which was joined by a second bird a minute or so later and shortly after a third, with all three birds dropping down onto the pipe.
Around 1410 I finally admitted defeat and gave up on refinding the Green Winged Teal. I messaged Mark to let him know I'd had no luck. I decided that rather than take the shorter route round to the car park, I would head to the Lochan again the long way round. As I wandered along the banking overlooking the bay a little to the north of the picnic tables a few minutes later, I spotted a trio of ducks in the burn. A pair together were Teal and the third bird, slightly apart from the others was the previously 'missing' Green Winged Teal. I messaged Mark again to let him know and he said he'd pop back down, which he did, successfully catching up with the bird, though the light made getting a decent photo difficult with the sun behind the bird, though he was slightly more successful on that score on the subsequent days.
Having been on my feet since around 0700 and with another hour's walk ahead of me on the way home I was by now feeling a bit tired. The lower half of the park proved to be very quiet with only Buzzard being added - 2 birds circling up over the large grassy area to the west of the aptly named Buzzard Wood. A Rabbit sunning itself disappeared into the bushes as they circled above. There was one final addition before I left the park around 1530 - a pair of overflying Siskins. The rather weary walk home was also rather unproductive with only Coal Tit added. A long, but rather productive day had resulted in a total of 54 bird species at the park, as well as 23 outwith the park - though overall a total of 58 species of birds was recorded. The three new year-ticks (in bold) were all very welcome. A good day out.
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Mallard & Common Sandpiper
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Starling
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Whitethroat
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Sand Martin, Swallow & Lesser Black Backed Gull
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House Martin
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Teal
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Teal
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Common Gull & Herring Gull
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Grey Heron
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Black Tailed Godwit, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Common Gull & Black Headed Gull
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Spotted Redshank
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Spotted Redshank & Shelduck
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Spotted Redshank
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Spotted Redshank
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Spotted Redshank
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull, Common Gull & Osprey
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Dunlin
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Common Sandpiper
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Sandwich Tern
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Redshank
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Sandwich Tern
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Common Sandpiper
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Green Winged Teal
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Green Winged Teal
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Green Winged Teal
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Green Winged Teal & Teal
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Redshank
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Green Winged Teal
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Grey Seal & Herring Gull
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Magpie
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Long Tailed Tit
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Sparrowhawk
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Chaffinch
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Robin
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Birds -
Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Green Winged Teal, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Redshank, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.Mammals -
Grey Seal, Rabbit.
