Once again a later than intended start to my day followed by some procrastination after breakfast meant it was around 1130 before I headed out into the sunny but cold morning. My plan was to try to get to Riverside Nature Park in time to catch the waders as the tide came in, with Black Tailed Godwit my main target species. These birds are usually fairly reliable in the bay in small numbers at this time of year but so far this year the only Godwits I've managed to see have been Bar Tailed which are usually the less common of the 2 so far upriver. With a rather high tide around 1500 I figured I would manage to get to the park in time as long as I arrived before 1300.
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Buzzard
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A Sparrowhawk was one of the first birds I saw when I headed out as it disappeared off to the south having upset the local Feral Pigeons and Herring Gulls. A pair of Long Tailed Tits were seen in trees at the bottom of Canning Street. Greenfinch was added on Byron Street and a Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen perched on the Arnold Clark buildings off Loon's Road. Goldcrest, Chaffinch and Great Tit were noted at Balgay Hill. I cut through the grounds behind Ninewells Hospital adding a Jay before finding a pair of Bullfinches feeding on buds at the end of the path down behind the Carseview Cantre to the WL Gore building. Song Thrush and Wren were both heard as I headed down onto Perth Road.
I reached the park at just after 1240. Unfortunately, just as I peered over the railway bridge to check the bay all the waders had just taken flight. I managed to pick out lots of Redshanks and Dunlin before spotting a flock of Godwits. I quickly got onto them as they flew out into the bay. Although the views were from directly behind they all appeared to be Bar Taileds which was a bit disappointing. When things settled down again there were only a relatively small number of Redshank left. A few Teal were noted, as well as some Mallard, Shelduck and a mix of gull species - (at this point I was unaware that Mark Wilkinson had found a possible Caspian Gull on Friday night in the bay, which he re-found on Monday and ID'd as an equally good Yellow Legged Gull). A single Lesser Black Backed seemed to be the only semi-interesting gull though I did try to turn one of the 2nd year Herring Gulls into something more interesting.
A pair of Long Tailed Tits were feeding around the area by the hide. Across the bay I spotted the Greylag Geese flock and with them was the white farmyard goose I'd seen distantly last week. Sticking close to that bird was a year-tick for me - a Canada Goose. A pleasant surprise. A Cormorant landed on the pipe as the tide rose higher. I decided there was little to be gained by lingering as there were only around 10 or so Redshank left of the waders I was hoping to spend time scanning through. A Skylark was heard singing along towards the hill and a Lesser Redpoll (another year-tick) flew over towards the hide but kept going.
A Yellowhammer in the hedge took a bit of finding. The field was full of Carrion Crows and lots of Jackdaws. A pair of Moorhens, the Mute Swan pair, a number of Teal, Mallards and Oystercatchers were all around the Lochan and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard from across the road but I failed to find it. A Bullfinch was heard but couldn't be seen at the eastern end of the small wooded area towards the bend in the path. I managed to pick out a very distant Sparrowhawk over Ninewells. I wandered slowly along the treeline in the lower half of the park, adding Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Siskin, Goldcrest, Song Thrush and a surprise Redwing.
High above I spotted a tussle between a Carrion Crow and a Buzzard. I was joined after a few minutes by a couple of women and a young boy who had also seen the birds and wondered what they were. I had a chat for a wee while with them about birds and we had great views of a Buzzard flying by relatively close. A second Sparrowhawk was seen over the Hospital and a Curlew was heard but not seen as I headed for the exit having recorded 44 species. It was just after 1500 and I decided to see if I could add anything at Balgay Hill on the way home. Not unexpectedly the park was relatively busy with walkers and birds were scarce. I did manage to find a few Siskin, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Dunnock but no Jays, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Treecreepers or Nuthatch. I did get a few Grey Squirrel photos though.
Heading up Loon's Road a short while later I spotted a bird on one corner of the ledge near the top of Cox's Stack. I wondered if it was maybe a Peregrine just as it took flight and swooped down and over The Miley's trees and across in front of me. With the sun on the bird which wasn't too high in the air I could see without any problem that it was indeed a Peregrine. Nothing else was added before I made it home around 1700. A decent enough afternoon's birding with 49 species recorded (including 2 year-ticks - in bold). The close fly-by Buzzard photos alone made it a worthwhile walk. Having since found out about the Yellow Legged Gull I may have to venture back again to attempt to see it.
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Bullfinch
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Bullfinch
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Herring Gull
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Cormorant
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Shelduck
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Lesser Black Backed Gull, Teal & Redshank
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Teal & Redshank
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Canada Goose, Farmyard Goose & Greylag Goose
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Herring Gull & Cormorant
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Moorhen
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Moorhen
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Teal
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Mute Swan
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Mallard
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Mallard
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Mallard
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Moorhen
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Sparrowhawk
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Chaffinch
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Carrion Crow
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Redwing
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Chaffinch
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Sparrowhawk
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Magpie
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Herring Gull & Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Buzzard
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Oystercatcher
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Grey Squirrel
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Grey Squirrel
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Coal Tit
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Blue Tit
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Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit,
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull,
Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard,
Canada Goose,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin,
Dunnock,
Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker,
Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose,
Herring Gull,
House Sparrow,
Jackdaw,
Jay,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan,
Oystercatcher,
Peregrine, Redshank, Redwing,
Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck,
Siskin, Skylark,
Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Starling, Stock Dove, Teal,
Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
Outwith park only - italics
Year-Ticks - Bold
Both inside & outside park - underlined
Inside park only - normal script
