For my most recent mid-week day off I wanted to get to Riverside Nature Park to try and see a Yellow Legged Gull found by Mark Wilkinson (initially the previous Friday when Caspian Gull seemed the likeliest ID based on the available views - though better, closer views on Monday meant a definite ID). Unfortunately for me I had a parcel that I would need to wait in for first before I could consider going anywhere. As the sun was shining I decided I might as well spend some time at my front window, enjoying the sunshine, and if there were any birds to be seen, then at least I'd be squeezing in some sort of birding, though expectations were low.
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White Tailed Eagle
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Although I was technically birding I wasn't really keeping a note of the birds I was seeing though Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Starling, Blue Tit, Magpie, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Feral Pigeon were all seen during the morning's repeated visits to the window. There was some military aircraft traffic that caught my eye and I spent some time watching 2 pairs of RAF Typhoon flying racetrack patterns high to the east, 1 pair over land, the other out over the sea. An RAF E-3 AWACS was flying a circular pattern to the north and west too. There was no sign of my parcel by 1130 and I had been hoping to be out for around 1230 at the latest. I was messaging my pal, Garry, about the aircraft when the local Feral Pigeons took flight. I scanned around for a Sparrowhawk but drew a blank. Eventually I spotted a high flying Buzzard approaching from the north and took a few photos. I watched it circle once before it disappeared over the roof westwards.
As I went to send Garry another message 2 large birds in flight distracted my attention. To my bespectacled eyes they looked too bulky for the expected Herring Gulls. I grabbed my binoculars to have a proper look. I was not expecting the sight that greeted me. The birds were 2 adult White Tailed Eagles! My camera was hastily grabbed and I made sure I got a couple of record shots. I expected the birds to continue on their way northwards but instead they chose to circle lazily for the next 5 minutes gaining a bit of height before disappearing to the west. Although I had suspected that there was a slight chance of getting White Tailed Eagle on the house-list having seen one over Baxter Park just under a year ago, I certainly hadn't expected to see 2 together, or for them to put on a leisurely show visible from my front window. Photos showed them to be the well-known Fife pair, which I've been lucky to have seen quite often (the male was the Baxter Park bird too).
After that it took a while to calm down again but my parcel eventually arrived at 1400, and I quickly got organised and hurried as best as I could to Riverside Nature Park on foot. I knew I needed to get there no later than around 1515 or so to stand a chance of seeing the Yellow Legged Gull before the tide came all the way in and the gulls departed the bay. I added Sparrowhawk to the raptor haul for the day as I headed up Canning Street. Greenfinch and Pied Wagtail were the only other new additions before I eventually made it to the park just after 1500.
I hurried to the far end of the park where I found that thankfully the tide wasn't quite all the way in. There were Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Curlew, Dunlin, Shelduck, Black Headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Herring Gulls as well as Teal, Greylag Goose, the single Canada Goose (and farmyard Goose), a lone Mute Swan and a few Mallard to be seen in the bay, but the very strong sunlight made it almost impossible to get a decent idea of what shade of grey the mantle and wings on any of the gulls present actually was. There didn't seem to be too many larger gulls around though there was some movement with birds arriving to bathe while others departed. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly I failed to see the Yellow Legged Gull. A Yellowhammer in a tree was the only 'yellow-anything' noted. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly flitted by.
I headed into the park adding Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Jackdaws, Carrion Crow, Starling, Song Thrush, Wren and Pied Wagtail. Moorhen was found at the Lochan. Stock Dove, a few Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, a male Bullfinch, a Greenfinch displaying, a Siskin and a few Goldfinches were seen before I headed for the exit and the long walk back home, suffering a bit from rather sore legs following on from my short bursts of running on the way to the park and the previous day's exertions (more of which in my next 'commute' update). Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Great Tit, Redwing and Peregrine were seen on the way back home.
All in all, despite missing out on the Yellow Legged Gull, the year-tick (in bold) and house-tick White Tailed Eagles were undoubtedly a major plus. I managed to record 39 species in the park and 25 outwith (46 in total), as well as a single butterfly species and a few Bumblebees. Not a bad day.
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Buzzard
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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White Tailed Eagle
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Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull & Mallard
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Herring Gull & Shelduck
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Herring Gull
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Early Bumblebee?
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Jackdaw
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Skylark
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Skylark
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Blue Tit
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Bullfinch
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Bullfinch
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Coal Tit
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Woodpigeon
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Curlew
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Mute Swan
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Blue Tit
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Herring Gull
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Siskin
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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Long Tailed Tit
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Blue Tit
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Long Tailed Tit
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Birds -
Blackbird,
Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch,
Buzzard,
Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank,
Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, White Tailed Eagle, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.Butterflies -
Small Tortoiseshell.
Year-tick -
Bold
Riverside Nature Park - Italics
Outside Riverside NP - Underline
