On Wednesday I was wakened by a text message which was quickly followed by a WhatsApp message at around 0700. I hadn't really made any plans to go birding but I got up and decided I might as well do something. Although the weather forecast was decent enough it did look to be a bit on the warm side for my liking. I decided I would head for Riverside Nature Park. It isn't a place I visit too often in the main summer months as there doesn't tend to be anything in particular to tempt me to visit. Foliage is at its thickest and greenest, views of the bay are limited (increasingly so with every new year) and the smaller birds are either breeding or moulting, so there's not a huge amount to see. On those occasions I do visit it tends to be with the focus on insects and macro photography. However, birds would be my focus even if my levels of expectation were very low.
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| Swift |
It was around 0920 when I headed out into the sunshine for the hour or so walk to the park. Herring Gull, Dunnock, Magpie, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon were all noted before I'd made it as far as the football stadiums with Chaffinch, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail, Swift and Blue Tit added as I passed Tannadice and Dens Park stadiums. Starlings were added near the Hilltown and a spot of loitering at the Law added a juvenile Blackcap. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Song Thrush, Robin, Goldcrest, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch, House Martin, Wren, Jay, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Stock Dove and Grey Squirrel were all noted around Balgay Hill and cemetery, though there was no sign of any Nuthatch.
I then added Oystercatcher and Bullfinch before I made it to the park around 1105 having lingered a little longer than usual at both hills. It didn't take too long to get a decent size start to the list for the park visit underway at the bay end - Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Goldfinch, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Whitethroat, Sparrowhawk and Magpie. Siskin, Blackcap, Sandwich Tern, Grey Heron, Curlew, Woodpigeon and Yellowhammer were soon picked up too. 25 species on the list without really trying.
I headed further into the park adding a flyover Bullfinch, a small group of Starlings, a Reed Bunting singing, a couple of heard only Willow Warblers and a Linnet. Distant Cormorants were also spotted out in the river. As the tide was rising quicker than expected I decided to head back to the hide for another look, which did give me a couple of Shelduck. I had a short chat to a couple of women who asked what else they might see in the park. I suggested that as the tide was on its way in there was a possibility of an Osprey coming in to do a spot of fishing. Surprisingly this turned out to be accurate as I spotted one over the bay as I headed back towards the main body of the park a bit later. However it failed to spot anything and gained height very quickly with a burst of speed I've never seen before by an Osprey before I lost sight as it circled higher and higher just to the north of the park.
Near the Lochan I watched and photographed a lot of Common Blue Damselflies along the path. At the Lochan, a few House Sparrows, a female Chaffinch, a male Pied Wagtail and a small group of Goldfinches seemed to be enjoying the Damselflies' emergence from the water. House Martins were feeding low over the water and were soon joined by a single Swallow. In addition a few Swifts were swooping low and taking a drink. I decided to attempt to get a photo of them doing this. My Swift photos are usually not particularly great, or even usable, but somehow I managed to surprise myself by successfully getting one of my best ever photos of a Swift actually caught in the act of having a drink.
A Song Thrush breaking the last remnants off a snail shell on the path by the Lochan was also photographed. A Moorhen and the Mallard family (only 1 youngster) were also noted at the Lochan before a Greenfinch was seen in flight. A Buzzard was seen off to the east and a Skylark with food for youngsters was seen over the hill. Blue Tits and Long Tailed Tits moved through the hedge above me asI photographed the Swifts. A Great Tit was also seen. A Green Veined White and a Ringlet butterfly were seen flitting by between me and the water. Moving on again I added Wren, Dunnock and Stock Dove to the list as well as a Rabbit. Despite putting in a fair bit of effort I failed to add anything new around the lower part of the park before I set off back to the city centre to collect a parcel containing my copy of the new Lynx 'Seabirds' book.
A quick check of the roof of the Brakes building produced Black Headed Gulls and Oystercatchers but nothing else. A surprise near the entrance to the Amazon depot was a Kestrel which managed to catch something (the photo isn't too clear, though it looks like it could be a very small Rabbit kitten). A Linnet and an adult Rabbit were seen between Roseangle and the Dundee Science Centre but little else was noted. All in all a surprisingly productive day's birding with the Swift photo the absolute icing on the cake. Somehow I managed to get a very creditable 49 species at the park and another 5 outwith (though there was also a lot of overlap among the 32 species noted outwith) for a total of 54 species of bird, as well as 2 butterfly species, 1 damselfly and 2 of mammals.
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Great Tit
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Black Headed Gull, Mallard, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow & Oystercatcher
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Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Magpie |
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Common Gull, Sandwich Tern, Curlew & Black Headed Gull
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Song Thrush
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Song Thrush
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
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Curlew, Sandwich Tern & Oystercatcher
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Lapwing, Curlew, Carrion Crow & Black Headed Gull
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| Whitethroat |
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| Starling |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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Black Headed Gull
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Reed Bunting
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Sandwich Tern & Black Headed Gull
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Reed Bunting
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| Osprey |
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Common Blue Damselfly
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Common Blue Damselfly
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| Mallard |
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| Swift |
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Pied Wagtail
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House Martin
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| Chaffinch |
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| Swift |
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| Swift |
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| Swift |
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House Martin
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| Swift |
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| Mallard |
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| Skylark |
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Reed Bunting
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| Swift |
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| Swallow |
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| Greenfinch |
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Swallow (& Swift)
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| Swallow |
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Pied Wagtail
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Common Blue Damselfly
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| Swift |
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Swift & Mallard
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| Swift |
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Swift (cropped version)
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| Skylark |
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Black Headed Gull & Oystercatcher
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Rabbit |
Birds (outwith Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
Birds (Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (Riverside Nature Park) - Green Veined White, Ringlet.
Damselflies - Common Blue Damselfly.
Mammals - Rabbit.
