On my walk to Riverside Nature Park last Wednesday I had chosen to linger on Balgay Hill a little longer than would be expected. There was a very good reason for this however. I was checking up on a nest. Not just any nest though, but the nest of what may potentially have been a first time breeder in Dundee (at least as far as I have been able to find out). Unfortunately, during the 5 minutes or so that I was in the vicinity of the nest there was no sign of life. My previous 3 visits had also suggested the attempt had failed. I decided I would check with Keith Edwards, who had also been keeping an eye on the site, to see if he knew what had happened when I got home.
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| Nuthatch |
On Friday July 10th last year, on my walk home after work I stopped to investigate a warbler singing. It turned out to be a Blackcap, rather than the hoped for Garden Warbler, but unexpectedly while I'd been trying to catch a decent look at the bird, another had landed on the tree above me. Not on a branch, but on the trunk. The bird in question was only my second Nuthatch in Dundee, following on from one in Camperdown Park in 2012 and 2013. A few days later, Keith Edwards reported the bird on the local bird club grapevine. On consecutive days in mid-September I found a Nuthatch singing from tall trees near Royal Victoria Hospital as I headed to work. In early January of this year, I went looking at the hill for Nuthatch for my year-list and found one, and possibly a second bird, in the same general area as previous sightings.
Around mid-March and into early April, the Nuthatch was heard and sometimes seen singing from the tops of tall trees as I walked to and from work. A chat to Graham Smith at the Nature Park around that time led to the discovery that Keith had seen a Nuthatch investigating a couple of prospective nest holes and that there definitely were 2 birds present. On the 18th April the weather which wasn't particularly warm made me change my plans from continuing on to Riverside Nature Park. Instead I decided to photograph the birds and activity around Balgay Hill as territories were marked, pairs were formed and breeding behaviour got under way. I got a surprise as I wandered up to the Observatory when a Nuthatch took flight from some slightly broken ground with what appeared to be a beakful of soil.
I managed to track down the bird eventually and found that it was using the mud to reduce the size of a hole about 12 feet up in a tree. I grabbed a few photos as proof of potential breeding behaviour and left the bird in peace. A few days later, I checked again, finding the hole now much reduced in size, though with the bird still returning with more mud. Running into Keith at the Nature Park not long after, we discussed the nest site and decided to keep a close eye to the attempt - letting the local recorder know about it, but otherwise keeping the news quiet, so as to minimise potential disturbance. I checked once or twice a week, usually as I was on my way home, waiting for a few minutes until the bird showed up, or if it didn't, moving on anyway. Keith was able to check a bit more often than I was, as he lives closer to the hill. Having read up on the length of time from laying to fledging, it appeared to be sometime around mid-June when we could hopefully expect to see signs of success - if, of course, the birds were successful.
Unfortunately, a few days before the expected date things went completely quiet. I drew a blank, and Keith did too. One day, things had been normal, the next, there was no sign of any life around the nest hole. Keith checked a few times over the next few days but drew a blank. Around the same time as I was checking the nest hole on Wednesday, Keith finally succeeded in tracking down the Nuthatches. Not just the adult pair but at least 2 youngsters too. The nest hadn't failed after all. They had been successful. Keith managed to get a few photos which showed the youngsters with his small digital camera. Proof of what was to the best of our knowledge the first successful breeding of Nuthatch in Dundee.
Having emailed Keith on Wednesday evening and discovered that the birds had been successful I decided that I would head for the hill at the weekend to try for 'better' photos. Knowing that Lainy's injury had meant she had yet to see Nuthatch this year and knowing that 2 pairs of eyes increased our chances of getting a count of how many young birds there actually were, I messaged her on Friday evening to see if she wanted to join me at the hill, early on Saturday morning. Arrangements were made - I'd head to the park early and she would join me sometime between 0700 and 0800.
When the alarm went off at 0400, I reset it for 0430. That did mean a later start than intended, though had I not arranged to meet Lainy, I quite possibly would've slept for another few hours. I headed out at around 0550 to find that it was raining a little. I wasn't dressed for rain but as it was not forecast I decided to continue on to the hill anyway and hope that I didn't get too wet on the walk there. At the hill itself, the trees would provide an element of relative shelter. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Jackdaw and Blackbird were noted within the first couple of minutes outside. A singing Chaffinch was in its usual place opposite Dens Park. Pied Wagtail, Starling and Blue Tit were all noted in the same general area as the Chaffinch. Continuing on I added Goldfinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Wren, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Blackcap before I reached the hill around 0630. The rain had got a bit heavier the closer I got to the hill, which wasn't good news but as expected the trees did manage to cut out the worst of it.
I messaged Lainy to tell her I'd arrived and that it was raining in case she wanted to reconsider. She decided she would still join me despite the weather. I found a pair of Bullfinches at the western end of the footbridge. A Stock Dove was seen perched in one of the trees a little further down the slope. A Nuthatch showed briefly in the top of one of the trees by the hospital wall. A Jay flew over before I wandered up the steps to explore the area around the observatory. The rain abated and I was able to add Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Siskin and Long Tailed Tit before Lainy arrived. The rain had by this time finally stopped though the sky did still appear to carry the threat of more precipitation at some point. We had a hunt around for the Nuthatches , finding ourselves at the top of the hill while one called loudly back down at the bottom. As we headed down the steps a couple of them flew across a larger open area among the trees, with another one landing in a large tree seconds later, giving us reasonable views and the chance to get a few photos. At least one other flew over with another heard calling from behind us - though it could have been one of the original pair.
We then bumped into Keith and the three of us chatted about the Nuthatches and other birds while waiting on them reappearing. A few Swifts zipped around above the trees. A Buzzard glided over and a little later an Oystercatcher passed over much higher. A Robin, a young Great Spotted Woodpecker and eventually one of the Nuthatches were seen before it began to rain again. A small family group of young Wrens were seen opposite the trees we were sheltering below, their constant high pitched contact calls providing a background soundtrack as we hoped for better Nuthatch views. Keith eventually had to leave at around 1000 without having any further Nuthatch sightings. Lainy and I had a wander around the western edges of the hill during which we added House Martin to the list for the day.
When we arrived back at the pavillion steps we sat down in the hope that the relatively open vista would mean we could spot the Nuthatches if they showed up again. Things had gone a bit quiet but every bird was checked, just in case. A Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk passed over in opposite directions to the annoyance of the local Carrion Crows. A Great Tit flew into the trees opposite before a calling Nuthatch sounded behind us. It then flew down from the tree top it was perched in, into the grounds of Royal Victoria Hospital. A minute or two later it returned to the top of the same tree with a large nut in its beak. It called again before flying into the trees opposite its perch.
By this time the area was quite busy with dog walkers and there seemed to be even fewer birds around than before. A bit later the Nuthatch made another foray into the RVH grounds before once again returning via the same treetop to the same area as earlier, calling before it went. This suggested that the family group might be in the same area of the hill. We decided to head uphill to see if that was indeed the case. Lainy said she would catch me up and that I should just go on ahead. I found a relatively open area which gave a view down the slope. A few feet above me were an adult and juvenile Nuthatch on a branch! I attempted to get a few photos but the constant movement and amount of foliage did make things rather tricky. Lainy caught up with me and I gestured for her to hurry over.
Lainy spotted more movement in the trees a bit further down the slope and we were eventually able to have 2 birds each in view at the same time. There may have been others spread out over the wider area but it was almost impossible to watch more than 2 birds at a time each. We were able to get some decent photos, including photos of a youngster being fed by a parent bird. At one point, one of the youngsters perched not too far from us and dozed on and off for about 5 minutes or so, completely untroubled by us standing relatively close to its choice of perch. Although the light below the trees wasn't great we did manage to get some close-up DSLR photos of the youngsters, which was one of our main reasons for the visit. A male Bullfinch and a few Song Thrushes also gave us reasonable views.
After an hour or so watching the Nuthatches working their way about in the trees in front of us, Lainy decided she had probably best head homewards. I was undecided as to whether or not I would do likewise. Adam arrived to pick Lainy up at 1500 and I decided I'd have another wander around the hill on the off-chance that I might run into something decent somewhere. I didn't manage to add anything other than a Grey Squirrel but I did run into Kirsty who I've met a few times at Riverside Nature Park who asked if I'd seen any Nuthatches. I told her the news of the successful breeding and we had a general birding chat for 20 minutes or so. I eventually headed for home around 1650, arriving home around 15 minutes short of 12 hours since I left the house in the morning, having seen or heard a total of 35 species of bird and 1 of mammal. A pretty good day out.
Below is a selection of photos of the Nuthatches breeding behaviour in 2021. First 6 photos are from 18/4. The next 3 are from 21/4 and the rest are from 26/6.
And the rest of Saturday's photos....
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| Nuthatch |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Buzzard |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
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Carrion Crow
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Carrion Crow
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| Woodpigeon |
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House Martin
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Stock Dove
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Great Tit
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Blackbird |
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Coal Tit
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| Blackbird |
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
