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House Martin
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Despite my refound enthusiasm for birding following Saturday's success in catching up with Garden Warbler, (and the bonus Little Grebes), it was a bit more of a struggle to get out of my bed on Sunday than I expected it to be. Saturday's early start likely played its part but I had decided I would head out to Riverside Nature Park for the morning. With high tide around 1500 or so, the birds would be pushed in to the area in front of the hide around 1330 or so. I was hoping that there might be a reasonable chance of adding a wader species to my Dundee 140 list, although any new addition would be a bonus.
It was around 0820 by the time I set off and it was a fairly unspectacular haul of birds seen on the way down to the park with a Treecreeper in Dudhope Park probably the main highlight until I reached the Tay railbridge. A Grey Heron was seen on a sandbank just offshore towards the airport and a Greenfinch was in the trees by the University playing fields. Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Swift and Whitethroat were noted on the walk along past the airport with House Martin and Chiffchaff added as I neared the park. I reached the park around an hour and 20 minutes after leaving the house. It didn't take too long to get some reasonably good birds on the list for the park part of the day's outing - Blackcap, Whitethroat, Skylark, Swift and House Martin. I hadn't gone very far into the eastern end of the park before I spotted a Cinnabar Moth, low down on a plant by the path.
Knowing that Lainy really wanted to see one of these very smart looking black and red moths I messaged her to let her know I had one in front of me. She messaged back to say she'd probably pop down to try to see it and that she'd let me know when she arrived, if she did. There were quite a lot of Lacewings around and I finally managed to get some decent photos of these insects. I watched a Buzzard circling out to the west and added a Swallow hunting insects before finding a Small Tortoiseshell and a couple of Peacock butterflies. Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Siskin, a pair of Grey Herons and Oystercatcher were noted before Lainy arrived. Fortunately, despite some rather close calls from loose dogs, the Cinnabar was still where I found it earlier, which allowed Lainy to be able to get photos.
After a while we set off around the park, we added a Red Admiral to the list of butterflies we'd seen. We had a look for more interesting insects and while doing so I happened to look up and spotted a Sparrowhawk circling nearby. Chiffchaff and Long Tailed Tit were noted on the walk along to the Lochan where Mute Swan, Mallard and Moorhen were seen. We then wandered round to check the bay. There were very few waders to be seen, which was disappointing, just a few Oystercatchers and a trio of Curlews. Cormorant, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull and Shelduck were also noted in the bay. Mark Wilkinson was checking the bay using his scope and he got us onto a Tufted Duck, which is not a common bird at the park.
A Grey Seal was around by the pipe and we watched it munching on a large fish. A Sedge Warbler was a nice surprise in the bushes along the south side of the hill. We decided to head for Balgay Hill after it looked like we'd exhausted all the possibilities. As we headed for the eastern gate, Lainy stopped for a few more photos of the Cinnabar moth. Earlier in the day, Lainy had put out an Emporer Moth pheremone lure, more in hope than expectation for a few minutes but unsurprisingly nothing had happened. However, as she photographed the Cinnabar moth she happened to look over to where the lure had been hours earlier and spotted an Emporer Moth flitting around. I attempted to grab some photos but the erratic flight of the large moth made it impossible and as quickly as it had arrived it was off again towards the airport and we lost sight of it .
Although it is (I think) a new species for the park moth list, we have no way of knowing how far it had traveled to get there, or more importantly whether it would have likely turned up without the lure having been put out, so despite its appearance at the park I don't think we should really add it to the park list. However, it was interesting to see that it did turn up and to see just how large a moth Emporers actually are (it appeared to be somewhere approaching Peacock butterfly sized). On our walk along Riverside Avenue my brain registered a resting moth down among the vegetation despite me not even looking directly in the direction of it. It turned out to be a rather nice Angle Shades moth and we were able to get some decent photos of that too.
Balgay Hill proved relatively productive with good views of Jay and Nuthatch once again and Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Robin and Blackbird also showing well. Chiffchaff and Great Spotted Woodpecker were both heard as was the young Buzzard I'd heard the previous day. We called it a day around 1715 and Lainy's husband Adam dropped me off at home (thanks again!). I finished the day having noted a total of 54 species of bird (45 at the Nature Park, and 37 outwith), as well as 3 of butterfly, 2 of mammal and 4 of moth. A far better day's wildlife watching than expected with a nice mixture of types of wildlife noted.
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| Whitethroat |
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| Chaffinch |
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Cranefly sp.
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| Lacewing |
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| Swallow |
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| Magpie |
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Buzzard with Rabbit
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Cinnabar Moth
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| Yellowhammer |
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Tufted Duck
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Grey Seal
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Snipe Fly
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Angle Shades
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Orange Tailed Mining Bee
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Collared Dove
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Robin |
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| Jay |
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| Jay |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swift, Treecreeper, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Moths (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Angle Shades.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Cinnabar, Common Carpet, Emperor Moth.
