0992 : Half Century Haul? (24/7/22)

Marsh Harrier

Following on from Saturday's efforts at Balmossie and East Wemyss I decided that I would try Riverside Nature Park on Sunday in the hope of picking up some passage waders there, or maybe even an early migrating passerine movement. It will soon be time for early morning visits to Dundee Law to try and catch some vis-mig. I've still to catch up with Greenshank, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Whimbrel and Curlew Sandpiper and Riverside Nature Park and Invergowrie Bay offer the best chance of getting any and all of these onto my Dundee 140 list. Realistically I probably need to catch up with all of these to have a chance of reaching the target figure this year.

With high tide around 1400 or so, I didn't need to be out and about too early but I still headed out the door around 0745. I hoped to reach the park around 0900 or 0930, depending on distractions en route, which would give me a couple of hours of relatively relaxed birding before I needed to be at the bay to check through the waders and gulls. With the possibility of some inclement weather around 1400, I hoped to be on my way home before it arrived. Not unexpectedly, it was mostly standard fayre on the walk to the park, largely following my most used route to work. House Martin, Bullfinch, Peregrine on Cox's Stack, Sandwich Tern over the Tay and a Blackcap near the railway line were the best of the bunch.

I headed into the park at 0900 and decided to set myself a target of 50 species (or more). A bit of luck would be needed given that it is still relatively early in the migration season but I knew that it was likely I would at least come close to reaching that target. Things started off relatively well around the eastern end of the park with Chiffchaff, House Martin, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Black Headed Gull and Buzzard all noted within the first half hour. Things got a bit more interesting shortly after that. I heard what sounded like a Crossbill and swung round to see a rather distant bird in flight in the area I thought the call was coming from. Sure enough, the rather disappointing photos showed enough detail to confirm it was my first ever Crossbill at the park - Mark Wilkinson (5 birds) and Ian Ford (1) both having seen them there before in 2021. Crossbill was my 132nd species (of the 152 on the list).

Sandwich Tern and a low flying Sparrowhawk were next before another surprise arrived from the north. What was an unexpected skein of geese turned out to be Greylags rather than the Canada Geese, which are often seen locally at this time of year. They continued over the trees in the direction of the river. I had by this time passed the half-way mark of my target figure. I knew that the second half would be a bit trickier and so it was to prove. Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Stock Dove and Willow Warbler were all noted in the lower half of the park and Moorhen and Mallard were seen at the Lochan. There were a few butterfly species on the wing, lots of Meadow Browns, as well as Small Tortoiseshell and Green Veined Whites.

I continued round towards the bay, adding a Linnet on the way. The tide was a bit further in than expected which meant after noting Cormorant, Grey Heron, Curlew, Redshank and Lapwing I headed round to the hide. Lesser Black backed Gull, Jackdaw, Teal, a trio of Dunlin, a few Common Sandpipers, a group of young Shelduck and a few Rooks added a few more species to the list. I knew I was still a bit short of my target figure so kept checking and rechecking the waders and gulls. Surprisingly I failed to even find a single Common Gull, or either of the Godwit species. This was disappointing. Nor were there any rarer species to be found. Eventually at around noon I headed back along the track from the hide to try to find the remaing few species to get me to the half century.

A raptor suddenly appeared from the direction of the bay, carried on the relatively strong wind up and over to the field by the road, where it circled once or twice before gaining more height and drifting off westwards towards the airport. Surprisingly it was a Marsh Harrier, rather than a Buzzard or even an Osprey, and my second sighting at the park this year of the species. There was a sighting over the park back in 2013 by Ian Ford on the same day as the Red Backed Shrike was found by Charles Rough, as well as another sighting by Ian earlier this year. Hopefully, the species will continue to be seen hunting around the park/airport in years to come.

I added a couple more butterfly species - Red Admiral and Small White as I tried to find another 3 species of bird. I loitered around the northern side of Buzzard Wood where I knew there was a reasonable chance of Great Tit or Blackcap. A pair of hirundines heading west turned out to be Sand Martins. Now I just needed another 2 species. A Dunnock started to sing from one of the small trees by the path. I was on the verge of giving up and heading home when a Blackcap started alarm calling from the trees to the north due to the presence of a Magpie. I'd reached my target and could call it a day. The sky was beginning to darken rather ominously anyway. I decided I would quickly check the rooftop roost next to the park quickly before heading home.

The numbers were well down on my previous check though there were still a mix of Black Headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns visible. As I headed back towards the main road a Song Thrush flew out from the Rowans by the Evri depoy fenceline and into the park opposite. Species number 51 for the day's park-list. Thankfully I managed to find shelter in Balgay cemetery below a rather bushy conifer as the rain arrived. Within a few minutes it had passed by and I continued homewards. The only additions to the day's birds on the rest of the walk were Goldcrest and Collared Dove giving me a total of 56 species of bird, 6 of butterfly and 1 of mammal. Despite nothing new for the Dundee 140 list, it was a worthwhile trip with a very welcome patch tick and a better and longer Marsh Harrier sighting than my first one.

Peregrine

Blackbird

Woodpigeon

Crossbill

Sparrowhawk

Greylag Goose

Black Headed Gull

Stock Dove

Willow Warbler

Robin

Mallard

Linnet

Dunlin & Redshank

Shelduck & Teal

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

Oystercatcher

Sand Martin

Goldfinch

Sandwich Tern & Black Headed Gull

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.

Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.

0991 : Firth To Firth (23/7/22)

Mediterranean Gull

With wader numbers starting to build again across the country, I decided that I would visit Balmossie on Saturday, hoping to finally catch up with Sanderling for my Dundee 140 list.  Unfortunately the list seems to be lagging a little behind schedule. The tide times weren't ideal but with a bit of luck and an early enough start I figured there was a reasonable chance of catching up with at least a few of these small waders. There would hopefully be other possibilities, with Guillemot and Razorbill dispersing from their breeding colonies as well as perhaps a Mediterranean or Little Gull.

I headed out a little later than I had initially intended, at around 0640. This still gave me a decent chance of getting to Balmossie before the majority of dog walkers did. Assuming I had judged the timing of the tides correctly, which isn't always easy, I hoped to see the birds pushed closer on the rising tide. I headed first for Swannie Ponds with nothing out of the ordinary seen either on the way, or when I got there. I continued on down the Kingsway and onwards to the Stannergate where a Linnet was spotted in flight. Whitethroat was heard from the bushes by the railway line and I picked out a few Goosander out on the river. I managed close views of a Stock Dove wandering along ahead of me before it realised I was there and flew off.

The first surprise of the day was a Tufted Duck seen flying upriver as I neared Douglas Terrace. Distant Sandwich Tern and Cormorant were both added. Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher were not surprisingly also noted. A Grey Wagtail flew over near the lifeboat station and a single Ringed Plover aborted a landing on the shoreline pebbles when it spotted me. There were a few Turnstones around at their roost on the lifeboat jetty structure. Out on the river, I spotted a Grey Seal. Swallow and Pied Wagtail were both seen at the Castle Green park. As I scanned from beside the Castle I spotted some very distant Bottlenose Dolphins and hurried round for a better view from the sandy beach. There seemed to be at least 10 or so Dolphins, all rather active, with lots of breaching going on. They were initially off Lacky Scalp, the pebble island off Tayport but they continued out towards Tentsmuir Point before I eventually lost sight of them - though they were reported later off Arbroath on twitter by one of the regular readers of this blog (twitter handle - @dmsk1313 ).

I eventually made it Balmossie 3 hours after having left the house, rather than the usual 2, largely due to once again being distracted by the Dolphins. This meant the tide was further in than I had hoped and that there were far fewer waders around. There were a dozen Canada Geese with the Mute Swans at the mouth of the burn. Eider, Mallard and Goosander were also seen offshore. I checked the gull roost but couldn't conjure up anything unusual among them.  An Osprey put in a brief appearance, hovering just west of the burn mouth, before being spotted and chased off by one of the roosting Herring Gulls. Almost immediately after, I heard a Carrion Crow sounding rather agitated and turned to see a Sparrowhawk gliding over towards the railway line. The Crow made a bee-line for it but the Sparrowhawk easily evaded the attentions of the less manouevrable corvid. I kept checking and re-checking the vanishing beach as well as the river which gave me Rook and Gannet for the day.

Ian messaged me at 1045 to say he was heading for Fife to try for a Bonaparte's Gull which had been found at East Wemyss and did I want to join him. Of course I did, though I did have to say that I was in Broughty Ferry but that I would head back in the direction of Dundee to save some time, if he didn't mind the detour. I was able to get all the way to the end of Douglas Terrace to wait for Ian and as I waited another message came through to say that the gull had just flown off high to the northwest. Although this wasn't great news, it didn't necessarily mean we were doomed to fail before we'd even got out of Dundee.

Ian took me home to collect my scope and tripod before we set off for Fife just before noon. A Buzzard was seen from the road a mile or so from Letham Pools where we stopped for a look. There were a few birders around - Angus Duncan, Jim Hain and Doug Milne, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary on the bird front. Shoveler, Gadwall, Snipe, Ringed Plover, Teal, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Black Tailed Godwit, Little Grebe and a Lesser Black Backed Gull seen carrying off and then swallowing a Moorhen chick were just some of the birds around. One of the ducks helped me pick out a Sparrowhawk high overhead by tilting its head to keep an eye on the raptor and in doing so, alerting me to there being something of interest up above. We eventually packed up and headed off to East Wemyss from where there had been no further news of the Bonaparte's Gull.

We arrived just after 1400 and discovered that the rocks were full of Sandwich Terns, Black Headed Gulls and plenty of Mediterranean Gulls (in a mixture of ages/plumage). Among them were at least 2 ringed birds - white B6KN and a yellow ringed juvenile which I couldn't get a clear enough view of the whole ring but the last 2 characters were ZL. Hopefully someone will succeed in reading the whole ring soon enough. A ringed Sandwich Tern (white LJK was also seen and photographed). Out on the river I found a few Guillemots, a flock of Velvet Scoters and a few Manx Shearwaters, which were a nice bonus bird to get. There were also plenty of young Eiders hauled out on the rocks and a Redshank flew in and landed. Further scanning also produced Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Shag and a single Common Tern.

Another welcome find was my second cetacean species of the day - a small group of Harbour Porpoises which were seen relatively well, albeit distantly. Among their number was what appeared to be a recent addition to the group - a very small individual with only a hint of a dorsal fin, which was seen resting at the surface a few times, and I even managed to get a photo or two of it, as well as the adults. As we were about to pack up, Ian spotted a large flock of 'waders' out over the river. I had a quick look through my scope and realised that they were actually a flock of around 40 Manx Shearwaters - the largest flock of this species I've seen so far on the east coast. Heading back to Dundee a Kestrel overflew the car. I finished the day's birding having noted 70 species of bird, as well as 3 of butterfly and 5 of mammals. 48 species of bird were seen or heard in Dundee and 53 in Fife. All in all, despite missing out on the Bonaparte's Gull, it was a pretty good day. Thanks once again to Ian for giving me a chance to get another lifer (the previous one was also a gull - Yellow Legged, way back in February 2020 - also thanks to Ian).

Grey Heron & Oystercatcher

Stock Dove

Curlew

Tufted Duck

Ringed Plover

Bottlenose Dolphin

Mute Swan & Canada Goose

Osprey

Osprey & Herring Gull

Sparrowhawk

House Sparrow

Goosander

Lapwing

Common Sandpiper

Roe Deer & Shoveler

Lesser Black Backed Gull & Moorhen

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern & Black Headed Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Harbour Porpoise

Manx Shearwater

Mediterranean Gull

Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Mediterranean Gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shoveler, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Butterflies - Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.

Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Grey Seal, Harbour Porpoise, Rabbit, Roe Deer.

0990 : Returning To Riverside (13/7/22)

Goldfinch

The weather for my most recent mid-week day off work thankfully wasn't too hot for me, though it was still t-shirt weather. There was a bit of a breeze which helped to keep the temperature bearable. Having neglected Riverside Nature Park for a while I decided I should really make an effort to get there. My target species for the day would be Lapwing and I hoped that with high tide around 1430 that a visit to the bay around 1330 would allow me to scan through the waders in the bay at leisure in the hope of a bonus Greenshank or maybe even something better. Rain was forecast for first thing but with high tide around mid-afternoon it wasn't really necessary to have an early start.

I headed out at 0950 when the rain stopped, for the walk to the park. A Swallow was slightly unexpected as I turned the corner from my street shortly after leaving the house. Otherwise it was a fairly run-of-the-mill selection of species noted on the way to Balgay Hill. Although things were relatively quiet I did manage to get Jay, Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Stock Dove as well as a Meadow Brown butterfly there. With the Open Golf championship due to start the following day at St Andrews I decided to detour via the airport for a quick look. This did add Pied Wagtail and Greenfinch to the list, though there weren't too many visiting aircraft, though I did rather fortuitisly time things right for a few arrivals.

It was around 1145 by the time I finally reached the park. A Black Headed Gull flew past and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling. There seemed to be Meadow Brown butterflies everywhere. A Blackcap was heard singing but refused to show. Another slight surprise was a small group of House Sparrows. I spotted a pair of Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk with prey off to the north before a Stock Dove flew past. High above were a number of Swifts. I finally managed to find a few Ringlet butterflies keeping a lower profile than the larger Meadow Browns. Swallows, Skylark and Pied Wagtail were all noted as I headed for the top half of the park. I'd messaged Lainy to see if she fancied joining me but she decided against it though she did say there had been lots of Six Spot Burnet Moths around a few days earlier. I found they were still rather conspicuous and plentiful though seemingly reluctant to land anywhere close to the paths.

I eventually wandered round to the bay via the Lochan, where there were at least 4 young Moorhens and a single Teal, and found that the tide was already much further in than expected. A Curlew was noted in flight and there were some gulls on the pipe. I added Yellowhammer and Song Thrush on the walk round to the hide. Unfortunately, there were no waders at all to be seen when I got there. A few distant Black Headed Gulls and a Sandwich Tern or two across the far side along with a Grey Heron by the edge of the reeds, some Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls on the pipe, a Mallard or two in the burn with Jackdaw and Feral Pigeons on the pipe and along the edge of the burn were all noted. A small group of five Black Tailed Godwits circled round but didn't land.

I decided to give up on the bay and set off for the main body of the park. However, the Godwits appeared again so I turned about and headed back to the hide to see if they had landed but there was no sign of them. A flock of around one hundred Redshanks suddenly landed on the remaining mud and an Oystercatcher called as it flew over. I waited to see if anything else would drop in but as the tide pushed the birds further in, a train passed by and they all flew off again. I decided to head back into the main part of the park once more. A Collared Dove flew past me as I wandered back along the path. When I reached the area round by the picnic tables there was a bit of a commotion along the shoreline hidden by the bushes and suddenly lots of previously unseen waders all took flight. There were lots of Redshanks and Curlews as well as some Oystercatchers. I tried to see what had caused them all to take flight but there was nothing obvious. Among the waders wheeling around in front of me I suddenly spotted the distinctive dark rounded wings of Lapwings. I struggled to get the camera to focus but eventually succeeded in getting a few record shots of my 116th species for my Dundee 140 list this year.

I then added Whitethroat and Willow Warbler before wandering back along the path for another look at the Six Spotted Burnet moths. I managed to add Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Green Veined White and Large White to the day's butterflies list. Sand Martin and Cormorant werre both seen in flight. A party of Long Tailed Tits were near the entrance at the eastern end and as I watched them, there was a burst of activity from the gull roost on the roofs in the industrial units to the east of the park. Black Headed Gulls, Oystercatchers and Sandwich Terns milled around before settling back down again behind the trees. I decided to try to see how many Sandwich Terns there were using the roof given that some of the breeding sites have been decimated by Avian Influenza this summer. I wandered along the road and found a spot where it was possible to look out over the airfield to the south and to be able to check the shed roofs to the north. Surprisingly, I found a pair of Ringed Plover and a Common Gull on the airport runway with a mixed group of pigeons on the grass, and a handful of gulls further back.

Up on the roofs there were a number of Sandwich Terns and Black Headed Gulls, mostly roosting with their heads partially tucked under a wing, as well as a surprisingly large flock of Oystercatchers. I watched a Sandwich Tern land behind the main group on the other side of the roof. I remembered that it was possible to see the roof through the trees by the main road and set off to see how many extra birds were there. I was able to see that between both sides of the roof there were at least a dozen young Sandwich Terns as well as many more adults. This was a better than expected total. I added a Sparrowhawk over the football pitches at Lochee Park on the walk home with a second seen later and a Grey Wagtail noted as I neared home.

I ended the day with a total of 56 species of bird having been seen or heard, (45 at the park, 33 outwith) as well as 6 of butterfly and 1 species of moth. The obvious highlight was finally catching up with Lapwing in Dundee which leaves me still trying to add another 24 species between now and the end of the year to be able to reach my target figure of 140, which is 5 more than last year. I've made a list of possibilities and although it is still possible, it may well end up being closer to last year's 135. With the numbers of seabirds being hit by Avian Inflluenza there is a chance that Guillemot, Razorbill and Great Skua may all prove to be very elusive this year, in contrast to last year. Time will ultimately tell though...

Swallow

Small Tortoiseshell

Teal

Redshank

Black Headed Gull

Black Tailed Godwit

Herring Gull

Collared Dove

Lapwing

Curlew

Sand Martin

Six-Spot Burnet Moth

Six-Spot Burnet Moth

Meadow Brown

Green Veined White

Large White

Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Whitethroat

Sandwich Tern

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

Sandwich Tern & Black Headed Gull

Oystercatcher

Common Gull & Ringed Plover

Sandwich Tern & Black Headed Gull

Sparrowhawk

Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Meadow Brown.

Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Green Veined White, Large White, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell.

Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Six-Spot Burnet Moth.