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| Osprey |
I struggled to get motivated to get out birding at the weekend with a rather mixed weather forecast ending up ruling out Saturday. Sunday started off looking like being a bit wet but once that threat looked to have passed I decided I should really try to get out somewhere. Having been to Balmossie on Wednesday, that somewhere more or less had to be Riverside Nature Park. An afternoon visit generally isn't the most productive but I would just have to make the most of the opportunity and see how I did. I decided not to set myself a target figure though I expected somewhere around 45-50.
The walk to the park was relatively quiet with nothing particularly out of the ordinary seen or heard until I got closer to the park. I had posted on twitter inviting anyone that was at a loose end to join me for a few hours birding if they fancied it, but not unexpectedly no-one did. I managed to find a Bullfinch and an overflying Buzzard as I walked down Invergowrie Drive. I reached the park around noon, a little earlier than expected. Chiffchaff, Grey Heron, Swallow, Willow Warbler and Song Thrush were among the surprisingly numerous species seen and heard around the eastern end of the park in the first 10 minutes or so. A Whitethroat showed nicely on the fence and scanning to the south produced an Osprey hunting over the river, off the western end of the airport.
Exploring the rest of the lower half added Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, as well as a Buzzard and Yellowhammer. A single Swift overflew westwards. A Sandwich Tern was heard out towards the river as I wandered round towards the bay. Curlew, Redshank, Cormorant and 2 small groups of Black Tailed Godwits plus a few Lapwings were seen out on the exposed mud. There was a sizeable flock of Mallards which swam into the burn in a large group and headed up towards the railway line area. A Common Gull was found as well as a few distant Sandwich Terns across the far side of the bay along with a few hundred Black Headed Gulls. A very distant Osprey was seen well out over the river in the general direction of Newburgh.
I added Moorhen youngsters and an adult at the Lochan and a House Martin hawking for insects off to the north. A surprise as I wandered round to the eastern side of the hill was the appearance of 4 Skylarks all looking slightly scruffy and clearly moulting. On my previous visit it appeared that there were none still around, but it looks as though they were just keeping a rather low profile. A Stock Dove passed overhead as I wandered back round to the bay again. Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell and Small White butterflies were all noted. With the tide now a bit further in, I was able to pick out a number of Dunlin among the other waders, as well as a few Common Sandpipers. An Osprey hunted relatively lazily over the outer part of the bay but made no fishing attempts before flying off again.
I then added Linnet, Oystercatcher and a high flying Sparrowhawk before finding 2 Teal off the end of the mud. A Reed Bunting flew into the buddleia bushes behind where I was standing. I wandered round to the hide once the majority of birds had passed me on the rising tide. From the hide I was able to add Jackdaw and Blackcap before an Osprey showed up and managed to catch a medium sized flatfish. It flew off to the north before I decided to head round to the bridge for a wider view. As I reached the end of the path I spotted yet another Osprey over the bay. I ran up to the bridge in case I missed out on the chance of photographing a hunting attempt.
I watched the bird circling the bay, getting closer to me with each circuit. Something caught my eye a bit higher in the sky. It was another Osprey and I was able to watch both birds search for potential prey, their routes often coming close to crossing. This allowed me to get some photos with both birds in the frame. A lady who I apparently told about the chance of seeing Ospreys in the bay last year, and her husband, stopped to watch the 2 birds hunting together. After 10 minutes or so both birds had drifted further out towards the river again so I headed back for another quick check from the hide before heading back into the park.
Near the car park, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over from the direction of the recycling skips and a Dunnock was added not too far away. I checked the roofs of the warehouses for gulls and terns roosting but there were none. I called it a day and headed for home along Riverside Avenue and Drive. House Martin, Chiffchaff, Black Headed Gull, Stock Dove and a number of Pied Wagtails provided the main interest on the way back. I made it home a little after 1800 having managed to see or hear a total of 52 species (50 once again at the park, and 25 outwith the park). Although, yet again I had failed to add anything new for the Dundee 140 list, I had seen a decent variety of species, including some missed on my previous visit, with an unknown number of individual Ospreys being the main highlight(s). Most visits between now and the middle of next month should provide a reasonably good chance of seeing at least 1 Osprey. If the tide is out it is worth scanning well out across the river, and if it is in then there is a good chance of catching a fishing bird in the bay. The area near the picnic tables should provide reasonably good views of fishing birds.
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| Swallow |
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Black Tailed Godwit
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| Skylark |
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Stock Dove
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| Osprey |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Lapwing (& Mallard, Herring Gull, Redshank & Black Headed Gull)
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| Buzzard |
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Sandwich Tern
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Black Headed Gull
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| Osprey |
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| Curlew |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Moorhen |
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Willow Warbler
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Stock Dove, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
