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House Sparrow
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Following on from Thursday's rather successful trip to Riverside Nature Park in conjunction with Lainy and Keith, I knew I really needed to make the effort to get to the park in time for the receding tide to give me a decent chance to catch up with the Ruff I'd photographed but hadn't seen the previous day. That was assuming that they were even still around. I hoped they would have stuck around but with birds there are never any guarantees. The weather forecast was to be broadly similar to Thursday except for getting a bit windier as the day progressed.
I headed out around 10 minutes or so later than the previous day. Meadow Pipits were heard passing overhead once or twice. Sparrowhawk, Grey Wagtail and Swallow were the marginally less common birds seen on the walk down to the park. I arrived there at 0805. I headed for the western end without putting too much effort into finding birds along the way. There were a couple of Snipe at the Lochan but I couldn't see any sign of the Shoveler from the day before. A few Meadow Pipits were seen migrating through before I headed round to the raised banking area to check out over the bay and the river beyond. A string of distant birds crossing the Tay turned out to be Canada Geese which landed near Kingoodie. The first of many Ospreys then arrived for a spot of hunting over the bay.
A duck landed on the water down from where I was standing. It turned out to be a young Goldeneye. After a few minutes it took off again and was gone. A small flock of Goosander flew out towards the river. Waders began to arrive in the bay in small groups - Redshanks, Lapwings, a few Black Tailed Godwits, some Dunlin, and Curlews. Pied Wagtail and a young Stock Dove were seen in flight. Both Great Black Backed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls were around. A trio of Ospreys were seen together in the bay for a minute or two, with one catching a fish while the others circled overhead. A trio of waders which flew out over the bay turned out to be Bar Tailed Godwits. They were joined by two more waders. These were the ones I was hoping for - the Ruff which Keith had seen on Wednesday. Species number 122 for my Dundee 140 list.
House Martin, Dunnock, Chiffchaff and Feral Pigeon were noted while I waited to see the mud reappear by the railway embankment. A Red Admiral flitted by and rather surprisingly a Grey Seal swam past below into the inner section of the bay. A Grey Wagtail flew over as I wandered round to the hide. Black Headed Gulls, Grey Herons and a single Starling were spotted from the hide and a few minutes later the Kingfisher put in an appearance down by the burn outflow. As the tide receded further a few Oystercatchers dropped in among the other birds down on the mud. I checked through the Dunlin and Redshanks in search of a Curlew Sandpiper but failed to find any, though there was a suggestion of one in a photo taken of a small group flying round towards the southwestern end of the bay, but it was inconclusive from just the single poor photo.
After 45 minutes or so, I wandered back to check the Lochan where the Shoveler had reappeared from somewhere. Swallows and House Martins dropped down to drink and hawk for insects over the pool. Heading back to the bay once again, I added Common Gull, Cormorant, Teal, Greenshank and Common Sandpiper. Tree Sparrows were heard calling from among the bushes but went unseen. A Tree Pipit flew over while a Blackcap alarm called loudly. A Sparrowhawk swept low along the fenceline below me. The wind started to pick up a bit and birds became a bit harder to find, especially those I hadn't yet seen that morning. Song Thrush, Buzzard and Goldcrest were all noted and I had great views of yet another Osprey as it circled higher just above the 3 path junction just up from the car park.
I had a chat with another birder, Ray Thomson, and as we chatted I spotted a (Field?) Vole scurrying across the path. Near the Lochan I found a Common Darter dragonfly resting on the path. I spotted a Jackdaw before moving on to the lower half of the park. Linnet, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Bullfinch were all found before I decided I'd had enough. I walked back along the river noting a Small White butterfly and a number of Pied Wagtails at the football pitches. One of the Pied Wagtails peered skywards intently so I followed its gaze and spotted a very high flying Peregrine circling above, before it drifted off to the north. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Redshank and Common Gull were noted along the sea wall and out on the few small sandbanks still visible in the river.
A Sparrowhawk was being harassed by a Magpie to the north near Tesco and a Cormorant was photographed close in as it hunted for fish. I continued on to City Quay where I hoped to catch up with one of the reported pair of Kingfishers which have been seen there recently. Despite taking my time to search I drew a blank. A rather sorry looking Common Sandpiper which was missing a foot was in the former dry dock. Given the location, I wondered if it might be the same bird seen around there in late December and early January, though there was no way of knowing for sure. What had happened to its foot was also a mystery. I headed homewards having somehow ended the day's birding with a similar number of species to the previous day - 62 being the combined total from 59 at the park and 27 from outwith the park. The hoped for Ruff was new for my Dundee 140 list but Curlew Sandpiper will have to wait for now....hopefully not for too long.
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Canada Goose
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| Goosander |
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Stock Dove
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| Goldeneye |
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| Ruff |
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Grey Seal
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Grey Wagtail
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Dunlin |
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Bar Tailed Godwit & Redshank
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Woodpigeon |
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Redshank & Curlew
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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Common Darter
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| Moorhen |
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| Peregrine |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Cormorant |
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| Swallow |
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Common Sandpiper
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull,
Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit,
Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Small White.
Birds (at
Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black
Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed
Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull,
House Martin, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black
Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen,
Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Ruff, Shoveler, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Red Admiral, Small White.
Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Darter.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - (Field?) Vole, Grey Seal.
