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| Reed Bunting |
Following on from Friday and Saturday's successful birding outings I wanted to get out early again on Sunday. I set the alarm to get me up in time for a trip to Riverside Nature Park for around an hour after sunrise. What I forgot however was that the clocks had gone forward an hour while I slept. A look at my watch confirmed my slight error. However, I figured that in actual fact this error would mean that I would arrive at the park around 10 minutes after sunrise which in theory should mean a little more activity. I got organised and looked out at what was a rather cold and misty morning. Undaunted I headed out just before 0600.
The big problem with getting out early at this time of year is that you either dress for the cold and find that you're wearing too many layers later, or you dress for the later conditions and pay the price until things warm up. Unfortunately I had chosen the latter option. I hoped that the sun would burn off the mist sooner rather than later. Given the pre-dawn start and the misty conditions birds were in short supply along much of the walk to the park with Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Nuthatch and Bullfinch the pick of the bunch. I reached the park at 0700. It was cold and it was misty and it was a struggle to see much though I was able to get Curlew, Bullfinch, Grey Heron, Yellowhammer, Moorhen and Common Gull onto the list fairly quickly.
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Bullfinch |
Reed Bunting, Skylark, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit soon followed though it was hard going. The cold, damp air made me shiver so I had to keep moving to try to stay warm. The birds in the bay were almost invisible with a solitary Curlew the exception as it fed along the side of the burn as it wound its way through the mud. Pink Footed Geese were heard out on the river somewhere and a few Shelduck were just visible eventually through the mist. I discovered a few small groups of Blackbirds and Redwings suggesting that thrushes had been forced down by the conditions overnight. As I tried scanning for birds in the bay a pair of Goosander flew past close enough to identify.
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Goosander |
A Common Toad put in an appearance at the Lochan before I decided I might as well have a look at the pond where I'd photographed Toads and Smooth Newts on Friday. I figured that the mist wouldn't be an issue there. It wasn't, and I was able to get even better shots than those I'd taken 2 days earlier. The Toads were more active too with several pairs 'in amplexus'. As the mist looked like it might be beginning to clear I went for another walk to the hide. A Jay perched in a tree across the north side of the road was a surprise. The birds out on the mud were now starting to appear identifiable and Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Dunlin could be seen along with a trio of Black Tailed Godwits and a pair of Bar Taileds. A Buzzard was perched in the tree near the bridge, from where I was able to get better views.
Eventually around 1120 the mist finally lifted and the sun thankfully began to warm me up a little. A Sparrowhawk was picked up out to the east being harassed by a crow. Despite the earlier conditions I had actually been relatively successful at building the list at the park and it proved relatively tricky to add to find new birds to add to it. This didn't stop me from trying though. I got chatting to a very nice mother and daughter (Caitlyn) and showed them the Newts and Toads at the pond. We blethered for ages about the park, nature in general, and around Dundee in particular, before they had to go. I continued my wanders. I found a few butterflies flitting around including one of the White species and a Peacock or two.
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| Magpie |
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| Tree Bumblebee |
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| Robin |
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| Skylark |
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| Smooth Newt |
As I headed down the track towards the car park past the Buddleia and assorted bushes I stopped to check out the Willow tree which was audibly buzzing and full of bees. A butterfly flitted into view and alighted at head height in front of me. Surprisingly it turned out to be a rather fresh looking Comma, which was a nice one to get so early in the year. I added Stock Dove to the list before I left the park after around 9 hours there having noted 50 species of bird, as well as 2 of amphibians, 3 of butterflies and 2 of ammals. A Buzzard cruised along above the railway line at the Botanic Gardens area and Skylark could be heard singing over the airport. Another White butterfly and a Peacock were noted on the walk home but no new birds were noted before I finally made it home around 1700, 11 hours after leaving. In total I managed to see or hear 54 species of bird in spite of the conditions. Although the cold conditions for the first 4 and a bit hours weren't particularly enjoyable, overall I'd had a third good day in a row out birding.
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| Comma butterfly |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Peacock, White sp. .
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Amphibians (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Toad, Smooth Newt.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Peacock, White sp. .
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Seal, Rabbit.