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Pied Wagtail
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Following on from Sunday's moderately successful spot of extended vis-migging from the top of Dundee Law I decided I would make another early start on Wednesday morning for a hopefully slightly more varied selection of birds passing by on their way northwards over the city. However, as is often the case the weather forecast had changed by the time I was setting the alarm before going to sleep on Tuesday night. Light rain was now forecast until around 0900, so the plan was shelved. I would still head out birding when the rain stopped but it would mean less chance of picking up a slightly more unexpected migrant than the original plan might have.
Following on from the planned vis-migging I was intending on popping down to Riverside Nature Park to try for Greenshank as Keith had seen one in Invergowrie Bay. That part of the plan remained intact so I was organised and ready to head out by 0915 for the hour long walk to the park. The first part of the walk itself produced most of the usual suspects as well as a flyover Meadow Pipit and a singing Chiffchaff. As I was passing the Law I contemplated a half hour or so spot of slightly later than ideal vis-migging but instead chose to continue onwards. A Collared Dove and a Siskin in flight were noted on the descent downhill towards Lochee Road. A visit to Balgay Hill added most of the expected birds there with Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Nuthatch, Jay, Coal Tit and Stock Dove all noted. The rest of the walk to the park failed to add anything new to the list for the day.
I arrived at the park around 1020 and began noting the birds I could see and hear including Starling, Great Tit and Chiffchaff. Although the lighting conditions weren't particularly great I got the camera out of the bag and prepared to photograph a nearby bird. I switched the camera on and nothing happened. There appeared to be no power. I had charged the battery on Tuesday eveing so this seemed odd. I turned over the camera and noticed that the camera compartment door was missing, and so was the battery! I opened my bag again, hoping to find both. The door was there but the battery wasn't. I realised that before I'd gone to bed I'd actually forgotten to put the fully charged battery back in the camera and as I'd packed in the morning I'd failed to notice the battery compartment door was open.
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Magpie |
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| Chaffinch |
Thankfully, I still had my binoculars and my small scope with me. The lack of camera wasn't really a huge issue as it is mostly used to document what I see as well as to double-check long-range IDs though it can sometimes prove useful for ID-ing small birds in flight that don't call. In the grand scheme of things I would probably only miss out on 1 or 2 species at most. I was a bit annoyed at myself for my mistake though but I got on with the birding. It was a fairly typical spread of birds that I was able to note around the park including Skylark, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan and Oystercatcher. As I reached the bay I spotted a raptor in flight heading towards me. It was an Osprey, which circled a couple of times, drawing the unwanted attentions of a Carrion Crow which chased the bird back out of the bay and towards Kingoodie.
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| Skylark |
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| Moorhen |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Osprey, Redshank and Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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I then scanned through the birds in the bay in search of my hoped for Greenshank. There were plenty of Redshanks and a trio of Black Tailed Gowits as well as Curlew and Shelduck. I headed round to the hide to watch the tide push the birds in closer. I added a Greylag Goose, Common Gull and a single Turnstone from there as well as a slightly unexpected male House Sparrow perched briefly in front of the hide. As the tide rose further the waders dispersed to their out-of-sight roost spots along the edge of the bay and the river and my hope of adding a Greenshank diminished, at least for the day. Heading back into the park I was able to add Stock Dove and Buzzard to the list. A pair of Red Breasted Mergansers in the outer part of the bay were a bit of a surprise.
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Black Tailed Godwit
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Shelduck |
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| Teal |
As I stood at the southwestern extremes of the park I heard a Pied Wagtail calling and turned to look for it, just in time to see two hirundines in flight low over the bushes on the edge of the hill. These were my first of the year. I quickly realised they were
Sand Martins and rued the lack of camera. However, as they were a new addition to the year-list and Dundee 140 list (98), as well as being the trickiest of the 3 common hirundines to see in Dundee, they did help lift my slightly subdued mood a little. The rest of the walk around the park proved rather fruitless and I headed in the direction of home shortly after 1330. Despite lots of effort the only addition on the long walk home was a Long Tailed Tit pair on Riverside Avenue.
I still managed to finish the day's birding having seen or heard a total of 56 species, of which 49 were at Riverside Nature Park and 29 were from outwith the park. The year (and Dundee 140)-tick (in bold) were a very welcome addition and did add a bit of shine to the day's exploits. When I got home I did find the camera battery where I'd left it, in the charger. The photos in this blog-post are all from the areas where I noted the birds shown on previous/subsequent visits. I did however take a few bird photos from home on Wednesday. I have a pair of Collared Doves attempting to nest within easy sight of my living room window, though given the 'construction' and location of the nest I do not think they will be successful in the longer term.
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Collared Dove
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Collared Dove
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Collared Dove
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Collared Dove
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (ouwith Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redsahnk, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook,
Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
