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| Goldcrest |
As April edges closer and closer, the Spring migrants are beginning to arrive, just as the Winter ones are beginning to leave in increasing numbers. One of the first to arrive every year is Chiffchaff - though increasingly there seem to be birds overwintering (sometimes these turn out to be Siberian Chiffchaffs). Although both Keith and I ran into a few Chiffchaffs at the Nature Park in December, none of them seemed to stick around longer than a few days. For Saturday's birding I decided to try to find a returning Chiffchaff or two, with maybe a bonus Sand Martin or a Wheatear thrown in as well. I decided to head for Riverside Nature Park via the Law, Balgay Hill and Ninewells Arboretum. With a bit of luck I would hopefully find a Chiffchaff somewhere along that route.
I was out the door for 0920, finding Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Robin, Dunnock and Blackbird almost immediately. Carrion Crow and Starling were next with Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and Lesser Black Backed Gull all noted on Main Street. Song Thrush, Magpie, Blue Tit and Chaffinch were added as I made my way up towards the main part of the hill. The cloud was relatively low with reduced visibility out to the north. I found a flock of around 20 or so Redwing and heard a rather vocal Wren nearby. From the top of the hill, I could hear a Goldcrest singing and a Meadow Pipit flew past. There was no sign of the Peregrines on Cox's Stack and with reduced visibility there seemed little point in lingering at the top of the hill.
A Collared Dove was heard as I made my way down towards Lochee Road. I detoured up Saggar Street to head onto Balgay Hill from the east side. Just like at Clatto and Riverside Nature Park, the council are planting 1000s of trees in 'neat' rows, changing the habitat completely - and not necessarily for the better. I wandered around the paths atop the hill, noting Great Tit and a mewing Buzzard before hearing my first Nuthatch of the day. A little further on, a Bullfinch was heard calling quietly. A Grey Squirrel leapt from tree to tree above me at one point just before a few Pink Footed Geese passed overhead.
In addition to looking for Chiffchaffs at Balgay I was also checking for signs of breeding activity from the Nuthatches around the 3 nest sites from 2022, as well as there perhaps being activity elsewhere, given the numbers of fledged birds last summer. As it transpired, I did find a pair of Nuthatches together near one of the nest sites and was in the right place at the right time to see one fly in to patch up the nest hole with fresh mud, which is surely a promising sign of intention to re-use the same nest as last year. Fingers crossed they are successful again. It will be interesting to see if any Nuthatches are found breeding elsewhere in the city this year (Camperdown, Ninewells Arboretum or the Botanic Gardens would be the likeliest sites - though Caird Park or Baxter Park are possibly just as likely - though they are a bit further away).
Coal Tit, Jay, Long Tailed Tit and Treecreeper were around in Balgay Cemetery and I found a 'new' rookery at Ninewells Arboretum with 5 nests in a single tree. There was plenty of activity from the local Jackdaws there too. Some of the roof nesting Oystercatchers called loudly as they flew around. A short visit to the feeders in the Community Garden didn't really produce any surprises except a single Nuthatch which popped in to the feeders just a little too quickly for me to catch with the camera, except on the feeder itself, which isn't really a photo I want. There was another flock of around 15-20 Redwings in the trees a little to the south of the garden. I hung around by the feeders for half an hour or so before continuing down to the Nature Park, entering from the Invergowrie end just before 1300.
Blackbird, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Grey Wagtail were all noted around the hide with Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Mallard, Teal, Common Gull and Greylag Geese out in the bay. A single Goosander was hauled out on the shore next to the burn outflow. A Grey Heron flushed some of the other birds as it landed near the Goosander. I thought I heard a brief snatch of a
Chiffchaff song but wasn't quite certain. Thankfully, a few minutes later, I heard it repeated and eventually managed to secure brief views as the bird flitted around in the trees to the north of the hide. Unfortunately I had to make do with a less than satisfactory 'record' shot, but I have plenty of time yet to get better ones this year.
A Lesser Black Backed Gull dropped onto the pipe before a small party of Oystercatchers flew in from the direction of Ninewells. Robin and Wren were seen by the path up from the hide during a break from scanning out over the bay. A Yellowhammer and a few Woodpigeons flew past and a Meadow Pipit was heard doing likewise. A few Long Tailed Tits flitted around both behind me and out in front of the hide. Redshank and Dunlin were picked out on the mud and a party of 8 Shelduck were seen on the water with a 9th bird not too far away. (From memory, I think this is the biggest flock of Shelduck I've seen at the park for a while). A Sparrowhawk circled over the bay. After around 45 minutes of scanning through the birds from the hide I decided to continue on into the park 'proper'.
Chaffinch, Magpie, Jackdaw, Great Tit and Skylark all put in appearances before I added Goldcrest, Redwing and Reed Bunting. I had distant views of a couple of Buzzards out to the east. Greenfinch, Song Thrush and a trio of Great Black Backed Gulls flying past were noted round by the recycling area. Scanning from the top of the hill added a distant Cormorant flying downriver. A pair of Stock Doves were noted as I headed down for a look at the lower half of the park. Having arrived via the western end I was rather dismayed to see that since my last visit, almost the entire area of the lower half which had been mostly open grassland/meadow had been planted with 1000s of saplings. There was also still some planting going on.
I wandered down the track towards those doing the planting and discovered Alison from the council, who Lainy and I had met recently to discuss the tree planting at Clatto and its likely impact on the Garden Warblers and Grasshopper Warblers which had bred there in what was rather scrubby habitat. I stopped for a chat with Alison and registered my disappointment and also mentioned that I thought the amount of trees would lead to even fewer dog walkers using the lower half, increasing the number in the top half which would likely impact on the attempts by the Skylarks to breed on the hill. As we chatted I noted Starling and Curlew as well as another Buzzard.
Another bird caught my eye and without thinking, I blurted out "
Red Kite!" and tried to get a photo of the bird in question. It was drifting along side-on to us, a bit to the north (probably over the Arboretum at Ninewells) and I was struggling to get the camera to focus. I handed Alison my binoculars so that she could get a decent look at it, and to confirm the ID, even if I failed to get any photos. Thankfully, the camera decided to work eventually and the bird even showed its topside confirming my initial ID call and giving me a very nice bonus bird for my Dundee145 list. I didn't add anything else to the list for the day on the walk home though I did see 2 ringed birds in the same area at Lochee Park (where I've been seeing them recently on my way to/from work) - a Norwegian Black Headed Gull and a Scottish ringed Oystercatcher. With 2 year-ticks (in bold) among the 55 species noted on the day (46 at the park, and 32 outwith), it turned out to be a more productive day than expected, even without any Sand Martins or Wheatear. Shame about all those trees though.....
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| Dunnock |
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| Redwing |
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| Robin |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Robin |
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Long Tailed Tit
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| Chaffinch |
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| Redwing |
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Herring Gull
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Greylag Goose
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Shelduck |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Red Kite
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| Yellowhammer |
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Black Headed Gull (White J1902)
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Oystercatcher (White 6A5)
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Song Thrush, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring
Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed
Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail,
Red Kite, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal,
Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Rabbit.
