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Yellow Wagtail
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On Friday night, Ian messaged me to see if I fancied a bit of 'out of area' birding on Saturday afternoon. I had plans for the morning so I was finally able to say 'yes' to some 'non-Dundee' birding. There was no target species or location mentioned, we would just decide on the day. My plans for the morning were to meet up with Steph - the very enthusiastic but still relatively inexperienced birder who had got in touch via Birdforum the previous week, to see what we could find at Riverside Nature Park and to just pass on as many hopefully handy 'hints and tips' as I could think of, as well as just chat about birds and birding.
I had decided to get to the park as early as possible. The plan was to message Steph at around 0645 to let her know where I was at that point in time, so that she could meet me at some point not too long after. I left the house at 0520 with Starling, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Jackdaw and Feral Pigeon getting the morning's list off to a steady sort of start. Goldfinch, Blackbird, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Magpie soon followed. Continuing on westwards got me Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Wren, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail and Oystercatcher. A Grey Squirrel was seen as I headed down Loons Road. Robin, Blackcap, Long Tailed Tit, Stock Dove and Swift completed the bird list for the outwith the park part of the day, along with the first Rabbits of the day.
I headed into the park at 0625. A flyover Oystercatcher, a singing Dunnock, Robin, Chiffchaff, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Wren, Woodpigeon, Blackcap, Magpie and Long Tailed Tit as well as more Rabbits got my list for the park underway. A Common Gull flew over while Skylarks headed skywards singing their signature tunes. Blackbird and Chaffinch were noted as I headed in the direction of the Lochan where a Mallard was added and a pair of Stock Doves dropped in. Song Thrush, Reed Bunting and Jackdaw were also around the general area and a Moorhen sneaked into view briefly among the vegetation at the eastern end. I walked round towards the bay noting Lesser Black Backed Gull and Willow Warbler on the way.
Scanning out over the bay I was able to find Mute Swan, Black Headed Gull, Shelduck and Black Tailed Godwit while Yellowhammer and Whitethroat were in the bushes in front of me. I messaged Steph who said she would join me soon. I wandered along to the hide to check for the Garden Warbler which Keith had found, to see if it was still around, as it would be a lifer for Steph. I soon found the Garden Warbler and a Sedge Warbler. Steph joined me at the hide around 0715 and we quickly got her the Garden Warbler though the views weren't particularly great. Bullfinch, Feral Pigeon and House Sparrow were seen out in front of the hide and a Grey Heron showed up down on the old outflow pipe.
We wandered round to the raised banking to scan out over the bay, adding Cormorant and Curlew down by the river. Goldcrest was heard along with Greenfinch while a few Goldfinches flitted around among the bushes. Rook and Swallow were next on the list and a trip to the top of the hill found us a pair of Linnets - a bird which Steph had only recently added to her life list. The Pheasant which had been hanging around recently was heard once again, but from a different part of the park this time. There were a few Starlings passing overhead presumably taking food to youngsters still in the nest. We took our time just walking and talking while seeing what else we could find. House Martins and Swifts were seen hawking for insects overhead. Another trip to the top of the hill saw Steph picking out a distant diving duck that she wasn't sure about. It turned out to be a drake Goosander, another lifer for her - the second of the day.
We then explored the lower half of the park but we failed to find anything new though there were still plenty of birds to be seen, and heard. With Ian due to meet me at the car park around 1230, I walked back to the western end with Steph for another attempt to get decent views of the Garden Warbler but the views were no better than they had been 5 hours previously. Despite having spent those 5 hours walking, talking and birding, we could easily have spent another 5 and we made provisional plans to meet up again soon. No sooner had I said 'cheerio' to Steph and Ian messaged to say he was on his way. I hurried back to the car park to meet him and timed my arrival to perfection as he drove into the car park.
We had a short discussion as to where to go for the afternoon. I suggested heading for Easthaven in search of Yellow Wagtails, although it appears sightings have been in short supply this Spring. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I figured. Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Swallows and a Grey Heron were seen from the car as we headed into Angus. We arrived at Easthaven around 1320. Mallard, House Sparrow, Sedge Warbler, Song Thrush, Magpie, Starling, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Linnet and Eider were rapidly added to the list for the afternoon in a bit of a flurry from the car park along to the first wooden bridge. A bit further on, I picked out a couple of Red Throated Divers well out on the sea. As we were scanning out over the water a Fulmar flew along westwards above us. This was a year-tick for me, though I'm not really paying much attention to my year-list again, as my Dundee145 list is taking priority. There was a rather flighty flock of Ringed Plover and Dunlin flying up and down the beach.
Common Gull and Kittiwake were picked out over the sea and a Meadow Pipit made short display flights in the field between the railway line and the path we were on. A Skylark fluttered low over the same field before dropping down into the grass. Near the end of the long field on the beach side of the path we stopped to scan out over the water. Ian had seen a small, dark bird distantly earlier but had lost sight of it before getting an ID. From this new vantage point, he managed to refind the bird seen earlier. It was a Black Guillemot - my first for Angus (and another year-tick). It was just a bit too far out for my camera to resolve any detail and my small scope struggled too so we decided to try to get to a point where the bird was directly in front of us, though still a distance offshore.
This proved successful though it helped that the bird was staying close to a particular lobster creel marker flag. Guillemot (another year-tick) and Razorbill as well as a few more Red Throated Divers were picked out as we watched the Black Guillemot for a while. As we were watching the bird, I spotted 2 small birds fly in down in front of us then landing on the sand. One of them looked rather yellow-ish and I called them out to Ian. They turned out to be a pair of male and female Yellow Wagtails - our target species for the afternoon, and my 4th year-tick of the afternoon. We had reasonably good views for a few minutes until the inevitable dog walker arrived and sent the birds off away from the beach. Cormorant, Oystercatcher and Jackdaw were spotted before a Whimbrel flew past us low over the beach. It landed but didn't stay on the shore for very long before flying off a bit further along the beach. Within a few minutes it was headed in the opposite direction again due to walkers on the beach.
The afternoon's birding had flown by and as Ian had to be back in Dundee to pick up his wife, we headed back to the car park noting a small flock of Turnstones along the beach and a few Sandwich Terns offshore, on the walk back. A Blackbird was seen from the car park and Swifts were seen over Westhaven as we headed up to the main road and back to Dundee. Our afternoon's birding had been very good with a trio of really good birds found. I finished the day with a combined total of 66 species (27 in Dundee outwith Riverside Nature Park, 50 at the park and 35 in Angus - including 4 year-ticks (in bold)). All in all, it was a very enjoyable day's birding. I didn't take too many photos in the morning, though I made up for it in the afternoon with the Yellow Wagtails, Black Guillemot and Whimbrel especially, though only the Whimbrel photos were relatively good.
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Stock Dove
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| Moorhen |
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Black Tailed Godwit
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Song Thrush
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Mute Swan
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Reed Bunting
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| Yellowhammer |
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Weevil sp.
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| Goldfinch |
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House Sparrow
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Red Throated Diver
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Ringed Plover
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Meadow Pipit
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Dunlin (and Ringed Plover)
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| Fulmar |
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Black Guillemot
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| Cormorant |
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Yellow Wagtail
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Yellow Wagtail
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Yellow Wagtail
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Yellow Wagtail
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Turnstone |
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Razorbill & Guillemot
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Birds (Dundee, outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (Dundee, outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Birds - (Angus) - Black Guillemot, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Yellow Wagtail.
(year-ticks in bold).
