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Black Tailed Godwit
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I work within about 15 minutes walk of Riverside Nature Park so when word comes in of there being something good there, I can usually either rush down during my lunchbreak or wait until after work to pay the park a visit in the hope of catching up with whatever bird is involved. Sometimes I get lucky (as with the Blyth's Reed Warbler just outside the park - though only after a failed attempt at lunchtime) and other times I'm out of luck. Sometimes the birds don't stick around, sometimes they do. Sometimes they vanish only to turn up again a few days later, but that's birding, you have to take the good with the bad. Over the course of this summer I've had reason to visit the park on a work day more than once...
The first of these was back on Monday the 10rd of July. Keith messaged me in the morning to let me know that he'd found one of the species which we were sure we should be able to get at the park but which had eluded us over the previous 12 years from when the park opened - a Cuckoo. The bird hadn't been showing particularly well but Keith's message had let me know where to find the bird. I thought about taking an early lunch and hurrying down for a look as it could easily be another 12 years before another showed up. I also needed it for my Dundee145 list. At noon, I grabbed my lunch and binoculars (I carry a pair in my bag to work - just in case) and headed down for a quick hit-and-run attempt at seeing the bird.
I reached the park around 12 minutes after having left work. House Martins were circling above the park while out in the bay were Herring Gull, Lapwing, Black Headed Gull, Oystercatcher and Lesser Black Backed Gull. A few Carrion Crows flew over as I looked from a few spots at the bushes where Keith had indicated he'd seen the Cuckoo. Swift, Woodpigeon, Linnet, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, Whitethroat and a hunting Kestrel were all seen while I looked in vain for the elusive Cuckoo. From a different spot I added Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Magpie, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck and Yellowhammer. But no Cuckoo.
Meadow Brown and Ringlet butterflies flitted around among the path-side vegetation and a Six-Spot Burnet Moth whizzed by. Unfortunately it looked like I was going to draw a blank so I headed for the exit after 15 minutes or so at the park. Blackbird, Grey Heron, Jackdaw and Bullfinch took the total number of bird species noted during the very quick visit to 27. Despite missing out, I didn't have to wait too long for another chance at the species at the park with Keith finding a second, rather more showy, bird at the eastern end of the park on the 29th of July. Thankfully I made it to the park in time to add that one to my Dundee145 list.
My next visit to the park direct from work came on the 21st of August when Keith found a Ruff in the bay. The tide times made a lunchtime visit a waste of time but there was a slim chance of catching up with the bird after work. I knew that the odds would be stacked against me as I didn't have my small scope with me and there is a lot of glare from the wet mud later in the day. I reached the park at 1615. The sky was relatively overcast which mostly negated the glare issue. I noted Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gull from the bridge as well as Feral Pigeon, Curlew, Lapwing, Redshank, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon from there before heading round to the hide to check the part of the mud which was blocked from view by a few trees.
Then the sun came out which made my task much harder. Oystercatcher, Jackdaw, Dunlin, Knot and Common Gull were all noted down in the bay as well as Long Tailed Tits in the trees by the hide before I decided I was out of luck and headed for the eastern exit and homewards. Blue Tit and Blackbird were added on the walk along from the hide to the Lochan where Teal, Moorhen, Stock Dove and Coal Tit were found. A Chiffchaff was found in the bushes a bit further on. The lower half of the park gave me a few more species - Magpie, Willow Warbler, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Wren taking the number of species noted on the visit to 32. Thankfully I managed to catch up with my first Ruff of the year a few days later and on most of my subsequent visits I have seen at least a single Ruff.
A visit to the park on Sunday the 27th of August had produced a good length of list with 57 species found including a few wader species. When I finally got round to looking through the day's photos later that night I spotted one I hadn't actually seen at the time - I was photographing a small group of Black Tailed Godwits oblivious to a nearby Spotted Redshank. The whole flock took flight within a minute of taking the photos so I missed the opportunity to actually find the Spotted Redshank. I decided I would take my birding gear with me to work and visit afterwards to try for the bird. Again, I knew the light would be against me, as would the tide state to some degree. I would probably have to scan from the picnic tables meaning a lot of the waders would be distant, and in the glare off the wet mud.
I finished work half an hour early in the hope that the receding tide wouldn't have receded too far. Unfortunately for me, it was already a bit further out than I had hoped. From the bridge Lapwing, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were all seen. I headed round to the hide to scan from there. Bar Tailed and Black Tailed Godwits, Redshank, Turnstone and Dunlin were picked out but most birds were already rather distant. I headed round to scan over the bay from the verge. Willow Warbler and Robin were noted on the walk round. Oystercatcher, Mallard, Magpie, Teal and Curlew were all spotted from the verge while a Chiffchaff called from among the Buddliea behind me.
A shower of rain was an unwelcome addition to proceedings but thankfully I was able to stand just inside the door of the composting toilet till it passed. I picked out an Osprey as I stood waiting for the rain to stop before realising there was actually a second bird much closer and a third was seen a bit beyond the first. I pointed them out to a trio of passers-by, though only 2 of the 3's eyesight was up to spotting them. Once the rain stopped I added Linnet, Sparrowhawk, Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Common Sandpiper, Jackdaw, Mute Swan, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Pied Wagtail. A group of Swallows zipped out across the bay. A Stock Dove went in the opposite direction.
More scanning drew a blank on anything resembling a Spotted Redshank (apart from the 100s of Common Redshanks which didn't make the searching any easier). Peacock and Small White butterflies were seen flitting around and there always seemed to be at least 1 Osprey fishing over the outer bay or the river. Sand Martin, Blue Tit and Wren were all added before I finally accepted defeat and headed homewards having managed a total of 35 species. Thankfully, although the Spotted Redshank did go missing for a few days I managed to finally catch up with it on the 6th of September, though views were distant and it proved rather tricky to see against the wet mud.
Both Keith and myself have been scouring the bay over the past few weeks in search of a Curlew Sandpiper. From early September they are normally not too difficult to catch up with. For some reason this year has been different though the species has shown up in other wader habitat elsewhere in Fife and Angus. Late in the afternoon of Tuesday the 19th of September I received a message from Mark Wilkinson to tell me he'd just found a Curlew Sandpiper from Invergowrie station on a rising tide and that with luck the bird should be visible from the hide. As it had been a wet morning, and more rain was forecast for going home I had only brought my pocket binoculars with me. Better than nothing but despite being a good make probably not too great for finding a Curlew Sandpiper among 300+ Dunlin against the light on a rather driech afternoon.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I asked if I could finish early and headed down at 1530. I messaged Mark to let him know I was heading down to try for it and he said he'd head round to meet me at the hide. This increased my chances of success greatly. A quick scan from the bridge got me Magpie, Long Tailed Tit, Redshank, Teal, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Dunlin, Goosander and Woodpigeon. I headed round to the hide where I was able to pick out a few more obvious species - Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull, Grey Heron, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon. I was joined by Mark who let me borrow his binoculars while he scanned with his scope. Once or twice I thought I had the Curlew Sandpiper but it proved impossible to give accurate directions and I lost the 'possible' again. Jays were heard calling noisily from the trees by the railway line.
Mark eventually found the Curlew Sandpiper but I couldn't see it through his scope due to a combination of factors. It went missing again among the hundreds of birds on the mud and by the water's edge though with the tide pushing the birds closer towards us I was able to pick out Ruff, Knot and Bar Tailed Godwit without too much trouble. A shower of rain and a few passing trains made things a bit trickier though thankfully the birds didn't go far when disturbed by the train. Mark found the Curlew Sandpiper again but once again I failed to see it through the scope (I don't seem to look through scopes properly - so a bird bang in the centre of the view isn't 'there' when I attempt to see it. I've not yet managed to work out quite what it is that I'm doing wrong so I know how to compensate for my seemingly incorrectly placed eye position though it seems to be as a result of wearing glasses). Thankfully Mark (with the patience of a saint!) managed to find the bird yet again and I finally managed to see it clearly and species number 142 was on my Dundee145 list.
Before we left the hide, Mark found a second Curlew Sandpiper which must have flown in from somewhere else as he'd scanned through all the birds numerous times over the previous couple of hours. Having just found the second bird almost all of the remaining birds flew off out of sight. Mark offered to drop me off on his way home which was very generous, and also very welcome. We headed back to the car park stopping on the way for a quick look at the Lochan which added Moorhen and Mallard to the relatively short list for the afternoon's visit of just 21 species. I'm not sure that I would have managed to see the Curlew Sandpiper with my 10x25 binoculars even when it was just beyond the pipe so Mark's help was indispensible. Keith managed to refind one of the birds the following morning, and there have been 2 or 3 birds present on most visits since. (All photos in the post are from the relevant months in 2022).
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Black Headed Gull
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| Swift |
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| Swallow |
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Six Spot Burnet moth
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| Goldfinch |
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| Curlew |
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| Osprey |
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| Dunlin |
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| Linnet |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Lapwing |
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Common Sandpiper
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Grey Heron
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Carrion Crow
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Ruff & Redshank
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| Moorhen |
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| Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper |
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Birds (10/7/23) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Laapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (10/7/23) - Meadow Brown, Ringlet.
Moths (10/7/23) - Six Spot Burnet.
Birds (21/8/23) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (21/8/23) - Small White.
Birds (28/8/23) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (28/8/23) - Peacock, Small White.
Birds (19/9/23) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Goosander, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Ruff, Teal, Woodpigeon.
