 |
| Buzzard |
With calm, and more importantly, dry weather forecast for Monday the 9th, I decided to get to Riverside Nature Park to try to find something good among the migrants that would have been brought down by the previous few days' stormy conditions. Both vis-mig and birds downed in the park provided good levels of 'promise' and a sunrise start there would hopefully maximise my chances of getting number 145 for my Dundee145 list. The alarm was set and the bag was already packed to save time in the morning.
With sunrise around 0740 I headed out at 0635. As usual at this time of year the first bird noted was a Robin, singing in the darkness. A Blackbird soon followed and then a lone 'cawing' Carrion Crow. Herring Gull and Dunnock were next as I headed westwards. Half an hour into the journey the first Redwings were noted, flying over in the gloaming on Ancrum Road. The gulls at the football pitches were as usual mostly Black Headed and Herring Gulls but there were also still a few Lesser Black Backeds lingering and one or two Common Gulls amongst the flock.
A surprise to the south of the footbridge was a (most likely) Pipistrelle Bat. Wandering through the cemetery as the sky grew brighter, I added Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Fieldfare, Jay, Goldcrest, Treecreeper and Woodpigeon. At Ninewells, a Grey Wagtail flew over and there were Jackdaws, Great Tit and Blue Tit at the Arboretum as well as a few Lesser Redpoll, Song Thrush and Rook. Feral Pigeon was the final species noted before I reached the Nature Park just after sunrise. A quick look from the bridge kick-started the list with Blackbird, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Redwing, Pink Footed Geese, Robin and Song Thrush found almost immediately.
I took my time walking along into the main part of the park after a brief check from a rather muddy hide. Pied Wagtail, flyover Mallard and Cormorant, Magpie and Meadow Pipit provided the main interest. I then headed up the hill for a spot of vis-migging. Lesser Redpoll, Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeons, Siskin, Skylark as well as some of the species already noted passed overhead, and there were birds which went unidentified either further away or higher in the sky. Down in the bay, Redshank, Grey Heron and Dunlin were seen. There seemed to be plenty movement down among the bushes below the western side of the hill and I was struggling to concentrate properly on the migrants overhead due to feeling a bit queasy, which made things doubly frustrating.
The bushes beyond the fence at the southwest extremities of the park proved to be quite productive with a showy Stonechat catching the early morning glow of the sun. Yellowhammer, Wren, Tree Sparrows, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff and Linnet were found in this corner as well as more Robins, Dunnock and Song Thrush. There seemed to be birds everywhere and an extra pair of eyes and ears would have been extremely welcome. A Stock Dove flew over. My stomach was proving distracting to the point I actually considering cutting things short and heading homewards but instead I tried to put it out of my mind and kept on birding.
Starling, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Black Tailed Godwit and Bar Tailed Godwit, Common Gull, Curlew, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Jackdaw, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting and a Swallow kept my mind, ears and eyes extremely busy. Things did start to slow down slightly after 1000. A Moorhen was at the Lochan and a Goldcrest was heard from within the hedge nearby. A Rook overflew as I wandered round the top half again. A Red Admiral butterfly flew up from the path a bit further on. There was a Coal Tit in the trees by the path down to the lower half. Another visit to the picnic tables added Great Black Backed Gull, Knot, Goosander and Lesser Black Backed Gull.
A flock of Long Tailed Tits moved through the bushes down below the tables. Bits of movement in the more awkward to view places had me wondering just what I might be missing. A Buzzard was heard calling somewhere to the north and a Great Spotted Woodpecker also called unseen as I checked out the lower half of the park. I realised I hadn't yet seen a Jay and within minutes I caught one in flight over the trees between the two halves. My final addition for the park was a Sparrowhawk circling as I was leaving, at around 1300. There was a sizeable flock of Long Tailed Tits amongst the trees on both sides of the road as I headed east. A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew in from the north. A Brown Rat scuttled across the bottom of the stairs by the bridge down from the Botanic Gardens.
I decided to route home through Balgay. This added Magpie, Buzzard, a Red Admiral butterfly, Nuthatch and Chiffchaff. I decided to kill an hour or so at the top of the Law as it was quite a nice day. This gave me some good views of the local Buzzards and a Crossbill was heard but not seen. There were two further additions for the day on the final part of the walk home with a few House Sparrows at Gussie Park (I'm not using the 'new' name) and a Sparrowhawk upsetting the local Feral Pigeons closer to home. I ended the day's birding with a combined total of 64 species, made up of 60 at the park, and 34 outwith. Although it didn't quite live up to the promise the conditions seemed to offer, I suspect that had there been more folk looking, we may well have turned up something really good.
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
| Fieldfare |
 |
| Swallow |
 |
| Skylark |
 |
| Chaffinch |
 |
| Stonechat |
 |
Grey Wagtail
|
 |
Bar Tailed Godwit & Teal
|
 |
| Linnet |
 |
| Redwing |
 |
Saker Falcon (escape)
|
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
Reed Bunting
|
 |
| Rook |
 |
Mistle Thrush
|
 |
Song Thrush
|
 |
Bullfinch & Blackbird
|
 |
| Moorhen |
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
| Sparrowhawk |
 |
Grey Squirrel
|
 |
Red Admiral
|
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
Carrion Crow & Buzzard
|
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Crossbill, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Red Admiral.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Brown Rat, Pipistrelle Bat.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare,
Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull,
Jackdaw, Jay, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Red Admiral.
