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| Osprey |
I originaly intended to visit Broughty Ferry over the course of the long weekend to try to get a Mediterranean Gull or a Little Gull for my Dundee145 list, but it is an extra mile in each direction compared to Riverside Nature Park and the most direct route tends not to be overly productive for birds. In July, it can be relatively common to see very little on the river and along the shoreline, or even passing overhead. Thankfully, things tend to pick up a bit as August comes around, so it doesn't always feel like a bit too much effort for very little return. However, having visited Riverside Nature Park the previous day in relatively windy conditions and seen plenty butterflies I decided to head back there again on the holiday Monday. I was still hoping to maybe catch a Mediterranean Gull or a passage wader down in the bay, but the park sometimes exceeds expectations, though granted sometimes it just doesn't live up to the percieved level of promise. What sort of day would I have?
Although I probably could have managed an earlier start I was still out the front door a few minutes before 0700. Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Magpie fired the starting gun on the day's list. Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Blackbird were noted between the football stadiums. Robin and Starling were found as I headed up Canning Street. I headed for Hill Street spotting Dunnock, Blue Tit and Great Tit on the way. I wandered round the back of the Law which gave me Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Wren. What was surprisingly the first Swifts of the day were seen from Pentland Avenue. House Martin and Goldcrest in Balgay Cemetery, Oystercatchers overhead at the eastern end of Ninewells Hospital grounds, Chaffinch, Grey Squirrel and Rabbit at the Arboretum and then Greenfinch and Pied Wagtail before I finally made it to the western end of the Nature Park.
As I stepped out from the underpass, an Osprey could be seen hovering just beyond the trees by the railway line, close in to shore. Hurrying up to the bridge, I was able to watch it circle round at more or less eye level as it searched for some breakfast. Unfortunately when it eventually did dive, my view was blocked by a tree. A second Osprey appeared for a spot of fishing very soon after too. Also visible down in the bay and surrounding vegetation or flying around were Oystercatcher, Mallard, Goldfinch, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Collared Dove, Yellowhammer, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Gull, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Swallow and Swift. Much further out in the river I picked out a few Goosander. Black Headed Gull, Cormorant and Greenfinch were all noted before I wandered round to the hide.
I found Keith already there and was able to add Song Thrush, Starling and House Sparrow to the list before I heard, then spotted an unexpected Kingfisher down on the burn. We had a few fleeting views of it both perched and hovering, through some of the few small gaps in the overly plentiful greenery between the hide and the burn. Lapwing, Redshank, Grey Heron, Stock Dove, Whitethroat and Robin were also seen, and we watched a couple more Ospreys flying out of the bay with fish in their grasp. We eventually wandered round for a view from the picnic tables where a slightly unexpected Greenshank was seen flying low over the pipe (a second bird was seen later in the morning). Curlew and Dunlin were also around though numbers were very low. Keith spotted a slightly unseasonal Goldeneye on the water beyond the pipe and a Grey Wagtail flew past before Keith headed for home.
I hung around for a while in the general area overlooking the bay adding a Black Tailed Godwit, House Martin, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Linnets, a small flock of Tree Sparrows, Wren, Skylark and a few Meadow Brown butterflies. There seemed to always be at least one Osprey in sight at all times, though at one point, I had 3 in view over the bay while a 4th flew northwards high overhead. A couple of these birds stopped to try to eat their catch down in the bay. One of these found itself being hassled by 2 Carrion Crows, 1 of which pulled the Osprey's tail feathers to try to distract it from its catch. That Osprey decided not to hang around and flew off with the fish. There were a number of Grey and Common Seals out on a sandbank well out in the Tay.
After an hour or so, I finally had a wander round the rest of the top half of the park. Reed Bunting, Willow Warbler and a Great Spotted Woodpecker added a few more species to the still growing list. A few Six Spot Burnet moths were seen low over some of the wildflower meadow parts of the park. Moorhen, a Buzzard with a half eaten bird, as well as a heard-only Pied Wagtail and a Sedge Warbler were around at the Lochan. Another surprise there was what was likely the same Kingfisher seen earlier, flying very low over the water before flying up and over the bushes. More wandering got a couple more butterfly species - Small White and Small Tortoiseshell. I did have a look for Purple Hairstreaks in the Oaks but failed to find any this time.
Chiffchaff, Dunnock and Goldcrest rounded off the visit to the park at around 1330. A couple of Swallows were seen over the trees by the railway line when I left the park. I decided to wander up to Ninewells to photograph the charity air ambulance helicopter which I'd seen landing shortly before. While waiting for it to depart, one of the local Buzzards drifted over before being chased by a few Carrion Crows. Once the helicopter departed I walked up to Balgay Hill. I found a Stock Dove in the 'Stock Dove tree' before stumbling upon a different tree chock-full of birds all contact calling to their own family group - Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Treecreepers, Goldcrests and most importantly, some recently fledged Nuthatches. There seemed to be at least 4 Nuthatch youngsters but with so many birds all moving around, sometimes against the light, it was impossible to be certain, and there may well have been more.
I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling nearby but failed to find it. I did however succeed in seeing a Jay a bit further on, then was able to pick out a Peregrine on Cox's Stack from the eastern side of the hill. I headed on in the direction of the Law. A Willow Warbler was heard from one of the gardens by the Law Steps on the walk up towards the allotments. A Sparrowhawk over the western end of Kinghorne Road made me stop for a few photos and a Song Thrush was also spotted at the same time. I made it home around 1615 having seen or heard a total of 65 species of bird, of which 36 were from outwith the park, and 49 were from within the park. In addition, there were 3 species of butterfly, 4 of mammals and 1 moth species recorded. There were also double figure sightings of Ospreys with at least one in view at almost all times throughout the morning. A decent enough sort of day despite failing to add anything new for my Dundee145 list.
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull & Osprey
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| Osprey |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Lapwing |
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Grey Heron
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Lapwing & Osprey
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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Common Sandpiper
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Tree Sparrow
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| Osprey |
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Osprey & Carrion Crow
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| Goldfinch |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Blackbird |
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Sedge Warbler
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Buzzard |
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| Dunnock |
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Stock Dove
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| Nuthatch |
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| Peregrine |
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Sparrowhawk (& DA-42)
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Seal, Grey Seal.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Six Spot Burnet.
