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| Cuckoo |
Having had a very successful visit to Balmossie in mid-week I was keen to get some birding done at the weekend. Plans for an early start on Saturday morning fell by the wayside and I was weighing up my options for where to go as it was looking highly likely I had left things a bit too late to make it worth my while walking to Riverside Nature Park due to the high tide times. I was undecided with no strong preference, other than preferably a good birds to effort ratio return. I was getting my birding gear organised when a message from Keith came through...
Having discovered Riverside Nature Park's first Cuckoo - an elusive individual around 3 weeks earlier, which I'd failed to catch up with on a very hurried lunchtime visit from work, Keith had only gone and found a second Cuckoo at the park - which appeared to be a far more confiding bird than the first had been. It was hanging around in among the 'new' trees which were planted earlier this year just east of the end of Buzzard Wood. I messaged Keith back to say I'd head down for it but it was likely to be around 1030 before I managed to get there on foot. Keith indicated that the bird appeared quite settled - which was a plus and I hastened my preparations to get to the park.
I was out the door for a little after 0925. Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Magpie, Jackdaw and Swift were noted before I made it to Caird Avenue where the option of jumping into a taxi to speed up my cross-city journey proved a bit too hard to resist. I made it to Ninewells Garage for around 0945 and from there cut through the underpass below the railway having added Goldfinch when I got out of the taxi. I crossed the road to the park, scanning across the rows of saplings as I made my way round to the entrance into the park. Carrion Crow, Wren, Black Headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Swallow, Blackbird, House Martin and Robin got things underway while I continued to look for the tell-tale shape of a Cuckoo among the plastic sleeves, wooden posts, greenery and countless saplings.
Although Keith's message had given a reasonably specific location for the bird, I had no idea if the bird would still be in the same place or not. As I neared the bench, a dark shape out of the corner of my eye made me stop and look properly. One juvenile Cuckoo perched calmly on one of the sapling tubes. I took a few photos as the seemingly very relaxed bird watched me with disinterest. I was aware of a runner coming through the gate and had a feeling I had a few seconds to grab as many photos as possible. As expected when he ran past between the bird and me, the Cuckoo panicked and flew off further back into the southeastern corner of the park.
It proved relatively elusive over the next 20 minutes or so. I then spotted Keith coming round the end of Buzzard Wood just as the bird reappeared relatively close - though further away than it had originally been. I had a chat to Keith for a while, noting a pair of Jays, Greenfinch, Stock Dove and Herring Gull as we did so. Keith headed homewards soon after and I waited to see if the Cuckoo would return to where I'd seen it earlier. As it was moving a bit closer a bizjet took off from the airport and the sudden loud noise sent the Cuckoo over the fence and round the corner out of sight behind the trees to the north of the path at high speed. A Carrion Crow ensured it didn't hang around there long and it quickly returned to where I could see it again.
I managed to get a few photos of it eating a Cinnabar Moth caterpillar before it flew off along the back of the trees at Buzzard Wood. As I was intending to check the birds in the bay, I decided I would come back to try to see it again once I'd checked through those. I found a Comma butterfly nearby before I set off. Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail, Magpie, Buzzard, Goldcrest, Jackdaw and Dunnock were noted on the walk to the Lochan where Mallard and Moorhen were to be seen. I added Whitethroat between there and the hide. Small White and Green Veined White butterflies were seen flitting around along the edge of the path.
At the bay I was able to find Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Redshank, Teal and Feral Pigeon before a Sparrowhawk spooked the few birds I could see. There were a couple of hundred Black Headed Gulls (and a few Common Gulls) with a constant stream of many more flying in to join those already down in the bay. These birds moved from the water to the mud as the tide receded further. Curlew, Black Tailed Godwit and Common Sandpiper joined the other birds on the list before I headed round to the area north of the picnic tables for a different angle on the bay. Blue Tit, Swift, Skylark and Yellowhammer were spotted before I made it to the raised banking. With nothing else obvious being found from there I decided to head back round to see if I could relocate the Cuckoo.
Reed Bunting and Six Spot Burnet moth provided some interest before a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over as I had a look for butterflies near the car park. Small Tortoiseshell, Ringlet and Meadow Brown were all flitting around but there seemed to be no obvious sign of the Cuckoo. I did manage to get a Bullfinch as I searched for the now elusive visitor. I spent the next couple of hours trying to see it without any luck though Long tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Grey Wagtail, as well as Rabbit and Red Admiral were all seen or heard, taking my total at the park to 47 species of bird, 7 of butterfly, 1 of mammals and 1 moth species. Having traveled most of the way in a taxi earlier there were still plenty of possibilities to be added to the 'outwith the park' list.
Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Sparrowhawk, Robin and Feral Pigeon were noted on my walk back along Riverside Avenue. The steps up to the bridge over the railway line were open once again, though the brambles had encroached while the steps were out of use. At the top I found my first Silver Y moth of the year. House Martins were circling round above the Botanic Gardens. Small White and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were noted as I neared Balgay Cemetery. Despite a bit of searching I failed to find any sign of Nuthatches or anything else of much interest. Chaffinch and Chiffchaff were the final additions on the walk back home giving me a total of 16 species of bird, 2 of butterfly and 1 of moth outwith the park, for a combined total of 48 species of bird (one year-tick in bold) , 7 of butterfly, 1 of mammals and 2 moths. With the Cuckoo taking my Dundee145 list to 132 (just 13 short of the target with 5 months to play with) it had been another worthwhile trip out.
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| Cuckoo |
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Stock Dove
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Comma |
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Redshank, Oystercatcher & Black Headed Gull
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Sparrowhawk & Feral Pigeon
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Moorhen |
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Reed Bunting
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| Goldfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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Stock Dove
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Carrion Crow
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Silver Y
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Swift, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Moths (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Silver Y.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chafinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Jay, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Six Spot Burnet.
