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Following on from Saturday's rather disappointing boat trip, I had decided that Riverside Nature Park would be my destination on Sunday morning. Curlew Sandpiper would again be the main target species, though anything else new would be obviously very welcome. I arranged to meet up with Steph for a few hours in the hope that we could at least add something new to the growing list of species she's seen, as well as passing on ID tips etc, and just generally chatting about birds. The weather forecast looked reasonably decent and the winds were still coming from the east, so I decided to try to get to the park for sunrise to catch the waders on the shore before the tide had receded too far.
I headed out a few minutes later than intended and as it was still dark a few Robins were all I could hear. The first Herring Gulls added their voice as I passed Kings Cross Hospital. A Carrion Crow was seen in the half-light on a lamppost near the western end of Byron Street as I passed there. A Blackbird flew across the road at Coupar Street and there were a few Black Headed Gulls along with Hering Gulls on the football pitches at Lochee Park. Goldcrest, Woodpigeon and Wren were all found as I hurried through Balgay Cemetery. As I crossed Glamis Road to continue down Ninewells Avenue I was spotted by a Fox on the grassy slope at Almond Place which ran off across the road and out of sight. At the hospital there were a number of Hering Gulls down on the grass not far from the footbridge. Among them was a single Lesser Black Backed Gull.
Jackdaw, Rook and Magpie were all rather vocal near the WL Gore building and a Meadow Pipit, the first of the day, was heard moving overhead somewhere. I reached the western end of the park a minute or so after sunrise, though the conditions were a bit driech compared to what had been expected. I scanned from the bridge noting Blackbird, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Robin, Wren, Mallard and Black Headed Gull before wandering round to the hide for a different angle. There was already a bit more exposed mud than I had hoped for but waders were still in very short supply. Grey Heron, Teal, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Chiffchaff, Pied Wagtail, Common Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gull were added before the first few Dunlin flew in.
Blackcap, Stock Dove, Jackdaw, Grey Wagtail, Goosander and a single Redshank seen briefly down on the burn kept my concentration levels up. A Bar Tailed Godwit flew in as did a few more Redshanks and Dunlin though most seemed to want to settle a bit further out across the bay which wasn't particularly handy for me. I was joined by Steph and with most of the birds already being quite distant we decided to head round to the Invergowrie side of the bay for a better look at the waders. Having not seen any sign of any Curlew Sandpiper I wasn't expecting to miss out on anything new for my Dundee145 list by doing so.
From the bridge we got a few more species - Cormorant, Mute Swan, Curlew, Great Black Backed Gull and a small-ish skein of Pink Footed Geese heading north from the river. Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Coal Tit were added to my 'outwith the park - Dundee' list for the day as we wandered along the Blyth's Reed Warbler stretch of path before crossing the border into Perthshire. This meant another separate list as I already keep a list for the park, and Dundee and Invergowrie come under different regional headings on the BirdJournal app that I use to keep my records. That list started with some species I'd already seen elsewhere so I won't mention them here (though they will appear in the list at the end of the post), though Blue Tit and Goldfinch were new for the day. We crossed the railway line at the station and cut through the trees, stopping to scan where possible.
Curlew was new for the day as were Lapwing and Oystercatcher. As we neared the old jetty at the end of the rather muddy track a Ruff flew out of the bay. Starling, Tree Sparrow, Swallow, and Greenfinch were all noted from our position at the southwestern extremes of the bay. A gull flew out from the bay and I realised that it was an adult Mediterranean Gull and quickly got Steph onto the bird. It was a lifer for her, and would've been a Dundee145 tick for me, had I seen it from the opposite side of the bay. Still, knowing there is potentially one around does mean I can make a point of methodically checking the Black Headed Gull flock on subsequent visits to the park. There were a few more Meadow Pipits passing over and a Bullfinch was heard before our rather exposed position, open to the rather chilly easterly wind, led to us making the decision to head back round to the park to see what we could find there.
Back at the park again, a flock of Swallows swooped low over us as we headed along the track from the hide. Steph spotted a bird among the vegetation on the hillside as we neared the Lochan but it flew towards the hedge before I could get onto it. Thankfully, it reappeared in the top of the hedge and despite the very poor light (low cloud and the threat of a rain shower not helping) we managed to see enough of it to identify it as a Stonechat - Steph's second new bird of the morning. Moorhen on the Lochan was new for the day's list for me. We headed back round for another look down into the bay. Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit were all noted in the trees and bushes on the short walk to get there. Lapwing and Oystercatcher were added to the park list but the poor light and mostly distant birds conspired against us adding anything else.
We had a check of the 'toilet bowl' next. Feral Pigeons passing to the north, a few Long Tailed Tits in the hedge and a couple of singing Skylarks above the hill - for some reason a few of these birds seem to do this as they pass through the park on Autumn migration. We walked down to have a look at the lower half of the park next which added Bullfinch and Goldcrest. I had just remarked that I was surprised we hadn't yet seen a Jay when one flew across in front of us. Heading back into the top half of the park again, we found the Buddleia corridor up from the car park towards the hill to be quite busy with birds. Song Thrush and Blackcap were the best of these. A few House Martins flew over. Steph wanted to be home for just after 1100 so we headed back round towards the western entrance again, failing to add anything new on the way. We ended our visit to the park with a total of 47 species which was reasonable for the amount time, and the less than perfect conditions.
Having said cheerio to Steph by the underpass I decided to head for home along the same route I'd made my way to the park. A Jay was seen near the Carseview Centre and I decided I might as well pop in for a look at the feeders at the community garden. Although the feeders weren't especially busy I did manage to add Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker to the list for the day and spent quite some time trying to film and photograph a couple of Brown Rats foraging round about. There were a few light showers of rain (which I wasn't dressed for as they hadn't been forecast), and the light failed to improve so I eventually gave up around 2 hours after having arrived. The walk home from there via Balgay Hill got Chaffinch, Dunnock, Starling and Grey Wagtail as well as a Grey Squirrel. The escaped Saker Falcon was perched on Cox's Stack thought it doesn't 'count'. The total combined list for the day's efforts was 57 species (made up of 47 at the park, 25 in Dundee outwith the park, and 32 in Perthshire) including a year-tick on the 'wrong side' of the bay (in bold).
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Dunlin, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull (& Teal)
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Pink Footed Goose
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Bar Tailed Godwit, Redshank & Black Headed Gull
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| Stonechat |
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| Skylark |
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Song Thrush
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Robin's Pin Cushion
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Blue Tit
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| Dunnock |
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Great Tit
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Brown Rat
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Blue Tit
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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| Nuthatch |
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| Wren |
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Brown Rat
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Grey Squirrel
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Saker Falcon (escape)
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Birds (Dundee/outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, [Saker Falcon], Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (Dundee/outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Brown Rat, Fox, Grey Squirrel.
Birds (Perthshire) -Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Ruff, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldcrest, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring
Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Jay, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen,
Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
