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Pintail & Redshank
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Having missed out on my planned trip to Balmossie and Broughty Ferry on Monday I had decided that I would head there on Tuesday. An early start was my intention but I went back to sleep when the alarm went off. I must've been wakened by a text message coming in at about 0940. It was from Keith. He'd just seen 4 Bearded Tits flying up repeatedly from the reedbed at Invergowrie Station, while he was at the hide in the Nature Park. Needless to say, the Balmossie plan was once again shelved and I rapidly got organised to head for the park for attempt number 2 at getting species number 143 for my Dundee145 list.
Around 45 minutes later I headed out the door. Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Grey Wagtail and a passing Meadow Pipit were noted almost immediately. A Robin was heard singing from just around the corner. Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, Herring Gull and Black Headed Gull were all noted between Dens Park and the taxi rank on Caird Avenue where I decided to save a bit of time and a lot of effort by getting a taxi to the bottom of Ninewells Avenue. In the 5 minute walk from there to the west end of the park I added House Sparrow and Long Tailed Tit to the rather short list for 'outwith the park'.
The wind was already picking up and it was forecast to get stronger as the day progressed. I wasn't overly hopeful that I would see the birds but I knew I had to at least give it a go. From the bridge I noted Blue Tit, Robin, a Red Admiral butterfly, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Dunlin, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Redshank, Teal and Woodpigeon before retreating to the slightly more sheltered hide, which also provided a more complete view of the reedbed opposite. Out came the scope and I scanned over the reeds. In between bouts of scanning back and forwards along the reedbed I checked the waders and gulls, just in case there was something unexpected amongst them.
Lapwing, Grey Heron and Curlew were quickly added. A couple of Chiffchaffs appeared in front of the hide but branches and the birds' almost constant activity meant I failed to get a photo. A Bullfinch was heard from the trees too the north of the hide. More checking of the waders got Curlew Sandpiper (surprisingly obvious now that I had my 'eye in'), and both Bar Tailed Godwit and Black Tailed Godwit. What appeared to be an eclipse male Pintail was a nice bonus bird just behind the pipe. A Skylark passed overhead the hide and a Pied Wagtail flew past out front. As the area of mud diminished in size a Ruff wandered into view. A Goosander swam up the burn and disappeared behind the vegetation. I had been repeatedly scanning the reeds at the station but it appeared my luck was out once again.
It began to rain and a lot of the waders which had moved up to roost on the railway embankment were scared off by a passing train. Despite the rain, which was rather heavy at times I was still able to add a few more species - Great Tit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit and Wren - some quite close to the hide, others a bit further away. A few skeins of Pink Footed Geese flew in from the north and wiffled down to land somewhere out towards Kingoodie. A Grey Wagtail flew down to near the burn outflow. The majority of the next 2 hours was spent sheltering from the rain, scanning through the waders and checking the reedbed again and again. I did have some very close views of a female Bullfinch feeding just a metre in front of the hide at the right hand end. I hung around for a little longer once the rain stopped and the tide had begun to recede again but failed to add anything else, other than a Turnstone and a Kingfisher heard calling from the burn.
I headed into the rest of the park at around 1500 noting a Buzzard to the north, with another 2 flying in its direction from Ninewells. Blackcap, Linnet and Common Gull made it onto the list before I stopped off at the Lochan. There had been more than 70 Teal there the previous afternoon, but the numbers certainly appeared to be down by about half, 24 hours later. I did find a Snipe roosting among the Teal, directly opposite the screen and a couple of Moorhens were also seen. Another check of the bay from the hill got me a Cormorant down on the pipe, while Goldfinch, Siskin and Stock Dove were seen in flight. I decided to head homewards at around 1640 and noted a Swallow as I left the park having somehow managed a total of 50 species.
I noted a Red Admiral butterfly on Ninewells Avenue and a Goldcrest by the Botanic Gardens. My legs were quite sore having stood around for around 3 hours at the hide so the walk home was rather slow though I did manage to get Dunnock and Sparrowhawk onto the 'outwith the park' list for the day but birds were in rather short supply overall. My total for outwith the park was only 15 species, though considering I had only done half of the amount of walking I would normally, to and from the park (and it was rather windy again) this wasn't really surprising. The combined total for the day's efforts was 54 species - up 5 from the previous day, though once again there were no Bearded Tits for me.
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Redshank, Carrion Crow, Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper
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Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Teal & Redshank
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Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal & Dunlin
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Pintail & Redshank
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Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Tailed Godwit & Redshank
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Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit
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Pink Footed Goose
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Redshank & Turnstone
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Ruff & Redshank
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Black Tailed Godwit & Dunlin
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Herring Gull (?) & Grey Wagtail
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Curlew Sandpiper & Redshank
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Redshank & Curlew Sandpiper
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Teal & Snipe
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Moorhen (& Teal & Snipe)
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Stock Dove
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House
Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Red Admiral.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed
Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper,
Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great
Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Redshank,
Robin, Feral Pigeon, Ruff, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal,
Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Red Admiral.
