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| Bullfinch |
Once again, Wednesday's weather forecast didn't look particularly great with heavy rain until lunchtime and more later in the day. A message from Keith on Wednesday morning, telling me he'd found a Greenshank in the bay from Riverside Nature Park gave me a reason to head out despite the weather, though I decided to wait until it was supposed to improve. Although Greenshank isn't particularly uncommon in the wider local area, it can be a slightly tricky bird to catch up with in Dundee, with only a couple of sightings each year, though usually at Riverside Nature Park. However, as the saying goes, a bird in the hand (as in, on the list) is worth two in the bush(that you don't know are actually there).
With a relatively big high tide around 1600, I calculated that I probably needed to be at the western end of the park before 1330, which would mean leaving home around 1215. There were no guarantees my calculations would be correct, nor that the bird would definitely linger. I got organised and headed out at 1220. It was still raining and the signs didn't look promising that it would be stopping, as forecast, anytime soon. This did indeed turn out to be the case with it raining to varying degrees the entire length of my walk to the park. Thankfully, my choice of clothing was up to the job of keeping me dry but birds were understandably a bit harder to find than usual. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Starling, House Sparrow and Lesser Black Backed Gull were noted over the course of the first 15 minutes or so.
Goldfinch, Siskin, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull and Magpie were the only further additions over the course of the rest of the journey to the park though my route was largely away from the more 'birdy' parts of my typical route, as there seemed little point in visiting them while everything was most likely taking shelter. I reached the park around 1320 and found lots of large puddles on the paths and the grassy areas absolutely saturated. As my main focus was to be on the bay, I didn't spend any time seeing what I could find, with the rain still rather heavy. I did however still manage to note a few species - Jackdaw, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and Magpie before I reached the Lochan where I had a quick look and a brief but very welcome respite from the rain.
Teal, Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan and Moorhen were noted at the Lochan before I continued on to the hide. Thankfully, the hide provided some protection from the elements but there didn't appear to be too much to see out in front. The wader flock on the mud and along the water's edge seemed to be largely made up of Bar Tailed Godwits though with some Redshanks and a few Dunlin mixed in. A couple of Common Gulls were also in attendance and a few Mallard were visible down in the burn. Blue Tit and Dunnock were noted around the hide as the rain continued to fall. A pair of Shelduck appeared from beyond the pipe and as the tide pushed in further Herring Gulls and a Lesser Black Backed Gull showed up on the pipe too.
There was however no sign of any Greenshank which was a bit frustrating, though not overly surprising. A Chiffchaff was in the bushes and trees surrounding the hide as were Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Robin and Wren. The bulk of the waders had taken flight for some unseen reason leaving a single Godwit - which happily for me was actually my first Black Tailed Godwit of the year - a welcome surprise and some vindication for the rather wet trip to the park. Other than the Godwit there were still some of the Redshanks remaining. I found a single Knot in with these Redshanks and a Curlew flew out across the bay from somewhere unseen on my side of the burn. Feral Pigeon and Oystercatchers were added to the list along with a Grey Heron which showed up by the burn.
Eventually the rain stopped and almost unbelievably the sun actually appeared along with some blue sky turning what had been a horrible sort of day into a rather pleasant one. I decided to head for the hill on the off-chance that the rain had grounded some migrants - Wheatear in particular, or that I might see a Sand Martin or two whizz past. The Skylarks were beginning to sing as I reached the main body of the park. As I reached the section of raised embankment, an unexpected Lapwing flew out and headed towards the area in front of the hide but I wasn't quite quick enough to get a photo. There were a few Bullfinches around in the general area and the 'resident' Pheasant was heard calling from more or less its usual spot beyond the fenceline at the southern end of the path. A small flock of Red Breasted Mergansers were visible down in the bay, along with a handful of Mallard and Teal.
A few Meadow Pipits flew up from near the top of the hill and a Buzzard was seen perched on the airport fence. Another was spotted carrying a piece of branch, off to the north, before disappearing into the trees behind Ninewells Hospital with it. A Cormorant was picked out down on the river and another flew upstream. A Greenfinch was seen making a display flight and a pair of Rooks flew past. A distant Pied Wagtail was spotted while searching for Wheatear among the piles of waste in the recycling area. I made a circuit of the path adding Stock Dove and Reed Bunting to the list, though there was no sign of any Snipe at the Lochan. As I wandered back round behind the hill, I caught sight of a single goose and ran a short distance to be able to grab a photo or two. This was fortunate, as rather than either Greylag or Pink Footed Goose, it turned out to be a Canada Goose - another new bird for my Dundee150 list.
I headed up the hill again, past a pair of Pied Wagtails to see if it had landed in the bay - which it had. A Cormorant was also down in the bay, relatively close to the Canada Goose. A flock of 28 Curlew flew in from the north and headed in the direction of the airport and the river. The sky was beginning to cloud over again, so I decided to head for home. From the top of the hill, I'd noticed a flock of what I thought might be Goldfinches (or similar) towards the eastern end of the park. I was rather surprised however, to find that they were actually Meadow Pipits - most likely grounded by the earlier heavy rain. They were feeding among the saplings around some of the large wet pools which the rain had formed on the over-saturated ground. They were very flighty however and it was very difficult to get any sort of clear view of the birds. The whole lot did take flight at one point and I estimate there were easily over 100 of the birds - easily the largest flock of Meadow Pipits I've ever seen.
As I was trying to get a view of the birds on the ground without disturbing them, a trio of swans flew over, the feet extending beyond the tail tip suggesting Whooper Swans - which was confirmed from the photos I'd managed to get. A pair of Great Black Backed Gulls then passed over. A Song Thrush was heard from the bushes behind me as I tried to see the pipits, which took my total number of species at the park to 49 - which was quite surprising considering the conditions for much of the visit. Thankfully, the sunshine had allowed me to dry out but the rain started again as I left the park. I added Jay and Bullfinch while briefly taking shelter at Balgay Park. The rain did did eventually stop as I was about 15 minutes from home which meant I was able to add Chiffchaff and Chaffinch to the 'outwith the park' list taking that to 20 for a combined total of 53 species including 2 new Dundee150 species (in bold). A surprsisingly productive afternoon's birding despite the conditions at both ends of the outing.
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Black Tailed Godwit
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Black Tailed Godwit
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| Mallard |
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| Oystercatcher |
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Red Breasted Merganser
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| Buzzard |
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Mute Swan
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Mute Swan
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Black Headed Gull
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| Teal |
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Moorhen & Teal
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| Buzzard |
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| Redshank |
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| Rook |
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| Shelduck |
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Canada Goose
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Pied Wagtail
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Cormorant & Canada Goose
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| Curlew |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Rabbit |
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Meadow Pipit
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Meadow Pipit
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Meadow Pipit
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Meadow Pipit
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Whooper Swan
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Great Black Backed Gull
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring
Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie,
Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Starling,
Woodpigeon.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed
Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest,
Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Teal,
Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
