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| Skylark |
I had made provisional plans to get out birding on Wednesday with a pal from Fife who I've not seen for around a year. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas with heavy rain due to arrive around late morning. With Spring migration underway, albeit very slowly here in Dundee, I still wanted to get out to see what I could find, with Willow Warbler the main target. I set my alarm for a pre-sunrise departure with a plan to grab a few hours at Riverside Nature Park from sunrise on, then head home before the rain arrived. Somehow I woke almost 2 hours later than intended to find the alarm had been stopped. I had no recollection of waking to do so however....
I got organised and headed out knowing that I was likely to find the tide much further out than ideal when I reached Riverside Nature Park. There's always a chance of a migrant wader passing through at this time of year and when the tide is further out, it is harder to ID the further away birds with the small scope I carry. I was out the door for 0720, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Blue Tit, Jackdaw, Dunnock, House Sparrow and Herring Gull ensuring a busy start to proceedings. Robin and Carrion Crow were next followed by Magpie, a migrant Meadow Pipit overhead and Starling.
Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Blackcap, Coal Tit, Chiffchaff and Greenfinch were noted as I headed up towards the Law (in the hope of finding a Willow Warbler). I was out of luck however though Great Tit, Sparrowhawk and a Grey Squirrel were spotted as I headed down the 'Law Steps' towards Lochee Road, where Lesser Black Backed Gull made it onto the morning's list. I found a Wren on Blackness Road. Long Tailed Tits were rather vocal on Farington Street and a Collared Dove flew across the Perth Road from the Botanic Gardens. Skylarks could be heard singing from the airport as I finally made it down onto Riverside Avenue and the short walk along to Riverside Nature Park.
I reached the park around 0825. Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Robin, Chaffinch, Oystercatcher, Skylark and Herring Gull were all found near the eastern end of the park. Blue Tit, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Jackdaw, Magpie, Stock Dove, Wren and Yellowhammer soon followed as I cut up through the car park and round by the base of the hill to scan out over the bay. A few Meadow Pipits overflew. I scanned from various points overlooking the bay, noting Common Gull, Shelduck, Redshank, Curlew, Dunlin, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Tailed Godwit and Cormorant.
Lesser Black Headed Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, and Grey Heron were seen next. Siskin, Starling and Song Thrush were new for the day's list, in the 'bowl' to the north of the toilet. as I headed up to the top of the hill I had good views of a Skylark which landed very near the path. A Buzzard could be seen distantly perched on the airport fence by the river. The Pheasant called from it's usual area, out of sight and a Reed Bunting flew over. As I hadn't checked the Lochan I wandered in that direction. As I did so, a couple of Sand Martins were seen over the field just to the west of the water.Both Moorhen and Mute Swan were around at the Lochan as well as a few Teal.
The sky was already starting to look a bit threatening so I continued on back towards the lower half of the park, stopping to note Long Tailed Tits and a pair of Bullfinches. Pied Wagtail and Linnet were both 'flyover' birds and I successfully added Greenfinch and Blackcap before I exited the park somehow having managed to find 49 species there, despite the weather and relative brevity of my visit. It didn't take long for the forecast rain to arrive so birds were in short supply on the walk home. When I reached The Miley, I decided I might as well detour along the path in the hope of the elusive Willow Warblers (with plenty of sightings elsewhere in Scotland over the previous 48 hours or so). This turned out to be a waste of time with the only warbler noted along the 12 minute or so walk being a Chiffchaff right at the Clepington Road end of the SWT reserve.
However, I was immediately distracted by the distinctive sound of calling Waxwings very close by. I very quickly spotted the birds feeding on berries in a small tree by the wall at the very northeastern corner of the sight. I grabbed some video footage with my phone as I attempted to pass the birds, but they took flight and I continued on homewards. A minute or so later, a skein of Pink Footed Geese flew over southwards taking the total outwith the park to 28 for a combined total of 55 species. Although I drew a blank on my target species (and surprises were largely absent) it had been just about worth the effort involved to squeeze in some birding before the rain returned. Photo opportunities were rather lacking, so very few photos were taken, meaning a shorter selection than usual on this post.
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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Black Tailed Godwit & Cormorant
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| Yellowhammer |
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Waders, gulls, Cormorants and Grey Herons
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Stock Dove
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| Skylark |
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| Buzzard |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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Reed Bunting
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| Bullfinch |
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Stock Dove
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Stock Dove
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Waxwing, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.
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, Dunlin, Dunnock,
Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling,
Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
