 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
With Saturday's choice of a trip out to Balmossie ultimately proving to be rather fruitless, I had to hope for some better luck on Sunday. I was heading for Riverside Nature Park again, with Mediterranean Gull my main, though not the only, target species for the day's visit. With rain coming in from around lunchtime I didn't really have a whole lot of time available to play with, though an early start would go some way to countering that. Fife based Maltese birder, Chris Cachia-Zammit, had messaged me on Saturday evening to see if he could join me and I had arranged to meet him at the car park for 0800. What I didn't know was that he didn't actually hav a car and would be attempting the journey via public transport (which can be rather sparse, and erratic, on a Sunday morning).
I set off from home just after 0635. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Goldfinch and Carrion Crow made for a very familiar look to the list, which wasn't surprising as the timing and route was roughly identical to my walks to work during the week. A Sparrowhawk flew from the direction of the Law as I headed along Byron Street, and another raptor, this time a Peregrine, was seen heading towards Cox's Stack as I headed along Ancrum Road. There were some Black Headed and Herring Gulls on the football pitches but I failed to find any Common Gulls amongst them. House Sparrows were in their usual hedges and there was a small group of House Martins hawking among the taller tree tops.
Chris had messaged me to say he was struggling to get a train, so given the weather forecast and the fact he would still have to get out to the park once he reached Dundee, I suggested we meet up for some birding at a more suitable later date instead, to which he agreed. Continuing on through the cemetery I added Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Wren. As I no longer had to head for the car park at RNP I decided to cut through the Arboretum at Ninewells and enter the park at the western end so I could immediately start searching for the Mediterranean Gull. A Buzzard and a Bullfinch were noted just off Ninewells Avenue and the walk through the hospital grounds got me Great Tit, Jackdaw and Grey Squirrel.
I reached the Invergowrie end of the park just after 0640 meaning I had made good time to get there as it normally takes around 10 minutes more. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Common Gull, Teal, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Robin, Collared Dove and Mute Swan made for a relatively busy first 40 minutes at the park. There were a few hundred Black Headed Gulls out in the bay and more and more were joining them all the time. I scanned through them countless times from the raised banking which somehow seemed to be relatively sheltered from the strong wind. The first of 3 or 4 small flocks of Canada Geese flew in from the west continuing on eastwards with the wind behind them.
Starling, Lapwing, Stock Dove, Linnet, Curlew, Black Tailed Godwit, Cormorant and Great Black Backed Gull were all noted from the raised banking until I decided to wander round to the Lochan for a look there, which would also give me a bit of a break from scanning through similar looking gulls for a slightly different one, though I knew I would have to try again after checking the Lochan. Moorhens were the only thing to be seen at the Lochan, with the Lapwing appearing to have moved on. I saw a few Sand Martins zipping over into the wind as I headed back to the bay again. As the tide receded and more and more mud was exposed I was able to add Sandwich Terns, Ringed Plover, Knot, Bar Tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Dunlin, Grey Heron, Oystercatcher and Redshank.
Overhead a few House Martins and Jackdaws passed by, while a Wren called loudly from the bushes in front of me. A young and very vocal Buzzard appeared from the north. The numbers of gulls had continued to build and build but there appeared to be no sign whatsoever of the hoped for Mediterranean Gull. I took a lot of photos so I could check through them at home to see if I'd somehow overlooked the bird (I hadn't). Down in the channel I found an unexpected Wigeon with the Mallards, though it flew off across the mud rather than staying with them. There were still a few Whitethroats around and having eventually conceded defeat with regards finding the Mediterranean Gull I checked out the rest of the park to see if there might be something else good around.
Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Magpie and Long Tailed Tit were all expected birds and they rounded off the list for my shorter than usual visit to the park. the sky had been looking progressively more threatening over the course of the morning and it was becoming clear that the forecast rain wasn't too far away. I finished the visit to the park with a total of 45 species. I dropped into the airport for a few photos of a couple of colourful visiting aircraft. A few Sand Martins flew past. I decided to continue on eastwards and head up via Magdalen Green towards the Perth Road and onwards towards the top of the Hilltown for a fairly direct route home.
I was very surprised to find a small group of 6 Black Tailed Godwits feeding alongside Oystercatchers on the grass to the east of the empty former Tayside Aviation buildings and took a few photos of them. There was also a Pied Wagtail, a Woodpigeon and a few Starlings also picking around in the grass. I added a few Swifts overhead Step Row on the way home which took my 'outwith the park' list for the day to 30 species, and a combined total of 55 species of bird though just 1 of mammal. The weather did turn for the worse as I made my rather leg-weary way home via the most uphill route I could find, which wasn't the most sensible things to do, but getting home quickly before the forecast heavier rain arrived was the main priority.
 |
Black Headed Gull
|
 |
Canada Goose
|
 |
Stock Dove
|
 |
| Lapwing |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Curlew |
 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
 |
| Mallard |
 |
House Martin
|
 |
Canada Goose
|
 |
Mute Swan, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull & Common Gull
|
 |
Black Headed Gull, Common Gull & Herring Gull
|
 |
| Dunlin |
 |
Black Headed Gull & Dunlin
|
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Curlew, Teal & Bar Tailed Godwit
|
 |
Canada Goose
|
 |
Buzzard & Carrion Crow
|
 |
Redshank, Cormorant, Herring Gull & Great Black Backed Gull
|
 |
Canada Goose
|
 |
| Wigeon |
 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird,
Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black
Backed
Gull, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sparrowhawk,Starling, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed
Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common
Gull, Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute
Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Starling, Stock Dove,
Teal, Turnstone, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
