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| Whimbrel |
Having successfully found Mediterranean Gull on Friday, I was keen to try again for the Curlew Sandpipers seen by Mark on Friday morning, in lighting more conducive to finding them. As I had agreed to help Lainy out with an event at Clatto on Saturday, I would have to wait until Sunday to try again. With high tide around 1500, there was no great need to be at the park particularly early and the weather forecast did suggest that the harsh light from Friday would not be an issue. Although my expectation levels were rather low, the weather forecast (especially the lack of sunshine) assuming it was correct would make things slightly less difficult, meaning that if there were any Curlew Sandpipers about, my chances of finding one were probably slightly better than my low expectations suggested.
September's first birding outing began at the rather more leisurely time of 0950. This would get me to Riverside Nature park for around 1100, giving me a few hours as the tide came in to try to pick through all the waders as I had done with the numerous gulls 2 days previously. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Starling, Magpie, Robin, Blue Tit, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Goldfinch provided a familiar feel to the walk to the park along the initial part of my usual route to work. A Meadow Pipit was heard flying over westwards. Blackbird and a Grey Squirrel on Loons Road then Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Wren, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Nuthatch and Jackdaw at Balgay Cemetery kept the list for the morning building. Greenfinch and Long Tailed Tit were found on Ninewells Avenue. Chiffchaff, Great Tit and Stock Dove were in Ninewells Arboretum.
I reached the western end of Riverside Nature Park just after 1055. Robin, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Grey Wagtail were spotted from the railway bridge. One of the Kingfishers was just visible perched on the concrete section of the pipe nearest to the railway line. Magpie, Black Headed Gull and Black Tailed Godwit soon joined them on the list for this particular park visit. The tide was still quite far out, as expected given it was still 4 hours until high tide. I headed along to check the Lochan. A few small groups of Sand Martin zipped overhead and there were a few Moorhens visible at the Lochan. A Wren called loudly from among the vegetation on the slope oppposite the Lochan screen. I wandered back round to the raised banking for a proper look into the outer half of the bay.
Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit flew over. Down in the bay I could see Mallard, Cormorant, Redshank, Little Egret, Grey Heron, a single Greenshank, Oystercatchers and a few Jackdaws. I looked up to see a gull passing overhead and grabbed a few photos. It was a juvenile Little Gull - not a common bird (only my second) at the park. Moving on to the picnic tables viewpoint I picked out a couple of Common Sandpipers as well as Dunlin, Curlew and some of the increasingly regular Ringed Plovers again. Feral Pigeons passed overhead. There were a few Teal around and a bit of a surprise was a small group of 6 Wigeon beyond the pipe. A pair of Canada Geese were across the far side of the bay. Another 5 dropped in to join them a bit later. A Buzzard glided over before I found a Bar Tailed Godwit down in the burn near the gull bathing 'pool'. A Greenfinch flew over. I kept on scanning through the constantly moving waders as the tide came in further.
A Whimbrel flew across the bay calling loudly as it went and giving very good views in the process. A single Sandwich Tern was only slightly less vocal as it headed out over the river. A few small flocks of Lapwings arrived from the direction of Kingoodie and a Great Black Backed Gull turned up on the pipe. I headed round to scan from the hide eventually. I added Stock Dove and Blackbird on the way there. There was plenty of movement among the waders on the remaining mud. I was pleasantly surprised to find a hoped for Curlew Sandpiper in with Redshanks just the other side of the pipe, my first for the year, and species number 141 for my #Dundee150 list. A flock of around 50 Knot dropped in and I found a Sanderling in with the Dunlin and Ringed Plover further across the bay towards the reedbed. I searched for a Ruff, as I figured there was a good chance of at least one being around but failed to find one. However, I did find one on my photos while checking through them later at home.
Once the majority of waders had flown to roost, I headed into the main body of the park to see what else I could find. Woodpigeon, Starling, Long Tailed Tit, Blackcap, Goldfinch, Swallow, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch and Song Thrush were all recorded before I headed for home. I had managed to find 52 species at the park, including a year-tick (in bold). On the walk home I found there were still a couple of Black Tailed Godwits and Oystercatcher at the airport, which took the 'outwith the park' list to 27, for a combined total of 59 species. With Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff (even if not seen), Whimbrel, Greenshank, Canada Goose, Wigeon, Little Gull and Ringed Plover it was one of the best selections of 'less common' birds at the park for me, in quite a while and further illustrated just how productive this time of year can be at the park.
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| Kingfisher |
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White Ermine moth caterpillar
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| Greenshank |
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Little Gull
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Common Sandpiper
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Grey Heron
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| Wigeon |
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Ringed Plover & Buzzard
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Black Tailed Godwit
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Herring Gull & Canada Goose
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Curlew & Lapwing
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Curlew Sandpiper
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Knot, Dunlin, Redshank & Black Headed Gull
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Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit
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Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper
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Ruff, Dunlin & Knot
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Lesser Black Backed Gull (partially leucistic)
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Redshank & Lapwing
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Lesser Black Backed Gull (partially leucistic)
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| Whimbrel |
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| Cormorant |
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Black Tailed Godwit
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black
Backed
Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Stock Dove, 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, Buzzard, Canada Goose,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew,
Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch,
Greenshank, Grey Heron,
Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Knot,
Lapwing, Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie,
Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail,
Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
[Ruff], Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove,
Swallow, Teal, Whimbrel, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
