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| Blackbird |
As Mark had once again managed to pick out some Pintail from Riverside Nature Park, albeit rather distantly off Kingoodie and via his scope, I knew had to give it a go as my midweek destination to try to get the species on my #Dundee150 list, despite the limitations of my small scope set-up. Carrying a bigger scope set-up from home on foot isn't particularly practical for my build and my neck and shoulders have been giving me a bit of discomfort at times recently - which may just be an age thing. Despite this I decided to take my small scope set-up with my 'footed monopod', which gives reasonable levels of stability, though it has a tendency to fall over from time to time (which isn't handy and has already damaged the scope a bit).
I headed out at 0715 to get me down to the park for a relatively early start, hoping the light from behind me, might help to illuminate any birds out to the west. Unfortunately, the weather was to remain resoloutely grey, though dry, all day despite the forecast being for reasonably sunny conditions. Chaffinch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling, Herring Gull and Carrion Crow all made for a surprisingly hectic start. Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Goldcrest, Jackdaw, Redwing and Black Headed Gull kept the decent levels of variety up as I walked up past the football grounds. Not unexpectedly things tailed off a bit after that though birds did still get added to the list, though at a much slower pace.
Woodpigeon, Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Pink Footed Goose, Wren and Oystercatcher were noted on the way along Byron Street, Loons Road and Ancrum Road. Common Gull was noted at the football pitches and Balgay Cemetery added Blue Tit, Great Tit, Jay, Song Thrush, Treecreeper and Coal Tit. I decided to head for the western end of the park first, so I headed down through Ninewells Arboretum which got me a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which was my final addition to the 'outwith the park' list for the morning. It was around 0820 when I reached the park entrance area.
The tide was rather far out which meant there weren't too many birds close to the burn outflow area. In spite of this, I was able to pick out Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Mallard, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon and Pink Footed Goose without too much trouble. A slow walk into the park added Robin, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Magpie and a calling Reed Bunting. A check of the Lochan only added Teal to the list. A quick wander around the top half of the park added Blackbird, Wren, Goldfinch, Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock and Song Thrush.
Round by the picnic tables I got organised to scan out over the mud, and to try to get Pintail onto my list for the day, and more importantly, my #Dundee150 list. The monopod was set up and I tried to fit the scope on top. What I hadn't realised before I'd left home was that the small 3/8" to 1/4" adaptor ring in the bottom of the scope was sat at home attached to the other lighter monopod I'd used previously, and I had no replacements in my camera bag. This meant I had no way of getting a completely steady view. Coupled with the relatively poor light, Pintail was looking unlikely. I turned around to see a huge flock of hundreds of Fieldfares preparing to drop into the bushes overlooking the river, but they had second thoughts and continued out over the bay towards Invergowrie. Easily the largest flock of thrushes I've seen anywhere, and during what has been a very quiet period for 'winter thrushes' locally.
With regards to the Pintail predicament, help was at hand though as Keith arrived with his scope and tripod. However, despite much scanning by Keith and me, with my scope held in place atop the monopod by hand, we failed to find any sign of the Pintail. Black Tailed Godwit, Goosander and Dunlin were scant consolation. Skylark and Pied Wagtail overflew. Common Gull was spotted down in the bay and a small flock of Tree Sparrows put in a brief appearance plus a Snipe was heard. I wandered back round to the eastern end with Keith as he headed homewards, to see what else I could find. Jackdaw, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Rook, Redwing and Mistle Thrush were a relatively decent haul for the park in November.
I wandered about for another couple of hours which provided a few extra species - Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Siskin, Moorhen and Buzzard before I called it a day, having managed a total of 47 species from the park. The walk home added just 2 new species for the 'outwith the park' list with Rook and Mistle Thrush being the birds in question. These took that part of the day's list to 30 species - which was fairly acceptable for a grey day in November, and coupled with the 47 species found at the park, took the day's combined total to 53 species. While it was disappointing to miss out on Pintail once again, there are going to be 'bogey birds' every year which may well turn out to be one of the first species I find in January next year - as that seems to be how these things have a tendency to work out. We'll see what happens....(though there's still time yet to get Pintail this year....fingers crossed!).
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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Long Tailed Tit
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Yellowhammer |
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Black Tailed Godwit
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| Fieldfare |
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| Fieldfare |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Song Thrush
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| Redwing |
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Grey Wagtail
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| Bullfinch |
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Meadow Pipit
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| Greenfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Teal |
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Song Thrush
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| Skylark |
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| Yellowhammer |
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Mistle Thrush
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Song Thrush, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted
Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long
Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose,
Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Teal, Tree Sparrow,
Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
