 |
| Buzzard |
As I appear to have a tendency to rather neglect Riverside Nature Park in winter, I decided to make a visit there on Sunday the 15th of December. The tide times didn't look particularly helpful, so I chose not to add the extra weight of my scope and monopod. Although I wasn't really expecting to find anything new, there is always a slight chance of finding something at the park. Pintail was probably the most likely of my 'needed' species, though it has very much been a bogey bird for me in 2024. Brambling was another possibility, albeit a very slight one, as were one of the less common geese species. As always, it was a case of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I headed out just before 0925. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow were the first birds of the day. A Collared Dove overflew as I wandered up past Tannadice and a Black Headed Gull was seen standing in the middle of the road. Blackbird, Starling and Magpie were around as I passed Dens Park and a Grey Wagtail was heard near the start of Byron Street. A flock of Fieldfare with a single Redwing in tow were in a tall tree not far from the school but flew off a short distance further on, when spooked by a car door being slammed. A Blue Tit was in a bush near the original tree. House Sparrows were in their usual spot at the western end of Byron Street where it meets Brantwood Avenue and a Robin was in the same general area. I added Great Tit, Woodpigeon, Coal Tit, Goldfinch and Long Tailed Tit on Loons Road. There were a few Common Gulls on the Lochee Park football pitches and a couple of Mistle Thrushes were in the tops of a tree by the driveway up towards the cemetery entrance.
As I was heading down the hill past the row of houses at the western end of the cemetery, a male Sparrowhawk flashed between the gravestones in close pursuit of a smaller, unidentified bird. The small bird escaped by diving into a bush in front of the last house. The Sparrowhawk landed on the ground below the bush, separated by a small wall, and stared ruefully up to where its prospective breakfast had gone. I grabbed a few photos and edged a little closer. This was the signal for the Sparrowhawk to depart, still hungry to the west. As I was crossing the footbridge at the eastern end of Ninewells Hospital grounds a few minutes later, I heard the faint call of a Skylark from somewhere high above. I was able to pinpoint the correct bit of sky and even succeeded in getting a few photos of the bird as it crossed the sky heading west. A Goldcrest and Wren were added at the Arboretum along with a few of the resident Jackdaws. The feeders in the community garden were rather quiet with just a single Blue Tit there so I chose not to linger and instead continued on down to Riverside Nature Park.
I reached the park at 1050. Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Great Tit, Feral Pigeon, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Greylag Goose, Magpie, Redshank, Teal and Robin were all noted in the first 10 minutes at the park. Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Wren, Redwing and Blackbird soon followed. Sparrowhawk, Dunnock and Greenfinch were added as I wandered round to scan out over the bay from the raised banking. Mark was already there, which was handy as he had his scope with him which meant that there was less chance of me missing out on anything 'good' that might be around. Black Tailed Godwit, Dunlin and a single Fieldfare were added to the list as we chatted away. Woodpigeon, Turnstone, Great Black Backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Knot, Jackdaw, Curlew and Starling were seen over the next wee while.
It was a bit windy which wasn't particularly helpful but I was able to add Cormorant and Bar Tailed Godwit and some distant Pink Footed Geese to the north that appeared to be around the Denhead of Gray area. I weighed up my options for the rest of the day. I could spend time checking the rest of the park or head up to check through the geese flock in search of something out of the ordinary. As the geese seemed to offer the better chance of a new addition to my #Dundee150 list, I decided to do that. Mark headed for the car park and home and I headed in the direction of Invergowrie, having managed a total of 36 species of birds in a very small section of the nature park, in around an hour's worth of fairly minimal effort. I failed to add anything on the walk up through Invergowrie (though it wouldn't have counted anyway, as it wouldn't have been in Dundee, but in Perthshire). Once under the dual carriageway however, I was back within Dundee.
I checked the trees and bushes on the walk up to the Landmark Hotel (though I still think of it as the Swallow Hotel, which I would imagine would still be the case for a lot of Dundonians above a certain age). A Pheasant was seen in a stubble field to the north, and a Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting were perched opposite each other on some overhead wires. Movement in a distant conifer turned out to be a Grey Squirrel and an even more distant Buzzard was spotted off to the north. Unfortunately the fields where the Pink Footed Geese had been a few weeks ago, were now empty of geese though some were seen in flight further to the north and there were a lone pair up near the top of the grass field close to the road between Liff and Camperdown Park. I added Linnet and Rook before heading in the direction of home. I stopped to photograph a couple of Treecreepers in the trees between the cottages and the industrial units and a Jay was heard from the trees near the NCR building. The walk back along the foot of Camperdown Park provided decent views of at least 3 Buzzards hanging in the wind, above the trees but the rest of the walk home proved to be rather fruitless. I ended the day's efforts with a total of 52 species (36 at the park and 35 outwith), which wasn't too bad, though once again, I had failed to get that elusive final bird to reach my #Dundee150 target figure.
 |
Saker Falcon (escape)
|
 |
Saker Falcon (escape)
|
 |
| Sparrowhawk |
 |
Skylark
|
 |
| Robin |
 |
Great Tit
|
 |
Long Tailed Tit
|
 |
| Redwing |
 |
Herring Gull
|
 |
Greylag Goose
|
 |
| Magpie |
 |
| Fieldfare |
 |
Herring Gull (Argentatus?)
|
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
| Teal |
 |
| Redshank |
 |
Black Tailed Godwit
|
 |
| Yellowhammer |
 |
Reed Bunting
|
 |
Grey Squirrel
|
 |
Pink Footed Goose
|
 |
| Linnet |
 |
| Treecreeper |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Buzzard |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit,
Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Magpie, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing,
Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk,
Starling, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
