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| Robin |
The more birds I manage to see in January the harder it gets to be able to 'target' others. One of the species I've yet to get this year is Tree Sparrow, though I have already attempted to find them around the Clearwater Park area without success. As I had also been neglecting Riverside Nature Park to a degree I decided that I might try to combine the two for my birding on Sunday the 14th. I would head out to Denhead of Gray in the hope of finding the birds around the row of cottages where I've had some decent luck previously. If I was out of luck there I would head up past Dykes of Gray then take the track along towards Benvie. There is a house about 3/4 of the way along the track where I've seen the birds along a hedge that runs up the side of the garden there. The option to continue up towards Liff would only come into play if I was out of luck there too. If that happened Riverside Nature Park would have to wait for another day.
I headed out at 0925 for the walk to the western extremities of the city. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Redwing, House Sparrow, Magpie, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, Sparrowhawk and Woodpigeon were all noted as I wandered up past the football grounds. Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail and a skein of Pink Footed Geese were all spotted as I headed from there to Byron Street. I added a flyover Siskin further on but it wasn't until I reached the bottom of Arran Drive around 30 minutes later that the next bird made it onto the list - a Coal Tit. There was quite a large flock of Redwings feeding among leaf litter a few minutes later and Great Tit, Long Tailed Tits and a Robin were in a garden as I neared Myrekirk Road. The underfoot conditions were rather slippy in places and the track along to the cottages at Denhead of Gray was especially icy.
I wandered up to scan over the stubble field. A Grey Wagtail flew over and I decided it was safer to wander along the edge of the stubble field than to risk the road. I spooked a few Rabbits before picking out a few distant male Pheasants. A Mistle Thrush was seen but there was no sign of any Tree Sparrows in the gardens and not a single chirp was heard. There seemed to be soomething upsetting the corvids in the trees that ran up the field edge above the small burn. There were a few Carrion Crows and a Magpie or two and they were joined by a Jay, but I failed to see what it was that was causing their agitation. I debated cutting the corner by wandering through the stubble field along the edge of the large-ish wood to the south, but I decided against it (partially as a result of the presence of a barbed wire fence I would need to negotiate).
As I got closer to the junction I thought I could hear a Tree Sparrow call, but it was faint and seemed to only happen when I was walking. I wondered if I might be imagining it, or it was a sound created by my bag, or jacket. As I neared the end of the road I was able to ascertain that it was actually a bird I could hear and I scanned the hedge along the edge of the field. A Tree Sparrow was perched in the top branches of a small section of hedge. I got a few photos before crossing the road for a better angle. Looking at the photos later I discovered there had actually been 2 birds there. With my target bird 'in the bag' I headed for Riverside Nature Park via the Landmark Hotel and a short detour into the very edge of Perthshire. Out to the east I picked out a pair of Buzzards circling and a Sparrowhawk was harassed by a crow to the north a few minutes later.
I added a Wren behind the Landmark hotel and had reasonable views of a flock of Long Tailed Tits and Blue Tits by the small reedy area near the burn. As I walked along the track towards the underpass below the dual carriageway a relatively large dog came running up behind me. It began to jump up at me. With no sign of any owner in sight and unsure of it's intentions, I shouted at it. After a few increasingly louder shouts it did stop its jumping and sat down looking slightly puzzled. There was still no sign of any dog owner coming along the path nor any shouts for the dog. I tried to shoo the dog back the way it had come and after a few attempts it thankfully ran off back the way it had come. I headed on into Invergowrie. Blue Tit, Great Tit, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Redwing and a Grey Squirrel were all noted along Greystane Road.
I reached Riverside Nature Park around 1140. Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Redwing, Redshank, Mallard, Blackbird, Common Gull, Teal and Long Tailed Tits were seen from the railway bridge. A quick visit to the hide added Great Tit and Siskin. I wandered along the path into the main part of the park. Song Thrush, Goldfinch and Greenfinch were spotted near the path junction. I checked the muddy patch on the hill where I had Snipe on my previous visit but there were no birds to be found. Birds seemed to be in rather short supply overall. The Lochan was frozen over and nothing was seen there as a result. Continuing on I added Magpie, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Dunnock and a few Rabbits while using the thermal imager to try to find a Woodcock in below the bushes.
I headed round to check the bay but with a rather icy cold wind blowing I decided not to take the scope out, instead relying on just the binoculars. I did manage to find Curlew, Oystercatcher and Dunlin as well as a couple of overflying Jackdaws. I eventually headed down into the lower half of the park still checking the boggy areas for Snipe, or preferably Jack Snipe, and in any wooded areas for Woodcock using the thermal imager. The sky to the north was looking increasingly wintry and I was beginning to suspect that snow might be a possibility. While checking along the southwestern edges of Buzzard Wood a trio of Rabbits ran off when they realised I was there. In turn, they flushed a Woodcock which took off up and over the trees and out of sight. I hoped it would return but I was out of luck. I did manage to find my first Woodpigeon for the park visit, and I heard a rather noisy Wren.
I spotted a Kestrel out to the east tussling with a crow and managed to get a few photos. A Coal Tit was found in the trees towards the wooden gate at the eastern end. I was in the process of leaving the park when I spotted a large but distant bird flying towards the bay. I managed a few seconds look through the binoculars before trying and failing to get a photo before it disappeared behind the trees. It was a White Tailed Eagle (Martin Scott had seen one over Invergowrie the previous day - likely the same bird). I ran back to scan from the other side of the trees but with trees and the hill in the way I was out of luck. However, every gull in the bay seemed to be in the air and they circled quite high for the next few minutes.
A German(?) sounding gent (Alex) arriving at the park asked if I'd seen anything good and we had a chat about the eagle and various other birds. A skein of Pink Footed Geese were seen out to the west. It began to snow so we headed off in opposite directions. Thankfully the worst of the snow seemed to be a bit to the east. I headed up towards Balgay Hill adding another brief Sparrowhawk/corvid duel. The only new addition to the day's birds on the walk home was a Stock Dove near the footbridge at Balgay Hill. I ended the day's birding with a combined total of 45 species of which 2 (in bold) were new additions for the Dundee150 list. I am now rather rapidly running out of relatively likely possibilities to add between now and March....
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| Jay |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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Tree Sparrow
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Tree Sparrow
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Carrion Crow & Sparrowhawk
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Blue Tit
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Blue Tit
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Long Tailed Tit
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Redshank & Dunlin
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Song Thrush
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| Greenfinch |
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Kestrel & Carrion Crow
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Kestrel & Carrion Crow
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| Kestrel |
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Kestrel & Carrion Crow
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| Robin |
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| Robin |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow
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Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow
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| Robin |
Birds (Dundee - outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (Dundee - outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Birds (Perthshire) - Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon.
Mammals (Perthshire) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds (Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin,
Song Thrush, Teal, White Tailed Eagle, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
