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Red Breasted Merganser
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Having ended January's birding with an unexpectedly high total of 98 species, I wanted to keep that momentum going, though having already had 3 blank days of the final 4 birding days in January, my expectations for doing so in early February were understandably rather low. It will likely be March before I start to add more than the odd new species for the year, so February's birding will probably end up being more casual and relaxed. Anything new will be a bonus. There may still be particular species targetted but compared to January, progress will be much slower. I was rather undecided where to go on the first Saturday of February but with Steven Neish having again had decent views of the City Quay Otter I decided I might as well start there and then just see where I felt like going after that and that was as far as 'planning' went for the day's birding.
I set off at 0855 for the walk down to City Quay. Blue Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Woodpigeon, Goldcrest, Jackdaw and Coal Tit made for a busy first five minutes or so as I headed down towards Victoria Road. There were a couple of Oystercatchers on one of the Wild Shore aqua park pontoons. There were a couple of Cormorants roosting at the end of the dry dock behind the Unicorn and a Sinensis race bird was on the water. As I wandered along, a female Sparrowhawk dived down into the bushes by the flats, seconds after a Blackbird vacated the same spot at high speed. I hurried over but hadn't got very far before I saw the Sparrowhawk shoot away below the flats and out of sight.
A Starling flew over and I found a female Red Breasted Merganser in the outer part of the Quay. I wandered round to the corner overlooking the river and had a quick scan from there. A flock of 5 Mute Swans were seen heading upriver before descending down to just above the water between the bridges. There were a number of Cormorants out on 'Submarine Rock' but things felt very quiet. I headed back the way I'd came and found Steven Neish sitting overlooking the lock gates. I clambered over the gate and joined him to wait and see if the Otter would show up. Although I've now met Steven 4 or 5 times (since discovering his wildlife posts on Twitter) when our paths have crossed, I'd never really had a conversation lasting more than a couple of minutes with him. Over the course of the next 90 minutes or so, we had a lengthy chat about a variety of things - though mostly nature (and Dundee) related.
While we chatted we were also keeping an eye on what wildlife there was around us - Black Headed Gull, Rock Pipit, Carrion Crow, Red Breasted Merganser, Sparrowhawk, Pink Footed Geese, Robin, Dunnock and Eider were all noted. Eventually, around 1100 we decided to move on elsewhere - Steven was going to Perth (though changed his mind and went to Fife instead) and I was heading to Baxter Park to check Spring Grove. I had a brief sighting of a Grey Seal in the quay area as I passed along the other side towards the Sea Cadets building as I headed for Dalkeith Road. When I reached Spring Grove there were a couple of folk just packing up having done a spot of 'gardening' and tidying up within the small fenced-off area. I waited for a while but birds dropping in were few and far between - just a few of Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Robin, Great Tit and Goldfinch. A Pied Wagtail was heard before I continued on up to check out Swannie Ponds.
I added Grey Heron, Goosander, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Tufted Duck and the lingering (at least some of the time) Gadwall drake there along with Black Headed and Herring Gulls. A large group of Long Tailed Tits flew from the trees on the island to the trees by the path before continuing along through those nearby. As I was about to head for Mains Terrace and Caird Park I spotted a Buzzard being harassed by crows off to the north a little. I grabbed a few distant pics before they vanished behind the houses. Mains Terrace proved to be very quiet again, though at the SuDS pond opposite a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail were feeding by the small puddles on the mud.
Heading down through Caird Park, I had reasonable views of a perched Buzzard and added Jay, Redwing and Wren by the ponds. There was no sign of the Kingfisher or any Dippers which was a bit disappointing. I continued on down to Trottick Ponds where things were much the same as ever at the ponds. Even using the thermal imager I drew a blank at the reedbed, with no Snipe of either variety (Common or Jack). I contemplated heading up to the Law for a look from there but instead cut back up through Caird Park and headed homewards. Although the birds seen were mostly rather 'run-of'the'mill' it was an enjoyable enough 5 hours or so of birding across some of the closer to home sites, rather than those further out - Balmossie, Clatto, Riverside Nature Park etc. I ended the birding session with a total of 40 species which was a reasonably decent total for early February.
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Cormorant |
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Cormorant (Sinensis race)
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Red Breasted Merganser
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Mute Swan
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Rock Pipit
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Woodpigeon |
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Great Tit
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Grey Heron
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Moorhen |
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Tufted Duck
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| Coot |
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| Gadwall |
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Grey Wagtail
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| Buzzard |
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Herring Gull
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Herring Gull
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I decided to pay another visit to Riverside Nature Park on Sunday. Although there had been no further sightings of Keith's Pintail from the previous Monday, I felt it could still be around, lurking somewhere near Kingoodie. With high tide being around 0800 I figured there might be a chance to catch the bird in the bay, if it was indeed still around. However, it was a bit later than I intended before I was able to get out, meaning that it would be around 1030 before I reached the Nature Park. Although this wasn't ideal, at least I was going out birding again.
Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Starling, Dunnock, Great Tit, Feral Pigeon and Long Tailed Tit provided a steady stream of sightings on my way to Byron Street via the football grounds. Further on I added Robin and Blackbird then a calling Chaffinch before finding Common Gull with some Black Headed Gulls at the Lochee Park football pitches. Coal Tit, Bullfinch, Wren and Greenfinch were next on the list as I made my way through the cemetery and down to Ninewells Community Garden. One last addition before reaching the park were a few Redwings by the nursing home next to the underpass at the western end. The list for the park started off with Robin, Feral Pigeon, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Dunlin, Mallard, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Long Tailed Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Common Gull and Magpie.
As I was stood at the hide scanning through the birds down on the mud I heard something moving through the bushes beyond the wall. I headed up for a look from the bridge and found a couple - a 'birder' (with binos) and a photographer (with a long lensed Canon camera) stood in full view of the bay among the brambles near the burn down in front of the hide. Fieldcraft was not much in evidence - with the camera wielding half of the couple (a white haired older man) standing up straight while his companion (a dark haired older woman) did at least sit down to scan. The one plus was that most of the birds were by this time quite far across the bay. Though actual disturbance appeared relatively light there had been some birds in the burn before I'd left the hide, that were no longer there. Although the hide at the park is far from ideal, it is there for a reason - to avoid unnecessary disturbance to the often numerous birds in the bay, and the fences are also there for a good reason.
I added Teal and Black Headed Gull to the list before heading into the park to see what else I might find. Greenfinch and Siskin were noted as I wandered round the top half of the park and Mute Swan was noted at the Lochan. From the picnic benches I managed to get Cormorant and Curlew on the list as well as a small group of Bullfinches and a few Jackdaws. Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and Goldfinch were all found in the relatively sheltered area just north of the (currently out of action) toilet. I added Starling, Treecreeper and Stock Dove as I wandered back the long way round towards the Lochan. A Grey Wagtail flew over near the car park.
There were a number of Teal at the Lochan and one in particular caught my eye - a female with a very prominent pale spot at the base of the bill - something that suggested the possibility of it being a Green Winged Teal (the North American equivalent of 'our' Teal). The only other feature I had an idea of was quite a lot of tan on the speculum where Eurasian has more white (which was confirmed by messaging Mark Wilkinson). Unfortunately the bird decided to mostly keep that part of the wing hidden from my view - though the couple of photos I did get looked white on the back of the camera but had more of a brown look when the exposure was tweaked on the PC. I eventually had to give up on the bird but will be keeping an eye out for it again, and hoping to get an open wing shot to firm up the ID.
I wandered up to the top of the hill for a look from there, noting a couple of Linnets on the way, and a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers out on the Tay to the south. The bottom half of the park was fairly quiet by the time I had a look but I did manage to add Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Redwing and Goldcrest plus the first few Rabbits of my visit before I headed for the exit around 1420. Goldcrest was heard in the trees along Riverside Avenue. Cutting through Balgay Cemetery I spotted a Grey Squirrel and a Stock Dove before I bumped into a lady I met at Riverside Nature Park a while ago. We had a very enjoyable and lengthy chat about various sightings both within Dundee and outwith, my second of the weekend. A Song Thrush put in an appearance as we chatted. I added a Sparrowhawk on the way home from the hill, taking the combined number of species for the day's birding to 61 species, made up of 28 species outwith the nature park, and 38 at the park.
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Curlew |
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Oystercatcher & Curlew
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Dunlin |
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Dunlin, Redshank & Mallard
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Oystercatcher, Curlew & gulls
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Goldfinch |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great
Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
