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| Snipe |
As Wednesday morning's Waxwings had seemingly disappeared by the time I was on my way home from Riverside Nature Park later in the afternoon, I decided to check nearby potential spots on my way to work on Thursday. This proved rather successful with a flock of 31 in a tree on Old Muirton Road and feeding on some of the numerous berries around the primary school. They were in the tops of the Larches behind the school as I headed home in the afternoon, so I decided to take my camera with me to work on Friday to try to get some photos in decent sunlight - something not always possible in winter. This worked out quite well but there was no sign of the birds in the afternoon on my way home. I decided I would make an early start on Saturday morning and stop off there to check again on my way to Riverside Nature Park to try for returning migrants.
Despite my best intentions it was just before 0800 when I eventually set off to hopefully catch up with the Waxwings around Ancrum Primary School. House Sparrows chirping, Herring Gulls making a racket overhead, a few Feral Pigeons taking flight from the nearby roofs while a Starling 'sang' from another were the first birds on the day's list. Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Magpie and Pied Wagtail were added as I headed past the football stadiums. Blue Tit, Goldfinch and Coal Tit were found as I wandered up Canning Street. Along Byron Street a Robin was heard singing and a Grey Wagtail flew over by the school. A Dunnock was singing in a garden on the opposite side of the road. Blackbird, Greenfinch, Great Tit and a pair of Lesser Black Backed Gulls were all in the area near Nicoll's Rosebank Bakery.
In the area where the Waxwings had been 25 hours earlier there was now only a Chaffinch, which was a bit of a disappointment though not really a surprise, given that the birds hadn't been around at 1630 the previous afternoon as I headed home. There were a few Common Gulls on the football pitches along with the ringed Oystercatcher (6A5) and its mate. I cut down past the footbridge at Balgay Hill. Goldcrest, Long Tailed Tit, Nuthatch and Stock Dove were all found before I headed down to the eastern end of the Nature Park with no further additions to the morning's 'outwith the park' list.
Robin, Greenfinch, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Wren, a flock of around 40 Starlings, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch and Herring Gull made for a relatively productive first 5 minutes at the park, despite the strong westerly wind that was blowing. I bumped into Keith and we had a quick chat before going our separate ways - him homewards and me towards the upper half of the park. Skylark, Rook, Blackbird, Siskin, Bullfinch, Blue Tit and a skein of Pink Footed Geese were next onto the list. The first Rabbits of the day were on the grass below the hedge that splits the 2 halves of the park. I found that the signs asking people to stick to the paths and to keep their dogs on leads in the top half of the park were now in place again....and very few people were paying them any attention whatsoever (as usual!). A Pied Wagtail was spotted as I wandered round for a look out over the bay.
Black Headed Gull, Greylag Geese, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Shelduck were picked out despite the wind which made scanning quite difficult. A few Feral Pigeons were seen overflying and a number of Jackdaws were spotted to the north. Teal and Mallard were down on the burn and a Curlew flew in and landed. There were a few vocal Magpies around and there were a few Common Gulls with the other gulls in the bathing pool part of the burn outflow. Keith had mentioned that he'd seen a couple of Snipe at the Lochan earlier so with the tide still having a bit to go before views would be easier/closer I headed round for a look for them. The Mute Swans were in attendance with one of the pair now on a nest across the far side partially behind the reeds. Moorhen was noted (along with Teal, Black Headed Gull and Mallard). I found a couple of Snipe but it turned out that there were actually at least 6 individuals visible at various times (and all showed at once for a second or 2 while I was videoing them) as I discovered at home later, though I had counted a potential 4.
I headed back round to the bay but with no significant changes there I decided to have a look at the pond to try to photograph the Smooth Newts. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, a Spaniel I'd seen running around off-lead had been in the pond and had churned up the sediment on the bottom making most of the pond impossible to see anything in. As I was trying to see anything I happened to hear what I thought was a Rook calling - though the wind was making it difficult to be sure. I turned round and realised that it was actually a pair of Ravens which continued on over the hilltop towards the airport. A nice surprise for the day's list and my first at the park this year. Dunlin and Bar Tailed Godwit were picked out among the waders as I viewed the shrinking extent of the still exposed mud. A Sparrowhawk circled out in front of the hide, upsetting at least some of the waders. A Grey Wagtail flew over while Great Tit and Coal Tit were in the trees by the hide. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was with the Herring Gulls on the pipe.
There was some very unexpected disturbance of the birds when an older man was seen walking along the actual railway line (without any hi-viz vest) from the direction of Invergowrie Station. I was joined by a walker and I asked his opinion of the likelihood of the man I'd seen being a worker. He was of the same opinion as me, that it seemed very odd. Just at that, the man reappeared heading back towards the station. A train was crawling slowly along behind him. A local and the man had some sort of conversation briefly while he held up the train's progess further by staying on the actual line the train was on. We heard police sirens and by the time the man reached the station again the police were waiting for him. There was clearly some discussion between both parties but I've no idea of the outcome.
With most of the waders having departed elsewhere by this time due to the man on the track and the incoming tide I wandered back along to the Lochan again where the Snipe were still in view. A Stock Dove pair flew over and the first Buzzards of the day drifted over from the direction of Ninewells. With nothing much else looking too likely and increasing levels of frustration at being barked at by off-lead dogs while stood watching the birds at the Lochan, while other dogs ran around on the hill itself, I decided it would be a good idea to head homewards. I did manage to add a few more species as I head through the lower half - Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Song Thrush and Goldcrest, taking the park list total to 48.
There were a few singing Chiffchaffs by the railway line as I headed back along Riverside Avenue. A Jay which was heard in Balgay Cemetery was the only other addition on the walk home. I had another quick check for the Waxwings just in case, but unsurprisingly found none. The combined total for the day was 52 species of bird, made up of that 48 at the park and 28 outwith. The strong wind did make for some challenging birding at times and the the usual complete disregard of the signs by the majority of dog-walkers did make it a less than enjoyable experience as it can almost always be at this time of year. The only obvious migrants were the Chiffchaffs, though it is probably quite likely that some of the 'usual' birds may not have actually been locals, but rather birds passing through on their way elsewhere. Shouldn't be too long now (surely!) before some of the others start to trickle in....
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| Starling |
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| Bullfinch |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Carrion Crow
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Pied Wagtail
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| Oystercatcher |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Black Headed Gull
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| Snipe |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Mallard |
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| Raven |
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| Raven |
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Greylag Goose & Teal
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Herring Gull
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| Buzzard |
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Mute Swan
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Robin |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring
Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed
Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Robin,
Feral Pigeon, Starling, Stock Dove,
Woodpigeon.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed
Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest,
Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey
Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal,
Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) -Rabbit.
A few bonus Waxwing photos from Friday 22/3/24 around Ancrum Road Primary School about 0700.
