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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Having not made it to Riverside Nature Park on Saturday, my intention
was to rectify this on Monday - a local holiday, and a day off work.
The weather forecast wasn't overly promising with light rain looking
likely for chunks of the day. I spent the morning largely
procrastinating and talking myself out of making the effort to walk out
to the park. The thought that a lot of Keith's additions to the park
list came either during, or following, wet weather niggled away at the back
of my mind. My previous visit to the park had also been surprisingly
fruitful. As the clock approached noon, I decided I actually should make
the effort and head to the park, so I got organised and was ready to
head out just after 1210.
Magpie, Feral Pigeon, House Sparrow and
Herring Gull provided the first few species to get things underway for the
afternoon. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch,
Woodpigeon, Starling, Swift, Blackbird and House Martin were noted on
the stretch between Tannadice Street and Byron Street. Rather than take
my usual route to reach Riverside Nature Park, I set off in the
direction of Magdalen Green. This did mean that additions were few and
far between, though I did eventually add Greenfinch and Pied Wagtail
when I reached Riverside Drive, having crossed the old footbridge over
the railway line. Long Tailed Tits in the trees behind the Amazon depot, a calling
Oystercatcher and a surprise Jay rounded off things before I reached
the eastern end of the park.
Things were relatively quiet at the
park though Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch,
Blackbird, Chaffinch and Woodpigeon (plus a few Rabbits) were all noted
in the first few minutes. A Swallow zipped over as I headed in the
direction of the Lochan. I found a moth on the ground - which appears to
have been another July Highflyer. There were a few young Moorhens
around at the Lochan but not much else, though a rather vocal pair of
Oystercatchers flew over towards Ninewells. Continuing on out to overlook the
bay, I noted Reed Bunting, Whitethroat and Linnet. Down in the bay, I
was able to add Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Common
Gull, Redshank, Dunlin, Mallard and Common Sandpiper before getting the
scope out of my backpack to scan through the further away birds.
A
pair of Black Tailed Godwits were picked out further round in the bay, and there
were a number of Curlew across the far side of the bay, as well as a
number of Sandwich Terns in with the gull roost. The reedbed Mute Swan
pair and their single cygnet wandered along the front edge of the
reedbed. A small flock of Jackdaws circled round and I found a few
Lapwings in with the distant waders and gulls across the bay. There were
also a small number of Bar Tailed Godwits, a single Knot and also the
lingering Little Egret seen on my previous visit. A larger flock of
around 80+ Lapwings flew in to roost as the tide moved in further. A Yellowhammer
flew over before some of the waders disappeared out of the bay. Blue Tit,
Starling, Pied Wagtail, Song Thrush and Cormorant were all added over
the next 30 minutes or so.
As I was checking some distant
birds out over the river, a small flock of birds flew across my field of
view. Terns - but not the usual Sandwich Terns. I was able to get a
nice selection of photos which showed that my initial gut feeling - that
the 5 birds were Common Terns - was correct, before I lost sight of the
birds due to a bizjet on approach into the airport. I headed round to
the hide to see if I could find anything among the gulls but despite
much searching there I drew a blank. The sky had
started to clear a little and the temperature was beginning to creep
upwards, so butterflies and other insects were beginning to appear.
Small White and Meadow Brown butterflies made up the majority.
A House
Martin was seen to the north from near the top of the hill and a pair of
Stock Doves flew off as I reached the top. Towards the hospital, a single
Buzzard circled up over the woodland. I added Ringlet, Common Carpet
moth, Six-Spot Burnet and a rather worn looking Red Admiral. A Wren was
heard and a few Swifts were then seen to the north. Another look at
the Lochan saw 2 lots of young Moorhens. There was a single fluffy black
youngster which was being fed by one of its slightly older siblings. I spent
some time checking out various insects, missing out on an unidentified small
butterfly/moth that wouldn't settle.
There were a number of hoverflies, bees and lots of flies which kept me occupied for a while
before I decided I should really head homewards around 1645. I added
Bullfinch as I headed for the eastern exit, taking the birds at the park
to 45 species. The rather weary walk homewards added Swallow, Great Tit, Coal
Tit and Chiffchaff taking the 'outwith the park' list to 22 species for a
combined total of 51 species of bird, 4 of butterflies, 1 of mammal and
3 of moth (not including a few micro moth species). While I failed to
add anything new to my Dundee150 list, it had actually been a worthwhile
trip, with the Common Terns being my main highlight.
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Black Tailed Godwit
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Curlew, Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull & Common Gull
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Sandwich Tern
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Black Headed Gull
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Sandwich Tern
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Black Tailed Godwit
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Common Tern
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Common Tern
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Common Tern
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Curlew & Lapwing
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Curlew & Lapwing
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Stock Dove
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Common Gull
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Common Gull & Black Headed Gull
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| Moorhen |
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Meadow Brown
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| Buzzard |
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Six Spot Burnet
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| Dichrorampha petiverella(?) |
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| Chiffchaff |
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Empis Tessellata
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Ichneumon sp.
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Fly sp.
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin,
House Sparrow, Jay, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Oystercatcher,
Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch,
Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common
Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunlin, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush,
Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small White.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Carpet, July Highflyer, Six Spot Burnet.
