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Marsh Harrier
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On Thursday the 8th of August, Mark Wilkinson found what was very much an unexpected new bird for the Riverside Nature Park list - a Sabine's Gull, in Invergowrie Bay. Unfortunately, it was spooked by a passing train and flew off upriver. Lainy went down to Kingoodie to try to refind it but had to make do with a Mediterranean Gull. In addition to the Sabine's Gull, Mark had also had a Ruff - the first of the year, in the bay. As both Ruff and Mediterranean Gull would be new birds for my #Dundee150 list and it would likely be Saturday before I got a proper chance to look for them, I decided to take a chance and take my birding gear with me to work on the Friday. That way if word came in that the Sabine's Gull had returned I could hurry down for a look. If it didn't I could still attempt to see the Ruff and/or Mediterranean Gull after work.
As expected, there was no Friday report of the Sabine's Gull. It was overcast when I left work for the relatively short walk down to the western end of the park. I scanned from the railway bridge for a few minutes - Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Lesser Black Backed Gull (including one that superficially looked a bit 'Baltic Gull'-like), Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Knot, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Feral Pigeon and Wren were all noted before the sun decided to put in a very unhelpful appearance. I wandered round for a look from the raised banking where Lapwing and Mute Swan were noted. The glare off the wet mud made things difficult so I headed back to the hide for a look, which was even worse.
I tried again from the bridge as the tide pushed in further. I found a trio of Ringed Plover - not a common bird in the bay (though we had around a dozen earlier this year) and added Bar Tailed Godwit. The glare made spending more time scanning through silhouettes, likely to be fruitless. It was also quite windy so the main body of the park proved to be very quiet - the time of day likely also being a factor in this. Bullfinch, Magpie, Jackdaw, Grey Wagtail and Moorhen were the only non-bay additions. Green Veined White, Meadow Brown and Red Admiral butterflies were found in some of the more sheltered spots before I headed homewards around 1730. A total of 24 species noted was rather low, but conditions weren't helpful, and not surprisingly I drew a blank on both the target species. An early start on Saturday would hopefully prove to be better, despite the forecast windy conditions.
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Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull & Herring Gull
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Ringed Plover, Redshank & Dunlin
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| Bullfinch |
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| Lapwing |
Birds - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral.
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My plan for a very early start on Saturday didn't quite happen. I was hoping to be at the park, or at the very least out the door, in time for sunrise. A lack of sleep meant a later start, though an 0630 start for an 0730(-ish) arrival at the Nature Park was still reasonably early, and would mean I would largely have the park to myself for an hour or so. The day's list started off with Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Jackdaw and Feral Pigeon. Things then slowed down considerably to a bit of a trickle, though Magpie, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Tree Pipit, Coal Tit, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Robin, Goldcrest and Chaffinch all contributed to this rather slow flow.
Things picked up a little with Black Headed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wren, Nuthatch and Bullfinch all being found at Lochee Park and Balgay Cemetery. Starling, House Martin, Jay and Greenfinch, as well as a few Rabbits were noted on Riverside Avenue as I made my way along the final stretch to the Nature Park. I reached the park at 0733. Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Magpie and a surprise quartet of Tree Sparrows, as well as Herring Gull and Tree Pipit got the list for this particular park visit underway. A single Tree Pipit flew westwards quickly followed by another vocal pair. The Tree Pipits weren't the only obvious migrants as a few Swallows swept low westwards into the relatively strong wind blowing across the park.
There were a few Rabbits around due to the park still being rather quiet, as a result of the early start to my visit. I added Woodpigeon and Wren as I wandered along the back of Buzzard Wood. I didn't realise that there was a Buzzard down on the path, just around the corner. The bird saw me before I saw it and took flight. I grabbed some photos as it flew off which showed it to be one of this year's youngsters - most likely from Ninewells. I headed up into the top half of the park where Chiffchaff, Blackbird, Stock Dove, Whitethroat and House Martin were all seen before I popped in for a quick look at the lochan. There were a few Moorhens around there, but nothing else of note, so I continued on round to check the bay.
Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Lapwing, Little Egret, Sandwich Tern, Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher were all noted down in the bay over the couse of the next hour. Both Keith and Mark turned up which greatly helped to add more species to the list. The drake Scaup was seen over towards the western side of the bay. While Keith and Mark scoped the bay, I scanned out over the river and spotted a dark bird flying low upriver that seemed a bit odd looking, and I couldn't quite decide what it could be, as it felt a bit out of context. Thankfully Mark managed to get his scope onto the bird, as did Keith, and Marsh Harrier was arrived at as the ID.
More scanning got us Dunlin, Bar Tailed Godwit, Knot and Cormorant before Mark spotted my target for the day flying in and landing down on the mud. A Ruff, my first of the year and number 137 for my 2024 #Dundee150 list. Teal and Curlew were seen down in the bay before Mark and Keith headed off elsewhere. As I was in no hurry to try anywhere else I had a wander round the upper half again. It was nice to get out of the strong westerly wind that had been blasting us relentlssly as we were scanning out over the bay (making it even trickier than usual for me to keep my monopod mounted small scope steady). I found a Common Darter dragonfly and the lone Lapwing at the Lochan and even managed some unexpected butterflies - Meadow Brown and Peacock. More wandering added a few more at a single sheltered Buddleia bush by the bay - Green Veined White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and a Comma.
A couple of Sand Martins shot past, heading for Invergowrie and points west. Greenfinch, Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Yellowhammer and a Common Carpet moth among the pathside vegetation kept the visit list building over the next wee while. I headed up to have a quick 360 degree scan from the hill top at one point and was pleasantly surprised to see a Marsh Harrier over the rough ground to the west of the airport runway. It headed out over the river on the same route as the earlier bird, and may have been the same bird. A couple of Carrion Crows took exception to it and chased it for a bit but gave up after a minute or so. There were also at least half a dozen Marsh Harrier sightings from Fife the same day, suggesting that there was a bit of a (relatively speaking) mass movement/dispersal of the species going on, so the 2 sightings at the park may have actually been 2 different individuals, although there is no way of knowing either way.
I added one more species in the lower half before heading in the direction of home, with a Coal Tit in the trees near the access road found as I was leaving. Both Large and Small White butterflies were also spotted nearby. On the way home, a Meadow Brown butterfly was found near the steps up to Riverside Drive at the railway line. Bird-wise, a few Swallows, a lone Swift and a Buzzard were noted on the walk back home. My combined list for the day was 55 species of bird (29 outwith the park, and 46 at the park), including one new addition to the #Dundee150 list (in bold), as well as 8 species of butterfly, 1 of dragonfly, 1 of mammal and 1 of moth. All in all, a pretty decent day with a year-tick and 2 Marsh Harrier sightings from the park, as well as a few nice park scarcities (Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Scaup etc).
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| Goldfinch |
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Tree Pipit
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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Meadow Brown
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Black Headed Gull & Common Gull
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Little Egret & Black Headed Gull
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Ruff & Lesser Black Backed Gull(?)
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| Lapwing |
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Marsh Harrier
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Marsh Harrier
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Carrion Crow & Marsh Harrier
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Small Tortoiseshell
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Red Admiral
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Common Carpet
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Comma & Peacock
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| Comma |
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Comma & Small Tortoiseshell
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Hoverfly sp.
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Green Veined White
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| Lapwing |
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| Moorhen |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull,
Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch,
Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black Backed
Gull, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Meadow Brown.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed
Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common
Gull, Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunlin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Herring Gull, House Martin, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute
Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Ruff, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Scaup, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Green Veined White, Large White, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Darter.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Carpet.
