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Green Sandpiper
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With nothing much on the agenda for Wednesday's birding, I decided that I might as well have another go at the same butterfly walk route that I had attempted a few days previously on Sunday. I decided I would make some slight tweaking to the route, and adjustments to the amount of time spent at a few of the spots. Despite planning an earlier start I still didn't get out the door until 0850 - the same time as Sunday morning. The weather wasn't quite as nice as Sunday had been though it was still fairly sunny and warm.
Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie and Carrion Crow were on the list almost immediately but it was another 5 minutes before I added the next birds - a pair of Jackdaws in their usual place. Blue Tit and Feral Pigeon were found on Canning Street. As I wandered up the hill to check the same garden I'd found Small Copper in on Sunday, House Sparrow, Coal Tit , Dunnock and House Martin were all noted but I failed to find any butterflies this time. Further up the hill, I added Chiffchaff to the bird list, before Green Veined White and Large White were found near the 'whalebone arch'. Willow Warbler and Chaffinch were also in the same general area. Heading back down the other sideof the hill got me Blackbird and an overflying Lesser Black Backed Gull.
On the walk along Pentland Avenue I stopped to watch a Small White butterfly settle which let me positively ID it. I tried the White Letter Hairstreak Elm and saw 2 small butterflies in flight, one at the top and one further down the right hand side but neither settled in view. Most likely Hairstreaks but both Purple and White Letter have been seen in that tree recently including a sighting by Lainy of both settled not too far apart. The Buddleia on the triangle 'island' produced Peacock, Red Admiral and even a Comma which was a nice surprise. A Buzzard flew over. I headed up the hill to check the Elm at the top. There didn't appear to be anything flying around or visible in the tops this time, despite much scanning. I did however add Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Swift and Swallow.
At my 'go to' Speckled Wood area on the hill I actually managed to find a trio of the butterflies chasing each other around but failed to get a shot of one settled when I failed to find it in the viewfinder due to the vegetation in the way. I did get a few record shots of 2 in flight, but they are of 'record shot' only quality. I headed back down off the hill and had a Sparrowhawk fly over as I checked the Buddleia again. I walked down to Western Cemetery noting a Robin on the way. On Sunday I had wondered about the Ivy overhanging the western wall being a decent spot to find Holly Blues. I was right and managed to not only see a few, but also finally managed to get decent photos of a couple of settled butterflies and even a decent flight shot.
With the photos of the Holly Blue 'in the bag' I decided to continue on out to Riverside Nature Park rather than spend too long at the cemetery as I had done on Sunday. I reached the park around 1150. Robin, Woodpigeon, Chiffchaff, Magpie, Wren, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Herring Gull got the bird list off to a reasonable start. Butterfly-wise it seemed quite quiet at first but a bit of exploring did conjure up a couple of Meadow Browns as well as a Red Admiral. Unlike the previous visit, Comma proved remarkably easy when one actually landed by the edge of the path as I was passing - though it was a rather worn looking individual this time.
I headed up into the top half of the park which appeared rather quiet. As I wandered down the path to the Lochan I said out loud, "please let there be something good here....even a Wood Sandpiper would do". Needless to say there wasn't a Wood Sandpiper there. However there was a rather unexpected Green Sandpiper wandering around on the water's edge opposite the screen. Number 138 for my #Dundee150 list, and only the seond for the park list - the first being found by Keith down in the bay. I put word out on the local grapevine and messaged Keith (who was in Fife), Lainy (who was elsewhere also) and Mark (who was at work). I spent a while watching and photographing the bird. The local Moorhens chased it about a few times but it didn't seem in any great hurry to leave the Lochan.
After half an hour or so I headed round to check the bay for Mediterranean Gull. I spotted a Whitethroat on the way round. Down in the bay were a few Common Sandpipers, Black Headed Gulls aplenty, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Black Tailed Godwit, Redshank, Common Gull, Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher, Carrion Crow, Curlew, Lapwing, 2 Little Egrets, Mallard, Dunlin and Lesser Black Backed Gull. There were a few Long Tailed Tits in the bushes nearby and a Jackdaw flew over calling as it went. There were a few Feral Pigeons passing overhead along with regular flocks of Woodpigeons. More careful scanning of the bay added a couple of returning Teal. I spotted a very obvious pale looking potential Mediterranean Gull across the far side of the bay with the Black Headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns, but there was slightly too much heat shimmer to be absolutely certain of the ID though some of the photos did look quite convincing, without being 100%.
A few Swallows headed out over the bay and a Stock Dove flew in the opposite direction before I wandered back round towards the Lochan with the intention of having another look at the Green Sandpiper. Once again, I had a couple of Tree Sparrows within the park and a Small White was flitting around on the slope down from the raised banking. The pair of Mute Swans appeared from somewhere previously unseen, down in the bay. Mark messaged to say he was on his way down to see the Green Sandpiper and I was able to confirm it was still in situ around 30 seconds later. When Mark arrived, it was partially hidden by vegetation towards the western end having been chased there once again by a Moorhen. It relocated fairly quickly to opposite where we were stood, giving us both good views over the next 20 minutes or so. There were plenty of Common Darters and a few Common Blue Damselflies hunting around over the algae on the Lochan.
A Yellowhammer dropped in for a drink and once Mark headed off again, I had another wander which got me Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Blackcap for the park visit list. Back round at the bay I managed to pick out a couple of distant Ospreys just before a Sparrowhawk swept past. I had another look at the Green Sandpiper and discovered why the Lapwing is lingering at the Lochan - it actually has no feet, but can move around a little bit on the remaining stumps. More wandering produced a few more butterflies - Peacock, Green Veined White and Large White. I added what were surprisingly the first Rabbits of the visit as I headed for the exit around 1610. I was going to walk back via Balgay Hill but was feeling a bit leg-weary, so instead decided to catch a bus into town and walked home from there. I had managed to see/hear 53 species of bird (24 outwith Riverside Nature Park and 43 at the park) including another year-tick for my #Dundee150 list (in bold), just 9 species of butterfly this time, 2 of dragonfly/damselfly and 1 of mammal during what was a rather decent day's birding (and 'butterflying' - which doesn't actually seem to have this name, or any actual name for the activity).
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| Peacock |
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| Comma |
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| Buzzard |
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Speckled Wood
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Holly Blue
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Holly Blue
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Holly Blue
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Small White(?)
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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Meadow Brown
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Green Sandpiper
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Green Sandpiper
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Green Sandpiper & Moorhen
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Green Sandpiper
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Green Sandpiper
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| Moorhen |
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| Lapwing |
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| Osprey |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Comma |
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| Comma |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird,
Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit,
Collared Dove, Dunnock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black
Backed
Gull, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Swift,
Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies (outwith
Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Green Veined White, Holly Blue, Large White,
Peacock, Red Admiral, Small
White, Speckled Wood.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Blackcap, Black Headed
Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common
Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew,
Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute
Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Sandwich Tern, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove,
Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma,
Green Veined White, Large White, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Red Admiral,
Small White.
Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Blue Damselfly, Common Darter.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
