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| Treecreeper |
It was VERY warm on Friday 20th of June, and the walk home after work in the afternoon was more than a little bit draining. With similar conditions forecast for Saturday, I wasn't sure where to go birding, though I did want to go somewhere. I didn't really want to be carrying my birding gear for miles if I could help it. I weighed up the options and settled on a trip to the top of the Law. However, I decided to check the Elm tree at the east end of Balgay Hill, where I saw my first ever White Letter Hairstreak butterfly last year, for any signs of an early one first. It would still mean a bit of a walk but I figured a reasonably early start should mean that I could be back at the Law before it got a bit TOO warm.
It was however already quite warm when I set off around 0810. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Jackdaw, Goldfinch and Swift made for a relatively slow flow of species as I headed up past the football stadiums. Chaffinch and Siskin were both noted near the start of Byron Street, with Dunnock and a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker a bit further on. Chiffchaff, Robin, Wren, Goldcrest, Blackcap, Bullfinch and Song Thrush were all noted as I cut through the trees around the northwest edges of the Law. I found an Elm tree by chance on the walk to check the 'original tree but unsurprisingly there was no sign of any butterflies. Unfortunately, it was a similar story at the 'original WLH' tree, with only a bee or two seen near the top of the tree. After scanning repeatedly from a number of different angles, I decided to head up the hill to check the Planet Trail Elm. Nuthatch, Long-tailed Tit and Coal Tit were found as I headed up the steps, and a Sparrowhawk flew into land in a tree near the bottom. Sparrowhawk has nested in this area previously but I've never managed to pinpoint the actual nest site.
At the top of the hill, I drew a blank on White Letter Hairstreak once again. A bit of wandering got me a few other butterflies though, with Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood all being found. Great Tit and House Martin were also spotted as I headed through the cemetery to the toilets at the western end. I swithered about visiting Riverside Nature Park as I was already roughly 2/3 of the way there, but the thought of a few extra miles to get home meant I quickly ruled it out. Treecreeper and an egg-laying female Common Blue butterfly (my first of the year) were found in the general area of the footbridge betweemn the hill's halves.
I set off for the Law not long after 1030, finding Lesser Black-backed Gull on my way up the western Law Steps towards the hill. A bit of searching around the lower slopes of the hill added Ringlet and a few more Speckled Wood butterflies. A Willow Warbler was heard singing by the steps on the eastern side. Things proved to be very quiet at the top, though I had a chat with a couple from Thurso (the husband had grown up in Dundee, and coincidentally attended both the same schools I had, though a few years before me). There was a very brief sighting of a Sparrowhawk at 1140 but otherwise it was one of the quietest visits I'd made to the top of the Law.
I eventually gave up around 1330 though I took a slow wander round the hill before heading home. This did produce Greenfinch and a few Large White butterflies that refused to settle. There was a mixed flock of birds in the trees - Siskins, Blackcaps, Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits and Blue Tits but they were very active and it was tricky to get clear shots of any of them among the conifers. My final addition for the day were a few Starlings at Neish Street. My total for the day was 33 species of birds, and 6 species of butterflies. As things turned out, I didn't take too many photos and those that I did weren't particularly good, though I was quite pleased with those of the Common Blue butterfly.
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Common Blue |
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| Common Blue |
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| Common Blue |
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| Ringlet |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Cuckoo Spit Wasp |
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| Siskin |
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| Blackcap |
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| Bumblebee & Ant sp. |
Birds - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swift, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Common Blue, Large White, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood.
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For my midweek birding on the 25th of June, I decided I should really make the effort to head out to Riverside Nature Park again. With 'Autumn' movement of waders already started there was a slim chance of adding an early passing wader, or perhaps something even more interesting. My expectation levels were relatively low, but anything can, and sometimes, does turn up. I would have another look for early White-letter Hairstreak butterflies en route to the park, on the off-chance that they were on the wing a bit ahead of schedule, as so many butterfly species appear to be this year. It was around 100 before I was ready to head out...
Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Swift, House Sparrow and Dunnock made for a fairly slow start to the morning's birding and things didn't pick up much after that though Magpie, Blue Tit, Wren, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Great Tit and House Martin were noted over the course of the next 10 minutes as I headed in the direction of the Law. Carrion Crow, Starling and Greenfinch were seen, as well as Green-veined White and Red Admiral butterflies as I looked for butterflies along the rear edges of the western side allotments. A Goldcrest was heard on the walk down the 'Law Steps' while 2 Buzzards circled high overhead. A Small White butterfly flitted over the 'wildflower meadow' at Lochee Road while a Chiffchaff sang loudly from the trees on the opposite side of the road.
As I headed along Pentland Avenue I was able to add Chaffinch to the day's list. Siskin and Woodpigeon both flew over as I looked for White-letter Hairstreaks without success at the eastern side of Victoria Park. A bit of a wander around the hill added a few butterflies - Ringlet and another female Common Blue, as well as a few more species of birds - Blackcap, Robin, Feral Pigeon and Stock Dove. As I headed down through the cemetery I found Coal Tit and Jay as well as a Speckled Wood butterfly. Before I reached Riverside Nature Park I managed to find a couple of Swallows hawking over the trees behind Amazon and a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on Riverside Avenue. Another Speckled Wood was seen before I crossed the road to reach the Nature Park entrance.
Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Oystercatcher, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Herring Gull, Skylark, Whitethroat, Magpie, Black-headed Gull, Wren and Dunnock made for a relatively busy couple of minutes around the eastern end of the park. I added a Song Thrush a few minutes later. A bit of wandering got me a few species of butterflies - Red Admiral and Ringlet. A pair of Mallards flew over towards the airport as I neared the car park. A couple of Small White butterflies flitted past me as I headed past the fork in the paths in the upper half of the park. A Willow Warbler was seen in the trees a little further on. A Whitethroat singing drew my attention to the brambles by the top of the slope just past the bend round past the recycling area. The bird I could see however wasn't a Whitethroat. It turned out to be a juvenile Stonechat - not an easy bird to see at the park.
Down in the bay, I spotted a single Common Sandpiper and a small flock of Redshanks. There were a few Curlews around as well as a few Lapwings and Shelduck. Checking the birds on the pipe and in the gull bathing area in the burn added Common Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull. I scanned out over the river and picked out some very distant Goosander. I eventually found around 20 of them dotted around, near the small island of Kingoodie. Much nearer, Greenfinch and Starling were seen, while House Martin and Swift were hawking for insects a bit more to the north. Cormorants, at least one Grey Heron and what may have been a Little Egret were all photographed roosting on the island. One of the things I was hoping to find at the park was a Meadow Brown butterfly and after a few false alarms (Ringlets) I eventually managed to see, (though not photograph), one among the vegetation below the raised banking.
A couple of very distant Mute Swans were seen, as well as a pair of overflying Jackdaws, a flock of Siskins and a few Feral Pigeons all kept things ticking along. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly was noted as I checked out the 2 ponds behind the buddleia hedge. Returning to the raised banking I spotted a Sparrowhawk with prey over the bay and watched as it disappeared into the trees near the railway station. A couple of Bullfinches worked their way through the bushes between me and the bay, before I picked up the distinctive sound of Sandwich Terns. The calls turned out to be coming from an adult and a recently fledged youngster - which felt like a bit of a surprise. I had a chat to a couple of walkers - one of whom turned out to be the brother of Ian Morrison (small world!) before spotting a young Chiffchaff half-hidden near the fence line.
An interesting aircraft (a Junkers A50 Junior - unfortunately it turned out to be just a replica) looked to be potentially en route to Dundee Airport from the north, so I decided to take a walk along to the airport, just in case. I had plenty of time to get there due to the double figure speed of the plane. I did manage to see a few birds while I waited on the plane's arrival from the north. Unfortunately for me, it passed to the west of the airport and I would've been a good bit closer had I stayed where I was. There was a Curlew with a flock of Oystercatchers lazing on the runway at the airport and a Cormorant was seen out over the river. A Song Thrush flew into the bushes by the restaurant car park. The first Rabbits of the day were seen near the steps up to Riverside Drive, near the Botanic Gardens.
I decided to head up to Balgay Hill on my way home. Nuthatch and Treecreeper were both new for the day at the hill, and a young Chaffinch, a pair of Bullfinches as well as a few Blue Tits and Great Tits were all noted in a small area not far from the driveway into the cemetery. A Grey Squirrel was also seen. I failed to add anything else new on the rest of the walk home and finished the day's birding with a total of 52 species of birds, 8 of butterflies and 2 of mammals. This combined total comprised of 40 species of birds and 5 of butterflies at the Nature Park, and 34 species of birds and 7 of butterflies and 2 of mammals outwith the park. The main highlights of the day were the juvenile Stonechat and Sandwich Tern, as well as my first Meadow Brown butterfly.
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| Ringlet |
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| Common Blue |
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| Magpie |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Curlew |
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| Shelduck, Redshank & Black Headed Gull |
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| Cormorant |
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| Lapwing |
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| Skylark |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Oystercatcher & Curlew |
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| Rabbit |
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| Grey Squirrel |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jay, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Common Blue, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Speckled Wood.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher,
Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
