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| Greenfinch |
Having discovered that the visiting Swiss Dakota was due to depart from Dundee Airport at 0930 on Saturday the 12th of July, I decided that I should head down there for some photos that I was actually prepared for, unlike the rather rushed efforts when it arrived. The weather forecast was to be very warm and sunny again, so I would likely head homewards after the airport visit, probably having a look for White Letter Hairstreak butterflies on the way. There was an option to pop up to Ninewells Community Garden where Lainy would be helping out at a biodiversity event, but with a noon start, it was unlikely I'd still be around the western end of the city by that time.
Despite the 0930 departure of the Dakota, I headed out at 0700 for the 45 minute walk out towards the airport. My plan was to watch the departure from the eastern end crash-gate down by the river, though there was a bit of doubt as to which way the plane would go, due to a rather light crosswind. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Swift were all noted as soon as I stepped outside. A Grey Wagtail overflew before Starling, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Goldfinch and Lesser Black-backed Gull all made it onto the list for the morning. Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Jackdaw, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch and Long-tailed Tit were noted as I headed up and past the Law.
I reached the football pitches by the river around 0740. There was a mixed flock of gulls (including Common and Black Headed), Sandwich Terns and Oystercatchers on the grass but dog walkers caused them all to fly off before I got a proper look through them. A Pied Wagtail and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were added as I wandered along the track to the crash-gate. It was already a bit too warm for me, so I was grateful for the small bit of shade provided by some small trees beside the gate. With around 90 minutes to wait, I scanned around out over the river and airfield to see what I could find. Goosander, Grey Heron, Swallow, Lapwing, Stock Dove, Cormorant, Goldcrest and Siskin were all found. A few Meadow Brown butterflies flitted around beyond the fence.
A Grey Seal headed upriver before I spotted an Osprey hunting. I'd messaged a friend from work, Kris, to see if he was coming down for photos of the Dakota and he arrived a bit before 0900. By this time it was beginning to look like I was going to be in the wrong place, so I messaged Kris (around at the Riverside Inn) with a suggestion as to where might be best (the cleared area by the western end of the runway where I watched Wheatears from in May). Kris agreed to come and collect me from the Bridgeview Station restaurant as I was unlikely to have enough time to get round to where I needed to be, on foot. We made it to the Nature Park car park within minutes and walked along to our chosen spot. There was a lot of heat distortion and a couple of poles in our view, but we couldn't risk heading up to the top of the hill in the park, in case the Dakota taxiied to the end of the runway and headed off to the east.
We watched probably the same Osprey as we waited for the Dakota to start its take-off run. In the end we had fairly decent views as the plane slowly climbed out from the runway before heading back downriver and south over Fife. With no actual plan for the morning, I decided I might as well have a quick once round of the Nature Park, once Kris headed off homewards again. As things transpired the airport was very busy, so a stream of arrivals and departures kept me occupied while looking for birds and butterflies around the park. Blue Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow, Swift, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Magpie were seen around the car park area before a trio of butterflies - Comma, Red Admiral and Meadow Browns were seen just up from the car park.
At the bay, I was able to add Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Curlew, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Oystercatcher, Osprey, Feral Pigeon, Sedge Warbler, Siskin, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren and Jackdaw without too much effort. Without a scope I was unable to check everything quite as thoroughly as I would have liked to. After the initial rush of species, things slowed down quite a bit though Song Thrush, Large White butterfly, Six-spot Burnet moth, Blackcap, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Reed Bunting and Whitethroat were all added before I visited the Lochan where Moorhen and Mallard could just be seen through the vegetation. Continuing on again, Great Tit, Skylark, Goldcrest, a female Pheasant and 2 youngsters, Bullfinch, Linnet and Coal Tit were all found on the rather slow wander round. A Holly Blue butterfly, seen twice (or was it 2 individual Holly Blues?) was a bit of a surprise.
Around 1230, I decided I'd seen as much as I was likely to at the park - 42 species of birds, 5 of butterflies and 1 of moth. Rather than head for home, I chose to head up to Ninewells to see what moths Lainy and co had managed to trap overnight at the site, though I tend not to count trapped moths on my sightings list. A Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard were seen on the walk up to the community garden area. While chatting to Lainy not long after arriving, I was surprised to see a Holly Blue speeding through. There were a few Green-veined Whites around and I saw a flyover Great Spotted Woodpecker when I went for a short wander a bit later on. Once the event was over (at 1500), Lainy and I went looking for butterflies, and bumped into Keith who mentioned a new site he'd found for White-letter Hairstreaks nearby, so we went and had a look. We managed to see a couple of White-letter Hairstreaks as well as Large White and Speckled Wood butterflies. On the walk back to the car, a Dark Green Fritillary swept passed us but thankfully settled long enough to grab a few photos. I finished the day's birding with a combined total of 51 species of birds, 9 of butterflies, 1 of mammals and 1 of moths.
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| Lapwing |
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| Common Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Comma |
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| Blackbird |
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| Six-spot Burnet moth |
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| Pheasant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Anthomyia procellaris(?) |
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| Green-veined White |
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| Dark Green Fritillary |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Sandwich Tern, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Dark Green Fritillary, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large White, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, White-letter Hairstreak.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Seal.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue
Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet,
Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Holly Blue, Large White, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Six-spot Burnet.
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Sunday the 13th of July was forecast to be yet another very warm and sunny day. Having been to Riverside Nature Park the previous day as well as the previous Wednesday, and out to Broughty Ferry the Sunday before, I felt like I needed a bit of a change of scenery, but didn't have the energy to walk very far. That meant my options were a bit limited. As is often the case, I decided on a trip to the top of Dundee Law for my Sunday birding 'fix'. Given the time of year, I didn't really expect too much but there was a chance of an early migrant or two (Tree Pipit, Siskin, Crossbill, Cuckoo etc) or a raptor or two. With the Law, you just don't know what you might get - sometimes nothing at all, and sometimes something good. Would it be one of those 'nothing' days, or the 'good' stuff?
I headed out at just before 0855. House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Woodpigeon were found on the walk up towards Tannadice. Blue Tit, Blackbird, Swift and Siskin were next to make it onto the list. Dunnock, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Blackcap and a Small White butterfly were all noted as I headed for the top of the hill. Magpie and Carrion Crow were seen at the top but things were very quiet with hardly any birds to be seen or even heard. I did see a couple of House Martins around 10 minutes or so after reaching the top. A Bullfinch was heard and a young Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen in the top of a conifer on the eastern side. With very little happening and the sun a bit too warm for me, I decided to wander over to Balgay Hill to try to get some White-letter Hairstreak photos (and maybe a Purple Hairstreak).
While looking for White-letter Hairstreak butterflies close to the hill, I spotted a Sparrowhawk over the trees on the hill-top. While checking another tree later, I added a Buzzard, followed by Wren and an unexpected Grey Wagtail. I eventually managed to find a White-letter Hairstreak, as well as an unexpected Holly Blue which sped through the area without even looking like stopping and a Green-veined White butterfly. Swallow, Starling, Goldcrest, Jackdaw, Robin and Feral Pigeon were found over the course of the next few hours as I wandered slowly around the hill. A Small Copper butterfly showed nicely for me when it dropped down into the small wild flower area near the southeastern entrance to Victoria Park. Eventually I decided to head homewards via another look at the top of the Law.
Black-headed and Common Gulls were noted en route, but once again the top of the hill was rather quiet. As I wandered down the stairs from the hill-top, I wondered if it might actually be possible to see activity from Bottlenose Dolphins off Broughty Ferry (if they were around and actively splashing around). I sat on one of the benches to see if it was indeed possible. I soon spotted the Saltdog Marine rhib stationary in the water. This was a fairly good indication that there were likely to be dolphins around. A large splash near the boat confirmed it. It was indeed possible to see Bottlenose Dolphins from the Law. I spent much of the next hour or so attempting to get photos which showed the actual dolphins, rather than just the splashes from their breaching, and I think I succeeded (though heat distortion played havoc with even the larger boats on the resultant photos).
Unfortunately, my dolphin-spotting was rather rudely interrupted by a man who was having a barbecue on his own by one of the other benches. The camera and binoculars had never been pointed in his direction (I was watching the area to the right of the oil rig and he was on the bench which from where I was (the bench that sits on its own, near the 'whale-bone arch'), had trees behind it, rather than any part of the river). It would've been pointless trying to tell him that I was photographing dolphins, but I demonstrated what it would look like if I had been looking in his direction, but that proved futile too. After a bit more yelling, he went back to his barbecue before angrily stomping off after another 15 minutes or so, with what appeared to be a rude gesture in my direction that I caught in my peripheral vision as I put down the camera to change back to viewing the river through my binoculars. Why he thought he (and his barbecue) was of any interest to anyone at all is a mystery to me, but if you're going to spend time at a tourist attraction it is best to be aware you might just encounter someone with a camera.
I added a Red Admiral butterfly and a Pied Wagtail when I finally headed homewards. The encounter with shouty man had somewhat spoilt what had otherwise been a relatively enjoyable day up to that point but thankfully these sorts of interactions are still relatively uncommon when I'm out and about and are far outweighed by the numerous lovely chats with folk who are actually interested in what I'm looking for, or have seen, or have shown them. I finished the day with a total of just 32 species of birds, 6 species of butterfly and 2 species of mammals. Discovering that it was possible to see dolphins from the Law was quite interesting - though of no actual use to anyone who might want to see a dolphin (unless they have a large telescope). One other thing that the unusual perspective on the dolphins provided was a clearer picture of the actions of the boats around the animals - with eventually 10 boats in a relatively small area seemingly 'encouraging' the dolphins to exit the area where they had been very active previously when there had just been 2 boats.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Snipe Fly(?) |
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| Magpie |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Small Copper |
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| Micro moth sp. |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| White-letter Hairstreak |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small White, White-letter Hairstreak.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Grey Squirrel.
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I needed to swap my usual day off on Wednesday to the Tuesday (15th) due to an appointment later in the day that was easier to attend from home, rather than from work. However, I couldn't really get motivated to go anywhere once again but I didn't want to spend the bulk of the day at home, I eventually decided to head to Riverside Nature Park, though I wasn't really looking forward to carrying the added weight of scope and tripod in the likely relatively uncomfortable warm and sunny conditions that were forecast. I got organised and headed out the door at 0745.
Carrion Crow, Magpie, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and House Sparrow were the day's initial sightings. Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Dunnock and Swift were added as I headed up past Tannadice. I was already a bit too warm and my left shoulder wasn't enjoying the burden of the added weight. As I knew I would only get more irritable as I got further away from home, I decided to head back home and drop off the scope and tripod. Doing so would mean it would be a gamble heading to the nature park without the added reach of the scope and stability of the tripod, so instead I decided I would take the easier, and less strenuous option of a return to the top of the Law (where hopefully there would be no angry solo barbecuers this time).
Setting off again from home, I spotted Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling and Great Tit. Things proved rather quiet on the walk to the Law. Both Goldcrest and Goldfinch were quickly onto the list when I reached the hill. Things were relatively slow bird-wise but Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Siskin and House Martin were noted before the morning's first Crossbill was heard. A Blackcap was then heard singing and a young Black-headed Gull overflew. Chaffinch, Robin and Coal Tit were next onto the list. A Stock Dove was seen heading westwards around 0915, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling around 15 minutes later. An Oystercatcher was picked out with binoculars at St John's school. A second Crossbill was heard overflying a few minutes later.
Just after 0950, I spotted the Great Spotted Woodpecker in flight and hurried over to see where it had landed. A short while later, a flock of 10 Crossbills passed by close to the hill. Unfortunately, I failed to get focus on them and failed to get any photos. Another Stock Dove flew past as a Great Spotted Woodpecker called again just before 1025. As things appeared to be slowing down even further, I decided to head homewards. I finished the relatively short birding spreee with a total of just 27 species of birds and 1 butterfly species. Despite the low total, it was good to see the Crossbills passing through, given their paucity in the local area for most of the year, so far.
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| Magpie |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Swift |
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| Carrion Crow |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Crossbill, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Starling, Stock Dove, Swift, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies - Small White.
