 |
| Spotted Redshank & Black-tailed Godwit |
With a reasonable weather forecast on the cards for Tuesday the 23rd of September, I decided to head to Riverside Nature Park to see if I could pick up any passing migrants. The tide times weren't particularly favourable, so once again I decided to travel light (without scope and tripod) as the tide would already be on the way out by the time I reached the park. With high tide in the afternoon being quite late (around 1700), it was unlikely that I would spend all day at the park, so I would be unlikely to need the scope for the incoming tide either. It was a slightly later departure from home but I still hoped to get to the Nature Park for around 0815.
I headed out at 0705. A singing Robin was the first of many, and a Herring Gull was perched on a roof just around the corner. Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, a flyover Grey Wagtail, a Lesser Black Backed Gull, a few Starlings, a Blue Tit and a heard-only Pied Wagtail all made for a relatively busy first few minutes outside. It continued with Chaffinch, Jackdaw, Magpie, migrant Meadow Pipit and a calling Chiffchaff as I headed up towards Byron Street. Things slowed down considerably from there on, however. Great Tit and House Sparrow were added on Byron Street. A Dunnock was heard at Cobden Street. Goldcrest was similarly heard in the trees at the Balgay Hill driveway. My only other addition before I reached Riverside Nature Park was a Coal Tit by the railway line.
I reached the eastern end of the park at 0807. Robin, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Siskin, Magpie, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff and Blue Tit, as well as the day's first Rabbits were noted within the first 5 minutes. Blackbird, Great Tit, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Herring Gull and the first Pink Footed Geese of the day followed over the course of the next 5 minutes. Coal Tit, Dunnock, Blackcap and Goldcrest were next as I made my way slowly through the lower half of the park. Redpoll, Sparrowhawk, Grey Heron, Jackdaw and Meadow Pipit were all found before I made it to the upper half of the park. Surprisingly there were actuall 4 Teal visible on the Lochan as well as a couple of Moorhens. Reed Bunting, Skylark, Goldfinch and Song Thrush were spotted as I headed round to check the bay from the raised banking.
Redshank, Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Lapwing and Mallard were picked out from the birds visible in the bay. A small-ish wader was seen skirting along the edge of the reeds but was just a bit too far for worthwhile photos. It didn't give off Dunlin vibes but beyond that, it was difficult to be certain of anything, other than the behaviour was a bit odd. A scope might have been handy. I had a look at 'the bowl' next where a flyover Stock Dove and a Greenfinch were the only additions. A mixed flock of Redpoll and Goldfinch landed in a tree near the northern end of 'the bowl' but the birds proved to be rather flighty. Having moved round to the path for a better view, the birds were all spooked by a jogger as I tried to get a clear photo, which was a bit frustrating.
I bumped into Keith and we added Little Egret, Rook, Feral Pigeon, Cormorant, Long-tailed Tit and Common Gull while discussing the mystery wader at the reeds which Keith had also seen and had also found intriguing. Keith had managed to get a photo with his phone via his scope and plumage-wise the bird gave off a Curlew Sandpiper impression. Behaviour-wise however was a different matter (the bird was found to be a Curlew Sandpiper at the weekend). A trio of Pheasants were in the recycling area as Keith and I headed back round to the eastern entrance - Keith to head for home, and me to start my wanders again. The day's first Buzzard was seen at 1130. Large White and Red Admiral butterflies were spotted on the wing as the temperature rose.
I added a Great Black-backed Gull to the list for the day before getting into conversation with a pair of young birders at the raised embankment around 1215 - Michael and Emily Wylde were brother and sister (and Michael sometimes reads this blog) and we stood and chatted about birds for ages. A Peregrine was seen hunting well out over the mud out by Kingoodie. A distant Jay was seen in flight and Michael spotted a rather tatty Small Copper butterfly down by our feet. We were then joined by Mark with his scope and with the tide on the turn were able to add a few new birds to the day's list as well as to Michael's life-list. Curlew Sandpiper and Golden Plover in particular. Dunlin, Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher were also added to the list, though the harsh light reflecting off the wet mud made most of the birds into silhouettes.
Mark heard a Spotted Redshank calling but with so many Redshanks in the bay it proved frustratingly tricky to actually locate. Not long after, Mark had to head off again, meaning that our chances of actually finding the Spotted Redshank without a scope, and against the light, were going to be severely hampered. Having never intended to remain at the park for so long, I only had binoculars (and camera) with me. Michael, Emily and I added Goosander and Starling before they also had to be on their way elsewhere. Although I knew my chances of success were minimal at best, I decided to head round to the hide to scan through the waders from there to see if I could find the Spotted Redshank.
Although Spotted Redshank is on my list for 2025, with a distant summer-plumaged bird in the bay earlier in the year, getting a closer view would remove any doubts about that particular bird. I would be looking for a long, slim bill on a Redshank-shaped silhouette. To make things even more tricky, all the Redshank bills looked slimmer than they really well due to the light reflecting back off the wet mud. I managed to find a few Knot and at least 6, possibly 7, Curlew Sandpipers from the hide. Small groups of birds began to fly out from what remained of the mud down in the bay. I thought that surely the Spotted Redshank would have already moved on elsewhere to roost. It turned out I was wrong.
Very much against the odds, the Spotted Redshank turned out to be one of the remaining birds in front of the hide and thanks to a Black-tailed Godwit, I managed to find it, when the Godwit woke it up and the longer, slimmer bill became relatively obvious. I was able to get a few photos and even a short video clip before the remaining waders moved on again. Mission accomplished somehow and I eventually headed homewards around 1600 or so. The walk home added a couple of extra species to my 'outwith the park' list for the day - Jay and Treecreeper at Balgay Hill, taking the total to 21. The park list was a very creditable 62 species (plus 3 of butterflies and 1 of mammals) taking the combined lists for the day to 64 species of birds, 3 of butterflies and 1 of mammals. The Spotted Redshank was the main avian highlight along with finally getting reasonable Redpoll views for the year, and it was great to meet up with yet more enthusiastic Dundee-based birders.
 |
| Bullfinch |
 |
| Blue Tit |
 |
| Sparrowhawk |
 |
| Grey Heron |
 |
| Wreen |
 |
| Skylark |
 |
| Dunnock |
 |
| Pink-footed Goose |
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| (Lesser) Redpoll |
 |
| (Lesser) Redpoll |
 |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
 |
| Long-tailed Tit |
 |
| Stock Dove |
 |
| Robin |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Small Copper |
 |
| Curlew Sandpiper |
 |
| Oystercatcher |
 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit |
 |
| Oystercatcher |
 |
| Redshank, Spotted Redshank & Black-tailed Godwit |
 |
| Black-tailed Godwit & Spotted Redshank |
 |
| Robin |
Birds - (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blue
Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Herring
Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black-backed
Gull, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Starling, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon..
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull,
Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant,
Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Golden Plover,
Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted
Woodpecker, Great Tit,
Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed
Gull, Little Egret, Long-tailed
Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Meadow
Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redpoll, Redshank, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Redshank, Starling,
Stock
Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Large White, Red Admiral, Small Copper.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit
