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| Woodpigeon |
I didn't end up going birding on Wednesday, and on Thursday I was back at work, so more vis-migging had to wait until Friday the 10th of October. I had thought of another location I wanted to test out, one at the opposite end of the city from Broughty Ferry. The football pitches just to the west of the Bridgeview Station restaurant offered a wide view of the sky and having seen decent numbers of birds from the hill at Riverside Nature Park previously, being close to the actual river suggested that it might well be as productive as Broughty Ferry had been earlier in the week.
Although I had intended on getting there for sunrise I once again ended up being slightly late. I left home at 0700 and given my route was mostly through fairly urban areas pre-dawn, I wasn't surprised that I didn't see very many birds on the way. Robin, Herring Gull, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Carrion Crow, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Starling and Blue Tit were those noted before I reached Hawkhill. Between there and the football pitches, Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Redwing and an unexpected Pheasant that I flushed beside the changing rooms by the railway line were all seen. Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls and Woodpigeons were all on the grass at the football pitches when I arrived but mostly didn't linger long once the dog walkers began to arrive, soon after.
It didn't take too long before birds started to move through, but the combination of a low early morning sun and the clear blue sky made viewing the birds as they approached a bit trickier than the cloudier conditions at Broughty Ferry had been. It soon became apparent that a lot of the birds were a bit further to the north, closer to the trees bordering the railway line than where I'd hoped they would be. Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Linnets, Tree Sparrows, Siskins, Skylarks, Greenfinches, Reed Buntings, Starlings, Redpolls, Yellowhammers, Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Swallows and Crossbills were all noted as well as few larger flocks of Mistle Thrushes. A few skeins of Pink-footed Geese headed low upriver behind me. Once again, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew past following the migration flow. Great Tit, Song Thrush and a Kestrel being chased by crows may well have been local birds, but all are possibly just as likely to have been migrants on the move.
Another downside of the location was the amount of cars coming and going, bringing dog walkers and various 'smokers' to the spot. I added Lesser Black-backed Gull to the list before deciding to wander along to Riverside Nature Park for a look around 1000 as things weren't as busy as I had hoped they might be. I arrived at the park at 1030. Robin, Blue Tit, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Wren, Magpie, Song Thrush, Buzzard, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Skylark, Chaffinch, Siskin and Carrion Crow were all noted in my first 10 minutes or so at the park. A Common Darter dragonfly was seen in flight up the slope on the north side of the hill, as I wandered along past the Lochan, which yet again failed to have any birds to be seen. A skein of Pink-footed Geese passed overhead. Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Greenfinch and Goldfinch were next onto the list as I walked round to check the bay.
Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew and Black-headed Gull were the only obvious birds down in the bay with the tide already well on its way out and me not having a scope with me. Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Rook, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Redpoll and Crossbill were all caught in flight, mostly heading west and likely migrants. Dunnock was spotted down in the bushes. A Kestrel put in a brief appearance being chased by a Magpie and a few Swallows swept out over towards Invergowrie. Bullfinch, Stock Dove, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Long-tailed Tits, Coal Tit, Goldcrest and a Small White butterfly were found before I decided I'd had enough and set off homewards. A total of 41 species of birds and 1of butterflies as well as 1 of dragonflies was mildly disappointing, though as I hadn't actually intended on visiting the park I wasn't really equipped to check the more distant birds and didn't spend as long as usual there.
On the way home, Long-tailed Tit and Coal Tit were in the trees on Riverside Avenue. Grey Squirrel, Nuthatch, Rook, Great Tit and Chiffchaff were all noted at a fairly quiet Balgay Hill. The rest of the walk home proved to be rather quiet though I did end up with a total of 42 species of birds and 1 of mammals 'outwith the park' for a combined total of 52 species of birds and 1 each of mammals, butterflies and dragonflies. While the area of clear view at the football pitches was very good, it wasn't quite as good a spot as the hill at Riverside Nature Park tends to be and I suspect a lot of birds follow the railway line then cross somewhere around the airport to overfly the Nature Park, although some may well carry on along the north side of the railway line over the Botanic Gardens and large houses along the Perth Road. Overall though, the minuses slightly outweighed the plusses.
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Skylark |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Starling |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Swallow |
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| Rook |
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| Kestrel |
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| Skylark |
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| Siskin |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Dunlin |
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| Redpoll |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Robin |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Squirrel |
Birds - (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue
Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Crossbill, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, Herring
Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black-backed
Gull, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals - Grey Squirrel.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch,
Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Long-tailed
Tit,
Magpie, Meadow
Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Redpoll, Redshank, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Small White.
Dragonflies - Common Darter.
