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Grey Heron
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Although my birding on the 1st day of the year hadn't been a complete success it was a steady enough sort of start. With dry weather forecast for the 2nd, I decided on an early start in darkness to try for some of the nearby Tawny Owls. I would have 2 bites at this particular cherry, trying the Law first and then moving on to Balgay Hill, where once the sun came up I could concentrate on trying for the woodland species there (Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Jay, Great Spotted Woodpecker etc). After that, I would head down through the hospital grounds to Riverside Nature Park for a wander round before returning home via the Denhead of Gray cottages in search of Tree Sparrow. It all seemed like a reasonable enough plan, though those don't always work out as they should.
I headed out just after 0700 into the dark. I would have until around 0800 to try and get the Tawny Owls before the sky began to lighten and my focus could shift to the daylight birds instead (as we've no idea where the Tawny Owls actually rest up during daylight hours). A Robin singing away in the dark was an unsurprising start to the day's list and a Carrion Crow was added on Canning Street. I headed up to Law Crescent and the 'back' of the hill. I switched on the thermal imager just as a Tawny Owl called from the trees to my left. I lifted the imager and pointed in the general direction of the bird.... and found it immediately in my field of view! That was much easier than I had thought it was going to be. The Owl flew off towards the southern side of the hill and with over an hour before sunrise I decided I might as well see if I could refind it.
I added Blackbird and soon found the Owl again, perched in a tree overlooking the grassy area on the east side of the hill. There were Redwings and a Song Thrush around in the trees by the steps and I heard the 'scream' of a predated Rabbit, down by the southern allotments. With an hour until sunrise the local Herring Gulls became noisily active, circling around and calling loudly. I decided to move on to Balgay Hill. Magpie and Wren were next onto the list as I headed down towards Lochee Road and a surprise skein of Pink Footed Geese flew east as I wandered up the side of Balgay Hill from Saggar Street. There was a decent sized flock of Redwings in the trees there too. I walked round the path network on the hill as the sky began to brighten up. This made things much easier and the birds were becoming more active and more vocal, which always helps.
Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Great Tit, Stock Dove and Nuthatch all made it onto the day's list before the sun had cleared the horizon. Jay took a bit more effort to catch up with and a second Nuthatch was heard before I added Coal Tit and Goldcrest to the list. I found House Sparrow Fieldfare, Black Headed Gull and Dunnock as I headed for the hospital to visit the 'facilities' there due to the council run ones being closed due to it being a public holiday. As it was still only around 0930 I decided it made sense to head next for Denhead of Gray in search of Tree Sparrow, then from there to Riverside Nature Park, rather than my original plan to visit those sites in reverse order. Chaffinch, Jackdaw and Starling were noted on the walk down to the Myrekirk area.
Behind the cottages at Denhead of Gray I found Greenfinch, the hoped for Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammer, before a Buzzard was seen being chased by corvids. Rooks and Feral Pigeon were also seen before I wandered along to the end of the road to follow the path network down to Invergowrie. Goldfinch, a single male Pheasant and a couple of male Reed Buntings plus more Fieldfares were seen along the way. Behind the Landmark Hotel, I found the trees quite busy with a selection of smaller species including Siskin, Long Tailed Tit, Bullfinch and Blue Tit. Continuing down through Invergowrie (thankfully!) failed to add anything new for the year, though Wren, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Magpie, Long Tailed Tit, House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Robin, Carrion Crow, Redwing and Starling all made for a fairly 'busy' walk down the eastern edge of the vllage.
It was 1120 when I reached Riverside Nature Park. My expectations of adding many new species were relatively low but those expecttations were easily exceeded. Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Feral Pigeon, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Redshank, Goldfinch, Robin, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Sparrowhawk, Teal, Cormorant and an unexpected Lesser Black Backed Gull were all noted from the Invergowrie Bay end of the park. More scanning out over the bay found Common Gull, Grey Heron, Dunlin, Oystercatcher and Curlew, while Yellowhammer, Wren, Chaffinch, Fieldfare, Stock Dove, Redwing, Greenfinch, Magpie and Woodpigeon were seen either in the bushes or flying over. Out on the river I picked out a flock of Greylags which headed upriver shortly after as the tide covered the sandbank they had been stood on. A skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew from the north. A few Skylarks were noted over the hill and as the rising tide pushed the birds further in, I was able to pick out both Bar Tailed Godwits and Black Tailed Godwits among the waders. Bullfinch was my final addition within the park before I left just before 1400 for the walk home.
My total for the park had been 36 species, which was reasonable enough. The walk home only added a single new bird for the 'outwith the park' list, with a Sparrowhawk seen as I headed up towards the Botanic Gardens. My total number of species for the day was 54 (made up of 36 at Riverside Nature Park, 12 in Invergowrie and 40 outwith Riverside Nature Park), including 20 new additions (in bold) for the year. Catching up with both species of Godwits and a Lesser Black Backed Gull, plus finding Tawny Owl, Nuthatch and Tree Sparrow made for a very productive wander, and took me to 69 species for 2025, just 6 away from my initial target figure with 3 more days left to try to get those before going back to work.
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Stock Dove
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| Jay |
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Coal Tit
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Rook(?) & Buzzard
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Herring Gull & Rook
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| Fieldfare |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Pheasant |
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Reed Bunting
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Siskin |
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| Siskin |
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| Redwing |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Black Tailed Godwit & Teal
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Fieldfare |
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Bar Tailed Godwit
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Bar Tailed Godwit, Redshank & Black Headed Gull
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Tawny Owl, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Birds (Perthshire) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Redwing, Robin, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion
Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
