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| Peregrine |
My annual leave entitlement from work tends to be mostly used in Autumn to increase my chances of running into those birds that shouldn't be here, but are. Obviously it needs a lot of luck for that to actually happen, and as Autumn last year showed, it often doesn't actually happen at all. Spring migration tends to be a bit less intense so it is harder to judge when is best to take time off. I generally take a few days in April and a full week in May but it really is a bit of a lottery as to whether or not anything unexpected will show up, and doubly so for it to show up here within Dundee's boundaries. Nothing ventured, nothing gained however. For the first day of my April half-week holiday (Wednesday the 16th of April) I decided to head for Riverside Nature Park to see what I might find there.
It was a later than usual start around 1020, before I headed out for the 1 hour (or so) walk to the park. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon and Pied Wagtail made for quite a slow start to proceedings, which wasn't unexpected given the later than usual start. Jackdaw, Starling, Magpie, Blue Tit, Wren and Great Tit followed but also in rather a slow fashion. Goldfinch, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Chiffchaff were all noted as I headed up past Dundee Law. Collared Dove, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit and Goldcrest were caught up with on the downhill section. As I headed for Balgay Hill next, Robin and Greenfinch were both found. At Balgay Hill, Nuthatch, Stock Dove, Blackcap and Bullfinch were the only additions and nothing else was added before I reached the Nature Park.
Expectations were low and I ended up spending most of my time around the western end of the park, scanning with the scope and seeing what I could find. Herring Gull, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Skylark, Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher, Blackbird, Magpie, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Starling, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Jackdaw and a Grey Heron were all spotted on the walk to reach the bay, as were the day's first Rabbits. Teal and Moorhen were at the Lochan and Robin and Wren were seen on the final leg of the route to reach the raised banking overlooking the bay. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Redshank, Black Headed Gull, Cormorant, Mallard, Dunlin, Bar Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Black Tailed Godwit, Red Breasted Merganser, Knot and Shelduck were all noted over the course of an hour and a quarter spent stood overlooking the bay.
A Meadow Pipit called as it headed over the park and a Blue Tit was in the Buddleia bushes by the path. Feral Pigeon was finally added around 1340. There was a bit of a commotion shortly after that, when a Peregrine showed up and did a spot of hunting, which gave me some fairly decent photo opportunities. A Rook in the burn outflow and both Long Tailed Tit and Coal Tit around the hide were noted before I made my way rather slowly towards the eastern exit. The walk home proved to be rather fruitless with only a Sparrowhawk added to the outwith the park list, taking that to 28 species. 41 species at the park was a reasonable total but it seemed to be still rather early for the majority of returning migrants. A combined total of 50 species felt a bit underwhelming though I have certainly previously had plenty of worse visits to the Nature Park. Although I would've preferred to add something new for my #2025Dundee150 list, it just wasn't to be...(there's always the next time....).
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| Chaffinch |
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| Moorhen |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Resdhank, Knot & Dunlin |
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| Redshank, Knot & Dunlin |
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| Curlew |
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| Black Tailed Godwit & Redshank |
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| Redshank, Knot & Dunlin |
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| Redshank |
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| Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Bar Tailed Godwits |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine (& Oystercatcher) |
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Redshank, Oystercatcher, Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull
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| Shelduck |
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| Rook |
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| Rook |
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| Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull & Redshank |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull & Herring Gull |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black Backed
Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit
