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| Canada Goose |
Following on from the 'interesting' visit to Riverside Nature Park on the 21st of May, I was intending on getting out birding at the weekend, but a combination of feeling a bit under the weather and the (forecast) weather itself meant a weekend at home, though what appeared to be the escaped Saker Falcon did make a brief appearance on Sunday, causing panic among the local Feral Pigeons and gulls. The following Wednesday was also spent mostly at home, though with a visit to the opticians for an eye test late in the afternoon. When the weekend rolled around again, I was lacking motivation to get out and as Saturday morning progressed it seemed less and less likely that I would be going anywhere once again. That was until a message came through from Mark at Riverside Nature Park - 3 Common Scoters (new for the park), AND a Little Gull. Both species were missing from my #2025Dundee150 list which meant I really needed to get out and try for them as neither is particularly regular here in Dundee.
Before the message came through, a skein of very low flying Canada Geese had been a bit of a surprise as they had noisily flown past eastwards before turning north around tenement rooftop height. Once the message came through, I quickly got organised and headed out. This time, I took my scope and tripod with me. I figured rather than taking my usual route to the park I would head down to the river, just in case the Common Scoters headed back down towards Broughty Ferry and beyond. Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon, Magpie and Dunnock were all noted as I headed down towards Victoria Road. Blackbird, Greenfinch and Starling were spotted as I wandered past the Apex Hotel down at City Quay. Cormorant and Lesser Black Backed Gull were seen out on the river before I headed under the roadbridge and on along the river.
Needless to say there was very little to be seen on the walk and definitely no Common Scoters. Nearing the Bridgeview Station restaurant, I found Oystercatcher and Carrion Crow. With the Common Scoters having been seen on the river by the airport, it made sense to scan from the eastern end of the airport first. I wandered along the track that runs past the University playing fields, stopping to scan out over, and up, the river from various points. These stops did give me a few more species of birds - Grey Heron, Great Black Backed Gull, Goosander, a pair of Great Crested Grebes and Black Headed Gull. Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Robin were in the trees and bushes behind the fence.More scanning produced a few Curlews, a pair of distant Mute Swans and a few Shelducks. A party of 5 or 6 Sandwich Terns were also hunting over one of the main channels out to the river through the now exposed mud. A Swallow seemed to be collecting some of that mud from down on the shore while Skylark and Chiffchaff were heard behind me to the north. A skein of 7 Canada Geese headed over in the direction of Invergowrie Bay.
After around an hour, I continued my walk along to the Nature Park. Jackdaw, Wren, House Martin and Great Tit were all found along the last mile or so of the journey. I finally reached the park around 1315. Having drawn a blank from the airport edges, I was less than optimisitic of catching up with either the Common Scoters or the Little Gull, given the current tide state. Blue Tit, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Coal Tit, Swallow, Greenfinch and Goldfinch kicked things off around the eastern end of the park. A Buzzard was seen to the north with a Grey Squirrel in its talons, being harassed by a Magpie. Yellowhammer was added before a trio of Black Headed Gulls glided over southwards as I headed up the small brae into the top half of the park.
Blackcap, Wren, Woodpigeon, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, another small skein of low flying Canada Geese, Reed Bunting and a singing Skylark were all noted before I reached the Lochan. Moorhen and Mallard were the only birds on the water there, while a Swift and a couple of House Martins swept low over the water in search of insect prey. I continued on in the direction of the hide. Sedge Warbler, Curlew, Pheasant, Dunnock, Oystercatcher and Whitethroat were present on the walk along. From the hide, there was very little that could be seen and with the tide still quite far out, things weren't all that much better from the bridge over the railway line. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mute Swan and Shelduck were spotted while a Chiffchaff flitted around in the trees between the bridge and the hide.
There were a couple of Bullfinches in the bushes in front of the raised embankment and with the scope set up I was able to pick out some distant Goosander and a Grey Heron. An Osprey circled round out over the river, and a Cormorant was seen fishing near the end of the outflow pipe. A couple of skeins of geese turned out be Greylags rather than the expected Canada Geese, though another low flying skein of these also passed by around eye level as I stood at the top of the hill, a little later. Common Gulls and the Great Crested Gull pair were seen from the top of the hill. A couple of Sandwich Terns flew into the bay, perching briefly on a rock before flying back out again. A Silver Ground Carpet moth flitted past but thankfully settled just enough in the open for me to be able to get a few record shots.The sky looked to be darkening and it increasingly looked like heavy rain was on its way. I headed towards the exit around 1630 and made it to the bus stop on Perth Road just as the expected rain began to fall.
As a bus was due in around 10 minutes I waited for that, mostly relatively protected from the rain by the bus shelter - something that is not always the case in certain areas around the city. It was still raining when I made it to the city centre, so I sheltered in front of the Overgate below the overhang at the eastern entrance. A Grey Wagtail flew over as I waited for the rain to abate giving me my final addition for the day taking my combined total to 53 species (48 at the park, and 36 outside the park). Once the worst of the rain had passed by, I headed home, hearing a couple of singing Chiffchaffs on the walk up. Although it was rather disappointing not to catch up with either of the hoped for species, It was still a better than expected outing....and I somehow managed to stay (to all intents and purposes) dry..
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| Canada Goose |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Magpie & Buzzard (with Grey Squirrel) |
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| Buzzard (with Grey Squirrel) |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Curlew |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Silver Ground Carpet moth |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Osprey |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Curlew |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Curlew |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Shelduck |
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| Shelduck & Black Headed Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull & Common Gull |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow,
Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Birds (at Riverside
Nature Park) - Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit,
Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw,
Lesser
Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen,
Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern,
Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Moths (at Riverside Nature Park) - Silver Ground Carpet.
