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| Blackcap |
On Monday the 8th of September, Keith did it again. When I was stuck at work, he found 4 Brent Geese off Kingoodie, from Riverside Nature Park. I contemplated trying for them on my lunchbreak but figured they probably wouldn't have hung around for long. Brent Geese are another 'not particularly easy' bird to catch up with in Dundee, as most seem to pass down the Fife coast having crossed the estuary mouth out to the east. I did once have one in front of the hide at the park, and have also had a couple of them at Balmossie. They do sometimes appear at Tayport too, which does make them just about 'gettable' from Broughty Castle. Although the fire next door to the park was seemingly still burning and the car park was closed I decided to give the park a visit on Tuesday morning, just in case.
With high tide around 0600, I decided not to take my scope and tripod as I would be carrying it round all day, for practically no reason. As I wasn't expecting the Brents still to be around, this felt like a sensible decision. I headed out at 0705 for the long walk to the park. A singing Robin, a vocal Herring Gull, a migrating Meadow Pipit and a few Feral Pigeons made for a relatively uninspiring start to the day. Starling, Carrion Crow, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Dunnock, Magpie and Goldfinch continued the rather mundane run of birds. I had decided to try the top of the Law again to see if anything was passing. Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Bullfinch were noted around the steps area. At the top I only spent around 10 minutes, noting a few small groups of Meadow Pipits and a bonus Tree Pipit before continuing on towards Riverside Nature Park.
Long Tailed Tits were in the trees by The Friary. Song Thrush, Jay, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Redpoll and Siskin were found around Balgay Hill and Cemetery. I decided to cut down through the grounds of Ninewells Hospital where Stock Dove, Grey Squirrel and Grey Wagtail were noted. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling loudly from somewhere near the WL Gore building. I reached the western end of the Nature Park just after 0830. Blackbird, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Herring Gull, and Chiffchaff got the park visit list underway. Carrion Crow, Dunlin, Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Mallard, Little Egret were all noted down in the bay. Greenfinch, Meadow Pipit, Siskin and Woodpigeon were all seen in flight, as was a vocal Rook as I set off along the long straight path from the hide towards the lower slopes of the hill. The morning's first butterfly was spotted - a Red Admiral. Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch and Wren were found on my way to have a quick look at the Lochan.
Although at first glance the Lochan appeared devoid of birds, a Moorhen seemed to materialise from nowhere and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard from somewhere in the trees to the north of the road. I headed back round to check the bay, although the tide was already well on its way out. My main focus at the park was intended to be looking for migrants, rather than waders, which have been the main focus in recent weeks. Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting and Whitethroat were seen around the wooden gate area as I checked the bushes where some of the park's most surprising migrants have appeared - including the Barred Warbler found by Keith as well as Whinchat and Red Backed Shrike. Any of those birds would be a very welcome find. I spotted Keith scanning from near the picnic tables and headed along to join him.
Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cormorant, Teal, Swallow and a trio of Curlew Sandpipers were all spotted while Keith scanned through the further away birds. He managed to find one of the previous day's Brent Geese and lowered his scope so I could see it. Number 142 for my #2025Dundee150 list, and just 8 more to get (though there are fewer birds on the 'likely' list than there are on either 'possible' and 'unlikely but possible' lists). Grey Heron, Shelduck, and a very distant Osprey were added, and in the bushes down the slope from us we spotted a few Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. A Tree Pipit was heard passing by and Black-headed Gull was noted before we headed over to check the bushes along the edges of 'the bowl'. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly was on the ground ahead of us, but flew off as soon as I tried to get a photo. Keith noticed a Small Copper butterfly as we neared the amphibian pond, which currently contains a small fraction of the water it usually holds.
We noted Tree Sparrows, Blue Tit and Great Tit and a distant Buzzard before we headed up to the top of the hill to see what the current state of the fire was. There was still some white smoke lifting from areas of the composting piles and hoses could be seen dotted around spraying water continuously onto the smoking areas. Another visit to the Lochan got me my first Common Darter dragonfly of the year and a Sparrowhawk flew over. A Kestrel was seen hovering over the hill before it flew over the top of us. With the car park closed, Keith had parked his car at the end of the Perth Road, so I had a wander back along to have another look from the hide when he headed homewards. I found a Kingfisher perched on the concrete part of the pipe down in front of the hide, and as I was taking a short video clip of it fishing, a Grey Wagtail landed next to it. A calling Sandwich Tern was heard from across the bay. As I wandered back up the track, I spotted a Speckled Wood butterfly ahead of me which flew off.
There was a Red Admiral sunning itself higher up, just round the slight bend in the path, and at one point the Speckled Wood landed briefly on its wing as the wind caught it. I almost didn't notice the Comma butterfly that was sunning itself just beyond the Red Admiral. I then continued back up into the park and round towards the bay again.A Stock Dove was seen in flight and a Common Gull was spotted down in the burn outflow. Chaffinch, Dunnock and Bullfinch gave me a few more species along with a few Jackdaws. More wandering around the top half of the park failed to add much bar Green-veined and Small White butterflies. A Song Thrush was seen in the bushes on a return visit to 'the bowl'. Having only seen a single dog walker (with 2 small dogs) and Keith at the park throughout the 4 hours I'd been at the park, I was really enjoying the lack of potentially stressful encounters with dogs and their owners - which can often be very hard to predict how they will pan out. Starling and Long-tailed Tits were noted in the lower half of the park.
I called it quits at the park at 1300, having managed to get a total of 58 species of birds at the park, as well as 7 species of butterflies and 1 of dragonfly. Before I left, I bumped into another few walkers, with and without dogs. It appeared that the 'chilled' vibe was rapidly coming to an end and that 'normal service' would be back by the following day. Heading back along Riverside Avenue towards the airport, Pied Wagtail and House Martin were found. A Brazilian Gulfstream biz-jet had been seen landing as I passed the compost area at the park, so I decided to have a look rather than wander up to Balgay. Red Admiral and Small White butterflies were seen flitting around by the car park to the Riverside Inn. I continued on to Roseangle and along the path that borders the railway line.
As I was passing the footbridge over to Tesco, I looked up and spotted a large and very pale falcon. My camera was in my bag, so I quickly got it out and was able to grab a few record shots which showed that, as I had suspected, it was the escaped Saker Falcon back again from wherever it goes for the summer months/breeding season. There were 4 pristine Red Admirals on the buddleia bushes by the Science Centre, one of which I was able to get some decent iPhone video of. I finished the day's birding with a total of 65 species of birds (58 at the park, 31 outwith), 7 of butterflies (7 at park, 2 outwith), 1 of dragonfly (at park) and 1 of mammal (outwith the park). The Brent Goose was the obvious avian highlight but having the park entirely to myself for a couple of hours and being able to enjoy the wildlife was the major highlight of the day. Unfortunately, it will likely be the only time that happens (at least in decent weather).
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| Mallard & Brent Goose |
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| Redshank & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Lapwing |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Small Copper |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Comma |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Cormorant |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Sandwich Tern & Lapwing |
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| Small White |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Starling |
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| Saker Falcon (escape) |
Birds - (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blue
Tit,
Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black-backed
Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail, Redpoll, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, [Saker Falcon], Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Red Admiral, Small White.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds
(at Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Bullfinch, Buzzard,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant,
Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit,
Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Egret, Long-tailed Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Meadow
Pipit, Moorhen, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral
Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Starling, Stock
Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler,
Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Comma, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Speckled Wood.
Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Darter.
