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| Red-breasted Merganser |
Having drawn a blank on adding anything new to my #2026Dundee150 list on both of my previous outings, particularly Kingfisher, I was keen to try to get at least something on the second Wednesday of the year. A Greenshank had been found at Riverside Nature Park on Sunday the 11th by Mark, then seen again by Keith on Monday. This would be a decent bird to get so early in the year, so I decided I would head out to the park to catch the tide coming in. I would give the Kingfisher at City Quay another try on my way out to RNP. Depending on how much walking I did at the park, I would maybe route homewards via Denhead of Gray where Tree Sparrow should (hopefully) be a possibility. All I would need was a bit of luck...
I headed out at 0900. House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Starling and Herring Gull got things started in rather unspectacular form. Jackdaw, Blue Tit and Robin were the only other birds found on the walk down to City Quay, though I did take a different route from normal to get there that was clearly 'less birdy'. There were plenty of Cormorants in beside the lightship and the Coot seen on my previous visit was still hanging around. A Black-headed Gull was seen flying around beside the Apex Hotel. I failed to find any sign of the Kingfisher at any of the previous spots where I've seen it. There were even more Cormorants in the outer section of the quay and a couple of fed-up looking Grey Herons. A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers were fishing in the same area. Out on the river, there were a few distant Eiders and a single Teal dropped onto the water even further away. An Oystercatcher and a Pied Wagtail were noted as I left the river to have another quick look at the 'dry' dock before I walked out to the Nature Park.
I peered in from a few spots between the overhanging Buddleia bushes but things weren't looking too promising. However, the distinctive call of a Kingfisher suddenly echoed back off the far side of the dock. I looked both ways but couldn't see the Kingfisher. Suddenly it flew out from my left, low across the water, swung a hard right and flew off towards the end of the dock and up and over the bushes beyond. At last!I debated my choices of the routes out towards the park. The Perth Road seemed to present the shortest route, though with the fewest birding opportunities, the path between the Science Centre and Magdalen Green seemed to offer a few birding opportunities but in the end I decided I was probably just as well to continue out along the river, even if it was actually the longest route. Carrion Crow and Dunnock were both found near Discovery Point. A Common Gull was on the football pitches beyond Bridgeview Station Restaurant. Blackbird, Woodpigeon, a flock of Siskins, a Wren plus a heard-only Goldfinch and a feeding party of Long-tailed Tits did provide some distractions en route.
I reached the Nature Park just after 1040. Magpie, Bullfinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Siskin, Herring Gull, Great Tit, Wren, Carrion Crow, Robin and a few Rabbits were all seen in the first few minutes at the park. Things slowed down after that though. Greenfinch, Redwing, Pink-footed Goose, Jackdaw, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a few Fieldfares were found on my way to check the bay. I headed first to the hide, as I was expecting the tide to already be quite far in. Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Turnstones, a female Red-breasted Merganser, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Cormorant, Knot, Grey Heron, some Long-tailed Tits, a young Moorhen, a Grey Wagtail, 7 Greylag Geese and a few Teal were all seen, but disappointingly there was no sign of the hoped-for Greenshank.
I did notice a gull on the pipe that looked quite interesting, and wondered if it might (at last) be an adult Caspian Gull, but it appears to have just been a Herring Gull with a dark eye (as usual!). I then did a wee bit of exploring noting Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch and Buzzard. I was very surprised to see a few Snipe in hurried flight from the direction of the Lochan. I had a strong suspicion as to why this would be. There were no birds at all seen at the frozen lochan when I passed, suggesting the Snipe had been flushed from the reeds. When I managed to find a gap in the hedge, my suspicions were confirmed. A 'professional' dog-walker (and friend) with at least 7 dogs were wandering along the back of the Lochan throwing a ball for the off-lead dogs to catch. I'm 99% certain it was the same dog-walker who I told she shouldn't be in the fenced off area a few months ago. Her retort at the time was that she was in there all the time. She knows she isn't meant to be there, but goes in regardless. What chance has nature got...
I messaged one of the local councillors for the area, Fraser McPherson, who has passed the message on to the relevant department to get the fences fixed, to keep the dogs out. In about 8 weeks or so, the breeding season will be starting for this year, though if the weather improves drastically before then, it could possibly be even earlier. There used to be small areas around the city where disturbance was minimal, but the proliferation of 'dog-walking' services over the past few years means that there are now multiple dogs being exercised, often multiple times a day, in places where nature previously had the place to itself, to the detriment of both these places and the nature at the sites. There really needs to be multiple fenced-off areas across the city where dogs can be exercised safely. They don't have to be huge, the equivalent of half a football pitch would likely suffice. Everywhere else, dogs should be on a lead, rather than disturbing people and wildlife. I digress though...
The Snipe were new for the year, but I was not happy about how I happened to encounter them. I added Feral Pigeon and Mistle Thrush as I exited the park just after mid-day. I had decided I would continue up to the Dykes/Denhead of Gray area in search of Tree Sparrow. There were a few birds around as I passed through Invergowrie, but all were bird species I had seen already that morning. There appeared to have been some very busy Beavers down by the burn just down from the 'Swallow' Hotel (actually the Landmark - but I suppose it will always be the Swallow to a sizeable number of locals). I wandered along the cycle path to the north of the hotel and chose to explore the scrubby patch near the small burn. There was a slight chance of Snipe, and maybe even Jack Snipe but I was out of luck with both of those.
However, as I headed back towards the bridge over the burn, I spotted a Kestrel hovering across the other side of the road. Another new bird for the day, and the year. I wandered up the road checking the places where I've seen Tree Sparrow before but to no avail. There is a ruined building in one half of a field just north of the cottages at Denhead of Gray, where Tree Sparrows seemed to congregate previously. Unfortunately, that now seems very unlikely as the bang of a 'gas gun' bird scarer came from within the remaining walls. Similarly, despite the weedy central stretch of the field offereing plenty of prospects for food, there were no birds at all to be seen (or heard), bar some distant corvids and gulls. A single Rook overflew. Linnets, Yellowhammers, finches etc were numerous here last winter, and the food source is still there.
Having drawn a total blank on Tree Sparrow I headed homewards, though via quite a meandering route. Coal Tit was added on the walk up towards the Myrekirk crossings. Mistle Thrush, Stock Dove, Bullfinch and Jay were all found at Balgay Hill after I had wandered through the grounds of Ninewells Hospital to get there. Wren, Great Tit, Redwing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker added a few more species for the day before I trudged rather wearily towards home. I walked around 15 miles in all but did succeed in adding 3 new species (in bold) to my #2026Dundee150 list, even though I had actually dipped on 2 of my hoped-for target species for the day. My total number of species for the day's birding was a fairly decent 55 species (38 species at RNP, and 39 outwith). These new additions took my total for the year so far to 91 (I had ran into an unexpected Brambling and 2 Blackcaps as I headed home from work on the 8th and 9th, that I forgot to mention in my previous post).
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| Coot |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Cormoarnt & Herring Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Redshank, Dunlin, Turnstone & Grey Heron |
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| Redshank, Dunlin & Black-tailed Godwit |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Moorhen |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Redshank & Black-tailed Godwit |
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| Cormorant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Snipe |
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| Redwing |
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| Magpie |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Rook |
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| Jay |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Snipe, Song Thrush, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon,Wren.
Mammals (at Riverside Nature Park) - Rabbit.
