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| Meadow Pipit |
For Wednesday the 9th of September's birding I wanted to try to concentrate on vis-mig (visible migration) over Riverside Nature Park. My plan was to get to the park for sunrise and then to spend as long as possible concentrating on what was passing overhead. Rather calm conditions, especially compared to the previous day, did seem to hint at the possibility of a decent amount of birds on the move. I would take my small sound recorder with me to hopefully catch any calls that I might miss (though obviously these would be uncountable for my #2026Dundee150 list, as I wouldn't have heard them myself). I set the alarm for 0430...
...and somehow managed to get out of bed at that time. I had done most of my organising the night before, so was able to get out the door slightly earlier than expected (though not by much). Robin, Herring Gull, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Wren, Dunnock and Sparrowhawk were the only birds found on the walk to the park, though it was mostly relatively dark, so the low numbers of birds was not a surprise. In addition, a Fox and a few Rabbits were also seen. I reached the park just before 0630. Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Robin, Wren, a low-flying and very vocal Buzzard, Blue Tit, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Feral Pigeon and Grey Wagtail were noted as I headed quickly up to the top of the small hill that overlooks the bay and gives fairly decent 360 degree views.
The recorder was started and the small notebook to jot down the day's sightings (and heard-only species) was dug out of the bag, along with my camera. Fingers were crossed for a decent amount of activity and hopefully some interesting (and new for my #2026Dundee150 list) birds. It didn't take long for the first Meadow Pipits to pass through, with some even dropping down onto the hill for a feed. Before things picked up too much I had a quick scan out over the bay. This got me Sandwich Tern, Mallard, Herring Gull, Curlew, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron and Lesser Black-backed Gull. In addition to the Meadow Pipits, I was able to pick up Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Linnet flying past the hill. It didn't take too long to add Pied Wagtail and a couple of Swallows.
Magpie, Lapwing, Cormorant and Oystercatcher were added to the non-vis-mig sightings over the course of the first hour. Another Grey Wagtail and a few Tree Sparrows started off the 2nd hour. The bulk of the birds moving were Meadow Pipits which wasn't any sort of a surprise. A Reed Bunting was seen in flight at 0747, while Long-tailed Tits could be heard working their way through the bushes down the hill. A Starling overflew before Jackdaw was added to the list. A few Sand Martins went through around 0810. Around 10 minutes later, they were followed by a pair of late Swifts (what were probably the same pair were seen over towards the Lochan a bit later on). A young Willow Warbler was spotted in the bushes on the south side of the hill just before 0845. The morning's first Tree Pipit then passed overhead.
Things continued in a very similar vein for the next hour with Meadow Pipits continuing to make up the bulk of the birds seen and heard, with a scattering of other species also noted. A small skein of 4 Greylag Geese headed northwards high above the Invergowrie side of the bay. A small group of House Martins westwards were the day's first. A Peregrine (initially thought to be the escapee Saker Falcon) was picked out distantly over the river being harassed by Rooks. I was joined very briefly by Keith who mentioned a few birds he'd seen from his vantage point lower down. A larger skein of geese, which might even have been some early arriving Pink-footed Geese, but were more likely to have been lingering Canada Geese, headed downriver, having been spotted initially a good bit to the east, around the railbridge.
A small group of Canada Geese landed down in the bay around 1030 and a Common Sandpiper was heard calling. A Skylark was heard singing a bit later. What was likely the same Peregrine as the one seen earlier flew in from the north carrying a decent sized bit of unidentified prey, shadowed by a Sparrowhawk. I was surprised to see the Peregrine land on the mud in the bay with its meal, where it was almost immediately surrounded by Carrion Crows. I didn't see the Peregrine leave, but as there was no sign of the Crows tucking into the prey, it appears the Peregrine decided it made more sense to take breakfast elsewhere. A quartet of surprisingly quiet Ravens appeared high over the park and slowly drifted eastwards - most likely a family group, or dispersing youngsters. There was still a fairly steady stream of Meadow Pipits passing through, interspersed with random Linnets, Swallows and wagtails.
A few more Tree Pipits were noted, including one which flew through very low over the hill. Teal was added to the day's list along with Rook. I decided to end the vis-migging session exactly 6 hours after starting it, though the final 15 minutes or so seemed to take forever. I took some photos of the distant gulls across the bay. Having left my scope at home, I was unlikely to be able to pick out anything interesting at that distance. As it turned out, while sorting through my photos later that night, I found an adult Mediterranean Gull in a few photos - one that unfortunately for me, got away, as I still need that species for the #2026Dundee150 list. I finished the vis-migging with a fairly rough total of c.185 Meadow Pipits, 4 Tree Pipits, 13 Grey Wagtails, 3 Pied Wagtails, 2 Tree Sparrows, 1 Reed Bunting, c.60 Swallows, 3 House Martins, 5 Sand Martins, 2 Swifts, 4 Greylags, 4 Ravens, 1 Peregrine and 5 Canada Geese. While not the most inspiring list it was a worthwhile effort, in fairly comfortable conditions.
I set off for the hide to check through the waders, having noted Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits before leaving the top of the hill. Painted Lady, Small White and Speckled Wood butterflies were seen and a Stock Dove flew past. I bumped into Mark near the hide and he let me know what he'd seen from the hide. I then met Ian Ford at the hide and we were able to get Knot, Greenshank, Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlin to add to those species I had seen earlier in the day. Dunnock, Common Gull and Goosander were spotted before I headed to the Lochan where Moorhen and Blackbird were found. There were a few insects around including a late Tree Bumblebee and a Common Darter dragonfly. A Red Admiral was another new butterfly for the day as I headed for the exit. By this time it was rather warm and sunny and as I'd been up since 0430 I was feeling rather tired.
I had a seat for a few minutes to see what species I'd missed. One was Great Tit, which I managed to add just as I'd almost reached the road at the eastern end of the park, taking the park list for the day to a pretty decent 63 species (plus the unseen Mediterranean Gull and a trio of Wigeon as well as the recent Pintail seen by Mark giving a combined total of 66 species). The walk home was a rather weary one, though I did try to find a Clouded Yellow butterfly en route -taking the 'low road' to the city centre and the less steep uphill section from there. Blue Tit, Great Tit, Buzzard, Swallow, Pied Wagtail and Coal Tit were all found, along with Painted Lady, Small White, Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies. My combined totals for the day were 64 species of birds, 2 of bees, 5 of butterflies, 1 of dragonflies, 2 of blowflies and 2 of mammals. As always, it would've been handy having additional eyes and ears for the vis-migging. I might be tempted to try to organise some sort of team effort for early October...
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Starling |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Swift |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Grey Heron |
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| House Martin |
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| Linnet |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Swallow |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Raven |
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| Raven |
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| Canada Goose & Black-headed Gull |
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| Black-headed Gull & Mediterranean Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Redshank & Cormorant |
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| Common Darter |
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| Small White |
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| Pied Wagtail |
Birds (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White.
Mammals (outwith Riverside Nature Park) - Fox, Rabbit.
Birds (at Riverside Nature Park) - Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, [Mediterranean Gull], Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Bees (at Riverside Nature Park) - Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Tree Bumblebee.
Butterflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Small White, Speckled Wood.
Dragonflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Darter.
Blowflies (at Riverside Nature Park) - Common Bluebottle, Common Greenbottle.
