Riverside Nature Park, Dundee. (1 Viewer)

Now that the light is lasting longer in the afternoons, I should be able to start visiting the park semi-regularly after work again. Seeing the weather forecast for today was to be sunny and mild, I decided to pop down after 4pm for an hour or so. Only 21 species seen, with the light and tide state in the bay making ID-ing birds a wee bit tricky, though the usual suspects are quite easy to make out by their silhouettes.

Birds seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Bullfinch (only 2 - a male and a female), carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull (2), Herring Gull, Kestrel, Mallard (4 on flooded field, as well as at Lochan and on river), Meadow Pipit (1), Mute Swan (2 on Lochan), Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin (1), Shelduck (at least 6), Skylark (1 overflew west, and 1 heard singing over airport),Teal, Woodpigeon.

Unfortunately someone has decided to dump a load of furniture in the car park, including a small TV, no doubt because the recycling centre was flooded out recently.

2.15 pm visit thurs

35 calling jackdaws flying up from below the earth viewing point,
group of 42 oystercatchers in the bay smaller groups nearby,1 ringed dipper in front of hide,1 lesser black backed gull with the herring/bh gulls,2 goldeneye males ,7 shellducks,curlew,redshank.teal all in the bay,there was a large amount of birds on the mud at the earth viewing point a lot of them were on this side of the channels,56 dunlin were counted,a flock of 71 waders flew past i put a pic of them in the q&a section,2 ground feeding goldfinches at the dump area and 2 dunnocks plus 4 blackbirds,a large flock of woodpigeons were circling the park(shotgun blasts were heard from the railway trees area)mutes,teals,mallards on the lochan,a carrion crow at the earth viewing point was diving at mallards swimming in the channels

the 71 waders have been identified as bar tailed godwits

Popped down today from around 1115 till 1545. Furniture still in the car park, but most of the floods have receded. Saw 35 species and heard another couple (Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit), but no sign of either Kestrel or Buzzard which is unusual.

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull (20+), Blue Tit (2), Bullfinch (1 male), Carrion Crow (60+), Chaffinch, Common Gull (5), Cormorant (1), Curlew (2), Fieldfare (1), Goldcrest (2), Goldeneye (3 male), Goldfinch (5+), Greenfinch (1), Grey Heron (2), Herring Gull (33+), Jackdaw (20+), Knot (1), Mallard, Mute Swan (2), Oystercatcher (3), Peregrine (1), Pied Wagtail (1), Pintail (2 male), Redshank (100+), Redwing (6), Robin (4), Feral Pigeon, Shelduck (6), Skylark (3), Sparrowhawk (2), Starling (1), Teal, Woodpigeon, Wren (1)

Lovely late afternoon visit to the park after work, just as the tide was starting to recede and the waders were coming back in. Only 22 species seen but lots of birds around on the water beyond the range of my binoculars (mostly ducks and hundreds of gulls out on the river).

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Curlew (5), Dunlin (1), Goldeneye (2), Goosander (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Herring Gull, Jackdaw (2), Kestrel (1), Lesser Black Backed Gull (1), Linnet (c15), Mallard, Mute Swan (2), Oystercatcher (3), Redshank (c60), Robin, Shelduck (11), Teal, Woodpigeon

As usual when not having my camera with me the opportunity for a great photo arose, with the Fox standing staring straight at me for 10 seconds or so, then moving a little and staring again for another 10 seconds, all the time illuminated in the golden glow from the setting sun, before disappearing back into Buzzard Wood.

Had to pop back down to the park after work today, to meet with another committee member from the Friends of Riverside Nature Park and a man from the council with regards preferred locations for 3 benches. Luckily it only took around 30 mins to sort out and as the weather was very similar to last night, I made the most of it, by heading to the hide then back by the Lochan, then into the low fields. Missed the Fox coming out from its den area, but did catch it out in the open. It stood quite unconcerned for 20 seconds or so again before trotting into the bushes and out of sight. A few different species seen from yesterday.

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Curlew (10+), Dipper, Dunlin (6+), Goldeneye (1), Herring Gull, Kestrel (1), Knot (2), Mallard, Mute Swan (2), Oystercatcher, Redshank, Redwing (1), Robin (1), Shelduck (23), Song Thrush (1), Teal, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer (2)

Also saw Long Tailed Tit and Dunnock by the path up to Perth Road under the railway line at the eastern end of the park.

Hi everyone. I have being visiting riverside for a few weeks now. Not only new to this patch but new to birding altogether. I have being enjoying my visits and try to get down whenever posable. Anyway I am also getting into wildlife photography so I have being using my visits to get to grips with it. So here is a couple of photos I got today

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93865025@N08/8532065854/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93865025@N08/8530956721/

I'm glad you've managed to find your way here Scott and have added your report to this thread. Super pictures... very jealous of the LTT - I've not even seen one for ages.

Welcome to Birdforum from all the Staff here too. All things Scottish can be found here. Keep an eye on threads titled Scottish Bashes, we usually have one or two meetings each year and they're all great fun. You'd be most welcome to join us if you can manage.

A rather chilly day down at the park, with a strong biting easterly wind very apparent in the open areas. Still managed 36 species in all, with some good numbers of Black Headed Gulls especially (c300, but probably more) in the bay. Pairs were also quite noticeable (Song Thrush, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Goldcrest, Yellowhammer).

Birds seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull (c300+), Carrion Crow (c30), Chaffinch, Common Gull (c10), Cormorant (1 with a lot of white on the head), Curlew (15), Dunlin (1), Dunnock (1), Fieldfare (4), Goldcrest (2), Goldeneye (4 male), Goldfinch (9), Goosander (1pr and 1 female - first time I've seen a drake here), Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw (c20), Lesser Black Backed Gull (1), Long tailed Tit (3 or 4 prs and a group of 4), Mallard, Mute Swan (2), Oystercatcher (6), Pied Wagtail (1), Redshank, Redwing (2), Feral Pigeon, Shelduck (c20), Song Thrush (2), Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer (2).

i headed down to the park monday morning hoping to check the prints in the snow (fox/rodents)there was no cars in the car park and it was looking good, i couldn,t believe it when i saw the amount of human/dog prints all over the paths the entire park,at the earth viewing point someone has taken their dog beyond the fence and walked east ?anyway 12 redwings ,1 greenfich,chaffinches calling ,1 kestrel,wren,dunnock,2 song thrushes,buzzard,carrion crow,woodpigeon,bh gulls,herring gulls,oystercatchers,curlew,redshanks,teals,mallards,2mutes,robin,blue tit,1 pied wagtail,only 1 shellduck

Green Winged Teal seen in the bay at lunchtime by Ian Ford. It had been seen round at Kingoodie earlier in the week but has since moved round thankfully. A new, and very good, species for the park-list. Hopefully it will stick around long enough for me to get a photo of it. Wonder if it would like a wee visit to the Lochan......

121. Green Winged Teal

i was in the park for a couple of hours looking for the gw teal ,no joy there ,the problem was the teals were all resting and facing me head on making an id impossible,i did manage to locate a dogwalkers lost dog,the startled calls from redshanks were a good giveaway and the dog appeared right under the earth viewing point,quite a few song thrushes in the park jncluding a flock of 5 feeding on the hill with 3 male blackbirds and 1 robin,1 redwing in the trees here,a flock of 9 redwings in buzzard wood,only teals and a single pied wagtail on the lochan (mutes have moved to the bay)6 lssb gulls sitting with oystercatchers in the bay ,the usual herring /bh gulls/mallards /curlew/redshanks /teals nearby,a cormorant was fishing in the cahannels,carrion crow and woodpigeon were the only birds flying around in the windy conditions

An eventful and very worthwhile visit to the park today, despite the less than helpful conditions - strong winds and snow flurries. Ended the day with 37 species - including 2 new birds for my own park list, and 1 for the main park list.

Spoke to a dog walker who was allowing his dog to run around in the fenced off area by the water at the edge of the bay, just north of the wee viewing area with the raised soil edge. Told him of the disturbance his dog was causing (waders couldn't get in to roost - tide was high and dog was running around where the Redshanks etc tend to go), and why it was important not to cause this, especially given the conditions. He listened and we chatted for around 20 minutes. At no time however did he call his dog back from the fenced off area. Spoke to another birder later who said the same dog-walker and his husky type dog had been in the same bit yesterday too (he'd spoken to him and told him his dog shouldn't be in there also).

Anyway, on with the birds....
Found the Green Winged Teal quite quickly from the hide not long before high tide, seconds before it was spooked by a train. Met Ian Ford later while I was trying to get closer photos of it, and we had a walk around the park together. A nice surprise was a Jack Snipe that we spooked at the flooded field which flew off and landed in the area just to the south of Buzzard Wood (where the park and ride is planned for). After Ian left, I spooked a Woodcock near the hide which flew off over the railway line and the burn.

The full list of birds seen....
Bar tailed Godwit (20), Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant (1), Curlew (1), Dunlin (6), Dunnock (2), Goldeneye (2), Goldfinch (10), Goosander (1f), Green-Winged Teal (1), Grey Heron (3), Herring Gull, Jack Snipe (1), Jackdaw, Lapwing (4), Lesser Black Backed Gull (6+), Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck (3), Skylark (1), Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Teal (150+), Woodcock (1), Woodpigeon, Wren.
We also saw briefly what looked like a drake Eider well out on the river, but we lost it before we got a confirmed ID.

122. Jack Snipe

the husky was the dog that went missing last thursday,looks like he is turning into a regular visitor

I told him if he must exercise his dog off the lead within the park, the hill would be the best area to avoid causing too much disturbance (despite the large flock of Crows recently). Hopefully he will have taken that on board. He has now been informed why his dog shouldn't be down by the water and no longer has the excuse of ignorance. Better/bigger signage is certainly required to get the information on disturbance to the increasing numbers of dog-walkers using the park, so hopefully something can be sorted out ASAP on that front.

over 70 carrion crows in the park today,most on the hill with more at the side of the lochan,small number of jackdaws in with them,there was a very pale shovelar in front of the hide

Gosh... very leucistic. I've not seen that in Shovelers before.

As mentioned in the Tayforth thread, Alex Shepherd saw a Green Woodpecker in the gulley near the bay earlier in the week. Another very good record for the park. Hopefully it will stick around. At least long enough for me to get a photo. The summer migrants should be beginning to pass through very shortly. Keep your eyes and ears open for the likes of Wheatear and Ring Ouzel, as the park is on a migration route (at least in Autumn, would be good to prove it is also used for birds moving northwards along the coast in Spring too).

123. Green Woodpecker

Up a bit later than planned, so decided to pop down to the park despite the tide being out for most of the day. Glad I did in the end as I got a patch tick for my own list, and photos of one of the recent additions. 40 species in total.

Bar Tailed Godwit (c30), Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit (3), Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit (1), Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin (3), Goldcrest (2), Goldfinch (9), Greenfinch (4), Grey Heron (1), Jack Snipe (1), Jackdaw, Kestrel (1), Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll (2 + 3), Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit (1), Mute Swan (2), Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser (1f), Redshank, Reed Bunting (1f), Robin (1), Feral Pigeon, Shelduck (10+), Skylark (3), Song Thrush, White Tailed Eagle (2), Woodcock (1), Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer

One piece of good news, the gentleman with the husky walked by with his dog on a lead at the part where it had managed to get over the fence before. He has taken on board what he'd been told about disturbance. Unfortunately there were a few other Lab and Spaniel owners letting their dogs roam around unchecked, though not on the wrong side of the fences.

A few more pics from today.