Riverside Nature Park, Dundee. (1 Viewer)

Pale cheek patch too - tis a scaup

Rob

Typical that when I'm out of the area for a few days that a goodie turns up. Still at least it was seen and added to the list. we seem to have hit a wee purple patch of late. Long may it continue.

103. Scaup

A wee trip down after work to see if the strong winds had deposited anything of note at the park. Ended up with a longer list than I thought (33 species), and a new bird for the park list too.

Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper (just 1, but first for a wee while), Cormorant, Curlew, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey wagtail, Guillemot (1 huddled in a pool by the pipe), Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan (2 on the Lochan, 1 in the bay), Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pintail (1), Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Sparrowhawk (1 male), Teal, Woodpigeon.

104. Guillemot

4.00 pm visit today

car park,chiffchaff/wren/heron/robin/blackbird/buzzard/chaffinch/carrion crow/woodpigeon
locan only 2 mutes (water samples were being taken)
2 diggers were working in front of the hide but still plenty birds here
1 grey wagtail/1 guillemot/dipper/1 female gooseander/black tailed godwit/curlew/redshank/oystercatcher/cormorant/teal/mallard/robin/great black backed gull/herring gull/lesser black backed gull/black headed gull/goldfich/shellduck

Took a trip down to a very windy park around lunchtime and once again managed to add another species to the list. One that was on my list of possibles but found in a different location to where I expected it. A juvenile Little Grebe on the lochan. Also checking photos later I found a Spotted Redshank and Pintail.

41 species in all.

Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit (possibly just 1, maybe 2), Blue Tit, Buzzard (3 together over the hide), Carrion Crow (large number c.100 on the hill), Chaffinch, Chiffchaff (just 1), Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Goldfinch, Goosander (the female bird with the dodgy leg that seems to always turn up at high tide), Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail (at least 2 in trees at car park), Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel (one female hunting successfully around the hill), Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe (juvenile at Lochan), Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan (2 on lochan), Oystercatcher (only 2 seen flying out of bay near high tide), Pintail, Pink Footed Goose (1 flock of around 60 birds northwards), Redshank (probably about 100+), Robin, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Skylark (2 over westwards - vis-mig?), Spotted Redshank (1 in bay with Redshanks), Swallow (1 over westwards), Teal (1 female on Lochan, and more in the bay), Woodpigeon, Wren.
Also the remains (feathers) of a female/young Pheasant - a species I've yet to see here.

105. Little Grebe

The little Grebe was seen on the Lochan yesterday as well

Another visit, another addition.

Made it to the park in time for the tide coming in, from just in front of the hide. Watched it till all the mud had vanished underwater, which turned out to be a good thing, as the surprise addition showed up around then. A Shag. It clambered onto the railway embankment, slipped back and then wandered onto the concrete path by the burn before jumping back into the water.

Full list for the visit....

Bar Tailed Godwit (less than yesterday, and no sign of Black Tailed), Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard (2 seen), Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew (just 1), Dunlin (still only a small number around), Dipper (1 flew out and back in from under railway bridge over the burn 3 times) Goldfinch, Goosander (the one with the limp again - having its tail pulled by a couple of Carrion Crows), Great Spotted Woodpecker (seen from the hide flying left to right towards trees behind railway line), Greenfinch, Grey Heron (1 roosting beyond compost area), Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe (juvenile still on lochan), Mallard, Meadow Pipit (a few around the hill), Mute Swan (2 on lochan), Redshank (similar numbers to yesterday - no sign of Spotted Redshank), Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shag (1 at high tide briefly), Siskin, Skylark (1 over west as yesterday), Starling (a few beyond compost area by airport), Swallow (a few passing over), Teal, Woodpigeon.
EDIT: Found a Ruff on the photos.

Chiffchaff and Oystercatcher both heard but not seen.

106. Shag

Takes my own list for the park to 98. The ones I haven't seen yet are - Eider, Scaup, Long Tailed Duck, Canada Goose, Red Kite, Pheasant, Sedge Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher. Wonder what will be my own number 100.

4 magpies in the trees at the carpark at 10.00 am today,the birds flew in from the west end in a line and on landing spooked a few finches(mostly chaffinch but at least 10 greenfinch)the magpies were constantly harrassed by 2 carrion crows that were already perched here,this turned out for the better as the magpies kept jumping nearer the top of the trees in full view in order to escape the attention of the crows,one magpie chased a kestrel which was perching,both birds flew a short distance over the open ground before the magpie returned,a couple of hours later on the arbroath road just as you aproach arbroath another magpie flew across the road,adding the magpie i seen on saturday at the cairdpark filling station that makes 6 magpie sightings in 3 days,not bad for dundee/angus,
the little grebe is still on the lochan (another new bird for me here)2 song thrushes on a wire just outside the car park

Great catch, and nice pics. Bongofury will be along soon to comment on this sighting I think...

Not sure if I'm happy that they may be moving in or not, although could mean some interesting interaction with some of the residents (especially the Crows). Might have to pop down after work tomorrow or Wednesday and see if they are still around. Yet another new bird for the list too.....we're on a roll and a half at the moment. Long may it continue......

107. Magpie

Forgot to mention I had a dragonfly hunting around the long grass at the eastern end of the park yesterday in the relative calm out of the wind.

i think there is too many carrion crows in the park for magpies to stay put,every time i see a carrion crow here it is fighting with another bird,i actually thought the first sighting of magpies would have been in the gardens/fence to the right of the hide,some very thoughtfull person has a statue of what looks like a peregrine here ,hence no magpies/collared doves plus many smaller birds near this garden,the bad weather over the last few months has decimated a lot of sightings in the park especially juvs,its great to see so many new birds added to the list:t:

Quick visit at 11.00 this morning got me a Jay at the car park. New one for the park?

I was in the park at that time too, chasing raptors around (Buzzard, then Kestrel, then Sparrowhawk all within about 5 mins). Had some good stuff including another new one (report to follow). Jay is indeed a new one for the park, another good find. There has apparently been an influx of these birds from the continent lately, so there is a possibility it is one from over the water stopping off, rather than a local from Ninewells.

108. Jay

As promised, here's my wee report from the park for today. I decided last night to attempt to get up early and catch an early bus out to the park for around 8am. As things worked out I actually made it for around 7.45 and was in the park for the sun coming up. My plan was to try and catch the geese leaving the bay, and also hopefully to catch some vis-mig. As it happened I managed both. There were small groups of Pink Footed Geese leaving as I entered the park, and the path through the trees at the eastern end was busy with Blackbirds and Chaffinches, and as always Woodpigeons flew over. I wanted to get to the bay as quickly as possible so I took the straight route along the northern path, via the Lochan. On the Lochan were 2 Mute Swans, around a dozen Mallard, some Teal and the Little Grebe. When I checked the bay, there were a couple of hundred Pinkies in a group not too far offshore in the outer bay. Small groups flew over from further out in the river and there was one mass take-off of probably in the region of a thousand birds from southwest of the park. Three Greylags and a single Pinkie went over in one small group, and eventually the geese in the bay took off and after a lap of the bay to gain height off they went to the north. Teal were moving into the bay in good numbers as the geese left and a couple of small groups of Redshank (and 1 Dunlin) flew into the exposed mud as the tide began to recede.

I headed up to the hill to watch for vis-mig, and I wasn't disappointed as a reasonably steady stream of birds headed west via the park. Mistle Thrush, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Siskin and Pied Wagtail were all picked up on call first then double checked with photos. There were a few calls I didn't recognise but it wasn't always possible to see a small dot against the blue sky or manage a photo of the ones I did see. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few groups of Tree Sparrows go through - a new one for the list (99 for me). A few flocks of Swallows sped through as the morning progressed too.

A Kestrel was chased into the bay by a Carrion Crow, and was heard calling near the hide later. From the hide I added a few Feral Pigeons on the pipe, while a rather vocal Jackdaw squawked around. Two Dippers squabbled in the burn - the first time I've seen the two together. Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls were around in smaller numbers than usual. A few Oystercatchers and Curlews joined the Redshanks on the mud (very few of anything but Redshanks around), and around half a dozen Bar Tailed Godwits were seen further out later in the morning. A Grey Heron sat on the pipe for a while.

Goldfinches scooted around and Robins sang and ticked from numerous places, and wrens were noticable too as they flitted around low in the vegetation. A couple of Chiffchaffs were seen at the bushes down from the west side of the hill, and a couple of Blue Tits shared the same tree, halfway up the hill when the Chiffchaffs relocated. Cormorants seemed to be on the move from upriver, and a Great Black Backed Gull was on the pipe. A Reed Bunting was a pleasant surprise on the fence, being joined by another when it flew off. A small flock of Starlings flew towards Invergowrie from the airport direction.

Met up with my pal, Steph Cowie, and had a wander round the rest of the park. The Mute Swans flew off the Lochan as we walked along the path, but the Little Grebe and Mallards were still there (though the Teal had left). We heard a Buzzard mewing loudly and moved uphill to try and see it. Spotted it sat atop a small tree towards the east. It took off and was joined by another, but we lost sight of them behind the trees but we could still hear them. A Kestrel was being harried by a Crow over towards the airport. One of the Buzzards then appeared quite near and circled above us a few times (parent bird?) calling as she did so, before heading off over the trees again. Another couple of Buzzards appeared a bit higher, bringing the total to 4. The Kestrel had shaken off the Crow and disappeared out of our line of sight behind the hill. We then spotted another Crow/Raptor tussle which turned out to be a male Sparrowhawk and a Carrion Crow. They flew over us, but the sun made photography tricky. We headed off to try and catch up with the Kestrel but there was no sign of it. A Song Thrush flew low past us on the northeastern approach to the hill.

We managed to add Coal Tit and Grey Wagtail to the list to the east of the car park, giving us a final total of 42 species (unless i find anything else lurking on photos).

109. Tree Sparrow

A long, but very productive day at the park today (from before 10am till almost 5pm). Saw my 100th species at the park - Jay (behind the car park) - within a few minutes of arriving. Bumped into Fishy and had a wee wander round after a spot of vis-migging again (arrived a bit late for a worthwhile attempt but still managed a few Skylark flocks and a couple of other things). When Fishy left I'd seen around 40 species, so I decided to hang around and try and bump the total up to beat my personal best of 42 species. Ended up with 51 (and was missing Dunlin and Great Tit of the regularly seen species and a few less regular species seen yesterday - so 50 could be beaten). Also have one to query.

Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit (low double figures), Blackbird, Black Tailed Godwit (10 with the gulls at the bathing "pool" in the burn), Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff (still a few around), Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper (just 1 today), Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch (flock mobbing Kestrel), Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch (flock of around 10 birds by car park), Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail (at least 4), Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel (hunting around the hill), Lesser Black Backed Gull (just 1), Lesser Redpoll (large flock of 25-30 birds), Linnet (1 with Goldfinch flock), Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit (2 family groups), Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush (1 on wires east of car park), Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone (2 on pipe), Woodpigeon, Wren.

Also Common Darter dragonfly and Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies (plus an unidentified orange-ish butterfly that I didn't get a good look at, but was either a Painted Lady or possibly a Comma - the former probably the more likely).

Spoke to a lady in the park who showed me a photo she'd taken of a caterpillar a few weeks ago in the rain. It was brown and had large eye markings. Checking an app on my phone (after a wee bit of googling - and a hunch based on memory) it may well be an Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar.

quite a few migrant balckbirds flying in to the park this morning,(9.30)seemed to be flying in two at a time,i only had a good look at one (all black including bill)5 swallows flying at the car park,only 1 greenfinch seen in the flock of chaffinches,a redshank in front of the hide had a ring on its leg,1 female reedbunting seen ,no sign of the little grebe today

A later visit than planned (1115 instead of 0815) to a rather wet park - lots of flooding at eastern end. Hoped for some good left-over migrants, but saw only a few overflying groups. Bumped into Fishy again, and two pairs of eyes certainly helped to push the list up. I ended up with 40 species and got rather wet (the hide initially kept the worst of the rain off but once the rather large drips started to form and drop on me it was time to leave). We did spot an ichneumon wasp on the path, which appears to be ichneumon suspiciosus.

My list -
Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard (at least 2, 1 perched in front of hide in a small tree), Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dipper (2 again, chasing each other at the burn outflow), Dunlin (5 or 6 birds), Dunnock, Goldfinch (a flock of around 100 - counted from photo), Goosander (the usual 1), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 male on piece of tree in compost area), Great Tit, Grey Heron (1 very distant - at Kingoodie!), Grey Wagtail (2 near burn), Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit (at least 16 in a flock which flew into view quite high, circled round then went out of view behind trees - migrants?), Mallard, Meadow Pipit (at least 4 at hill), Mistle Thrush (1 on telegraph poles by road and 4 overflew - vis-mig), Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail (1 in compost area), Pink footed Goose (1 injured feeding by side of the burn below the hide, Pintail (1 drake minus the full tail feather in the bay but flew off west), Redshank, Redwing (5 flew west - my first of this "winter"), Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark (a small group spooked by a dog-walker from top of the hill), Song Thrush, Teal, Wigeon (at least 3 - 1 drake in full plumage and 2 eclipse plumaged birds 1m/1f), Woodpigeon.

Popped in after work for an hour and a bit. Rather quiet but with spectacular skies to the west where a hot air balloon drifted over the Carse towards Perth. Still no sign of any left-over migrants though I did have a small group of 10 or so Mistle Thrush fly over the hide towards Invergowrie. The usual Goosander had company today in the shape of a Red Breasted Merganser.

Full list was - Black Headed Gull/Black Tailed Godwit(1), Blue Tit, Buzzard (harassed off wire by two Carrion Crows then chased into trees), Carrion Crow (lots possibly coming in to roost at compost area, along with Jackdaws), Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Goldfinch, Goosander, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Siskin, Teal, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer

A bit more surface water around, including a couple of pools on the low fields which may have potential to deliver a Snipe or two. In behind the car park but towards the Lochan. They can be viewed through the hedge. Also the Highland Cows appear to be creating a few small pools in their field already so hopefully they will continue to churn up the ground in such a way that waders are tempted down.

just got my internet conection back:C

monday 7.30 am
lots of birdcalls at the car park,no vehicle noises or planes to disrupt them either,blackbirds all over the park,goldcrest/ ltt tits /great tits /robin/carrion crow in the trees,the mutes were still sleeping on the lochan with mallards/teals,i had my first sighting of the two dippers together in front of the hide,they were quite far down (the pool where the gulls congregate)a large number of pinkfoots were resting on the mud i have put a pic below,a flock of aprox 300 flew overhead followed by a flock of 200 all heading north east,lots of teals in the channels plus 6 black tailed godwits and many redshanks,the kestrel was hunting in its usual spot with alarmed goldfinches nearby,3 dunnocks seen plus 1 male yellowhammer,i returned at 11.30 a lot warmer then,lots of insects about including 1 butterfly flying overhead,1 swallow at the car park

Nice afternoon at the park from 1.35 to 4.14 but still a lot of water lying about.

Birds seen were Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, Goldfinch, Goosander, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Merganser, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Redpoll, Redshank, Robin, Song Thrush, Starling, Teal, Wood Pigeon and a long awaited Collared Dove on an aerial across in Invergowrie. (Where do I claim my £5)

I like how you've been so precise about the time of your visit.
Collared Dove on the list at last. Number 110. Well done, Graham.

110. Collared Dove.