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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Riverside Nature Park, Dundee. (1 Viewer)

David, may be worth emailing Bob McCurley (or local bird recorder - Jon Cook) who has a fairly large email address book of local birders (via the local bird clubs etc) to ask if he would circulate the request. More likely to get replies than via here, I suspect.

Thanks Barry. :)

Have posted on D & A forum as well. Jon is involved in survey so will mail him and Bob as well.
 
Popped down to the park to see if there was any sign of Lesser (or Common) Whitethroat yet. There wasn't but I did manage 38 species, one of which was new to the park list (though had been seen a few weeks ago during the dawn chorus event but which I only received word of a day or so ago). The 137th species is Gadwall. There was a pair on the Lochan and another 3 in the burn outflow. Also 4 Wheatears on the grass beyond the compost area, looking south from the wooden gate near the southwest corner. Plenty Blackcaps around, plus a few Chiffchaffs and a couple of Willow Warblers.

Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Skylark, Snipe, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.

137. Gadwall
 
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Spent most of the day at the park today and was in the right place at the right time to see and hear Lesser Whitethroat (definitely 2, probably at least 3). Good to see them back again. Also had an Osprey overfly and hunt over the Tay. 48 species seen in total....

Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

(forgot to post that I popped in on Friday after work and managed to find Whitethroat among 32 species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Teal, Wheatear, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon).
 
I must have been in the park at the same time as you were barry, I was there for approx 2 and a half hours leaving at 12.40.when heading back to my car I checked my phone and seen the avg message regarding the lesser whitethroats,i had arrangements to meet someone at city quey at 1.00 so had to leave,hoping to get a visit on thurs,where did you see the gadwall today ?,I saw one bird that wasn't on your list a single house martin flying at buzzard wood,some really nice birdsong throughout the park today mostly willow warblers with chiffchaffs/wren/skylarks joining in, my 2 target birds were common whitethroat and blackcap,i saw a few whitethroats ,only bird heard calling was at the earth viewing point,both m/f blackcaps were at the car park trees,the starlings were having a right feast on insects at the last bushes before you reach the hide,their beaks were stuffed with them,yet when I look closer I cant find a single one, there was a couple of very small tadpoles in the water at buzzard wood,it looks like the flooding problem here is a thing of the past,the wood is under several inches of water but the path is bone dry :t:
 

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The Gadwall pair were on the Lochan when I showed up first. I walked along the path outside the park first and they flew off as I passed. I heard the Chiffchaff in the trees behind Buzzard Wood but didn't hang around to try and see him, figuring I would see one at some point, but didn't. The earth viewing point Whitethroat seems to be the only Whitethroat singing/displaying regularly, at least so far. The Starlings (and a Robin I saw) were picking the St Mark's Flies (the black ones with the dangling legs) off the bushes for their youngsters I think. I got a few photos and a short video clip. Was surprised to see a few Sand Martins pass through, and a few Swallows. Don't think there is much chance of nesting success by the Skylarks on the hill - so many dog walkers throwing balls and letting dogs run around up there. Also had a dog IN the Lochan at one point....owner wandering on ahead.
 
one of the dog walkers stopped me and asked if I was the person keeping the online list of birds here,she had a small staffie, she explained her husband read the online records but hadn,t met the recorder,did you see her?the very short grass on the hill area must be like a magnet to dog owners (the dogs easily find the ball),the magpies and carrion crows constantly feeding here wont help either, maybe just cutting the grass short about 4 feet wide creating a walking path over the hill would be a better idea,the marsh area to the left of buzzard wood is also looking too bare for this time of year
 
Didn't meet the lady in question. There is a guided walk this Saturday morning at 8:30 (for roughly 2 hours) led by myself, so maybe she will read this and they can pop down. Hoping that the weather improves, as the forecast doesn't look ideal.
 
Guided bird walk tomorrow (Saturday 9th May) at the park at 8:30am, led by me. Meet at the car park. Binoculars a good idea.
 
I had a quick check of the hide/lochan area just before teat time tonight,we had some very severe winds today and I was looking for something that might be sheltering, the tide was well out and nothing out of the ordinary was about,a grey wagtail was flying back and forth at the tunnel,at the lochan there was a very confiding black tailed godwit,the godwit was on the south side of the water just to the left of the screen,it was happily feeding away ignoring me until a walker passed talking loudly on his phone,there was also a single greylag,a single shelduck plus 2 mutes(one ringed) were the only birds on the water ,I walked along loch lee in glen esk earlier and the wind was horrendous ,plus there was a couple of downpours, seen my first cuckoo of the year,losts of small birds being blown about in the birchwoods but no positive ids, plus saw my first swift of the year at Forfar loch
godwit video

https://vimeo.com/127521047?utm_sou...2ZjUzMzlmOTA4fDU0MjM0MzV8MTQzMTM3MzA0MHw3NzAx
 

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I done 2 complete circuits of the park on Monday (usually takes an hour and a half per circuit)31 species seen in total with a few of the commoner birds missed,a single collared dove landed in the trees beside the hide,im starting to see quite a few collared doves around Dundee but they are still scarce in the park,i only seen one skylark marking his territory this was at the hill area,whitethroats seem to have every territory covered and I had some really close views,4 swifts were flying together and they were joined by some house martins and a single swallow,i had 2 sightings of magpies both single birds,a circling buzzard was the only raptor seen,a female blackcap perched just a short distance from me was disturbed by a flock of carrion crows/ jackdaws which was circling above me calling loudly,they followed something down towards the water,birds seen in the park
blackbird/starling/jackdaw/carrion crow/mallard/mute swan/black headed gull/herring gull/lesser black backed gull/great black backed gull/collared dove/shelduck/buzzard/woodpigeon/skylark/whitethroat/willow warbler/magpie/swift/yellowhammer/house martin/chaffinch/goldfinch/blue tit/reed bunting/oystercatcher/swallow/song thrush/feral pigeon/blackcap/cormorant
at the rear of the tunnel a pair of robins were feeding their single chick,an unringed dipper flew in and landed near the robin which just carried on catching small flies around the rocks
 

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there were 3 adult great black backed gulls out on the mud in front of the hide Thursday night about 8.00,about 12 sandwich terns were resting on the rocks, a single ringed plover was the only wader feeding,a sedge warbler was calling right in front of the hide,there was a lot of shelducks out in the mud/water but only one pair had youngsters
 

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there was a magpie chick out in the open sitting among the buttercups behind the trees at the car park tonight,the adults spotted me and gave out alarm calls forcing the youngster to take cover ,the adults are calling out when anyone walks along the path,only other youngsters seen were carrion crows
 

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over 100 lapwings out in the bay Thursday 6.00 pm,a similar number of redshanks also present,a large flock of oystercatchers were resting on the bank just along from the hide,(seen from invergowrie station)I also managed to pick out some dunlin,looks like the waders are making an early return
 
there was an osprey fishing in front of the hide this morning, it caught a large trout,this is the first osprey I have seen in the park and brings my slowly growing park list to 98
 
after seeing a lot of waders on the 23/7/15 i thought the numbers would be building up but this is not the case,4 visits in 2 weeks and most are in very small numbers,the insects are also reluctant to show which is a shame as the park is in a really wild state, if we get even one hot day i think the park will be bustling with the insects, one of the young magpies was perched at the car park calling on its parents, another new call for me to experience ,i see fishing osprey has been sighted in the bay again


https://vimeo.com/136015566
 

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the waders numbers roosting on the lochan are starting to build up, a dog walker that walks around with binoculars on his neck told me he seen some redshanks on the 1/11/15,i only saw the first roosting waders 15/11/15,i estimate there was 300 redshanks several dunlin and some teals

video
https://vimeo.com/146070451
 

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Riverside in the sun 😊

Good to see the sun shining yesterday. Went to the park in the afternoon and saw 70+ Fieldfares with a few Redwings, a Grey Wagtail with 4 Pied, Redpolls and Siskins overhead and a hen Pheasant in the marsh.
41 Teal were on the lochan with Mallards and Mute Swans but it was good to see a female Goosanders feeding in the mouth of the burn- see photo.

A flight of Pinkfeet were coming over as a jet took off and the Geese took immediate avoiding action, turning round without panic and resuming their course once the plane had passed. Interesting though I'm guessing not so easy for the Geese in the dark! There doesn't seem to be a problem between the airport and the Geese.

Elsewhere I saw an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at Tesco's South Road. They rarely stay this late.
 

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