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

Riverside Nature Park, Dundee. (1 Viewer)

there were approx. 250 black headed gulls resting on the mud in front of the hide today at 12.00,highest number I have seen here since winter,a pair of shelduck were also feeding here,after scanning the gulls for ten mins I noticed 2 shelduck ducklings were running about a short distance from the adults only a small number of waders here,1 dunlin/2 redshanks/5 lapwings/2 oystercatchers,lesser black backed gulls and herring gulls were mingling with some jackdaws feral pigeons and 2 mutes,a whitethroat was showing really well right in front of the hide and a wren was foraging in the wall of the hide,a kestrel glided over virtually unnoticed (saw 3 whitethroats just to the left of the hide)on the lochan a female mallard was swimming with 4 small ducklings,swallows feeding youngsters on the telegraph wires were also attracting attention from people at the dump area, at buzzard wood there were some juv starlings and goldfinches,(goldfinches were all over the park)2 wet greenfinches were with the usual flock of chaffinches,a song thrush was feeding its 2 large offspring here, there was a bird in the background which I only caught a quick glimpse of,i could have sworn it was a spotted flycatcher,spotted flycatcher has only been reported from here once,without backtracking I cant remember which month it was, spotted flycatcher is still missing from my year list but I wont count this bird,chiffchaff and yellowhammer heard but not seen,
birds seen

swallow/woodpigeon/goldfinch/song thrush/starling/carrion crow/black bird/greenfinch/chaffinch/black headed gull/house martin/mallard/kestrel/herring gull/jackdaw/lapwing/lesser black backed gull/mute swan/feral pigeon/shelduck/whitethroat/redshank/dunlin/dunnock/reed bunting
 

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There is a Bioblitz event on at the park today between 1pm and 4pm. The aim is to record all the bio-diversity within the park (birds, plants, trees, insects, animals, etc). The birds are well documented (via here) but the rest is probably greatly under-recorded. You probably don't need to be able to ID things, bring a camera and take pics of what you see, and fingers crossed things can be ID-d later from the photos, although if you are an insect/plant/moss/fungi/etc expert then all the better.
 

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quite a few noisy sandwich terns in the bay at 9.00 pm ,first sandwich terns I have seen/heard in the park this summer,several common sandpipers and what looked like 2 goidwits in the distance ,there is a strange looking plant next to one of the paths
 

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I've just realised that I haven't posted anything from the Bio-blitz yet. Oops!
My own bird list for the day reached 31 species.

Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren and Yellowhammer.
Other species seen/heard by others included Spotted Flycatcher and Sedge Warbler both along towards the hide.

Insect photos from the day can be seen on my facebook page....
https://www.facebook.com/stonefaction/media_set?set=a.10152180261328021.1073742029.591318020&type=3
Identities required for quite a few of them still.

P.S. I'm not much use with plants, but I think there is some sort of Poppy thing going on with your flower (maybe a garden variety?).
 
seen these prints in the mud at the edge of the small pool at the edge of buzzard wood,initial thoughts were pheasant but after web searching im now thinking maybe moorhen or snipe ?
 

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42 species seen at Riverside Nature Park this morning between 8am and 1045.
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit (1), Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper (12+), Cormorant, Dunlin (50+), Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing (2), Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit (2), Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck (1 adult and 11 young), Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk (1 male low over car park), Starling (1), Stock Dove (2), Swallow, Swift, Willow Warbler, Wodpigeon, Wren and Yellowhammer.
 
A wee bit behind with posts again. Popped down to the park on Tuesday evening from about 6:15 till 8:15 to show a friend around. Pretty quiet overall, with only 26 species seen.

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, herring Gull, House Martin, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Swallow, Teal, Woodpigeon
 
A visit yesterday (Saturday) proved a god bit more productive than Tuesday evening's visit with 40 species seen. Some good waders around - Ruff (year tick for me), Knot, Black Tailed Godwit and Turnstone. A Whimbrel was seen earlier by a birder from Blairgowrie. Good views of young warblers (Whitethroat, Blackcap and Willow Warbler) with the area behind the car park proving very busy.

Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull (500+), Black Tailed Godwit (2), Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot (1), Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan (2), Oystercatcher, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Ruff (1), Sand Martin (2), Sandwich Tern, Shelduck (4 juv), Starling, Stock Dove (1), Swallow, Swift (4), Turnstone (1), Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Common Sandpiper and Magpie heard. Whimbrel seen by others.
 
there was a juvenile magpie ground feeding at the lochan this morning, it flew across the road after a while and was struggling to fly,while watching some common whitethroats in the bushy area to the right of the locan I caught a glimpse of what I think was the lesser whitethroat,i only saw half its body but it was certainly a lot greyer then the others
 

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Popped down to Riverside Nature Park early today to hopefully catch a wee bit of vis-mig. Lots of Meadow Pipits, some Tree Pipits, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins aplenty (and a single Swift). A Spotted Redshank was in the burn in front of the hide. A Jay was at the eastern end of the park. A family of 5 Magpies were around all day. A Kingfisher was a new 'patch tick' for me, as was the rather more unexpected Fulmar which appeared from the direction of Ninewells. A couple of Tree Pipits dropped into the park mid-afternoon, one even having a bath in Buzzard Wood. Long Tailed Tits eluded me all day, I could hear them but didn't manage to see them. Finally connected with a very showy group as I headed for the exit. Previous record for number of species seen was 53 (+1 heard only). Today I managed to see 62 species!

Full list (0830-1710)- Blackbird, Blackcap (1), Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff (1), Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper (2), Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fulmar (1), Goldcrest (1), Goldfinch, Goosander (1), Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank (1), Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail (2), Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Jay (1), Kestrel (1), Kingfisher (1), Lapwing (100+), Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie (5), Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan (3), Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting (1), Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Redshank (1), Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift (1), Teal, Tree Pipit, Whitethroat (1), Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Also Red Admiral, Large White and Peacock butterflies, Common Darter dragonflies, Pond Skaters and a Diving Beetle, Nettle Tap and Common Carpet moths.
 

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well done on the increase of 9 on your species seen in one day list barry, I made a note of the kingfisher appearing in the last two weeks in September in the last 2 years ,nice to see its made an early return,i seen one bird today which wasn't on your list ,1 coloured ringed dipper seen at the rear of the tunnel,a magpie was sitting on sentry duty on top of a tree at the car park,i wonder if they have moved in or is it just a family group foraging about ?,might explain the drop in small bird numbers at the buzzard wood area
 

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I had a quick walk around this morning before heading for the Arbroath area looking for little gulls, a little grebe has appeared again on the lochan,the kingfisher was perched on the rock nearest the tunnel,at the rear of the tunnel a bat was flying about,while trying to get pics of the bat I never noticed the kingfisher flying through the tunnel and perching on the wall beside a clump of grass,it only caught my eye when it took flight,the reason I always check this spot out is that I was hoping to see a perched kingfisher ,with a bit of luck this might be one of its favoured perching spots when its around, I had some nice close views of a family of chiffchaffs at buzzard wood

I found 2 little gulls at Arbroath esplanade in among the black headed gulls,this was near high tide,a group of 5 stonechats were making their way along the clifftop ,all looked to be female,i had another barn owl sighting this week a perched bird just south of newbigging
 

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i went down to the rear of the tunnel at teatime to see if I could get a better look at the kingfisher, it was still flying about only it was landing on all the wrong branches, a second ringed dipper has turned up this one has a metal ring on its right leg,i had a nice view of a perched sparrowhawk at this same spot,the tide was high so no waders about,a single magpie was flying close to the road and the little grebe is still on the lochan,a small number of house martins flew in for a drink then flew off,there is quite a few smaller birds flying over the park but I couldn't id them,people were collecting the wild berries at buzzard wood and 1 individual was also collecting them on monday
 

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Popped down to the park early yesterday morning (Sunday) to see a ringing demonstration by members of Tay Ringing Group. Lots of Robins ringed (1 managed to get caught 3 times!), plus Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Meadow Pipits, Song Thrushes, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Long Tailed Tits, Blackcap.

There also appeared to be a decent amount of vis-mig overhead with Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Swallows and a Grey Wagtail all moving west, plus possibly Song Thrushes and the apparent fall of Robins.

Managed to see 44 species in total - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Knot, Lapwing, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
 
I will be leading a guided walk in the park tomorrow from 1pm till around 3pm. There is also a bird nest box making session (for use in the park next Spring). Meet at the car park for both activities. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear (it could be a bit muddy, though hopefully it will stay dry overhead).
 
Popped down to the park to do a wee recce before the guided walk and to hopefully catch the tide on its way in. Spotted Redshank once again in the burn in front of the hide, and a Sparrowhawk with a kill out on the mud (tide came in quicker than the bird could eat it).

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Redshank, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
 

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Oh well ... at least he got his feet washed LOL.

Nice ones Barry.
 
I have just bought a new camera (canon sx 60) which has a bit of zoom on it,i intended on a full day out at various locations testing the zoom, the waders in front of the hide was one of them, needless to say todays weather cancelled that, at 2.00pm the wind dropped from severe down to just very windy and I headed down to the park to test the camera at the hide /lochan area ,I only managed half an hour, , behind the tunnel I found a coloured ringed dipper, the tide was fully in and the burn was in full spate so the dipper had no choice but to feed on the wire fencing, it was finding a lot of very small insects in the moss,at the lochan a lot of birds were sheltering from the wind, most I have seen on the lochan,there was close on 200 redshanks resting on the far side, quite probably the spotted redshank was with them but I couldn't pick it out,there was a small amount of dunlin plus 4 black tailed godwits,this is the first time I have seen godwits on the lochan,teals and mallards were also resting, a pied wagtail plus a magpie flew over and the mutes were swimming about
 

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