Riverside Nature Park, Dundee. (1 Viewer)

[kawwauser]

I seen a pair of shellducks in front of the hide area today,14/02/22,a wee bit earlier than my usual sightings,i have been visiting on a weekly basis for 5 weeks about 1.30 onwards and the tide is always out and have missed out on the waders ,are the redshanks/others still roosting on the lochan?a couple of noisy magpies were having a territorial dispute ignoring all the walkers today,a small vole has been putting in a quick show on the corner of the area leading to the hide,im tempted to put down some food to get some pics for id purposes, I also seen my first lssr backed gulls of the year at clatto,they have just recently made clatto a home, the council have invested a lot of money promoting the reservoir as a sport centre,(new toilets and moving everything about)1 feared for the very successful pair of gc grebes here but after negotiating the newly installed speed ramps im sure visitor numbers will drop dramatically

 

[Stonefaction]

Haven't seen the waders roosting at the Lochan on any recent visits, bar a few Oystercatchers. I guess the last pair of Great Crested Grebes in the city will be looking for another home soon. I best try to see them before they realise they're no longer welcome this Spring. Ancrum Outdoor Centre seem to be the ones behind the kayaking. Wonder if they could be persuaded to concentrate their use to the eastern end to minimise disturbance to the Grebes.

 

[Gander]

Haven't seen the waders roosting at the Lochan on any recent visits, bar a few Oystercatchers. I guess the last pair of Great Crested Grebes in the city will be looking for another home soon. I best try to see them before they realise they're no longer welcome this Spring. Ancrum Outdoor Centre seem to be the ones behind the kayaking. Wonder if they could be persuaded to concentrate their use to the eastern end to minimise disturbance to the Grebes.

We have had similar problems at Kinghorn Loch, despite the owners of the water (Alcan) stating that conservation is the primary purpose at the loch. we only had one late breeding pair of GCGs last year. In fairness, the canoe club were very receptive to our concerns, and certainly tried to get their paddlers to avoid the area, but it is very hard to control. Then if you throw in paddle boarding, you are going to be stuffed. All of our Little Grebes disappeared in the spring/summer, when a boarding company moved in. They have returned in the winter, but I doubt if they will stay to nest if the boarding kicks in again.

 

[Stonefaction]

We have had similar problems at Kinghorn Loch, despite the owners of the water (Alcan) stating that conservation is the primary purpose at the loch. we only had one late breeding pair of GCGs last year. In fairness, the canoe club were very receptive to our concerns, and certainly tried to get their paddlers to avoid the area, but it is very hard to control. Then if you throw in paddle boarding, you are going to be stuffed. All of our Little Grebes disappeared in the spring/summer, when a boarding company moved in. They have returned in the winter, but I doubt if they will stay to nest if the boarding kicks in again.

There are Little Grebes at Clatto too, though not certain if they breed or not. Seems to be unfortunate that the same places that are desirable for Great Crested Grebes also seem to attract the kayaks/canoes/paddleboarders too. Forfar Loch used to be decent for pairs of GCGs but even there the numbers have dropped possibly as a result of additional disturbance on land (dog walkers) and on the water (sailing etc). Not aware of too many other decent sites for them in Angus/Fife area.

 

[Gander]

There are Little Grebes at Clatto too, though not certain if they breed or not. Seems to be unfortunate that the same places that are desirable for Great Crested Grebes also seem to attract the kayaks/canoes/paddleboarders too. Forfar Loch used to be decent for pairs of GCGs but even there the numbers have dropped possibly as a result of additional disturbance on land (dog walkers) and on the water (sailing etc). Not aware of too many other decent sites for them in Angus/Fife area.

Kilconquhar Loch is pretty good for GCG, but sites for them are getting fewer. I think Kinconquhar is probably protected, as I've never seen watersports on it.

 

[Stonefaction]

Kilconquhar Loch is pretty good for GCG, but sites for them are getting fewer. I think Kinconquhar is probably protected, as I've never seen watersports on it.

Think there is at least one small boat hut around the southern edge at Kilconquhar but most likely for fishing rather than any other sort of 'sport'.

 

[kawwauser]

piper dam and lairds loch used to have little grebes

 

[JTweedie]

There are Little Grebes at Clatto too, though not certain if they breed or not. Seems to be unfortunate that the same places that are desirable for Great Crested Grebes also seem to attract the kayaks/canoes/paddleboarders too. Forfar Loch used to be decent for pairs of GCGs but even there the numbers have dropped possibly as a result of additional disturbance on land (dog walkers) and on the water (sailing etc). Not aware of too many other decent sites for them in Angus/Fife area.

I remember going on holiday to the Norfolk Broads when I was a young teenager and there were loads of grebes and they didn't seem to be too bothered by the constant boat traffic. Albeit the boats moved along at a more leisurely pace, but the grebes seemed to be able to tolerate some levels of disturbance. So could it be something else that discourages them from nesting in those areas?

 

[MJB]

There are Little Grebes at Clatto too, though not certain if they breed or not. Seems to be unfortunate that the same places that are desirable for Great Crested Grebes also seem to attract the kayaks/canoes/paddleboarders too. Forfar Loch used to be decent for pairs of GCGs but even there the numbers have dropped possibly as a result of additional disturbance on land (dog walkers) and on the water (sailing etc). Not aware of too many other decent sites for them in Angus/Fife area.

Have they gone from Balgavies?
MJB

 

[Stonefaction]

Have they gone from Balgavies?
MJB

Been a few years since I've been able to get up there, so I'm not sure. Plenty Little Grebes around locally, it is the Great Crested Grebes that seem to be increasingly much harder to find. With regards the 'boat traffic' comment by JTweedie, I suspect the size of the boats may be the determining factor - the larger the vessel the less obvious the humans on board, a one man kayak/canoe is gonna look like a slightly 'extended' human, a yacht/barge etc perhaps less 'human' and more inanimate object (if that makes sense?). There were some water activities last year at Clatto, I believe, and the GCGs still bred, so it may be that I'm being overly pessimistic, and they will do so again this year. Fingers crossed.

 

[JTweedie]

Been a few years since I've been able to get up there, so I'm not sure. Plenty Little Grebes around locally, it is the Great Crested Grebes that seem to be increasingly much harder to find. With regards the 'boat traffic' comment by JTweedie, I suspect the size of the boats may be the determining factor - the larger the vessel the less obvious the humans on board, a one man kayak/canoe is gonna look like a slightly 'extended' human, a yacht/barge etc perhaps less 'human' and more inanimate object (if that makes sense?). There were some water activities last year at Clatto, I believe, and the GCGs still bred, so it may be that I'm being overly pessimistic, and they will do so again this year. Fingers crossed.

You could be onto something although I remember feeding geese from the boat so at least they were aware that the boats contained people. The grebes would swim alongside the boat, just beyond the geese that were being fed, so I always assumed they were hoping for something to eat too. It could be they've become habituated to the boats, like many of the birds on the Broads. They're just used to the boats going back and forth and don't feel threatened by them.

 

[Stonefaction]

I expect that initially anything new in the environment will be treated with at least suspicion by most (though probably not all) individual birds. As time goes on when it becomes apparent that there's no real threat then that 'new' thing likely becomes just another part of the environment for the birds. I suppose the problem comes when the numbers of individuals are low and those birds that are there, desert the area because of the change the new thing brings about. In time, if the habitat is suitable then others of that species may return to the area where the once new thing will then just be part of the whole new area for those birds and treated as just another thing to be initially wary of, though not necessarily the main thing.

 

[kawwauser]

came across a pair of fighting wrens at the car park on Monday,the birds were right under my feet and weren't bothered about me being so close,i tried gently nudging them with my foot ,they broke up the began fighting again almost immediately

 

[delia todd]

OMG!! Who would have thought! That must have been amazing to observe.

Many thanks K - any chance you can upload that to the Gallery too, it could be viewed via Opus then as well.

 

[Gander]

came across a pair of fighting wrens at the car park on Monday,the birds were right under my feet and weren't bothered about me being so close,i tried gently nudging them with my foot ,they broke up the began fighting again almost immediately

A fight in a Dundee car park! Surely not!

 

[kawwauser]

hi delia I tried uploading the wrens fighting vid but get this message (The uploaded file is too large for the server to process.)

 

[KC Foggin]

That Wren fight is astonishing! I have never in my 20 plus birding years, have never seen anything like that.

 

[delia todd]

hi delia I tried uploading the wrens fighting vid but get this message (The uploaded file is too large for the server to process.)

Hi K

I don't think you can upload videos directly to the Gallery, but use someone like You Tube and share it (I haven't ever made a video, but I think it's something like that). I presume that's what you did when you put it on this thread?

 

[kawwauser]

the toilet and one of the outbuildings have had a makeover,a big improvement over the old corregated toilet,well done to the artist

 

[Stonefaction]

Saw the Skylark one in the car park being worked on last Tuesday when I was down there. The toilet looks very smart....though a word of warning the door lock no longer actually seems to work properly....