Riverside Nature Park, Dundee. (4 Viewers)

delia todd · May 16, 2023

LOL Kawwauser... if you call that dirty windows... you should see mine!

mummymonkey · May 16, 2023

delia todd said:
Oh.... whereabouts did you stay in Blair?

Re Stormont... not been round it for ages. There was a wee car park at the beginning of the road, but sadly I'd not be able to walk up there now sadly.

Behind the High School. I grew up in Rattray.
Yes the wee car park is long gone sadly. You can usually park beside the loch though.

delia todd · May 16, 2023

Oh!!! A lot of new houses have been built behind the high school in the last 20 or so years - I can still get lost if I venture into the area LOL. I live off Jessie Street, on what was an old berry field, having lived in Strathardle for years before that.

Stonefaction · May 30, 2023

It can feel like a bit of a thankless task birding in Dundee almost exclusively and it isn't hard to see why I'm probably the only birder that isn't heading out of the city to 'bird-ier' areas at almost every opportunity. However, it does mean that when I do find something 'good' it feels like a bit of vindication for choosing to stay within the city. Sunday's Red Backed Shrike at the park (only the second - the first bird on 20/5/13 was found by Kawwauser) was one of those birds. It meant that I spent from 0830 to 1730 at the park. Unfortunately the bird went AWOL around 1110 and wasn't seen until around 3 hours later back where I'd seen it first. This meant that there were a few disappointed birders on Sunday who arrived during it's hours missing. Thankfully, it did show quite well after its rediscovery thanks to Angus Duncan (who happened to turn around and see a bird perched on the exact branch I'd told him I'd seen it on first).

This did mean that a few more birders connected with the bird. Unfortunately it appears to have moved on overnight leaving a few folk who couldn't get to the park on Sunday disappointed on Monday. I did take a LOT of photos on Sunday and I've finally managed to edit some, including a few 'action shots'.

(There were a few other goodies around - 2 Ospreys hunting over the bay at the same time a couple of times, and a new Damselfly species for the park - Blue Tailed, and my first Azure Damselfies at the park, as well as a Large Narcissus Fly -a bumblebee mimic).

Stonefaction · Jun 5, 2023

Following on from the Red Backed Shrike, a second even better/rarer bird was found just outside the western end of the park on Friday lunchtime by Ian Ford. It proved to be very hard to see - I managed to get 2 incredibly brief views. I'm aware of one blurry photo and one short phone video clip showing the bird. I tried to see the bird at lunchtime but it had stopped singing at that point, though when I returned later after work it was singing loudly as I arrived and continued to do so, on and off till at least 2000 when I left to finally go home. The consensus of opinion is that the bird was a Blyth's Reed Warbler - a new bird for me and my first 'lifer' since 2020 (also my 120th species in Dundee so far this year). Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, it appeared to have moved on overnight with no sign of it on Saturday morning despite an early arrival and a few hours hanging around/looking and listening. I did take a number of video clips of the song on Friday....

kawwauser · Jul 3, 2023

2 little grebes on the lochan just before 5,not sure if they were 2 females or 1 was a large juv?a female mallard with 7 duckling was harrasing them,swift/swallow and house martin all in the air at the same time,there was a lot of bees on the pink flowers (cant remember there name)that were sheltered from the wind no butterflies seen in the park earlier i was at morton lochs and it was the other way around lots of butterflies meadow browns/ringlets/green fritillaries/1 common blue but very few bees just shows you how important those plants are

Stonefaction · Jul 3, 2023

I was there on Saturday. I thought the 2 Little Grebes were an adult and a youngster but they may well be 2 youngsters, as it is usually a youngster we get there in Autumn. I do wonder where they've come from though. I couldn't get a count of the Mallard ducklings, but the Moorhen pair had 4 black fluffy youngsters. I managed 6 species of butterfly on Saturday too - Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown and Common Blue at the path down to the hide, and Red Admiral at a few spots. Meadow Brown along with Green Veined Whites just up from the car park, which was a surprise given how windy it was. However, the butterflies (and lots of bumblebees) were in the sunny and sheltered spots. There were also a few 6-Spot Burnet Moths around too. Nothing too out of the ordinary on the bird front - a few Sandwich Terns, Bar Tailed Godwits and Common Sandpipers in the bay.

Stonefaction · Jul 10, 2023

Keith Edwards did it again today with another new addition to the park list - a female Cuckoo. A species I was hoping to run into at the park yesterday but had to make do with a selection of butterflies including a Comma instead (picture below). Away from the park, I watched 2 Speckled Wood butterflies at Balgay Hill and could hear hungry youngsters from the Nuthatch nest I've been keeping an eye on. A Sparrowhawk which landed on the entrance to Tannadice Park (Dundee United's stadium) as I neared home late afternoon, posed nicely for a few minutes.
The Cuckoo is the 160th species recorded at/from the park, since the park opened back in June 2011.

160. Cuckoo

kawwauser · Jul 11, 2023

160 is an amazing number ,i had a walkabout late afternoon, there was a single lapwing feeding at the side of the lochan,it looked like it might be one of this years youngster's,a stock dove was bathing next to 2 woodpigeons , a sedge warbler was calling to the right but i never got a glimpse of it ,the female mallard still has 7 youngsters but the moorhens only had 2 on show ,reed bunting/yellowhammer/chiffchaff/whitethroat all heard calling plus swift/swallow/house martin all in flight, a goldfinch brought 2 youngster's down on the path and began feeding them , there was a single tern sleeping on the rocks sandwich i presume ,i checked the lssb rooftop colony at staffa place after tea time, lots s of adults sitting about but not much breeding evidence,2 pairs still sitting plus 1 large juv this species youngsters have a habit of grouping together and hiding especially if its hot,luckily we have over a week of rain in front of us so i will try and get a better look wed/thurs

kawwauser · Jul 18, 2023

a little grebe has again appeared on the lochan (17th)looked slightly different from the last birds,the female mallard was swimming with 8 juvs 1 of them must have been hiding the last 2 weeks,a female harlequin duck has appeared at keptie pond in arbroath ,this was going to be my target bird but the weather beat me

Stonefaction · Jul 30, 2023

Following on from the very first record on July 10th, Keith Edwards managed to find another Cuckoo at the park yesterday morning which I managed to get down in time to see (a new species for my own park-list - number 140, as well as a very welcome Dundee145 tick for me - number 132), though it was almost immediately spooked by a passing runner. Thankfully it reappeared but an executive jet taking off from the airport sent in off at high speed, though the crow that took exception to it appearing in the field to the north soon chased it back. It did show sporadically before heading into the scrubby area at the back of Buzzard Wood where I managed to lose sight of it, and there was no sign later when I returned having checked the bay at high tide for passing waders.

Stonefaction · Aug 23, 2023

Down to the park for 0600 this morning to try to catch up with a Ruff (found by Keith Edwards on Monday). I'd tried after work on Monday but glare and poor optics defeated me. 2 Foxes seen and 2 Tawny Owls heard en route. Found a single Ruff as tide came in, then 2 together when it receded. Met up with Keith after a spot of vis-migging (visible migration) which had produced Tree Pipits, Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches, Siskins, Pied Wagtails and Grey Wagtails, and Swallows as well as an Osprey. Detoured into the 'bowl' north of the composting toilet as Keith headed homewards and Keith's sharp eyes spotted a new park-tick for us both - a Spotted Flycatcher (only the second sighting - one previous sighting in September 2012). I ended up staying at the park until 1400 and managed to rack up a new record day count for the site of 66 species of bird - though if I'd been able to hang around longer (and walk even more) I suspect I might've caught up with some of the 'missing species' including Dunlin and Coal Tit (possibly also Little Egret - 2 seen together on Saturday, and Little Grebe - sporadic sightings over past month or so) to get a total closer to 70. I might try again on Sunday, weather permitting, as late August seems to be the best time for getting a lengthy list (previous best was 63 on August 31st 2014). Other highlights today included Turnstone, Knot, lots of juvenile Blackcaps, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goosander, Guillemot, 6 Osprey sightings, Sand Martin, Swift and a Wheatear, as well as a showy Speckled Wood butterfly in exactly the same spot as my previous sightings of the species at the park this year.

Stonefaction · Sep 22, 2023

Keith Edwards added species number 161 to the park list a few days ago on the 18th when an Arctic Skua was seen out over the river.
Here's a few recent blog-posts about my visits to the park over the past month or so, which you might not have seen yet ...