STONEFACTION BIRDING: 08/31/15

0198 : Incoming! (24/8/15)

With hindsight, not going sea-watching, or to the coast the previous day had been a rather large mistake, with some really good birds being found in relatively easy to get to places. With further easterlies forecast, and the Monday off from work, I decided to get up early and head to Fife to either Fife Ness/Crail or another location near Boarhills where some really good birds had been seen the day before, including 3 species of warbler that would be lifers for me (Reed, Icterine and Greenish).

Garden Warbler

Having perused the usually excellent Traveline Scotland website the previous evening for bus times I was up early and out of the door for the same time I usually leave for work. Again birds were in short supply from the bus stop with only Herring Gull and Woodpigeon seen while waiting. Feral Pigeon was added near the bus station, and Cormorants on Submarine Rock from the bus as we crossed the river. On reaching the Fife side, Carrion Crow and Black Headed Gull joined the others on the day list. A handful of other species were seen from the bus as we headed for St Andrews. Pied Wagtail, Starling and Swallow being the trio seen.

It turned out that the times on the website had been a work of fiction and that I would have to wait until after 0900 for a bus towards Crail. I still hadn't decided on my destination for the day, with arguments possible in favour of both - indeed I considered trying to visit both.. With time to kill, I had a short walk around the area near the bus station. House Martins overhead and a Goldcrest in the trees were seen, while a Magpie and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were both heard as was a Blue Tit. Lastly a single Robin showed well as I wandered back to catch the bus. Although I was early I only just made it, with the bus departing 2 minutes early.

Just after leaving St Andrews, House Sparrow went onto the list.Around 10 minutes after leaving the bus station we approached Boarhills. It was make my mind up time. Having never visited the village, and with a possibility of up to 3 lifers (and maybe more birds arriving), I decided to go for it. I only had the vaguest of ideas where I was going. A pool to the east of the village was how the location was described. Google Earth showed the likely location but just how to get there seemed rather vague. Linnet and Goldfinch welcomed me to the village, while Swallows and House Martins hawked around, and perched on wires. Wandering along the main street I spotted a Blue Tit and Collared Doves as well as a Woodpigeon or two.

When the main street turned into a farm track I continued down past a farm. Movement in a cabbage field turned out to be a juvenile Skylark. Now being able to see the sea, I had a quick scan picking up a Fulmar out over the water. A Curlew flew by. I eventually made it down to the coast by keeping hard up against the edge of a cereal field. The tide was on its way back out, but there wasn't too much shoreline visible yet. A few Sandwich Terns were fishing offshore, with Eiders on the water, and Gannets further out, low over the water. A Great Black Backed Gull and a Grey Heron could be seen among the exposed rocks along with a small number of Oystercatchers.

I made my way carefully over the rocks and pebbles. A large flock of Lapwings lifted from the shore a few 100 metres away, circling round before settling once again. Another stop to scan ahead of me resulted in Redshank, Dunlin and Turnstone being found among the rocks, while a Kittiwake was spotted out over the sea.A Stock Dove flew past overhead. I found the pool, bordered on 3 sides by trees, and with a reedbed at the beach end and within the tree line. There were a few spots where it was possible to see the water, but despite taking a slow walk round 3 sides of it, I drew a complete blank on birds.

I decided to continue on to the burn outflow a few hundred metres further on. I knew that large numbers of gulls roosted there, having seen them in the past distantly from Kingsbarns. I hoped that any migrants would also work their way up the burn, via the corridor of trees that arched above the burn. A few Knot were seen among the rocks, while 3 Common Sandpipers flushed from the water's edge. A Reed Bunting, a Yellowhammer and a juvenile Greenfinch were found in a small gorse patch. The going was tricky with no real discernible path to follow and I eventually reached the burn. A few Mallards, and Goosander could be seen as wel as large numbers of mostly Herring gulls.

A rather tricky descent down to the beach showed that crossing the burn wasn't going to be an option and neither was working my way upriver on the shore. Vegetation blocked the route into the trees, and the burn sides were rather steep and overgrown too. I was going to have to double back on myself. Another Common Sandpiper and a Wren were seen while I was down by the burn. It took a lot less time to find my way back to the pool, and when I got there I found Rab Shand and Ali checking the area. They had seen the Icterine Warbler, and Rab had seen an interesting looking bird that he wasn't sure about but was potentially a good one. We scanned through the trees for any movement. Bits of birds showed briefly among the leaves. An eye, a wing, a tail, a beak.

Something flitting about in the trees turned out to be just a Great Tit. Not the greatest start. I eventually found a warbler, but it was only a Willow Warbler. Another bird in the same tree looked more interesting. It was. Slightly. A Garden Warbler. Still, this was more activity than there had been earlier. A pied Flycatcher was next. A good bird, even if the views were mostly blocked by leaves. A Common Gull flew by. A call I recognised came from the pool. Kingfisher - I watched it fly low across the water and out of view. Further views of the Garden Warbler and Willow Warbler were had, before I received a text message from Nat, asking where I was. She had said that once she was finished the things she had to do in the morning she would meet up with me. I eventually managed to get a signal to reply and headed back up to the village to wait for her there, as trying to give directions to the pool weren't going to be to easy.

I wandered back up with Ali and Rab, bumping into a squad of birders on their way down, including Willie Irvine, Willie McBay and Davie Waters. More eyes meant the chances of finding other good birds should at least in theory be increased. Tree Sparrow was seen in the village. Nat arrived a short while later and we set off down to the pool. A Painted Lady butterfly appeared just as we were talking about not having seen any this year. Hopefully this was a good omen.At the pool initially it was the same birds as in the morning, the Willow Warblers, Garden Warblers and Pied Flycatchers. A Blue Tailed and a Common Blue Damselfly were seen in the long grass.

A few Golden Plovers overflew after the main crowd headed off back up the hill, leaving Nat and myself to see what we could find. A trip round the outside of the pool gave us a Whimbrel fly past, and just as Nat was about to step onto a small clump of earth in a water filled ditch to use it as a stepping stone I noticed the tail of a mouse disappear into a small hole where she was about to put her foot down. "Mouse!" said I. "Where?" said Nat, partially off balance by the late call while she was in mid-step. The clump wasn't the most stable of places to put a foot, and being a bit off-balance meant Nat's foot met the water rather than the mouse hole. Oops! My fault. Common tern and Razorbill were seen offshore.

As we skirted along the one side of the pool that we hadn't checked out, we spotted Tommy Ross wandering down through the next field up. He gestured, but I couldn't see the reason why. It turned out to be the Icterine Warbler had popped up on thistles ahead of him. We were joined by John Anderson and his birding pal, Beth. Pied Flycatcher gave us fleeting views, along with a Willow Warbler. Two birds shot out into the open, one chasing the other. Lesser Whitethroat being one, a bird I recognised instantly. The other vanished again. A Garden warbler skulked around among the branches. Someone spotted a male Redstart in the same bush. This burst of activity was very welcome after what had been a slow-ish but enjoyable afternoon.

Photos were taken but there was no sign of the one I really wanted to see, the Icterine Warbler. John and Beth headed off uphill again. A pair of Kingfishers were seen on the pond, as was a juvenile Moorhen. Blackbird and Bullfinch were both added as we tried another circuit. A pair of birders arrived who turned out to be the finders of the birds the previous day (Greenish Warbler, Icterine Warbler, 4 Pied Flycatchers, 6 Whinchats, Reed Warbler....) and we had a short chat. They explained where the Iceterine had been and also the Greenish. They were hoping to get photos of the Icterine and the Greenish. I would settle for brief views of either.

We made another circuit but things didn't look promising. Time was against us, with Nat needing to get home for around 1800. Just as we were about to set off uphill, the two birders waved to us. I hopped over the wall and hurried to them. The Icterine Warbler had just showed quite well. I waited, Nat coming to join us. A yellow-ish warbler flitted out. Is it? No, Willow warbler. Same again. We reluctantly had to admit defeat and started off again, only to stop for good views of the Lesser Whitethroat. I even managed a couple of video clips of the bird at rest. The Redstart showed briefly too. A shout went up again. Icky! We hurried back. 30 seconds or so later, out it popped onto a branch in full view. My first ever Icterine Warbler. I raised the camera and it was gone again. Still, we could now go home happy. A lifer for me, and my second in 3 days. It was Nat's 6th (Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat were lifers too).

As we wandered back up the track towards the village, a bird flew in and landed by a puddle not too far in front of us. A juvenile Dunlin. We took a few photos as the bird wandered around the puddle, then moved slowly towards it, expecting it to take flight at any second. It didn't. Instead it came closer towards us, until it was only a few feet away from us, giving me almost full frame shots. As it was a youngster maybe we were the first humans it had encountered, but it certainly wasn't particularly scared. I crouched down for a better photo angle, and Nat stood in the middle of the track. The bird decided to move on. Not by flying away, but by scurrying past Nat's feet a matter of inches away. One of those "shake head and smile" moments that birds sometimes give you.

A few steps on and a small bird flew out from the side of the field and off down the track before landing in some weedy vegetation. I hurried off to try and identify it, just in case it was a good one. It was only another Willow Warbler but it did give good views for a few seconds. A Whitethroat showed in vegetation near a flock of House Sparrows while a Tree Sparrow and Pied Wagtail shared an overhead wire. A Swift overflew us as a local dog took exception to us, barking loudly and repeatedly jumping up at Nat, despite the owner's loud and repeated shouts to it. Under control it wasn't, though thankfully, it was more excitable than aggressive. Still, you can never quite be sure. A Sand Martin was with the swallows and House Martins as we headed back towards St Michaels where Nat had arranged to collect her nephew, and to drop me off to catch a bus to Dundee again. The Rooks in the trees opposite gave me one last tick for the day.

Quality and a decent quantity, with the Icterine Warbler the icing on a rather rich cake, and a new stopping point.in easterlies during autumn. I never did make it to Crail (where a Wryneck was found by Rab in the afternoon).

61 species seen (year-tick in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Icterine Warbler, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Redstart, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.