STONEFACTION BIRDING: 09/02/15

0200 : Guardbridge And Gannets Galore (26/8/15)

So this is my 200th blog post. Thanks to everybody who have taken the time to read my posts, to comment, or just to look at the pictures. Hopefully. you didn't just visit once, hopefully there was enough to bring you back again, maybe over and over. Someone must be coming back as the views per post are now averaging around 90 views per post. That makes the effort required to create a new post worthwhile, and gives me another reason to keep this going. Anyway, enough rambling....on with this post.....

Another Wednesday outing with Nat, but for once the weather forecast wasn't on our side with rain forecast at least for most of the morning, though it was to clear northwards. With this in mind I suggested we start in the hide at Guardbridge, then once the rain had passed northwards we could head down to Fife Ness for some sea-watching, and if there were any more migrant arrivals we would be nearby. I arranged to meet Nat at Guardbridge just after 9am.

Great Black Backed Gull

I left the house at around 0825 and headed round to the bus stop to catch a bus into town. Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove and Herring Gull were seen despite the rain. I didn't have long to wait for the bus into town, thankfully. It was a similar story at the bus station. Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen near the bus station with Black Headed Gull and Carrion Crow added once the Fife side of the bridge was reached. Swallow and Woodpigeon were both seen near Drumoig, while Jackdaw was added as we headed through Leuchars.

We headed into the hide. Nat had brought a borrowed scope and tripod along so that we could hopefully have a better chance of finding unusual waders in among the Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Curlews. A scope does make a big difference but it is another weight to carry, and if I'm birding alone, it generally isn't practical for me to take if I have my camera equipment with me. I suppose taking just the P900 and a scope would mean I could pick out distant birds slightly easier, though I would be less likely to catch flyover birds without the quick reaction times of the DSLR. It is a bit of a dilemma.

The feeders were busy with Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Chaffinches. Redshanks were the most visible wader species with good numbers strung out along the opposite shore. A few Goosanders were hauled out on the bank, while just in front of the hide a Wren popped up for a few seconds on the Buddleia bush. One of the local Buzzards mewed loudly from across the river. Greenfinches dropped in onto the feeders. Scanning with the scope found Lapwings and Grey Heron further downstream as well as a small group of Mallards near the bend in the river. There were also a number of Curlews dotted around on the exposed mud.

Nat spotted a few Pied Wagtails as they scurried around across the river. A Turnstone foraging among the seaweed on the far bank was a bit of a surprise. I found another couple of wader species soon after in the shape of Black Tailed Godwit and Greenshank. A Common Sandpiper call alerted us to the bird flying across the river. Among the Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls near the bend in the river were a few Common Gulls. More scanning with the scope produced yet another wader species, when I found a single Knot among the Redshanks. A small group of Dunlins were next, mingling with the Redshanks. I searched through the flock for a Spotted Redshank but with the light being rather poor, I drew a blank.

The peaceful and relaxing atmosphere was interrupted for a few minutes by the arrival of quite possibly the noisiest cleaner on the planet. If she'd arrived as a one-woman band complete with bass drum and cynbals she'd have been hard pushed to make as much noise as she managed with the bunch of keys and the various doors in the hide. I'm guessing that no-one has made her aware that bird hides are generally rather quiet places so as not to disturb the wildlife. Thankfully, there wasn't much cleaning needing done and with a loud slam of the kitchen door and the front door she was gone again. The four of us in the hide at the time were collectively less than impressed, but we got back to watching the birds.

A Kingfisher flew by, almost stopping to perch on the post in front of the hide but deciding against it at the last second before whizzing off upstream again. More scanning found a distant Ringed Plover, though I couldn't completely rule out Little Ringed Plover. A short while later, the identity was resolved when a mixed flock of Ringed Plovers and Dunlins flew in, and over the mud before settling. I can't think of too many times I've seen Ringed Plover at Guardbridge, if I ever have. Tree Sparrows popped in to the feeders. An Osprey was spotted distantly, and Oystercatcher was finally added to the day list when a few were found in the scope view while watching the Osprey. Mute Swans appeared on the river and a small group of distant Shelducks were spotted by the other birders in the hide.

A large flock of birds out in the river turned out to be Eiders. The first Great Black Backed Gull of the day was found and a small group of Canada Geese showed. We had a rather heavy downpour for a while, as the tide came in, which didn't help the search for Spotted Redshanks etc with the light getting progressively worse, not that it had been great to start with. A Robin visited the feeders, and a Cormorant flew upriver. A Peregrine dispensed a bit of havoc among the waders but went away empty-taloned. With the rain clearing and the majority of birds having moved further away from the hide with the tide almost fully in, we decided to head for Crail and Fife Ness.

We added a few extra species on the way to Crail, with Rooks in the fields, and a flock of Starlings on overhead wires. A Swift whizzed over and a small flock of House Sparrows were seen as we approached Crail. A flock of Golden Plover overflew as we drove down to the hide. It was immediately apparent that there were an awful lot of Gannets moving offshore. Where normally there would be a string of maybe 5 birds passing every 20 seconds or so, there was an almost constant procession of 15s and 20s. I attempted counting birds but had reached over 50 birds in less than 30 seconds. I don't think I've seen as many individual birds (of any/all species) in a similar time-frame ever.

It wasn't just Gannets, though there were that many Gannets around that it was difficult to attempt to filter them out, as to find anything else you had to make sure it wasn't a Gannet, so you had to check every string of birds. Shags and Cormorants were a bit easier as they weren't white, so they stood out. There were plenty of the former and a sprinkling of the latter both on and off the rocks off to the north. A few Fulmars glided by, some close in, others further out. We eventually added Kittiwake to the list as well as Sandwich Tern, while a Linnet posed out on the rocks. We also had a couple of flypasts by a group of Knot, a few in partial summer plumage still.

The Gannet numbers diminished slightly for a short while, though there were still 100s of birds passing every few minutes. We decided to move out onto the rocks, as by now the sun was shining, and the view is less restricted from outside the hide. There wasn't too much extra to see, though a Common Tern did go by. I did get a surprise while scanning along the horizon when I found the masts of a sailing ship sticking up. Maybe they were filming "Pirates of the Isle of May".

We headed up to Kilminning for a quick check but it was very quiet with hardly any birds around. We did find Goldfinch, while Sparrowhawk and House Martin overflew. We also had a better view of the sailing ship, with a white hull visible from the higher viewing point. I tried to check a marine traffic app on my phone for an identity but lack of internet coverage put paid to the idea.With nothing much else to see, we headed for home, adding Magpie before we reached Crail. Near St Andrews I finally got an internet signal and identified the ship as the "A.R.C. Gloria" - the flagship of the Columbian Navy. A long way from home.

A good day out with 59 species seen - Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.