STONEFACTION BIRDING: 09/09/15

0205 : Arrivals And Departures (9/9/15)

When we were making the arrangements for the Wednesday outing the original plan had been to head for Kinghorn for a spot of sea-watching (technically river-watching) then possibly visit Cullaloe nature reserve before working our way up the coast to Fife Ness. However with the winds from the east and a Fea's Petrel reported off Yorkshire but heading north last night, I decided that We should maybe do things in reverse. Fife Ness etc for sea-watching then search for migrants then head down the coast to Ruddon's Point and onto Kinghorn then home.

Whimbrel

I had arranged to meet Nat at the Tay bridge car park again, so I was out the door at about 0750 to walk to the bus station. Woodpigeon, Starling and Feral Pigeon were the only birds seen on the way into town. Cormorant was added as I headed across the bridge. While waiting for a few minutes at the bridge end car park I decided I might as well see what birds were about. There were Black Headed Gulls on a few of the lamp posts, and a Carrion Crow up nearer the bridge while over to the left a pair of Great Tits and a Blue Tit were loitering in and around a small bush, before a Blackbird flew in to join them.

Once Nat arrived we headed off for Fife Ness picking up a few new species along the way -Jackdaw and Collared Dove in Leuchars, House Sparrow in Guardbridge, House Martins just east of St Andrews and a Buzzard near Crail. A Magpie was seen on the road out to the golf course. It was a bit chilly, compared to the weather on Sunday when it felt almost like Summer, but we were prepared for the expected temperatures although we were going to be sheltered by the hide from the worst of it. A quick scan before we headed to the hide gave us a Linnet, Gannets, Shags, Cormorants, Grey Heron, Fulmar and Great Black Backed Gull. A Redshank flew by as we walked along to the hide.

Out on the rocks and in the water were a small group of Eider, a flock of Teal flew past. Nat spotted a Guillemot just offshore in the swell, while above the first Common Terns of the day flew by. A few Oystercatchers wandered around among the seaweed at the water's edge. There was a steady flow of birds passing offshore, mostly quite distantly. The first string of Common Scoters flew north, while Kittiwakes and Sandwich Terns passed by in pairs. More scanning through the scope produced more of the same. I eventually picked out a ginger-brown bird with white patches on the primaries following a Gannet. My first Bonxie (or Great Skua) of the year. I tried to get Nat onto the bird, while also trying to re-find it with the camera but we both failed.

A few Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls transited by, while a Pied Wagtail flew up from the rocks. A pair of Rock Pipits did likewise a few minutes later. A Curlew seemed to appear from nowhere out on the rocks, though it probably flew in while we were looking at something else. I spotted a Razorbill among the Eiders just offshore and as I was trying to give Nat directions to the bird, a dark bird flew through my binocular view. Immediately, I gave up on the Razorbill and followed the dark bird. A Brent Goose, which I did succeed in getting Nat onto. A new bird for her, and one that we had actually discussed earlier in the car as we passed their usual Winter haunt of Balgove Bay. A pair of Dunlin flew low along the front of the rocks and Nat had a flock of what she thought were likely Knot, but I failed to see them.

We gave up on the sea-watching at around 1100 and headed back to the car with the scope, stopping briefly to chat to Willie Irvine who was on his way into the hide. We checked Stinky Pool by the edge of the golf course where there were a small group of Redshanks and a few gulls. Nat found a bird that she thought initially was a Curlew but then almost immediately realised that it didn't look quite right. It was another new bird for her, a Whimbrel. We had decent views of it until it flew off towards the rocks in front of the hide and out of our sight. A Kestrel flew over the golf course and up past the clubhouse, before we headed up to check out the Patch (Fife Ness Muir). Dr Cobb had the nets up but they were empty and there didn't appear to be too many birds around though we had good views of a Goldcrest in the gorse on the way up.

We headed up to check out Kilminning, stopping by the top end. A flock of Goldfinches were in the trees just slightly further down the road and as I stopped to look at them I spotted movement lower down. A juvenile Spotted Flycatcher. A nice bonus bird. A few Swallows passed over, our first of the day. We clambered over the earth piles to see what we could find in the top area to the west of the road. It was fairly quiet, though a few Skylarks appeared from over the trees. A Song Thrush flew out from the bushes as we headed back to the road. Chaffinch and Dunnock were seen here. We checked out the grassy area on the other side of the road with Willie who had finished his sea-watch and who was now also hoping for some migrants. A Yellowhammer was the only addition before we moved on down to the bottom end car park for some lunch.

On the drive down we stopped for a quick look at Lapwings, Starlings and Woodpigeons in the stubble field to the left. Lots of searching saw lots of fleeting movements among the branches and a few unidentified calls (possibly Whitethroat or Lesser Whitethroat), plus a few fly-over birds (Yellowhammer, Linnet, Skylark, Pied Wagtail and Golden Plovers). Willie had found a Spotted Flycatcher and a possible Pied Flycatcher in the opposite corner and we saw plenty of movement as well as hearing a calling Willow Warbler in the trees. I slowly moved in to the area below the trees to watch for the birds in the branches above. I was rewarded with a close Chiffchaff plus the Willow Warbler and a nice Lesser Whitethroat. A Tree Pipit overflew as we decided what to do with the rest of the afternoon.

We headed first to Kingsbarns where juvenile Gannets seemed to be using the area just offshore to practice their diving while plenty of Common Terns and a few Sandwich Terns passed along the coast. A Common Gull was joined on the beach by a small party of Ringed Plovers and a trio of Dunlin as well as a Redshank. A pair of Turnstones landed on a small rocky island to pick among the seaweed. A few Pied Wagtails flitted around by the car park and Goldfinches were seen on the way back up to the village.

We decided on a half hour stint at Guardbridge hide to add a few extra species to our total for the day. Tree Sparrow and Greenfinches were on the feeders. A few Mallard were dotted around as well as Mute Swans, while a Ruff flew in to join the Redshanks opposite the hide. An Osprey perched on the 'goalposts' flew off just as I was describing where it was to Nat. The same bird (or another with the same preference for an eating post) returned just as we were about to leave with a large flat fish. Nat found a pair of Goosander and I spotted a pair of Canada Geese before it was time to call it a day and we headed for home. One final species was added, a group of Rooks were in the stubble field by the railway station at Leuchars.

I had a wee bonus sighting when I arrived home and was putting the kettle on. I heard a Magpie out back and saw one bird. Moving to a bigger window for a better view I discovered there were actually 4 of them and they seemed to be picking fights, or teasing, the local birds - Carrion Crow, Collared Dove and Starlings, with the Collared Dove especially giving chase to one of the Magpies, which stayed just out ahead of the chasing Dove. Only the second time I've seen Magpies from home (though I have seen them nearby from outside).

An enjoyable day despite the temperature but we ended up with a nice mix of species with a very creditable 67 species in total seen including a year-tick for me (in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Pipit, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.