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| Fieldfare |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Snipe |
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| Tree Sparrow and Corn Bunting |
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| Twite |
The best laid plans of mice and men etc.....
I did intend to blog on a daily basis but unfortunately my PC had other ideas and decided it didn't want to play that particular game, so a rather frustrating weekend attempting to fix things meant no blog posts, though I did manage two good days birding. So rather than one massive post, this will be more an edited highlights sort of post covering the two days (Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th January).
Saturday involved a circular trip around the eastern side of Fife with my birding buddy, Jacqui Herrington. I picked up my first new year tick as I walked down to the bus station in Dundee, a nice wee Goldcrest feeding among the bare branches of a tree by a block of flats near the city centre. We started at Guardbridge where a Redwing was foraging below the trees at the paper mill. Black Tailed Godwit, a Long Tailed Duck and Tree Sparrows were the other highlights before we set off for our first stop at Letham Pools.
Whooper Swans and Fieldfares were here in relatively good numbers, with the Fieldfare flock showing really well in the field next to the road allowing a few photos. Mountcastle Quarry, a short distance away, held a mix of waterfowl though nothing too great.
Onwards to Angle Park which was well populated with a mix of Swans, Ducks, Gulls and Coots and Moorhens. A Sparrowhawk being chased by a crow was spotted above the car as we moved off from our parking spot. From here we headed towards Rossie Bog. En route we stumbled upon a large flock of around 1000+ geese, both Greylags and Pink Footed Geese at Kilwhiss. A surprise slightly further on was 4 Magpies together. More and more of these birds are appearing in Fife and Tayside these days. My next new bird for the year list was Stock Dove, a small flock in a field by the roadside before we reached Rossie Bog. No sign of the male Hen Harrier which had been seen around the area, with Lapwings the best bird here.
Mostly waterfowl along similar lines to Angle Park at The Wilderness, near Ladybank. We were intending to head to Largo Bay in the hope of maybe seeing Surf Scoter or Red Necked Grebe though it was a slim hope for both. As we travelled south, Jacqui saw a sign for Buckhaven and we altered the planned route to go and pick up the local speciality. As always (or almost always), it was where it always seems to be. Shore Road, standing on the grass between the flats and the river - Mediterranean Gull. There is something slightly ironic about a "Mediterranean" bird favouring the "delights" of Buckhaven. Whatever the reason for Med Gull liking that particularly place, long may it continue, as it is always a good bird to see, and with such a reliable location semi-locally, it doesn't take too much effort to get one on the yearlist.
The car park at the waterfront at Leven only produced a mix of gull species and a Rock Pipit or two, with Eiders offshore. The waters off the Fife coast were very quiet, with a few Eiders and not too much else visible among the waves. A similar situation was found at Lower Largo rather disappointingly, so we headed along the main road heading for Crail and Fife Ness. We stopped off at a couple of likely spots for Corn Buntings, near St Monans, but drew a blank, although at the first a Buzzard sat on top of a hedge was a nice bonus. At the second, a large flock of Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammers put in an appearance though they were very flighty which made checking for Corn Buntings among them rather difficult.
A large flock of Linnets was at Kilminning though there wasn't much else noticably around. Fife Ness next, where the hide provided a wind-break as we sat in the sunshine on a flat rock. Again, it was very quiet offshore. A drake Teal was a bit of a surprise. I added Guillemot and Kittiwake to my yearlist. A Red Throated Diver, a few Great Black Backed Gulls, Eiders and the usual Shags and Cormorants more or less completed the picture here.
A brief stop next at Kingsbarns saw another Diver, which on photos showed a few markings that hinted at a possible Black Throated, but the pics aren't good enough to be certain. The final stop was Out Head at St Andrews. Walking through the dunes we added Skylark and Reed Bunting but overall it was very quiet with the tide well out and the beach still quite busy with walkers.
Final total for the day was 64 species - 6 of which were new for the year (in bold).
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard, Mediterranean Gull, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
And, so to Sunday and an outing to look for waders along the Angus coast with the Angus and Dundee Bird Club. Starting at Balmossie we picked up a nice mixture of the usual suspects with Grey Plover probably the most unusual of these. A wee change of plan was in order with a nice Red Necked Grebe having been showing well for a few days at Monikie Country Park. Unfortunately we arrived to a virtually full car park with a bi-athlon event taking place. There was also no sign of the Grebe. I did manage to add a single Grey Wagtail to my yearlist.
We next headed to Elliot reedbeds on the outskirts of Arbroath, to look for Snipe and Jack Snipe. We only managed the latter when two birds flushed, although there was a possible Jack Snipe which only flew a short distance but wasn't seen well enough to be certain. Jack Snipe was however seen on Saturday at my own patch of Riverside Nature Park in Dundee during a guided walk led by Ian Ford.
We then travelled a short distance to near the harbour to try for Purple Sandpiper. A small wader roost here held around 20 or so, along with Oystercatcher and Redshank. A few Curlew were also nearby. The next stop was to be Montrose Basin visitor centre for lunch. A little discussion with Steve who was giving me a lift ensured a bit of a detour en route. Steve had never seen Corn Bunting and I needed them for my yearlist, so we headed for a farm well known for holding a decent sized flock in winter. Getting out of the car I could hear a few birds calling and soon located them in a large tree. There were also a lot of Tree Sparrows, as well as Yellowhammers, and a few Linnets and at least one Chaffinch and Reed Bunting. A large flock of Rooks and Jackdaws were spooked from a nearby field.
We headed back to the main road and caught up with the rest of the ADBC group at Montrose Basin. The tide was in so conditions weren't brilliant but after a spot of conversation and some help finding the birds I managed another two species for 2014 - Scaup and Greenshank. A group of 25+ of the former well out in the basin and a single of the latter feeding along the shore near the visitor centre.
Talking to Steve again, we decided we would find our own way back to Dundee rather than continuing with the main group. First target would be around the far side of the basin, along the path for the Wigeon and Shelduck hides. There is a large pile of grain here which draws in a flock of birds. Chaffinches and Twite mostly. As we walked along it looked deserted, but as we drew closer I spotted Twite feeding. Small flocks of birds dropped in adding to the number. These were mostly Chaffinches but other Twite also flew in. We managed to get pretty close to the feeding flock which were quite settled. Most of the Twite appeared to be colour ringed birds. Apparently a large proportion of these birds come from the Western Isles for the winter. Always worth seeing.
We then headed onwards to Montreathmont Forest in the hope of maybe picking up Crossbills or Green Woodpecker from the gate. Quiet was an understatement, with two flyover gulls being teh only birds seen. We then made our way to Monikie again, where we had heard the Red Necked Grebe had been reported again. When we arrived we bumped into another birder who had spent two hours looking for it and drawing a blank. We had a look too, but needless to say, drew a blank as well. The light was fading so we headed back to Dundee.
A decent day out with 60 species seen. Again 6 were new for the year (in bold).
Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Scaup, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Twite, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Over the course of the two days I sawe 81 species, taking my yearlist to 103. Not a bad start to 2014.