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| Looking towards RAF Leuchars. |
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| Looking East. |
Rather than sit at home all day on my first annual leave day of 2014/15, I decided to spend a few hours over at the Guardbridge hide despite the less than promising conditions. The visibility wasn't particularly great from my living room window and I suspected that Fife wasn't going to be much better. However the weather forecast did predict that the rain was to stop. One small piece of positive outlook. There was a chance of Wheatear and Sand Martin with a lesser chance of a possible Chiffchaff and maybe even an Osprey passing through. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so at around 5 minutes to 1 I headed for the bus stop with my scope in the bag, rather than my usual camera kit.
Woodpigeon, Lesser Black Backed Gull, and Blackbird gave me a less than promising start to the day list while I waited on the bus into town. I hurried though the Wellgate to try and catch the bus to Fife from the bus station, adding a couple of Herring Gulls near the bus stop on Victoria Road. Unfortunately I managed to miss the bus I was hoping to catch but it was a fairly short wait for the next one. A few more Herring Gulls and a Feral Pigeon were seen before the bus left the station. The windows were rather steamed up and a probable Cormorant was all that could be seen en route to Guardbridge. A single Mute Swan was on the Motray water.
As I got off the bus, a Carrion Crow and 2 Herring Gulls wandered around on the grass behind the bus stop. Birds could be heard calling from the trees as I walked through the park to the hide but with my binoculars tucked away in my bag I didn't stop to try and see anything. There was no-one in the hide, so I first checked the feeders before getting the scope set up and opening the windows. Chaffinches were the most numerous birds at first, with a few Great Tits and Blue Tits also flitting around.
Visibility was pretty poor with planes landing at RAF Leuchars hidden in the mist. It was just possible to make out the horses in the field and far end of the bay, but this didn't last for too long. Three Lesser Black Backed Gulls, a few Oystercatchers and a few Carrion Crows occupied the centre of the mud. Along the edges, a few Teal and Redshanks fed and roosted among the washed up seaweed. Checking further out using the scope I managed to find a few Black Tailed Godwits with a few Curlews along the north bank. A pair of Shelducks pushed their red bills through the mud looking for something edible. A couple of Black Headed Gulls were picked up rather distantly and a few Herring Gulls flew in to join the Lesser Black Backeds.
The feeders remained rather busy with Blackbird and Woodpigeon joining the smaller birds on the ground below the peanut feeders. A drake Mallard flew in and landed on the river in front of the hide. A pair of Redshanks fed on the mud to the right of the hide but soon wandered out of view behind the vegetation. A Buzzard flew across the river and into a favoured perch in a small tree in front of the conifers. It didn't remain there for too long before flying to perch on the 'goalposts' where it sat with wings held slightly outstretched allowing the water to run off them. A Cormorant flew upriver and more Carrion Crows flew in to join the few already out on the mud.
Checking the feeders again, a few male Siskins had joined the throng and jostled with the Chaffinches for prime position on the baskets. A couple of Greenfinches were next to join the jostling for position, along with a couple of House Sparrows. On the feeders to the north of the hide a pair of Tree Sparrows saw off a few challengers for their position, as a Dunnock fed unobtrusively below them. A small flock of Feral Pigeons whizzed past the front windows, their wings making a whooshing noise as they did so.
The visibility was starting to worsen and it was becoming difficult to see very far even with the scope. A drake Goldeneye dived just at the bend in the river but within minutes even that area was enveloped by mist. I had heard a Pied Wagtail a few times but failed to see it. However, as I packed away the scope and tripod, I heard it call once more and saw its lolloping flight over towards the far bank. I saw it, or another, from the bus stop while waiting for the bus home again.
Thankfully, the windows on this bus were cleaner than the earlier one, but birds were still few and far between on the way home, although a few Rooks on the north edge of Leuchars and a male Pheasant in the fields behind the Pickletillum Inn were late additions to the day list. Not a great day out, with only 29 species seen (and none of the hoped for birds among them) but at least it got me out of the house.
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldeneye, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Siskin, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon