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| Yellowhammer |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Greylag & Pink Footed Goose (Lapwing behind). |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Gadwall |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Skylark |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Lapwing and chick |
With no concrete plans and a longer lie-in than intended I found myself contemplating whether or not to head out somewhere for a few hours birding, but was undecided where to go with Riverside Nature Park a likely destination, more for convenience than any other reason. However, in quick succession I received two text messages from two of the local bird clubs of which I am a member widening the choice, and increasing the chances of adding to my year list.
From Fife Bird Club came news of another sighting of Temminck's Stint at Letham Pools, where there had even been two of these tiny waders earlier in the week while I had been stuck at work. From the Angus Bird Club grapevine came word of a Spoonbill at Montrose Basin. Neither are particularly common birds in easy to get to places, and neither tend to show up when I'm not at work much either. To have a choice of both species while being limited to public transport was fairly typical luck for me. I would have to decide on one or the other.
Both species had advantages and disadvantages. The relative sizes made the Spoonbill fairly easy to see from a distance, while the Stint would be a challenge to pick out owing to its diminutive size. A disadvantage of the Spoonbill was the distance likely required to get reasonable views. Being at the opposite end of the Basin from the railway station would mean around an 8 or 9 mile walk. Doable but not ideal. Distant views, likely through heat haze, may have been possible from the much nearer Visitor Centre but a 40 minute round trip n foot would be required even for that. Letham Pools however had a bus stop right at the end of the road that splits the two flooded fields. The only walking required would be from one end of the pools to the other. Checking the train and bus times made Letham the winner, so I headed for the bus station to catch the X54 bus.
I left the house around 1315 to catch the 1340 bus. As is usually the case, the later the departure from home the less birds are usually seen. As it turned out, Herring Gull was the only species seen before I jumped on a handily timed bus into town with a few others seen at the bus station. Once across the Tay bridge we headed into Newport where House Martins swooped around the roofs and a few Starlings were seen perched. The bus then heads uphill out to the countryside and the main road. Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow were both added before the main road was reached with Jackdaw soon after. It was very quiet between here and Letham with only a single male Pheasant not far from Rathillet.
Unexpectedly when I arrived at Letham Pools there were no other birders so I would be on my own as far as finding the Temminck's Stint went. Not the easiest of tasks but one that I had come prepared for, carrying a small spotting scope with me. Weight considerations usually mean that I bird without a scope but knowing that I would only be walking a very short distance and that I was looking for a very small bird meant that for once I brought one with me. I would scan with binoculars mostly and if I spotted any potential Stints (or anything else of note) I would switch to using the scope.
The first birds seen were Coots and Lapwings with one or two Mallards near the top half of the left hand pool. A Pied Wagtail scurried along the pool edge. A bit later on I was joined by a lady birder who spotted a small bird in the same area as a Pied Wagtail but couldn't get a decent view to determine what it was. I wandered back around to the road in the hope that the small bird was maybe the Stint. Unfortunately it turned out to only be a juvenile Pied Wagtail.
Redshanks were another wader around the edges of the pools in small numbers. Gadwall pairs were also quite noticeable. A Sedge Warbler flew up in display flight from a patch of hedge by the road. A few Linnets flew down onto the road searching for food. As I wandered along the road edge I spotted movement by my feet. This turned out to be a couple of Common Blue Damselflies. A male and a female, though neither in adult colour and my first damselflies of the year.
A bird flew off from the right hand pool edge near the road. This was my first Little Ringed Plover of the afternoon but I failed to see where it landed. A bit more scanning added Mute Swan and Oystercatchers to the list. Surprisingly considering the rather late date, a Pink Footed Goose was in the company of some Greylags by the edge of the right hand pool. Yet more scanning with binoculars found a pair of Shoveler. Some Black Headed Gulls were around as was a Shelduck.
A few Sand Martins swopped around, perching from time to time on the dividing fence that cuts across the middle of the left hand pool. A small group of House Sparrows hopped around on the road and a Meadow Pipit made a short display flight from one of the grassy fields. While scanning again, I spotted a small brown and white long legged bird scuttling around at speed. It was quite tricky to see and so I took a few photos. Yet again however, I was slightly disappointed to find that it wasn't the Temminck's Stint. What it was though was a very young Redshank, which in itself was a bit of a surprise. I had great prolonged views of a Little Ringed Plover feeding along the muddy edges by the road. Like a lot of the waders that pass through here, this one seemed unbothered by my presence so nearby on the road. I have watched Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff and Snipe equally as unconcerned in the past at the same piece of ground just beyond the drainage ditch and fence.
Twittering Swallows overflew, and a little later and a bit higher a couple of Swifts swooped around. I wandered back towards the main road where I could see a singing male Yellowhammer in the trees behind the bus shelter. I was constantly scanning the edges but still no sign of any Stint. A Common Gull flew through, and by the southern end of the right hand pool I spotted another small brown-ish bird, This turmed out to be a Skylark foraging around on the ground. A familiar screech heralded the arrival of a Grey Heron, the first of the day which was briefly mobbed by a few Black Headed Gulls when it landed in the left hand pool. Keeping an eye on the time I found that my time left to find the Stint was rather limited if I wanted to be home before 6pm. Having already spent almost 3 hours searching in vain, I decided to catch the 5 past 5 bus back to Dundee. Walking back towards the bus stop a Common Sandpiper spooked from the right hand pool. I listened to the still singing male Yellowhammer as I waited for the bus which was running slightly late.
Heading back through Fife there weren't many obvious birds around until the bus reached the outskirts of Newport. Heading back downhill through the streets added Chaffinch, Collared Dove and Blackbird to the list for the day. 36 species but no Temminck's Stint. My pal Gus Guthrie managed to get some really good film footage of the Spoonbill at Montrose Basin while I was hunting for Stint. Still it was an enjoyable, relatively easy afternoon's birding.
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Ringed Plover, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.