STONEFACTION BIRDING: July 2015

0186 : Just Another Ordinary Day (28/7/15)

Despite intending on getting out birding on each of my "5-day weekend" break from work, I had failed on both the Sunday and Monday to do any birding whatsoever, choosing instead to stay at home, editing photos and not blogging (as I possibly should have been doing) and various other things. However, I decided that I wasn't going to spend the Tuesday stuck indoors. However, the weather forecast meant that a vague plan to go to Fife Ness was put on the back-burner. If I timed it right I could pop down to Riverside Nature Park and hopefully see the waders in the bay as the tide came in, and all before the forecast rain arrived.

Grey Heron

I set off at around 1045 beginning my day-list with the trio of Blackbird, Herring Gull and Swift. Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were both added from the bus into town. The journey from the city centre to the Nature Park proved very quiet with only a single House Martin seen above houses on the Perth Road. A Sandwich Tern was the first bird seen on arrival at the park with a bird passing eastwards over the airport heard first. A family group of three Carrion Crows and a solitary Woodpigeon were next as I walked hurriedly along the road to the Invergowrie end of the park. A few Swifts were seen high above and a Black Headed Gull transited over from the direction of the bay.

I decided to scan first from the bridge over the railway line which gives a better view of the waders than can be had from the hide. There were Redshanks down below the hide, a few Oystercatchers and a Curlew, as well as the usual mix of gulls - Black Headed, Common, Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls. From the path to the hide I added Cormorant, then scanning from the hide itself, I found Mallard, Lapwing, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow. I chatted to a couple of impressed visitors who were making their first visit to the park but who said they were thoroughly impressed with it. A Grey Heron flew in and found itself mobbed by a Lesser Black Backed Gull. A passing train spooked most of the waders so I headed off into the park to see what else was about, before the rain which looked fairly imminent arrived.

A Sedge Warbler sang loudly from the bushes by the path and I spotted it tucked in among the branches of a small bush before it dropped further into the vegetation and out of sight. A few House Martins passed over. In the fenced off area near the end of the path I chanced upon a nice little mixed group of birds - a few Reed Buntings, a few Whitethroats and Goldfinches.The Lochan was empty and there was little else to be seen, or even heard as I headed round towards the car park. A Buzzard was spotted towards the airport. At Buzzard Wood I added Chaffinch, Willow Warbler and Blackbird before I headed for the exit as the rain started to fall. A Wren family was in the bushes by the eastern pedestrian entrance.

I decided that rather than going home to sit around, I may as well sit around in the hide at Guardbridge and see some birds in the process, so I caught the bus into town and another across to Fife. Swallow was the only addition seen from the bus on the way. I was hoping that the tide would be beginning to head back out and that I might find some interesting waders around, though it is still slightly early for most of the really good passage species (though Ruff and Green Sandpiper have been seen at Montrose Basin this week).

When I arrived the tide had started to turn but most of the birds were still quite distant round by the 'goalposts'. There were birds around the feeders though - Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches and Greenfinches. Mute Swans, Curlews and Redshanks were the most obvious species along with the gulls - Great Black Backed, Herring, Common and Lesser Black Backed. The local Buzzard youngsters loitered around by the conifers opposite the hide. A pair of Common Sandpipers flitted low across the river to forage along the fence-line. A Grey Heron flew in but there was no sign of any Little Egret. Carrion Crows wandered around on the freshly exposed mud.

The Canada Geese flock wandered off the salt marsh and out across the mud to the water. A few Oystercatchers were spotted around on the mud and a very distant Cormorant was seen, wings held outstretched in characteristic pose. A large group of Goosanders swam upriver, sometimes on the surface and sometimes under it. I counted 24 in the group and later found another 4 further down the river. Tree Sparrow and House Sparrow both showed at the feeders. Once again I managed to spot a distant Osprey hunting out over the outer reaches of the estuary. A Sand Martin whizzed past. I had noticed a few Swifts flying in and over the hide earlier in the afternoon. The more I looked the more I noticed that there was actually a fairly steady passage of a few birds every minute or two passing over, possibly moving ahead of the weather.

A Dunnock appeared below the feeders, and I eventually spotted a Mallard on the river before deciding to head for home. Starling was added at the bus stop, while a Greenfinch sang from its perch on a TV aerial. Jackdaw and Rook were both seen from the bus as I headed back to Dundee after a quieter day's birding than the previous attempt. Still, as always, it was better than sitting at home.

List in two parts - Riverside Nature Park (27 species seen) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Dundee and Guardbridge (35 species seen) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon.

Herring Gull

Grey Heron

Grey Heron & Redshank

Goosander

Herring Gull

Osprey

Buzzard

Redshank

Curlew

Common Sandpiper

Swift

Black Headed Gull

0185 : Saturday Surprises (25/7/15)

With nothing planned for Saturday, except a rather vague plan to either head to Fife Ness or Morton Lochs dependent on getting out of my bed at a decent hour and timing the public transport, it was a welcome message from Nat saying that she had Saturday free if I wanted some birding company. We eventually settled on starting off at Earlshall Muir trying to find a few species of Butterfly (Small Heath and Dark Green Fritillary in particular) before heading on from there, dependent on the weather. Birds wouldn't be the main priority though in all likelihood we would still see a few species.

Stonechat

I arranged to meet Nat in Leuchars before 9am, so that we would have the best of the weather (rain showers were forecast for around lunchtime), so I left the house at around 0815 to walk to the bus station. It was quieter than usual with very few birds around. Feral Pigeon and Herring Gull kick-started the list but more of a surprise was a pair of Grey Wagtails which called as they flew over, not once but twice. Woodpigeon, Swifts and a surprise and rather vocal Magpie in a tree added to the slightly unusual start to the day's sightings. The only other additions before I reached the bus station were Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow and Blackbird.

From the bus, Cormorant was added as we crossed the road bridge. Near Drumoig, a Kestrel gave chase to a Carrion Crow as it dropped from its pole top perch, and a Buzzard was added a minute further along the road. House Sparrows were seen passing St Michaels and as I got off the bus in Leuchars a Collared Dove overflew and landed in a tree in a garden. A Jackdaw was in another tree as I headed round to find Nat. We drove along to the farm at the end of Earlshall Road to walk the short distance to where we would search for our target insect species.

Goldfinch and Pied Wagtail were seen around the farm buildings, with Linnets further on. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was spotted motionless at the top of a tree and we had good views before it spotted us and flew off. I suggested as it was still relatively cool that we search the boardwalk area a little further on for dragonflies rather than starting our butterfly search too early. Reaching the small wooden gate, I was surprised to see that there was plenty of activity. Meadow Pipit was first, with one perched on the fence before flying off. A juvenile Reed Bunting showed well, the first of a few of these birds seen. A Skylark flew off. A trio of Stonechats were seen - an adult male, a female and a youngster though not all in one place, though likely all the same family group. A rather smart looking Lesser Redpoll male perched briefly on the fence before a group of Starlings flew out of the field towards the military base.

Wren was next onto the list as we wandered along the boardwalk. There were no dragonflies to be seen, but Nat spotted a Plume Moth by the path. I could hear Long Tailed Tits but they proved elusive. Less elusive however were a Robin and a Willow Warbler. As we walked I heard a half-familiar bird call but couldn't quite place it. I knew I knew what it was and it was coming from two birds flying past. Suddenly I realised what they were. Crossbills, and my first of the year. I managed a series of very poor record shots which confirmed by ID of the call. We decided to walk across the open area to the edge of Tentsmuir Forest, on the off-chance that we might see something interesting along the way. I managed to find another Great Spotted Woodpecker that I could hear calling. A Stock Dove overflew as the sun made an appearance.

As we walked back from the forest edge we started to see a bit more movement of insects. A Beetle with purple colouring wandered across the track, and a small butterfly flitted past. This turned out to be the first of a Few Small Heath butterflies. A few Ringlets and Meadow Browns also crossed our path as the sun increased the temperature nicely. Siskin was the next addition to our bird list, the distinctive call alerting us to the approach of a single bird. A few more insects posed for photos - mostly Grasshoppers and Hoverflies. We ran into a small flock of birds which gave us Chaffinch and finally a Long Tailed Tit or two. On the boardwalk edge Nat found a wasp species that I think may be a Digger or Solitary Wasp species. A Shieldbug was found at the other end of the boardwalk.

We stopped to watch the numerous bird movements with Lesser Redpolls overflying, lots of to-ing and fro-ing of Stonechat adults, Meadow Pipits, Goldfinches, Starlings and a Willow Warbler. A Buzzard with an item of prey in one talon flew off a short distance to a quieter spot to enjoy its meal. With so much activity it was slow going but we eventually headed off to the main area where we hoped to find a few Dark Green Fritillaries. As we walked along an Oystercatcher called, and having not see the species yet, I looked up to where the call was coming from to get the species on the list. A bird of prey was a bit higher in the same bit of sky. Checking with binoculars I found that it was an Osprey with a flatfish in its talons, and we watched it circle up on a thermal before flying off to the northwest.

Disappointingly the pools where I had found Azure Damselflies previously had dried up and there didn't appear to be too much on the wing, except Ringlets and a few Meadow Browns. Nat found a 6-Spot Burnet moth and as I was taking a photo, I heard another distinctive call from above. This time it was a pair of Ravens, a species I've seen in the area in winter but obviously now an all year round resident, as the headed over towards the forest. Another very welcome surprise sighting. The insect sightings started to pick up too, with Common Blue butterfly, Yellow Shell moth, Small Tortoiseshell and a mating pair of 6-Spot Burnets all seen. A Fritillary flew past me, but I lost sight of it, and Nat failed to see it. Still, it meant that they were around. I watched a pair of Ants trying to move a much larger insect body in a sandy dip before another Fritillary caught my eye.

Rain was moving in from the north and the sky was getting darker and more threatening by the minute. The lack of photographable Dark Green Fritillary was also a bit frustrating. However, as is often the case our earlier disappointment was forgotten about when Nat found a mating pair of the species in the grass and we both managed to get some good photos (and even a short video clip) of the pair. We headed back to the car, adding Song Thrush, Coal Tit and Greenfinch on the way, and just as we sat down in the car, on came the rain. Our timing couldn't have been any better.

With skies heavy with rain to the north a trip to Morton Lochs looked like being a wash-out, so instead we settled for another visit to the hide at Guardbridge instead. Black Headed, Common, Herring and Great Black Backed Gulls were all out on the mud. Mute Swans were on the water, while along the edges, Redshanks and a few Grey Herons hunted around for food. The Canada Geese flock was still around, and Curlews were dotted around as they are for most of the year here. A bit of searching found the Little Egret. Tree Sparrows and House Sparrows visited the feeders, along with Great Tit, Chaffinch and Greenfinch.

Shelduck was the next addition, a single very distant bird being seen further downriver. A Dunnock showed in below the feeders picking around at fallen pieces of food.A few Mallards swam by upriver, while a Common Sandpiper put in an appearance a short while later. Overall it was quite quiet but as always there is more going on where you aren't looking than there is where you are at any one time. The local young Buzzards kept up a bit of a racket, mewing at each other over by the conifers. A small group of Goosanders was spotted near the gull flock.

A flock of Lapwings were spotted flying round beyond the farm in the direction of St Andrews, their distinctive wing shape helping to ID them. A few Swallows and Sand Martins zipped through southwards. Scanning around I picked up a distant bird that I was sure was an Osprey hunting over Balgove Bay and the outer parts of the estuary. A few photos showed enough detail, despite the distance, to confirm the identity. Shortly after a male Sparrowhawk caused a bit of commotion opposite the hide before flying across the river and into the trees to the south.

With the weather improving we decided on one last stop before heading home. rather than popping into Morton Lochs we decided on the river at Tayport harbour, so off we went. House Martins were seen near St Michaels, while on reaching the harbour at Tayport we discovered that there wasn't much to be seen. A Herring Gull perched atop a lamp post. An Eider in eclipse plumage was hauled out on a seaweed covered pipe. A pair of Oystercatchers and a Curlew were on the mud exposed by the tide, but scanning across the river only resulted in the addition of a very distant Sandwich Tern spotted by Nat, before we called it a day.

Despite having low expectations of seeing much of interest bird-wise, and with insects planned to be the main focus of the day, we had somehow managed a list of 62 species of bird including a year-tick for me (in bold), as well as a few very good birds (Raven, Stonechat, Osprey, Magpie, Lesser Redpoll etc).

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Stonechat

Reed Bunting

Plume Moth

Linnet

Crossbill

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Beetle sp.

Hoverfly sp.

Wasp sp.

Shieldbug sp.

Lesser Redpoll

Buzzard

Stonechat

Stonechat (and Willow Warbler)

Stonechat

Osprey

Raven

6-Spot Burnet Moth

Yellow Shell

Ant sp.

Dark Green Fritillary

Little Egret

Curlew

Buzzard

Goosander

Buzzard

Oystercatcher

0184 : Fine Time In Fife (22/7/15)

Having missed out the previous week on my weekly Wednesday outing with Nat owing to being unwell I was determined to get out although I wasn't feeling 100%. We decided to stay relatively local, starting at Guardbridge and possibly going a bit further afield to Fife Ness, or closer to home (Morton Lochs) once we had had enough of the Eden Estuary's offerings. I arranged to meet Nat at Guardbridge just after 9am, when the hide was due to open.

Little Egret

I set off into town at around 0830 with Swifts overhead and Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls on lamp posts and rooftops. With the slightly later start than usual, and thus more people and traffic around, the birds were much scarcer than on a typical Wednesday. Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were the only additional species seen before I caught he bus to Fife. Cormorants were on 'Submarine Rock' in the Tay, and a Carrion Crow was seen as we passed through northeast Fife heading. Between St Michaels and Guardbridge my luck began to change with a quick-fire run of 4 new species even if they were only Jackdaw, Rook, House Sparrow and Starling.

I reached the hide at Guardbridge where the Ranger was still in the process of opening up just before 0910. Opening the window wide it was then just a case of being careful to note what I could see. A Great Black Backed Gull stood out from the Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls on the mud. Slightly more than a dozen Canada Geese swam together on the river as did a similar number of Mute Swans. A few Redshanks could be seen picking around on the mud at the water's edge. Tree Sparrows were busy at the feeders once the Ranger had left, and a Common Sandpiper flew across the river. More scanning found Curlews bunched up together across the mud as well as others dotted around widely. A group of around half a dozen Dunlin were with the Redshanks. There were also a few Oystercatchers around.

Blue Tits visited the feeders before I spotted a Little Egret across the far side of the river. A smal group of rather distant Shelducks were picked out just before Nat arrived to join me. Having pointed out the highlights we scanned around for more variety.swallows swept low up the river and over the pools opposite, hidden behind the vegetation. Lapwings were surprisingly easy to overlook as they stood motionless. A Blackbird fed in below the feeders. Black Headed Gulls could be seen a little upstream, a juvenile bird amongst them. A Grey Heron flew down the river and landed. I spotted the Kingfisher as it shot by low along the river, but Nat missed it. A few minutes later we had a repeat performance. The first Buzzard of the day flew up into the conifers opposite the hide, and I spotted a Red Breasted Merganser downstream as it swam across the river and out of sight.

A Sand Martin swept upriver and a Chaffinch appeared at the feeders. A short while later, a group of Linnets overflew the hide. Great Tit was nest to show up on the feeders. A Goldfinch flew past the front of the hide. Across the other side of the river a Mallard family group swam upriver close into the far shore. Our first Common Gull of the day could be seen out on the mud. A family party of Greenfinches turned up on the feeders next, the two adults and a single youngster which showed well the differences between the three plumages although reflections made it difficult to get a photo. While scanning along the treetops of the conifers I spotted a slim bird perched behind a Woodpigeon. I suspected a Sparrowhawk and indeed that was what it was. We watched a Herring Gull attempt to swallow something large that looked like it might be a bird, but photos showed it was a large fish head.

It was more of the same for the next hour. Nat popped out to the car to grab something to drink and when she was gone I spotted a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying out from the trees to the left of the hide and across to the conifers where I managed to see that it was a female bird, lacking the red crown of a juvenile, or the red nape of a male. A Dunnock showed at the feeders and I was just about to remark that I could hear a Robin when it obligingly popped out onto a branch. We were joined by another birder and as we chatted I happened to look up and spotted a large-ish bird hovering above the river. I knew right away what it was and I pointed out the Osprey to Nat and the newcomer. A second Little Egret appeared from somewhere, with both birds stood close together at one point. One of the birds was ringed with a blue leg ring, which shows it was ringed in England, though the code was unreadable on the few photos which showed it.

As I was feeling slightly better than I had been earlier in the morning we decided to head for Morton Lochs for the afternoon to hunt for insects, and maybe a few extra bird species. House Martin was added at St Michaels with a Kestrel perched in a dead tree just a little further on, and a Yellowhamer on the wires above the field opposite the access road into Morton Lochs singing to confirm its ID just as we slowed down to check, which saved us the effort.

We had a quick bite to eat before setting off from the car park along the old railway line away from the 'crowds' towards the hide overlooking the quieter loch. This path always seems to have a good variety of insects in summer and despite it not being particularly warm we still managed a nice mixture. A bee mimic fly was first, followed by a few Shieldbugs. Micro moths lifted from the grass at our feet, as Ringlets and Meadow Browns flitted about among the longer grass at the side of the path. A few Grasshoppers hopped away from us, and while looking for one, I spotted a Straw Dot moth low among the vegetation.

An Empis tessellata fly rested on a plant and a Blue Tailed Damselfly was spotted. A Cranefly was next and an Ichneumon species drifted low among the stems looking for prey. Another micro moth species and a rather dark spider completed the haul before we wandered into the hide. Out front there wasn't much to see except a Grey Heron and a Mallard. A few Woodpigeons overflew and a family of Mallards swam by but it was rather quiet. A Buzzard appeared over the trees, and an adult and juvenile Moorhen were over to our left. We heard the Kingfisher calling before we spotted it, landing in a small tree by the water with a large-ish fish in its bill next to the young Moorhen which had hauled itself out of the water onto a low branch.

The Kingfisher disappeared out of sight a moment or two later but reappeared and gave itself a quick wash before flying off again. We watched it return a few more times before getting distracted by a group of 5 juvenile Stock Doves all together in a small tree near the Kingfisher's perch. There were no adult birds around but the group seemed to be related and stuck close together. They lacked the irridescent patch on the neck of the adult birds. After a short shower of rain we set off to explore the rest of the reserve. A Treecreeper was spotted and filmed climbing a tree trunk as we walked back towards the car park.

We added a selection of insects around the paths, especially Common Darter dragonflies which seemed to be everywhere. In addition, there were Common Blue and Blue Tailed Damselflies, Field Grasshoppers and more butterflies including a Dark Green Fritillary and a few Common Blue butterflies. As we headed towards the hides overlooking the Loch we stopped to check a small sheltered pool with a boardwalk around it, where Dragonflies were sunning themselves. A large insect whizzed by us and I thought it was maybe a Chaser dragonfly. It wasn't. It flew straight at me and vanished from view. I looked down and found it perched on my jacket. A Giant Woodwasp, and a rather large specimen at that. I coaxed it onto my hand and managed a few photos before offloading it onto the wooden fence.

From the hide we watched Mallards, a family group of 10 Mute Swans and various Little Grebes out on the water as well 2 Sedge Warblers in the vegetation a few feet in front of the hide. Woodpigeons, Grey Heron and Buzzard completed our haul from here before we headed back to the car, stopping briefly on the road to view both lochs but seeing nothing else of note though we did get some footage of Little Grebes. Nat dropped me at the Tay Bridge car park and I caught a bus back to Dundee after adding one final species to the day list - a Pied Wagtail as I waited for the bus to arrive.

A good day out, as usual, with a nice mix of birds and insects again. 53 species of bird seen -Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.