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

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.