STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0185 : Saturday Surprises (25/7/15)

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.