STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0190 : Earlshall And Eden Estuary Excursion (8/8/15)

0190 : Earlshall And Eden Estuary Excursion (8/8/15)

As another Saturday quickly came round, I had no fixed idea where I would go to find some 'good' birds. A Black Stork at Loch of Strathbeg was more than a little bit out of range for me unfortunately, so I knew I would have to search for something good of my own rather than twitching someone else's find. Although it is always good to add a new bird to your life-list, there is something inherently more satisfying in finding your own goodies. At this time of year with birds beginning to move on after breeding, or for the first time, after fledging, there is always a chance. You just need to be in the right place at the right time.

Kestrel & Sparrowhawk

Although the Angus coast was tempting, I settled on a trip to Fife though the plans were rather vague. The rough plan was to bus it to Tayport, or Leuchars and walk around the coast to the other. With luck, waders and terns would provide the highlights, with White Tailed Eagle an outside possibility. I set off for the bus station at around 0810, almost immediately getting Herring Gull and Woodpigeon on the list with Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon and Swift soon after. Blackbird and Carrion Crow quickly followed while further towards the city centre, House Martins could be heard and seen high in the sky, catching insects to fatten themselves up for their long trip ahead. A Robin posed on a garden wall near the bus station and Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen while I waited for the St Andrews bus to arrive.

I settled on heading to Leuchars and walking out to the beach and north from there. This would hopefully mean that I would come across the large wader roost relatively close in with the tide state still quite high. From the bus, I added Cormorant on 'Submarine rock' but otherwise the trip was rather lacking in birds. A Brown Hare in the filed just after the dual carriageway was a nice surprise. House Sparrow, Jackdaw and Rook were all seen around St Michaels with Collared Dove seen when I arrived in Leuchars. I walked along past the primary school where House Sparrows chirped from the hedges and a few Herring Gulls were on the grass along with a Common Gull and a Black Headed Gull. Reaching the edge of the village, Tree Sparrow was seen with another speciality of the area a little further on along the road - Stock Dove.

Nearing the farm I added a few more species, Great Tit, Wren, Yellowhammer and Chaffinch, then another batch at the farm - Pied Wagtails in among the horses, a Greenfinch high in one of the tall trees and a small flock of Starlings. A young Buzzard mewed loudly from the former RAF base and I located it through binoculars. swallows swept low across the fields. Continuing on I found a Treecreeper among the conifers beyond the motocross track. A Willow Warbler foraged on the other side of the track among the trees.A Coal Tit hung from a branch above me picking at tiny insects among the needles and branches. I spotted a flock of large birds over Reres Wood as they arranged themselves into a V-formation. Canada Geese from the Eden Estuary.

As I walked along the track I watched as Swallows congregated above the track twittering and chattering, but also making an unusual call that I wasn't familiar with. I couldn't see what was causing the apparent aggravation. Suddenly a large-ish bird shot across the path in front of me from a fence post where I hadn't even noticed it was perched. I didn't get much of a view as it disappeared quickly into the trees but I was positive it would be a Sparrowhawk with prey. A short distance on, I got confirmation when the bird flew out, prey held in the talons, towards Reres Wood. It circled quickly to gain a bit of altitude, all the while being mobbed by the Swallows.

Reres Wood was quiet as is often the case, and I made it to the beach around 2 hours after leaving the house. There were hundreds of Oystercatchers strung out along the shore. Closer by were some Black Headed Gulls and Common Terns stood on the beach. To the north were a few more gulls and a Curlew. Offshore I picked out a few distant gannets but despite the calm sea, there was little to see. A pair of Dunlin flew past and Sandwich terns announced their presence by calling loudly as they hunted along the river. Heat haze prevented the identification of more waders out on a sand bank with more Oystercatchers. A Great Black Backed Gull was seen among a gull roost across towards Out Head.

Keeping as far up the beach as I could I edged closer to the Oystercatcher flock, hoping to be able to see along the beach from the runway approach light pylons. A Kestrel circled around behind me before gliding back over the base. A Sparrowhawk was next, gliding towards Reres Wood. The Oystercatcher flock spoked and moved a little further down the beach, so I doubled back to head towards Tayport. I picked out a Ringed Plover hunkered down among the broken shells on the sand. Scanning nearby found another two. I took a couple of photos and moved on, leaving the birds to relax again.

The walk back was quiet too, with little in the way of birds seen, or even heard until just before I reached the half-way point in Reres Wood. A flock of Long Tailed Tits was moving through the trees by the boundary fence. I then got distracted by insects for the next while, with my eyes cast downwards rather than up. Earlier at the beach I had watched Dune Robberflies and an unidentified wasp species but now my attention was on butterflies and dragonflies. Common Blue, Small Copper, Ringlet and Meadow Brown all fluttered by. A single Common Darter dragonfly landed on the track and a suspected Common Hawker flashed past. Near the end of Reres Wood a Grey Heron spooked from among the tree-tops. While photographing a tiny Groundhopper on a stone, I was asked what I was doing by a young boy on a bike. I told him I was photographing the insects. I was informed that he was on his way to collect a bag of sand for his mum from the beach. Quite clearly the 'don't talk to strangers' talk went unheeded at his house.

A bit further on and a short while later I head a pair of Linnets calling from the barbed wire fence and I spotted a Small Heath butterfly among the vegetation by the path. As I was photographing it, the boy on the bike returned and started asking questions about the insects. He then spotted a Grasshopper on the track and I somehow managed to catch it and let it sit on my hand so the boy could get a better view. Having never seen one, he seemed relatively impressed. He stuck around for the next hour or so, as I slowly wandered back towards Leuchars. A pair of Siskins overflew, and we spotted a fewmore Common Blue butterflies, as well as Small Tortoiseshell, Large White and an interesting looking hoverfly, later identified as Chrysotoxum Bicinctum. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into the trees on the base and a flyover Buzzard mewed loudly as it passed by. A Six Spot Burnet Moth flew past us but wouldn't settle.

I reached the gate and the young boy, curiosity sated and brain full of new insect information, continued on his way home with his heavy backpack of sand, and I cut along the track across the Muir. It was rather quieter than on my previous visit with Nat a few weeks previously with a lot less to see. A few Stonechats called from the tops of the Bracken with at least two being youngsters. Further on I found a further 3 of this year's young in company with a Linnet and a few Reed Buntings. Although there weren't too many insects around, I did find an Antler Moth and slightly further on a rather tatty and faded Dark Green Fritillary. My attention was drawn to two birds tussling over the boardwalk area. Clearly two small-ish raptors. They turned out to be a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel, so I made the most of the opportunity to get a few photos of the two species side by side, although they did keep their distance from where I was.

Walking back towards the farm I added Blue Tit and once back onto Earlshall Road I could see a group of House Martins and Swallows perched on the wires above the field. I was a bit more surprised to see a family of Mistle Thrushes on the grass in the grounds of Earlshall Castle when I peeked over the wall. Arriving back in Leuchars I didn't have too long to wait for the next St Andrews bus and I hopped on for the short-ish journey to Guardbridge and a welcome seat in the hide. When I arrived the hide was empty so I got organised and settled in for a couple of hours of relaxed and easy birding.

Most visible were the Mute Swans and Black Headed and Herring Gulls, with Redshanks and Lapwing strung out in ones and twos along the bank opposite. A surprise amongst them was a single summer-plumaged Knot, still with an orange belly. A small group of Goosander appeared from apparently nowhere down by the bend in the river. A small group of Mallards swam upriver and the first Osprey of the day was spotted out on one of the 'osprey posts' way out towards St Andrews. A Common Sandpiper showed briefly down below the hide. Things were steady rather than spectacular, with the occasional foray by one of the young Buzzards or a visit to the mud in front of the hide by a lone wader. One of these was a ringed Oystercatcher (which turns out to have been ringed by Chris McGuigan who provides me with info on my ringed bird sightings in Angus. Ironically I didn't email him about this one as the sighting was in Fife).

The small group of Canada Geese still out on the salt marsh departed upriver before a Little Egret was seen around the mouth of the Motray. These white birds are a regular late summer fixture these days on the Eden. When I saw my first ever of this species 10 years ago, they were still a rarity. Probably won't be too many years before they breed locally (or at least in Scotland). A pair of Black Tailed Godwits was my next find - a pair in summer-plumage, out on the mud. A few minutes later I was joined by a couple from Peat Inn and their appearance seemed to spark something as things livened up somewhat over the next half hour or so. I picked out some rather distant Shelduck, which I wasn't expecting. This was followed by an Osprey fishing over towards the base and succeeding in catching a fish before landing out on the mud with it.

Panic among the waders along the river signalled the arrival of a raptor. Not a Buzzard, or an Osprey this time, but a Peregrine, and very close to the hide too. Unfortunately, a bit too close as the frames of the windows interrupted the camera trying to achieve focus. While we were still talking about teh Peregrine sighting there was further panic among the waders and a bird flew across the river and round the back of the conifers. The initial thought was the Peregrine had returned but the bird was clearly smaller. Sparrowhawk seemed a better fit, but it hadn't felt like a Sparrowhawk. Something was strange about it. I had managed a single photo, so while I was pondering what it could be, I checked the photo on the LCD screen of the camera. I was very surprised and very chuffed to find that it was a first sighting in Fife for me of a Cuckoo. A juvenile heading south on its first migration.

Seconds later, a call came from low down and to our left. Kingfisher! It looked like it might land on the post but chose instead to keep going upriver. Another nice bird.I picked up a small raptor over the base and photos showed it to be a Kestrel. A young Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared on the feeders and our nice purple patch came to a close. I picked out a very distant Grey Heron above Reres Wood before I decided to head for the bus and home. While waiting for the bus a Dunnock called from the garden wall behind me. One final species for the day, taking my total to a respectable 66 species. getting home took longer than it should have but even that couldn't detract from what had been another good day out, even if it did involve a change of plan.

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

Butterflies and moths seen - Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Copper, Small Heath, Dark Green Fritillary, Large White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet. Antler Moth, 6-spot Burnet.

Dragonflies - Common Darter, Common Hawker.