STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0233 : Estuary Expedition (25/11/15)

0233 : Estuary Expedition (25/11/15)

At this time of year, there can be a nice mixture of species across a wide range of families to be found around Tentsmuir Forest and the Eden estuary. For our usual mid-week outing, Nat and myself decided on a visit to this part of the local area. Mid-week has the advantage of less disturbance as there are generally less people around so the chances of seeing good numbers of birds is increased. We decided on a slightly later start than our usual 0800 start. With daylight hours lessening as the weeks advance towards the year end, this wouldn't really have any impact on what we were likely to see.

Stonechat

I left the house at around 0830. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon went onto the list within seconds. A fly-over Goldfinch was next, while a Blackbird foraged below the bushes by the path. A Carrion Crow cawed loudly from its rooftop perch, and a Black Headed Gull glided across the road as I walked down into town to catch the bus to meet Nat. Near the bus station I stopped briefly at a small car park where a number of Blackbirds were picking around in the dead leaves on the ground to watch a few Goldcrests in the bare branches of the trees above.

I arrived at the Fife end of the bridge to wait for Nat who was delayed slightly by an accident. I used the few minutes extra available to add a couple of new species to the list - a single Redwing, and a pair of Jackdaws. We headed for Leuchars to take the road out to Earlshall Farm. Rooks were seen at St Michaels. Arriving at the farm we saw Chaffinches and a Great Tit as we got out of the car. A Starling flock flew into the trees at the military base. We set off to walk out to the beach. We stopped to scan for Buzzards and found 2 perched on lighting poles at the moto-cross track. Another Buzzard was eating something on a fence post a bit closer. A few Fieldfares, Redwings and a Robin were around the corner of the same field.

We stopped a bit further on to check an open area for Woodcocks but drew a blank. There was a small flock of Long Tailed Tits nearby however. Coal Tits were feeding in the conifers by the track. Further round we added Greenfinch with a small flock of Goldfinches. We scanned across the muir for Stonechats and found a pair perched atop tall plants. Dunnock and Wren were both added as we headed for Reres Wood. Stock Dove was our next addition as 4 flew westwards. Rooks were noisy in the trees at the rookery site at the start of Reres Wood but with the exception of a few Chaffinches on the base fence there was nothing else seen until we reached the beach.

We could hear Curlews calling from across the Eden as we reached the beach, and soon picked them out on the sand. To the north a number of Cormorants could be seen perched on the wooden poles with wings outstretched. A few Linnets and Chaffinches lifted from the strand-line and flew up to the fence as we walked along towards the runway lights. A long line of roosting Oystercatchers could be seen across the river. Three birds close into the far shore were identified as Red Breasted Mergansers. Ahead of us along the shore on our side of the river were a few Bar Tailed Godwits. Scanning further ahead we found the large shape of a perched adult White Tailed Eagle atop one of the wooden posts in the estuary.

A Great Black Backed Gull was on the far bank. A single Pied Wagtail scurried around among the shell fragments on the beach ahead of us as we walked back northwards. A Pink Footed Goose overflew from the direction of the sea. We decided to walk towards the Goosepools. A pair of Buzzards were seen in the trees as were a few rather noisy Mistle Thrushes. Blue Tits were seen around the reedbed. As we stopped to scan across the muir from the eastern end a Sparrowhawk flew across the open area. We decided to head back to the car rather than heading further north. Out across the sea, a huge movement of waders headed north. Mostly Knot, but also including Grey Plover, Dunlin and Bar Tailed Godwits. There were easily well over one thousand birds involved and they circled round to land on the beach off to the north.

As before there wasn't much else to see on the way back to the car, although we did have distant views as a Rook chased the White Tailed Eagle before we lost sight of them among the trees of the main body of Tentsmuir Forest. A Grey Heron at one point crossed the flight path of the Eagle allowing me to get an unusual photo. We found a male Bullfinch in the small copse of trees by the track and eventually managed to see a pair of rather distant Woodpigeons - a rather surprising omission to this point. It was just after 1300 when we arrived back at the car. After grabbing something to eat we set off for St Andrews West Sands to hopefully make the most of the remaining daylight.

A Mute Swan on the Motray at Guardbridge and a few House Sparrows in the village were new for the list as were Common Gulls in the fields between the village and St Andrews. A small group of Lapwings and some Curlews were further on. A Song Thrush hopped around on the grass as we headed out past the golf course. Once we were parked up we walked to the edge of the dunes to scan out across the bay. There were large numbers of Common Scoters strung out across the bay. A Cormorant and Shag flew by. Further north were a flock of Eiders. Scanning through the Scoters I found a Great Crested Grebe. Nat had a look through the scope and found another few Great Crested Grebes.

There were one or two Long Tailed Ducks passing by further out and Nat found a Red Throated Diver a good distance out. Scanning through the Scoter flock again I found a single Slavonian Grebe among them. A nice bird to get. We headed north towards the point in the hope of seeing Snow Buntings, which had been seen a few times over previous days in small numbers. Among the dunes we saw at least 5 Stonechats, some of which posed rather nicely for a few photos. A Linnet and a Reed Bunting were also seen perched on the stalks of the grasses in the dunes.

The tide was starting to recede and there was an area of washed up material on the beach. This was where I suspected we might see the Snow Buntings if we were lucky. Unfortunately for us, there were only a single Sanderling initially. A Pied Wagtail and a Rock Pipit soon appeared to pick through the washed up material on the beach. We set up the scope to check Balgove Bay. There were large numbers of sleeping Shelducks in the bay and amongst them I found a small group of Brent Geese. Neither species was particularly unexpected but both were additions to the list for the day. A pair of Pink Footed Geese headed upriver.

We decided to sit in at the edge of the dunes looking out on the area we hoped the target birds would pop into to feed. A female Goldeneye overflew and Ranald Strachan the Fife Countryside Ranger walked past, stopping to ask if we'd seen anything interesting. As he chatted away I heard Linnets calling from behind us. Also among the twittering calls I could hear a quieter trilling sort of call. It had to be Snow Buntings. And it was. A pair dropped in, slightly further away than we had hoped, but as they were a lifer for Nat, we weren't too bothered. The light was fading fast so the views weren't as good as they could have been. We did get a few photos and video clips despite the light before we headed back towards the car. A flock of Linnets and a Curlew on the golf course rounding off the birds for the day.

As always a decent day out with some rather nice birds seen among the 61 species seen. - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shag, Shelduck, Slavonian Grebe, Snow Bunting, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, White Tailed Eagle, Woodpigeon, Wren.