STONEFACTION BIRDING: 04/22/15

0141 : More Afternoon Delights (12/4/15)

Having recently taken the plunge and bought myself the 83x zoom Nikon P900 bridge camera to be my 'go-everywhere' camera, my Canon SX50HS 50x zoom camera which had hardly been used became surplus to requirements. I knew a couple of folk who were considering upgrading from their current bridge cameras so mentioned that my very 'low-mileage' SX50HS could be had for less than a new camera if they were interested. With both considering the P900 as well I wasn't confident that the camera would find a buyer easily, despite being a very capable and very portable 'birder's record shot' camera.

Grey Heron

I was therefore rather surprised to receive a message from birding buddy Nat saying she had decided to buy my SX50 rather than the more expensive P900. With the weather forecast being a bit unpredictable I had chosen to stay at home to try and catch up on my blogging again, but the opportunity to get out and about with Nat again was too good to miss, so we arranged to meet up at 12 noon and head out for the afternoon to allow her to test her purchase and maybe see some good birds into the bargain.

Nat arrived to pick me up at around 1215. Herring Gull and House Sparrow were the first birds to make the list. We had decided to head for Letham Pools in Fife - actually two flooded fields opposite the village, split by a road through the middle. The rest of the outing would be decided upon as we went though around that particular part of Fife there are plenty options with a variety of birds and other wildlife Likely.

Crossing the Tay roadbridge we could see Cormorants on submarine rock, and a Carrion Crow was perched on one of the lamp posts on the bridge. A Woodpigeon was on another at the end of the bridge once we reached Fife. Blackbird, Yellowhammer and Blue Tit were all seen before we stopped at a site I didn't even know existed. Nat had been here before and knew all about it. There was a bit of a puddle in a grassy area behind a large fence and there was a selection of birds here - Black Headed Gulls, Coots, Oystercatcher and even a Moorhen. A Lapwing flew in and landed.

This however wasn't what Nat wanted to show me and we set off, adding a flyover Reed Bunting and a singing Chaffinch to the list. We walked up the edge of a track, spooking a Roe Deer and finding a few Long Tailed Tits flitting around. We picked our way through a tangle of weeds onto another track which ran up the side of a conifer plantation. A Stock Dove flew out of the trees and away. Another large narrow flooded area in a field was partially hidden in a dip in the field. On this pool were a few Teal, a few Mallards and a pair of Tufted Ducks.

Next up was a Song Thrush and a surprise in the shape of the first House Martins of the year with a pair swooping around overhead. We still weren't at the main highlight of the site but a minute later we arrived. In front of us was a relatively large lochan with trees and bushes around most of the bank. On the water down the slope in front of us was a Canada Goose and a Little Grebe. A pair of Shelduck eyed us nervously from the grassy slope off to our right.

A Buzzard circled over the wooded area off to our left, and out on the water were a few more Mallards and Tufted Ducks. The whole site had an air of promise about it. Apparently there have been some decent waders there in the past. We had a short wander along part of the shoreline spooking something from among some trees by the shore, which may have been a Snipe or a Woodcock but our views were blocked by vegetation. A Chiffchaff sang from the trees behind us and we eventually caught a glimpse of it.

We headed back to the car spotting a Red Squirrel, a Pied wagtail, a pair of Goldfinches and a Meadow Pipit on the way. Our next unplanned detour took us to the flooded field on the road to Luthrie. This proved to be rather productive too. A small group of Greylags were in a corner of a field on the left as we drove up. However there were a few hundred Pink Footed Geese in the corner of the field on the opposite side of the road. A few Rooks, Jackdaws and Woodpigeons milled around among them.

On the flood were a pair of Shoveler, and a few Wigeon were along the far side, in addition to Mallard and Teal and a few of the geese. Starlings wandered around among the grass. Just as we were about to cross the road back to the car I heard another familar but unexpected call and spotted the first Swallow of 2015 low over the field flying towards us. The second new bird for my year list at only our second stop. We added Pheasant to the list before we reached Letham Pools.

There were large numbers of Gadwall on the pools, mostly the east one. Certainly more Gadwall than I've ever seen anywhere else. Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, Mallard, Teal, Mute Swans and Coots were on the water. Sand Martins whizzed around above the pools and road. Scanning along the edges found a few Redshanks and Oystercatchers. Yet again my ears caught us the next surprise. An unexpected calling Kingfisher swooped low across the pools and kept going, heading south more or less following the line of the road. A Grey Heron flew in and landed.

More scanning found a Little Ringed Plover - a new species for Nat. Next up was a bird that I don't see often in Spring with first one and then a second Ruff putting in an appearance near the small island. A single Black Tailed Godwit strode out from behind the vegetation to probe around in the shallow water beyond the island. Having spent a productive hour at the pools we headed the short distance to Mountcastle Quarry.

Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebes were the main birds here, though we did manage to also see a Skylark or two and had reasonable flight views of Stock Dove as well. Greenfinch was also added to the day list here, though overall it was pretty quiet at the site. There was a large flock of what appeared to be mostly Herring Gulls on the western pool though.

Angle Park was our next stop, with the formerly really good site at Rossie Bog having been drained there was nothing to see there. There weren't huge numbers of birds here but we did succeed in adding Goldeneye to the list before wandering through the trees to see if there was anything to see in the trees or the pools. We did find a rather showy Chiffchaff and a pair of Long Tailed Tits. A calling Little Grebe did take a bit more effort but we did eventually find it among the weeds.

Our next destination was The Wilderness - just outside Ladybank. Another flooded former gravel pit. There was a nice mix of waterfowl here with a few Pochard as well as Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Mallard. A few Whooper Swans and Mute Swans too. Coot, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull and a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls as well as Little Grebe were all seen here but there was no sign of any Snipe.

In the trees were a Coal Tit pair and a Goldcrest which took a bit of patience to see. Lesser Redpoll flew over. Although it was after 5pm there was no rush to head for home for either of us so we decided to head for Lindores Loch. A few Buzzards circled above the hill to the east as we got out of the car and we had another surprise when a pair of Ravens overflew. Carrion Crows nearby provided an idea of the size difference between the two species. Great Crested Grebes were out on the water but there was little else of note to see. A Magpie, the first of the day, was perched in a tree nearby and we managed to see a Wren that eluded us at first, as we headed back to the car.

A single Bewick's Swan had been in fields near Newburgh earlier in the week with Mute Swans so we tried to find it after a brief stop down by the Tay which added a low flying Sparrowhawk and a pair of Goosander on the river to our list. Rather distant Greylags were on a sand bank. We had good views of Jackdaws in a field from where we scanned through the flock of swans as best we could. These all appeared to be Mute Swans, though their heads were hidden as they fed among the crops.

We decided to follow the coast road back to the Tay roadbridge and Dundee. Mostly Pheasants, Woodpigeons and Jackdaws were seen but we did also manage to see a Grey Partridge which flew into a field as we passed by. For an unplanned outing we had a very successful trip with 68 species seen of which 3 were new for my year list (in bold).

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.