STONEFACTION BIRDING: 07/04/15

0177 : All In Vane (Farm) (24/6/15)

It can sometimes be difficult to decide just where to go on a Wednesday birding outing with Nat. Sometimes because the "good" birds that are around are in widely varied places and sometimes because of time constraints. However, there are also times when there is only one bird of interest within striking distance. It is then just a case of seeing where else we can visit before/after or en route dependent on our success or failure in connecting with our target species for the day. With a Temminck's Stint having spent the previous two days at the RSPB Loch Leven (Vane Farm) reserve it was an easy decision on the 24th of June.

Temminck's Stint

I had made a short trip to the local shop for provisions before Nat picked me up at the usual time and place, which gave me a 4 species start to the day's list. Herring Gull, Swift, Blackbird and Woodpigeon being the birds in question. Once we were on the road we added Feral Pigeon and as we had decided to check on the latest plumage state of "Dave" the Red Throated Diver at City Quay, he also made it ont the list, though his head stayed resolutely down as he slept near the foot bridge across the quay meaning the amount of red on his throat couldn't be see well enough to know if his moult into summer plumage was any further advanced or not.

Once across the Tay we were headed to a stop at Letham Pools where we hoped that there might be some early returning waders to see. Before we reached there however, we made a quick stop at another pool in a field, just off the main road at the junction for Luthrie. The pool here is a little distant but well worth a look. Teal were the most visible at first, with Mallards around the edges. House Martins and Swallows swept low over the water and the surrounding grass. A Skylark sang but was tricky to spot at first, though it did eventually venture skywards giving us better views.

Onwards we went to Letham Pools, through a heavy shower of rain that hadn't been forecast and which had us wondering if the day would turn out to be a wash-out. It was completely dry, though still grey and overcast, at the pools. A Pied Wagtail wandered around the edges of the eastern pool and a Yellowhammer flew by. It then became an exercise in scanning around and seeing what we could find. As is fairly typical at this time of year the list was relatively long and of good quality. On the water, in addition to Mallard, there were Wigeon, Coot, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Black Headed Gulls and even a few Pochard. A Grey Heron appeared from nowhere. Lapwings and Oystercatchers fed around the edges and I spotted a single Snipe on the small island. A Reed Bunting dropped into the vegetation in front of us and Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows hawked over the pools at various levels.

After the initial flurry of sightings it was down to finding the less obvious, sometimes tucked out of sight on the initial scans, sometimes newly arrived, sometimes just missed. Birds such as Shelduck, Carrion Crow, Starling, Shoveler and Gadwall. I spotted a small wader running around on the far shoreline but it was slightly too far to get useable features. I suspected that it was a Ringed Plover, rather than the sometimes encountered here Little Ringed Plover. A scope would have been useful, but I had a secret weapon in my own arsenal - the Nikon P900. I switched to digital zoom - the equivalent of a 4000mm lens on a 35mm camera, and though the quality of the resultant photo was poor there was more than enough detail to see the orange on the bill and the lack of yellow eye ring. Ringed Plover it was. Further scanning produced only a slightly unexpected Moorhen and we departed for Vane Farm and our hoped for Temminck's Stint.

Passing through Milnathort and Kinross added a trio of species - Jackdaws on chimneys, Lesser Black Backed Gull on a lamp post and House Sparrows around gardens. We arrived at Loch Leven at around 1015 and headed through the courtyard by the visitor centre to walk to the hides. On, or around, the feeders were Chaffinches, Goldfinch, Great Tits and Robins as well as Blackbirds. Swallows were nesting in some of the open areas, with one posing nicely for Nat just a few feet in front of her perched on a door. A Song Thrush flew off as we walked down to the underpass. With the Stint having been reported from the furthest away hide we decided it made most sense to go there first. A few Meadow Pipits flew up from the field to our left.

Nearing the last hide I stopped at a slatted bit of fence where it was possible to see a different view of the pools in front of the hide. Tufted Ducks were the main bird on the water, but my eye was drawn to a smaller duck swimming away for us. A compact little duck, with a grey back, a warm brown head and a white cheek patch. There was also a bit of white along the flanks. I knew what it was immediately but I remarked out loud "what the hell is that doing here?". The reason for my surprise was that it was a 'redhead' Smew - given the time of year likely a female. Normally a Winter visitor and not something you expect to see in late June. It was also a year tick for me. A nice, and very welcome surprise and a great illustration of birds not doing what they are 'meant to do'.

Surprisingly the hide was empty when we got inside but this allowed us to sit where we liked and we settled down to scan for the sight of a small brown wader. There were plenty other birds around, mostly species we had seen earlier though Greylag was new for the day list. We were joined by three other birders in the hide, all who were looking for the so-far unseen Stint. Scopes and binoculars scanned and re-scanned. No sign. Photos and video were taken of the Smew. While chatting about where the Stint had last been mentioned having been seen, I scanned the appropriate area. Some movement on the periphery of my field of view in the binocular view made me change what I was looking at. "Got it!" I exclaimed, hurriedly giving directions to Nat and the others, in case the bird retreated back behind the vegetation on the small shingle island it had appeared on. We needn't have worried as the Temminck's Stint went on to give us pretty good views as it fed, preened and bathed for a period of time before it settled down for a rest.

We decided with the Stint and the Smew safely on the list, both for the day and the year (as well as Nat's life list), we could afford to visit the other two hides. Highland cattle and Pied Wagtails were all there was to see at the middle hide. The first hide was even more bereft of birds though we did manage to see a Raven high above the hill sides before we reached there. We stopped at the small pond to look for insects, having seen what looked like a Latticed Heath moth along the path. Pond skaters, whirligig beetles and a few bees were all seen but no damselflies. From within the hide, Ian Ford (from Riverside Nature Park) appeared and we had a lengthy catch-up chat about the park and birds we had both seen. As we chatted I though I heard the chattering call of a Magpie but no-one else heard it. As we headed back to the centre I heard it much closer and succeeded in seeing it as it flew off away from us.

Willow Warbler was added before we visited the shop, where we perused the books and inevitably I ended up buying a couple from the second-hand section upstairs in the cafe. We headed back to the car once again for luch before making a decision where to go for the afternoon. Chiffchaff and Blue Tit were heard, but fleeting views among the foliage meant that they couldn't be confidently added to the list. Hunger sated we decided on Fife Ness for a spot of sea-watching for an hour or so. Even if the weather proved to be wet we could sit in the hide. We made a short visit to the river mouth in Leven having picked up a Greenfinch perched in the top of a small tree at the whisky bottling plant along with House Sparrows as we waited at a junction.

There were a selection of gulls including the first Great Black Backed Gull of the day on the sand at the river mouth, with a small party of Goosanders upstream below the bridge. Eiders and Cormorant could be seen offshore, and a distant Gannet was added before we continued on our way to Fife Ness.Collared Dove, Tree Sparrow and Pheasant were the only new additions on the way though we did hear a snatch of Corn Bunting song as we approached Crail but the bird went unseen. Arriving by the static caravans at Fife Ness we spotted a Dunnock perched on the overhead wires and could hear a Whitethroat which we failed to see.

We walked along to the hide, picking up Shags out on the rocks along with a few Oystercatchers and gulls. Offshore, Gannets passed by in strings of varying lengths. Once we had settled down in the hide, the birds continued to pass by in decent numbers. An Arctic Tern hunted close in, not too far offshore. Guillemots were the first auks to be spotted flying by. A Common Tern and a Sandwich Tern were next to come close in, unusually flying together. A Razorbill was spotted in the water not too far offshore, and Kittiwakes could be seen further out beyond the auks and Gannets.I spotted what I thought was a couple of Puffins - a species I hardly ever see while sea-watching, and took a few photos to confirm that they were indeed Puffins. Even more unusually, small parties of these small auks continued to stream past, quite recogniseable compared to the Guillemots and Razorbills even at a distance.

It was more of the same for most of the time, though a Fulmar was eventually spotted, gliding by, and I spotted a distant diver species well before it reached us and watched its progress as it got closer. I got Nat onto the bird and she and I watched the bird pass in front us southwards, the photos I managed to get confirming my suspicion of Red Throated Diver. We headed for home at around quarter past four, adding Curlews and Stock Dove near Crail, one before and the other after.

Another really good day out with 70 species seen including the two new year-ticks (in bold) - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Puffin, Raven, Razorbill, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Smew, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Temminck's Stint, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.