As you may have noticed from the lack of blog posts lately, and from those that I have actually got round to posting, I've been lacking motivation to get up out of my bed and out birding. I decided last Sunday that I would try to get out somewhere, rather than waste another day in bed, or sat at the computer doing nothing particularly worthwhile. I did still manage to lie in bed longer than I should have, which ruled out a few options, so I decided I would head over to the hide at Guardbridge, and possibly walk to St Andrews, in the hope of a possible Wheatear or Osprey newly arrived.
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| Black tailed Godwit |
It was still around 1115 when I left to head into town to catch the bus to Fife. The local House Sparrows were chirping loudly from a small bush, and one perched atop gave me the first bird of the day. A Jackdaw 'chack'ed from a nearby rooftop. A Woodpigeon flew out of a tree and a Herring Gull glided over before I reached the bus stop. As a bus was more or less due I decided to wait, adding Carrion Crow, Goldfinch and Blackbird to the list before the bus arrived.
Cormorants were on Submarine Rock in the Tay and a Starling wandered around the edge of the roundabout at the Fife end of the bridge. The only other addition before reaching Guardbridge were the Rooks around St Michaels. It was around 1150 when I reached the Eden Estuary Centre. When I arrived I had the place to myself so I was able to get my favourite window and opened the window wide to improve the photography options. There were a few Mallards on the water with Redshanks along the opposite bank, while Tree Sparrows and Blue Tits were on the feeders outside. Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls were roosting up near the bend in the river.
A bit of scanning found a Curlew for the list and a Buzzard glided over. A quick check of the old paper mill buildings was next and as hoped the local Peregrine was in attendance. I was joined in the hide by another birder. A Little Egret was spotted off to the left of the hide but it took flight upriver rather than the hoped for wander along past the hide. A Redshank gave good views out front instead. There were Shelduck dotted around out on the mud, but all rather distant. A Coal Tit showed on the feeders. A pair of Great Black Backed Gulls flew in, one with a large flat fish that it struggled with before giving up. A pair of Mute Swans were seen downstream near the paper mill.
Scanning among the Redshanks I found a few Dunlin and a tightly bunched flock of Knot were sleeping a bit further downriver on the far bank. Something spooked them and we had decent views of them flying past with a few Black tailed Godwits joining them in the air. The first Black Headed Gulls of the day dropped into the water out front, while at the feeders a female Chaffinch with a diseased foot hopped around beneath. Some of the Feral Pigeons from the paper mill overflew. A Great Tit appeared on the feeders, while out on the river a few Goldeneye could be seen near the bend. A few Oystercatchers could be seen on the shore in the same area.
I had heard a Pied Wagtail a few times in the 90 minutes or so since arriving and I finally succeeded in spotting it as it flew across the river. The first Greenfinches of the day were at the feeders to the right of the hide. I kept scanning around looking for something new to add to the list and eventually noticed that there was something a bit different about one of the Godwits opposite. The reason being that it was actually a Bar Tailed Godwit among the longer-legged and more slender Black Taileds. I took a few photographs to show the differences but struggled to get the birds in similar poses side-by-side, before something spooked the waders and they all took flight, with the Bar Tailed heading east towards the mouth of the river and away from the hide.
Another few folk had come into the hide and a couple across by the left hand window spotted a Treecreeper near the feeders. I managed a quick glimpse but no photos before it flew farther back into the trees. Next up were a pair of Teal spotted flying low over the river down near the paper mill bend. A Pheasant called from across the river and gave decent views as it stood atop the banking in front of the small pool. A small flock of Whooper Swans gave us a flypast as they headed inland. A pair of Greylags were next to drop in. The local Buzzards kept spooking the wader flocks which meant we had plenty of opportunities to get flight shots as they shot past low over the water. There were a couple of ringed birds among them - both ringed at Montrose Basin ( a bird seen on a previous visit had been ringed in England at The Wash), one in 2014 and the other in 2015.
A Robin and a Dunnock were feeding in below the feeders and more scanning found a few Eiders on the river. By now the tide was coming in quite fast and a small group of Wigeon were spotted flying in. A probable Sinensis race Cormorant hunted in front of the hide but the waders zipping by meant it didn't get much attention.Surprisingly what was the first Common Gull of the day flew past. The Peregrine which had vanished from the paper mill had returned so the birder who had joined me first decided to walk down for photos. A passing heavy shower produced a rather nice rainbow but the 150-600mm lens isn't a landscape lens so the phone camera was pressed into service for a few shots before the colours faded out again.
I stayed put hoping to add a few extras and which I actually managed to do, though both were very distant, though conditions made identification easy even at distances of around a mile. A small flotilla of Red Breasted Mergansers and a pair of Long Tailed Ducks finished off the list before I packed up and headed off to catch the bus home. I was joined by the Peregrine chaser and we chatted about birds and photography all the way back to Dundee.
47 species seen - though nothing new, but still a decent day out.
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| Redshank |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Little Egret |
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| Knot & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Knot & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Knot & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit, Redshank & Knot |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit & Knot |
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| Pheasant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Knot & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Knot & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Cormorant (Sinensis race) |
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| Knot |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Peregrine & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Red Breasted Merganser & Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Long Tailed Duck |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Long Tailed Duck, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Whooper Swan, Wigeon,Woodpigeon.
