Having had such a good midweek outing, I was disappointed to not feel up to getting out and about on the following Saturday. However, Nat had suggested heading out and about on Sunday to see what we could find so I agreed. Although we had seen a good haul of the newly arrived smaller migrant landbirds on the previous Wednesday we had not seen any of the Spring passage waders yet - birds such as Little Ringed Plover or Ruff. Letham Pools in Fife can be good for these species passing through so we decided that would be the only definite location we planned to visit with everywhere else subject to change dependent on what was around.
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| Jack Snipe |
As with Wednesday's outing I arranged to meet Nat at the Fife end of the Tay roadbridge though the lack of buses makes for less flexibility in departure time. With a bus at 0850, I left the house at around 0830 to walk to the bus station. It was a fairly typical haul of species seen on the walk down with Carrion Crow, Herring Gull and Woodpigeon soon followed by a noisy flyover Magpie, a Feral Pigeon and a Goldfinch overhead before I had made it very far. Blue Tit and Blackbird were seen on Dens Road, while nearer the bus station Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen. Arriving in Fife a Starling overflew and once underway Chaffinch and two male Pheasants fighting and a number of others dotted around were added when we took a wrong turn.
Our first stop was Nat's patch where we usually get a nice mix of birds and as always it didn't disappoint. A few Coots, Teal and Black Headed Gulls were on the pool near where we parked the car. A Moorhen appeared and I spotted a few Oystercatchers lounging around nearby. A Coal Tit picked around a little further on while a Great Tit was in some bushes as we picked our way through a weedy bit of ground. A Lapwing flew over. Another bush held a Blue Tit pair as well as a Robin and a Wren lower down. A Song Thrush flew off ahead of us from another bush. A trio of Jays flew into a stand of conifers ahead of us while a Stock Dove was perched atop another.
We could hear a number of Chiffchaffs as we wandered along but couldn't see any. A Dunnock and a few Chaffinches picked around on the track ahead of us. A Rook overflew next. A flooded area in a field had a few Mallards, a few Teal and a Lapwing. A much larger pool held 4 Shelduck, a pair of Canada Geese, a few Tufted Ducks and a Little Grebe. A Buzzard was being harassed by a Carrion Crow a bit further back. We walked back to the car rechecking the spots we'd seen birds before. Across some fields there were a small flock of Curlews with Lapwing and Oystercatchers closer to us. A Chiffchaff flitted around in a bush before flying off across the track and away from us.
A pair of Yellowhammers showed in another bush, while the first Skylark of the day was spotted as it climbed higher into the sky singing loudly. A Pied Wagtail was heard and then seen while a Swallow perched on some overhead wires. We were able to get some close views and photos of this bird. A Reed Bunting was heard singing and finally located among some vegetation in the middle of the pool as we neared the car. A quick stop at Luthrie pool added a pair of Shoveler and a number of Wigeon to the day's list, while there were also Starlings, Lapwings, Teal, Mallards and Pied Wagtails around as well.
Letham Pools was our next destination. As we arrived we could see there was a large gaggle of geese in the field before the pools as well as some around the edge of the left hand pool. These were mostly Pink Footed Geese, though there were also a number of Greylags. A Grey Heron flew low across the water. Out on the pools we were able to pick out Mute Swans, Gadwall, Mallards and Teal. Again there were Mallard and Teal also, while a few Sand Martins passed over. The water levels looked a bit too high for waders, though there were a few Lapwings and Oystercatchers around. Pied Wagtails and Woodpigeons were picking around in the grass beyond. We set up the scope for further scanning, in the hope that there might be a Little Ringed Plover hidden somewhere.
As well as a few Tufted Ducks, I found a few Goldeneye and a Goosander. A Redshank was spotted on the shore beyond the small island. I found a small plover scurrying along the back of the left-hand pool but we were too far away to see enough detail to be 100% certain of the species so we wandered closer, eventually being able to see the orange on the bill, making it a Ringed Plover, rather than the hoped for Little Ringed Plover. A bit more scanning found another Redshank though a quick search through the geese resulted in nothing unusual - a Greenland White Fronted Goose had been seen here two days previously. As I scanned along the edge of the island I suddenly chanced upon a small bird bobbing up and down rather rapidly, looking as if it was on springs. A Jack Snipe and the first time I've seen one that wasn't flying off away from me. Quickly I gave Nat the scope in case it ducked back into cover. Despite the distance I shot some video clips of the bird and attempted a few photos. The bird remained out in the open for at least 20 minutes.
I sent a text alert to Fife Bird Club, reception here being so much better than at Fife Ness and Crail. A drake Pochard swam across my line of sight. With the time now around 1130 we decided to have a quick look at the other end of the pools in case we had missed anything. In addition I decided to scan through the geese again, just in case. As most of them were actively feeding it was tricky and time-consuming but I eventually stumbled on a different bird when something made all the geese stop their feeding and look wary. A
Greenland White Fronted Goose. 10 seconds later the whole flock took flight and I lost sight of the bird even though they landed back again a few seconds later. I scanned left and right through the flock and gave up. A Grey Wagtail and a Meadow Pipit both overflew, both picked up by ear first.
We drove the short distance down the road to Mountcastle Quarry next. A Chiffchaff greeted us as we wandered in. It was rather quiet though we did manage to add Great Crested Grebe to the list. A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed over, looking like they might drop down to join the others at Letham pools, before deciding to continue northwards. The sky was looking quite threatening so we headed to Rossie Bog for somewhere we might see birds while having something to eat. A Pied Wagtail, a few Carrion Crows and a Lapwing was all we saw here. Angle Park was next but the rain came on as we arrived so we decided not to explore.
The Wilderness, just outside of Ladybank was next. There was a mix of birds here but among the Mute Swans, Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls, Mallards, Teal, Wigeon, Coots and Lapwings there was only a Cormorant to be added. A Long Tailed Tit pair in the trees gave us a second addition. We headed back to check Letham Pools where there were a few new birds we hadn't seen earlier (Moorhen, Great Crested Grebe and Shelduck) but nothing new for the day list. It was now approaching 1400 so we had to decide where to go next. We decided to head to the hide at Guardbridge which would hopefully add a few species. We added Jackdaw as we passed through Leuchars.
On reaching Guardbridge we discovered that the pipeline being laid between what was the paper-mill and the University in St Andrews was being routed through the park area behind the Eden Estuary Centre. However, it was possible to get in from the south gate and to walk around to the hide. House Sparrows were in the hedge surrounding the park as they usually are. Tree Sparrows were in the bushes near the Centre, which unfortunately was closed. A quick look out front anyway gave us Black Tailed Godwits for the list but there was no sign of Peregrine, Dunlin or anything else we were missing from our list. As we headed back to the car I heard a calling Greenfinch and a quick scan of the trees found it perched near the top of one behind us.
We decided to take the back roads from Leuchars to Tayport - mostly the road to/from Kinshaldy without the actual getting to Kinshaldy bit. Unfortunately, we failed to find anything particularly interesting though there were a large number of Mallards by a flooded area in a field. We were headed for Morton Lochs and birds perched on wires above the fields by the access road turned out to be Linnets. The Railway Hide gave us Reed Bunting, Buzzard and Grey Herons but no Kingfisher. Chiffchaff was seen on the way out again, having been heard from inside the hide. With time against us we headed to the upstairs hide at the other Loch, as Nat had a key.
I'm fairly certain I'd never been in there but the view from inside was far better than from the lower one. Despite the greatly improved view there weren't too many birds around, so we headed back to the car. We decided on one final stop - Tayport Harbour, so off we went. I hoped we might find a Sandwich Tern on the Tay but apart from a few distant Eiders all that was to be seen from here were around 7 or 8 Guillemots, with one quite close in to the harbour. A Cormorant landing on the Pile Light and a Pied Wagtail behind us were also seen. Frustratingly both Siskin and Collared Dove were heard from here but neither was seen before we headed for home, stopping briefly to photograph the Magellan cruise liner setting sail from Dundee harbour.
A productive and varied day out with 1 year-tick for me (in bold) and a few for Nat among the 68 species seen.
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| Stock Dove |
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| Shelduck |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Swallow |
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| Jack Snipe |
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| Jack Snipe |
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| Greenland White Fronted Goose |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Greylags, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull & Lapwing |
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| Coot |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Toad |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Jay, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck,
(Greenland) White Fronted Goose, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
