Now that April has arrived, the second quarter of the year gets underway. When it comes to birding it means MIGRATION time. When anything can turn up almost anywhere. Though not generally as productive as Autumn migration when youngsters are attempting to get somewhere they've never been before it can still turn up some gems. As well as those gems the new arrivals are also new birds for a year-list, so as the Summer visitors turn up the list for the year gets ever longer. If you miss them at the coast you still have a chance of getting them inland, unless of course the birds are on their way further north (Scandinavia etc) in which case you have to hope they choose a similar route in reverse on their way back south. Usually easterlies are the desired winds at migration times pushing birds from mainland Europe across onto our coasts. For our latest Wednesday outing, we had westerlies. We decided to go to Fife Ness anyway.
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| Black Redstart |
I figured there was a chance that birds migrating up through the country or even along the coast would be blown towards Fife Ness and rather than continue out over the North Sea they'd stop off till the winds were more favourable. Whether there was anything in that particular theory only time would tell. I headed out at about 0750 to head to the bus station to catch the bus over to Fife to meet Nat. Bird-wise it was a decent walk with a total of 9 different species seen before I reached the bus station. Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow almost immediately after leaving the house followed quickly by Herring Gull, then a wee bit further on a Feral Pigeon. Lesser Black Backed Gull was next, then Blue Tit and House Sparrow followed by a singing Chaffinch and a Starling. I could hear a few Meadow Pipits calling but failed to pick out any high-flying dots.
A Greenfinch called from the trees at the car park at the south end of the Tay road bridge. Near Drumoig I was a little surprised to see a Cormorant fly over the road with a pair of Greylags 30 seconds or so later doing likewise. The Rooks at the rookery at St Michaels crossroads were active around the tree-tops as we passed by. Collared Dove was added on our way through St Andrews followed by Oystercatchers and Curlews in roadside fields between there and Crail. The first Buzzard of the day was spotted on a drystane dyke by the road. Jackdaw was finally added as we arrived in Crail.
Denburn Wood was our first port of call and we were greeted by a Robin. Thankfully there were birds around though it was fairly standard stuff - Great Tit, Wren, Blackbird and Dunnock. As well as Woodpigeons there was at least one Stock Dove too. A bird flitting around in the trees turned out to be a Goldcrest though a second bird gave Nat her first Chiffchaff of the year. We headed down to the area overlooking Roome Bay as Will Cresswell had seen a Black Guillemot offshore the previous evening. Unfortunately we drew a blank despite walking along towards the harbour. We did add Goldfinches and lots of Meadow Pipits flying in off the sea and continuing inland. This confirmed that there were birds on the mve despite the apparent 'wrong' winds.
Out on the water were a few Eiders and a single drake Red Breasted Merganser. A Red Throated Diver was just offshore beyond the rocks. Well out over the water we could see Gannets passing to and from the Bass Rock. A Pied Wagtail scampered around on the path nearby. A group of Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls shared some rocks with a few Cormorants and Oystercatchers. A Grey Heron landed nearby. Among a flock of Herring Gulls hanging in the wind above us I spotted a lone Fulmar gliding around. Down on the sand a Redshank wandered along the edge of the water before flying off around the headland towards the caravan park. A Shag flew by before we headed back to the car to drive the mile to Kilminning.
Although there had been plenty of Meadow Pipits passing over I wasn't expecting too much and indeed things did start rather quietly with a Song Thrush flying off and a pair of Magpies seen down on the grass. A few Blue and Great Tits were also around. We spotted movement in the bush by the end of the brick building and found a Chiffchaff picking around among the leaves. Nat spotted a second bird which turned out to be a female Blackcap though I only saw movement but not the bird. I had close views of a Goldcrest at the other end of the building and there seemed to be a few Chiffchaffs around in the trees here though nothing much else of note, though Redwings could be heard nearby and the local Buzzard circled high above. We crossed the road to try the grassy area across the other side. There were more Chiffchaffs here and more views of Magpie were seen. Meadow Pipits continued to fly over.
I saw a bird perched in a tree and a closer look showed it to be a Brambling, a rather smart male at that. I shouted to Nat who hurried over to see her first of the year as it moved its perch to a more open position on a bramble stalk/branch (not certain what the correct term would be). Nat then spotted a bird a little bit along the banking and it turned out to be either the same female
Blackcap as earlier or a second bird. My first year-tick of the day. There were numerous Chiffchaffs coming and going to a small Elder bush and we watched them for a wee while before deciding to visit the walled garden at Balcomie to see if anything had shown up there or not.
As soon as we arrived we saw more Chiffchaffs flitting around among the bushes. There were at least 5 or 6 of these warblers around though the views tended to be rather fleeting. We eventually found a small group feeding along the mossy wall at the top end of the garden. At least one of these birds appeared to be a
Willow Warbler rather than a Chiffchaff. My second year-tick of the day. We headed back to Kilminning and re-checked the top end. Linnet and Redwing were both added as they overflew, and I eventually managed to spot a Skylark as one flew up from the airfield. While watching a Pied Wagtail picking around among a stony patch of ground I suddenly realised that there was a bird even closer and it was the male Brambling we had seen earlier. We both managed to get a nice selection of photos and even a video clip before it flew off into the trees.
We headed down to the bottom end where we had something to eat before having a wander to see if we could add anything else. It was much quieter here, with a few Carrion Crows and Magpies around but little in the way of smaller birds. We did see a male Kestrel near the fenceline. As we headed back to teh car we heard a Pheasant, but it went unseen (Nat had seen one earlier that I flushed inadvertantly from cover at the top end but didn't see it as my back was turned at the time). A Sparrowhawk upset the crows as it flew through at speed, the corvids giving chase when they spotted it passing by. A Yellowhammer was the final addition before we headed across the golf course to the hide for a spot of sea-watching which we hoped would increase our day list a bit more.
Having parked the car we got out to walk the short distance around to the Fife Bird Club hide. Out on the rocks were the usual mix of gulls and Cormorants/Shags. A
Swallow zipped over past the old coastguard site buildings. Another first for the year. From the hide the first birds of note were 3 Red Throated Divers heading north together quite far out from shore. A good start. A young Kittiwake was next and a few Guillemots passed northwards at speed. There were a few more Red Throated Divers and then a single Razorbill with a pair of Guillemots. There were a few Gannets coming in close, plus a few Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls as well as a few Eiders and another couple of Red Throated Divers. Nat spotted a single Dolphin as it passed by northwards, and I even managed a photo.
As I was was scanning out over the sea through binoculars I caught some movement below the hide "window" out of the corner of my eye. Looking down I was rather pleased to see a pair of
Wheatears but flew across to rocks off to our right before I could get a decent photo. Another welcome year-tick. It appeared they must have been recent arrivals. A Pied Wagtail pottered around below the hide before flying across to the rocky 'islet' surrounded as it was by the incoming tide. As she was watching the Wagtail, Nat spotted a third Wheatear which followed the previous birds to our right and out of our field of view.
With time now approaching 1500 I suggested a quick visit to the 'Patch'
before heading for home. When we left the hide I went the opposite way
to have a quick look for the Wheatears and to maybe get a few photos.
They hadn't gone far and they were easy to see around the coastal path
track. Next to one of them however was a bird that wasn't a Wheatear.
Very dark and a bit smaller. Despite the light being against us I
realised quickly that what I was looking at was a cracking male
Black Redstart.
The Wheatears and Black Redstart flew a little further on as we stood
trying to get photos from our raised viewpoint by the small set of
wooden steps. As the birds moved around I caught a glimpse of what I was
certain was a second Black Redstart but frustratingly it had been just a
glimpse.
By now the birds had moved on a bit further along the
track, moving from rock to rock, finding food where they could. We tried
to skirt round the birds as best we could but we weren't the only
people using the track and the birds ended up in an area which was a bit
less exposed. I was desperately tying to send a text message to the
Fife Bird Club grapevine service reporting the birds, but as is usually
the case I couldn't get a signal. Nat tried to, but she couldn't get a
signal either. We climbed up to the higher ground between the golf
course and where the birds were but still couldn't get a phone signal.
At one point I thought the message had actually gone but it turned out
not to have. So frustrating that one of the best sites I know of for
birds has such poor reception, meaning that not only can I not get word
out, I can't get notifications of birds elsewhere while I'm there
either.
We found it was possible to see the birds from among the
gorse bushes and with the sun at our backs the light was much better and
the birds were much more relaxed too, completely ignoring us. We even
managed to confirm the presence of a second Black Redstart - a female.
It was good to be able to see both sexes more or less together. A
Mallard, our first of the day, had also flown by as we watched the Black
Redstarts giving us another new bird for the list. . However, by now
time was increasingly against us so reluctantly we set off back towards
the car. I spotted a birder near the hide and a quick check showed it to
be local bird photographer, John Anderson. As he looked like he was
leaving and had no way of knowing that there were good birds around, I tried waving but he
wasn't looking in my direction. I said to Nat that I would run on and let John know
about the birds, hopefully before he reached his car.
It wasn't
particularly easy to run along the very uneven and rock-strewn track
while carrying my camera gear with the added bonus that the temperature
had risen throughout the day meaning that I probably also had a few
layers too many on for the conditions. The distance to the hide seemed
much further than it actually is but somehow when I reached the other
side I managed to catch John's attention by waving as I was running. I
tried again to get the text to send but to no avail. I told John where
the birds were and how best to see them then waited for Nat to catch up.
John had however just discovered his camera battery was dead so he was
headed home to get a fresh one anyway, so once Nat caught up we headed
for home. I eventually managed to get the text alert message to go as we left Crail despite having been trying all the way from the golf course. Mute Swan was added at the Motray and as Nat dropped me off at
the bus stop near Drumoig a Kestrel was hovering above the road and a
few Skylarks were singing nearby.
A really good day out with 5 year-ticks (in bold) among the 57 species seen. So much for the 'wrong' wind direction!
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Brambling |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Buzzard |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Brambling |
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| Brambling |
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| Blackcap |
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| Curlew |
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| Magpie |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Eider |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Bottle Nosed Dolphin |
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| Shag |
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| Wheatear |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
A really good day out with 5 year-ticks (in bold) among the 57 species seen. So much for the 'wrong' wind direction!
Species seen -
Black Redstart, Blackbird,
Blackcap, Blue Tit, Brambling, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove,
Swallow, Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
