Although a "Channel" Wagtail (hybrid Yellow Wagtail) had been reported at Loch of Kinnordy, I decided that a combination of getting there under my own steam, the likelihood of packed hides and the probability of the bird moving on overnight anyway made finding somewhere else to go a better idea. With a fairly decent weather forecast and birds still on the move I decided that I would get the bus to Letham Pools in Fife, check out Mountcastle Quarry next door, and then walk along the quieter back roads to The Wilderness on the outskirts of Ladybank then either catch a train to Leuchars then a bus to Guardbridge or head for home. There would be a chance of something good appearing with all 3 sites having 'previous' for good birds turning up at this time of year.
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| Great Crested Grebe |
With the bus due to leave the bus station at 0810 I was out the door around 0750 to walk down. The local House Sparrows were quite active when I left, and a few of the nearby lamp posts sporting a Woodpigeon shaped adornment on top. Feral Pigeons circled round overhead. Both Herring Gull and Carrion Crow were added before I spotted a number 22 bus coming down Dens Road and decided to cross the road to catch it and spare my legs a bit of the journey. From the bus over to Fife I added Lesser Black Backed Gull among the resident Herring Gulls around the bus station. Cormorants stood, wings out, on Submarine Rock. Passing through Newport I managed to see Starlings, Jackdaws, Collared Dove and Goldfinch.
Just outside Newport back on the main road I was able to add Black Headed Gull to the list near the old fuel dump for the former RAF Leuchars. In the roadside fields there were a few Pheasants dotted around, mostly males. A number of Rooks and more Jackdaws were also spotted from the bus. Arriving at Letham, though the bus driver almost forgot to stop (I was the only passenger on the bus and there are no bells to ring to indicate you want off as it is actually a coach), I got off and decided on how I would 'work' the area. I would walk along the main road first to check among the vegetation along the edges then along between the pools before then heading to Mountcastle Quarry, stopping to check the trees down the short track to the water treatment plant first. I would then double back on myself and then walk to The Wilderness and Ladybank.
Lapwings were rather obvious as they lifted from the fringes of the pools and stood around on he grassier areas, sometimes taking to the air for short spells before dropping back again to land near where they had taken off from. There weren't too many birds actually out on the water though I did manage to see Gadwall, Mute Swans and Greylags. More scanning from slightly further on added Coot, Teal and Tufted Duck while the first Reed bunting of the day showed briefly on the hedge running along the edge of the field. A Grey Heron flew low across the water and landed, half-hidden behind the vegetation. A Skylark flew up singing from the field. I spotted a few Oystercatchers wandering out at the edge of the water. A Snipe suddenly burst out of cover and zipped away over the pools in the direction of Mountcastle Quarry.
A Moorhen swam out across the pool and the first Mallards flew in and splashed down, a male and a female. As I wandered back to the crossroads I scanned the fields etc across the other side of the road. A distant bird caught my eye as it flew in the opposite direction. The style of flight and the brown and white plumage visible even at the distance it was, confirmed an Osprey. I walked down the road between the pools stopping to scan every few steps adding Redshank and 3 Common Sandpipers to the list. Sand Martins swooped over. Despite searching through them, I once again failed to find a House Martin among them, or even a much more likely Swallow.
A Dunnock popped up on top of the hedge off to my left with a male Reed Bunting a few metres beyond it. I spotted a pair of Great Crested Grebes out on the water but hadn't seen them fly in. A Wren burst into song from the hedge across the opposite side of the road. I turned back from having looked to see the Wren to then see the Great Crested Grebes in flight. Not being a bird I usually see in flight I fired off a few photos in the hope I'd get something decent - checking later showed I'd managed only a couple of reasonable shots. Still, it was something a bit different. I did catch them in flight again later but they were further away that time, though they did make 2 passes before landing again that time. Across the pool a sleeping Shoveler drake had appeared from somewhere unseen. A Linnet sang from the overhead wires.
I decided to wander to Mountcastle Quarry. From the small track down to the water treatment area I did manage to see a Little Grebe on the water along with a few Tufted Ducks. I failed to see a singing Song Thrush however, despite it sounding quite close. There were a pair of Long Tailed Tits in the trees near the entrance at the gravel pits, with Willow Warblers singing almost everywhere, and a few Robins either being very showy or skulking around in cover. A short look around showed that there didn't appear to be much I hadn't already seen so I headed back towards the entrance. I stopped to try to photograph a male Lesser Redpoll that landed in a tree close by. The lens once again decided not to co-operate and the bird flew into trees across the track. A female followed seconds later and I did manage more distant shots of her.
A pair of Bullfinches were next onto the list, furtively picking at the budding leaves among the tangle of branches but keeping as well hidden as they could before flying across into the trees across the road. A Chaffinch, surprisingly the first of the day, sang from the trees at the entrance. I caught sight of movement high above and picked out a Buzzard well up in the sky, soaring with a white cloud above it. Walking back past the converted farm buildings a Swallow zoomed by, possibly having a nest nearby. It was more of the same back at the Pools though I did get better views of the Common Sandpipers. A hoped for White Wagtail appeared to be just a female Pied wagtail when I finally managed a reasonable photo.
With the time now around 1145, I figured i should probably start walking towards Ladybank if I was going to do so. I'd done the journey in a car a few times but I wasn't sure just how far it actually was. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. A pair of Yellowhammers were in trees by the corner of the fields and a male Pheasant scurried away along the edge when I peered into the field where I'd heard him calling a minute before. There were Tree Sparrows in the garden at the junction at Bow of Fife, which I'd suspected when we'd passed recently but the views had been split-second and inconclusive. A Great Spotted Woodpecker called from nearby but went unseen as did a Mistle Thrush.
I crossed the main road at the staggered crossroads and continued on. It was a pleasant walk, with a mix of mature woodland and fields and the birds seen reflected that. An older local gentleman walking towards Bow Of Fife stopped to chat having spotted the camera and we stood talking for at least 10 minutes. He told me he'd seen 36 Buzzards circling up in the area a few years ago and that if I was lucky I might see a Kingfisher at the nearby burn. He also mentioned that he'd seen Ravens in the area before. As we chatted I spotted Stock Doves flying by and a Mistle Thrush hopping around in the field. Two more additions. Heading on again I spotted a Red Squirrel run along a wall by the burn at the entrance to a nursing home, but it either jumped down behind the wall or clambered up the tree and wasn't seen again.
As I reached the burn I moved slowly and quietly in the hope that I might catch a glimpse of blue and see the Kingfisher. I did see a flash of blue, but it was only a pair of Blue Tits flitting around in a bush. A Great Tit flew across the burn and into the trees near me. A Blackcap sang loudly from within a bush and after a few minutes I managed to see it. A Chiffchaff called from in the trees at the nursing home entrance but was another bird that went unseen. A trio of Buzzards circled up a bit further on with at least one drawing attention from the local Rooks. A Shelduck was a slight surprise stood beside a pool in a muddy field.
Long Tailed Tits and Blue Tits flitted around in a hedge by some houses. A second Red Squirrel shot up a conifer stopping on a high branch to eat his cone in relative safety. It made a pleasant change to get a photo of one with his natural food, rather than a peanut. A field near the railway level crossing was full of pigeons, corvids and a Pied Wagtail that I managed to lose sight of when I moved to try to get a better angle on it. A Grey Heron flew past. I finally made it to the junction where the road split towards Ladybank. Chiffchaffs called from the trees and Blackbird, Blue Tit and House Sparrows were all around the gardens of the houses here.
It was only a relatively short walk along to where I could see into The Wilderness - the flooded gravel pit. It was relatively quiet with a small flock of Curlews and a few gulls being the most obvious birds around. More scanning found Redshank, Greylag, Mallard and Teal. A Chiffchaff flew into the tree beside me and called, which allowed me to pick the bird out among the branches. More scanning found a single Little Ringed Plover on one of the small sandy islands and a female Goldeneye. A male Siskin called from a tree nearby and I managed a couple of photos. My legs were beginning to feel the strain of having carried me and my camera gear on what had been a slightly warmer day than I had dressed for. I walked the last mile to Ladybank adding one final species in the shape of a Greenfinch on the edge of the town. Buzzard, Swallow, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon were all seen as I waited 20 minutes for the bus to arrive to take me back to Dundee. I decided against waiting a further 30 minutes for a train to Leuchars.
Still, a decent day out and an interesting enough walk along a new route for me, and one I'm likely to attempt again, possibly later in the summer when the waders are passing through again on their way back south. 62 species seen, though nothing new for the year-list. I did see my first Orange-Tip and Green-Veined White butterflies of the year (there were also a few Small Tortoiseshells around).
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| Grey Heron |
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| Gadwall |
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| Dunnock |
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| Coot |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mallard |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Skylark |
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| Gadwall |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Pheasant |
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| Blackcap |
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| Buzzard |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Green Veined White |
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| Curlew |
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| Little Ringed Plover |
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| Curlew |
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| Siskin |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
