July brings waders back to the local area as they begin to head south after breeding, so with reports of Green and Wood Sandpipers in Fife on Tuesday, there was only one serious contender as to where to go on Wednesday with Nat for our usual midweek outing. Having missed out on both species moving north earlier in the year, this would be a welcome opportunity to get both species on the year-list.
I arranged to meet Nat at the Fife end of the roadbridge at around 0820, so I headed out at about 0750. Swift, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow and Lesser Black Backed Gull got the day list started with Blue Tit, Goldfinch and Feral Pigeon seen on the way to the bus station. We headed first to Letham Pools only to find the road was closed for repair. We parked at the end of the road anyway and set up the scope to scan for Wood Sandpiper.
Mallards, Lapwings and Shoveler (with 4 ducklings) were in the northeastern section of the pools along with a Sandpiper scurrying along the edge. Unfortunately it was only a Common Sandpiper. A pair of Tufted Ducks were on the main part of the eastern pool. A Moorhen wandered along the far shore. A Reed Bunting appeared on top of some vegetation near where the Moorhen was. A few Sand Martins swooped over. A Black Headed Gull was perched on a fence post in the middle of the pool. A pair of Gadwalls swam across the eastern pool. A Grey Heron flew in and landed.
We moved further along the road to scan the other half of the eastern pool. A single Oystercatcher was stood on the mud near the island. The western pool had a family of Mute Swans and a few Little Grebes dotted around as well as a few Coots. A few Teal were on the eastern pool. Among a group of Lapwings was a single Starling. A Sedge Warbler popped up on the vegetation near where we were scanning from giving us good views. A House Sparrow landed on the road for a few seconds before flying off again. A single Wigeon was stood at the far end of the pool. A Buzzard glided away towards Mountcastle Quarry.
A Meadow Pipit landed on the overhead wires with a beakful of insects eyeing us nervously until we moved on. I spotted movement across the far side of the pool and was pleasantly surprised to find an adult Water Rail, my first in Fife. However, it wasn't alone. Nearby was a small black ball of fluff with massive feet which ran to join the adult. A second adult a little further along the shore had another two youngsters in attendance. We watched them wander along the edge and even managed a spot of video, despite the distance and heat haze. A Pied Wagtail flew over. We headed back to the car to drive round to Mountcastle Quarry.
A Blackbird flew past us as we wandered into the site. There wasn't much to see on the pools though there were a number of Tufted Ducks up the far end. An adult Great Crested Grebe with two youngsters were on the water nearby. A flash of pale blue off to my right caught my eye. My first Common Blue butterfly of the year. A few Ringlet butterflies flew past. Nat spotted a Small Copper butterfly, which again was my first of the year. A few Greylag Geese were on a spit further down the pools. House Martins swept over. A spot of exploring found Common Blue Damselfly and Blue Tailed Damselfly and a rather colourful spider (Enoplognatha ovata). As we wandered back we spotted a Blue Tit family shared a tree with a Whitethroat.
We next headed to The Wilderness. Swallows and Jackdaws were seen around Ladybank. When we arrived there were a few others already there so the
Green Sandpiper was soon pointed out to us, which saved a lot of hunting. Also around were Cormorant, a pair of Ringed Plovers, a few Goldeneye and a pair of Black Tailed Godwit. We were joined by Ron McNab and Alan Carpenter. A bit more scanning found a few Common Sandpipers and Stock Dove. Nat found Curlews and a family of Wrens worked their way through the brambles just over the wall from us. A Siskin flew over as we chatted. As we checked a second pool I spotted my first Common Darter dragonfly of the year.
We decided to head for Angle Park next. A Yellowhammer was seen on the way. A Dunnock was stood on a chicken coup. When we arrived we had our lunch before heading into the trees to search for Emerald Damselflies. We found one almost straight away along with a number of Plume Moths. A dark butterfly flitted around. It turned out to be a Meadow Brown, my 3rd "new" butterfly of the day. A Robin was in a tree by the pool. A Roe Deer ran off through the trees when it spotted us. We wandered along the edge of the water finding a few China Mark moths (can't remember which) and a Clouded Border moth. Great Tit and Coal Tits were in the trees before the rain came on. We headed back to the car. With the weather turning for the worse we decided to try Guardbridge next. Although it was unlikely that there would be much to see at least we would be able to see some birds and be out of the rain.
A Magpie flew across the road in front of us near Kettlebridge. We headed into the empty hide. There were Redshanks across the river. A few Shelduck were dotted around including a creche of 17 youngsters. We were joined by St Andrews birder Ian Cummings and we chatted away as we scanned around. Well out in the estuary there were a number of Eiders. Among the gulls were a few Common Gulls. A rabbit wandered out on the grass to the left of the hide. A Chaffinch appeared at the feeders and we eventually managed to see a Tree Sparrow, having heard them cheeping away from within cover. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew out across the river to the conifers on the other side. A few Goosanders were spotted out near the Eider flock. Nat spotted a Linnet on the fence across from the hide. I picked up a distant Osprey and we watched it head first into Balgove Bay before it came closer and flew off upriver without any successful fishing.
Morton Lochs was our next destination. We headed first to the railway hide. Moorhens, Reed Buntings, Little Grebes and Mallards were out on the water. A Grey Heron was up in a tree. A Kingfisher landed out on a tree in the water giving us prolonged views. A Mistle Thrush flew over. We headed to the northern loch, seeing Ringlet butterflies and a few damselflies along the way. A Red Squirrel was at the feeders. We added Goldcrest, Treecreeper and Willow Warbler before we got to the raised hide. Mallards, Mute Swans, Grey Heron, and a pair of Kingfishers were seen from our high perch. A distant Sparrowhawk flew by, passing through the cloud of Swifts over the fields. Nat spotted a Kestrel headed in the same direction.
We decided on one last stop at Tayport, near the duck pond. With the tide in there wasn't much to be seen, except a Grey Heron just in front of the car park. Well out in the Tay, we could hear Sandwich Terns and after a bit of searching I managed to find one. There were also a few Black Headed Gulls but very little else. A pair of Collared Doves were on a chimney as we headed up through the village headed for home.
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Coot |
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| Water Rail |
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| Water Rail |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Enoplognatha Ovata & Blue Tailed Damselfly |
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| Blue Tailed Damselfly |
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| Small Copper |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Chloromyia formosa |
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| Emerald Damselfly |
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| Meadow Brown |
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| Clouded Border |
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| Carrion Crow |
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Carrion Crow
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| Osprey |
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| Kestrel |
A good day out with 73 species of bird seen (year tick in bold) and a number of insects. Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit,
Green Sandpiper, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
