0318 : Rich Pickings At Riverside (27/8/16)

With Little Stint and Wood Sandpiper still to see for the year-list I decided to head out early to catch the incoming tide at Riverside Nature Park. There was also a chance of getting some vis-mig species flying through. Once again the weather was forecast to be quite good. My vague plan was to stay at the Nature Park until the tide came in then move on elsewhere to catch it on the way out.

Osprey

I headed out at 0725 to walk into town to catch a bus out to the Nature Park. Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Great Tit, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Robin and Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls  started my list for the day. I was lucky that the bus I had been hoping to catch actually ran at a later time than the Traveline Scotland app/website suggested it did. This meant a very short walk to the park.

I decided to walk along the outside of the park to check on the Lochan from the fence first. Woodpigeon was first on my list for the park, soon followed by a Blackbird. Herring Gull and Carrion Crows overflew, and a single House Martin hawked for insects above the Lochan. A family of Mallards and the Highland Cattle were the only other things around apart from the Martin. A flock of Feral Pigeons headed over, and a pair of Goldfinches landed in the bushes. A medium sized bird flew over with a flight style reminiscent of a Magpie. A quick photo or two showed it to be a rather unexpected Jay. It continued on westwards until it was out of sight over Invergowrie.

Next up was just as surprising. A Swift, the first I'd seen for a few weeks with the locals having moved on elsewhere. A buzzy whistled single note call from somewhere above triggered my memory and I soon spotted the culprit as it headed west. A Tree Pipit. Things were already going rather well. I checked the bay from the railway bridge as the vegetation around the hide is now blocking the view of a good part of the burn and the bay, rendering the hide rather obsolete except around high tide. Not ideal.

I could see waders in the bay, mostly Redshanks, but also a few Oystercatchers, Dunlin and a single Bar Tailed Godwit. There were also plenty of gulls, mostly Herring Gulls but numerous Black Headed Gulls and a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls. The shrill call of a Kingfisher had me scanning the burn and I soon found it perched on a rock. Another good bird. A couple more Tree Pipits passed over. Out on the end of the pipe were a few Cormorants, and a Grey Heron. More scanning found a Black Tailed Godwit.

From the hide I added a single well camouflaged Lapwing by the pipe. There were a few Teal around as well as Mallards. A Great Black Backed Gull loomed over the smaller Herring Gulls further along the pipe, and I checked each juvenile bird for a hint of anything unusual. There was 1 bird that hinted at not being a Herring Gull, or a Lesser Black Backed Gull, but photos suggested that Lesser Black Backed Gull was the likeliest. I did eventually find a Common Gull among the gulls. There were still a few Sandwich Terns around, and one or two Curlews on the mud. A Grey Wagtail flew by as I headed further into the park in the direction of the Lochan. There was nothing else to add there, so I headed along the edge of the bay. A Meadow Pipit was around near the hill, and a Whitethroat youngster showed well, though briefly.

A couple of Stock Doves headed over and Dunnock and Yellowhammer were both seen as I headed back towards the hide to wait for the tide to come in fully. An Osprey flew into the bay from the direction of Kingoodie and I watched it dive from the path down to the hide though the vegetation blocked the view to a large degree. It seemed to not have caught anything and I lost sight of it behind the trees. On the mud in front of the hide I found a single Ruff. Among the Dunlin, I discovered a very clear Curlew Sandpiper, and a second one nearby. When a train caused the large Dunlin flock to take flight, I took some photos. On the back of the camera I counted 3 white rumps on 1 photo, but later at home I discovered there had actually been 5 Curlew Sandpipers among the Dunlin.

A Jackdaw landed down on the pipe beside the Feral Pugeons and gulls. A Chiffchaff appeared briefly in the trees by the hide. Unfortunately before the tide could push everything into a convenient group in front of the hide a train came past sending everything except 1 Redshank, 1 Curlew Sandpiper and the Ruff off and out of sight. Unfortunately they failed to return so after a bit of waiting I chose to head back along the edge of the bay. One or two more Tree Pipits passed overhead. My total was eventually to reach around 8. Having only had 2 or 3 previously this was a good count, even if it was low compared to some other vis-mig sites.

A few Linnets were around the compost area and a Wren was in the weeds near the bottom of the hill. A Robin was in bushes by the compost area and a Sparrowhawk was seen circling up towards Ninewells. Swallows passing by harassed it for a short while. A Willow Warbler was next to be added followed by 4 Magpies flying into the trees near the car park from off the hill. I chose to head up the hill to sit in the sun and wait for the tide to turn. A second Osprey flew by, and headed on out over the river. A small group of around 10 Canada Geese "whiffled" to lose height and looked to be headed into the bay but instead continued on to Kingoodie.

Another walk to check out the lower half of the park gave me a Coal Tit in the trees, a few Chaffinches at Buzzard Wood, a second Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Carrion Crow that it easily outpaced and outclimbed. A Song Thrush was flushed as I checked out the compost area from the slope near the gate. Blue Tit was seen near the car park, and the first Buzzard of the day glided over into trees behind the compost area where it drew the attention of 1 of the local Carrion Crows. I eventually managed to see a Pied Wagtail having heard 1 a few times but failing to see it. Other birds heard but not seen included Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from the trees around the railway line and a Greenshank from round the edge of outer edges of the bay.

I eventually decided to head for home a bit later than I had intended on leaving the park as the weather had turned cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. I had enjoyed a very successful morning and ended up with a park list of a very creditable 52 species which is one of the top totals for a single visit.

Jay

Kingfisher

Bar Tailed Godwit

Tree Pipit

Lesser Black Backed Gull

Osprey

Osprey

Black Tailed Godwit

Cormorant

Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper & Redshank

Curlew Sandpiper & Ruff

Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk & Swallow

Canada Goose

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Osprey

Meadow Brown

Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow

Great Black Backed Gull

Species seen outside the park - Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon.

Species seen in/from the park - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Pipit, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.  

0317 : Friday Fife Finds (26/8/16)

Friday's weather forecast did look to be more promising than Thursday's so it was back to Fife again to try for Wood Sandpiper, having managed to get distant views of Curlew Sandpiper at Montrose Basin on Thursday afternoon. With nothing particularly interesting around myself and Nat decided we would probably head first to Guardbridge then onto The Wilderness and Letham Pools before visiting Vane Farm in the hope that there might be a Wood Sandpiper somewhere along the way.

Greenshank & Ruff

I headed out at 0750 for the walk to the bus station to catch the 0810 bus to Fife. Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Blackbird and Goldfinch started the list, with Robin and Starling added before I caught the bus. Cormorant was seen from the bus and Carrion Crow was seen at the end of the roadbridge. We headed first to the hide at Guardbridge which we were pleased to find open despite arriving before opening time. The tide was almost all the way in. Opposite the hide were a number of Redshanks. Chaffinch and Greenfinch were on the feeders. Lesser Black Backed, Black Headed and Herring Gulls were out on the water.

A Blue Tit visited the feeders. One of the local Buzzards flew out over the river. A Common Gull flew past the hide. Curlews were on the saltmarsh. Among the Redshanks were a few Dunlin and a Knot. As the tide rose, Eiders and Goosanders ventured further upriver towards the hide. A Great Tit family showed up on the feeders. A House Martin swooped low over the water. A Jackdaw pair flew over. A group of Mallards were spotted along the north shore with Mute Swans further out. A party of Oystercatchers flew in and a distant Osprey was spotted. A few Sandwich Terns were seen well out above the river. A Sparrowhawk flew across the river and up into the trees by the north side of the hide but a look from outside proved fruitless despite the bird appearing to land in the trees.

A few Swallows skimmed low over the river, taking a drink or two as they did so. A single Tree Sparrow showed on the feeders and a Grey Heron flew in to roost on the banking opposite. Three Little Egrets flew out from the shore to the south of the hide and headed for the salt marsh. A minute or so later, a fourth bird did likewise. Scanning through the scope found a few Ringed Plovers among the roosting waders, an unusual sight from the hide. Having had a fairly successful short visit we then decided to head to the River Crescent pool, hoping for a similar variety to Wednesday's haul.

It was a bit quieter with two Ruff, two Common Sandpiper, a Black tailed Godwit and a Redshank, as well as a pair of young Shelducks on the pool. No Teal or Mallards, nor Snipe this time though. The Wilderness was to be our next stop so off we went via Cupar. House Sparrows were seen as we passed through Dairsie. We were hoping that the earlier visit would mean less chance of birds being silhouetted by the strong sunshine, however, it had begun to cloud over, which meant that there was also less heat haze to deal with. The Curlews were in their usual place. A few Lapwings were dotted around, as were some Teal and Mallards. Coots and a Moorhen were up the far end along with a Tufted Duck. There were also a few Oystercatchers and Dunlin around.

A few Pied Wagtails wandered around, and the Greylag flock was across the far side of the site. I found a few Shoveler among the other ducks, before a wader caught my attention. It appeared to be slightly larger than the nearby Ringed Plover and Dunlin. After a bit of effort I finally managed to confirm it as a much closer view of a Curlew Sandpiper. I took a few video clips and plenty of photos, and checking later showed just how little doubt I should actually have had with the bird being a very typical youngster of the species. Six Black tailed Godwits added to our waders for the day. A single Stock Dove flew off in company with a Woodpigeon. Satisfied with our haul here we moved on to Letham Pools where the sunshine is usually less of a problem.

A Greenshank had replaced the Spotted Redshank in the southeast "corner". There were more Gadwall than had been seen on Wednesday with double figures on the water. Along the fringes among the Lapwings were a number of Snipe and also Water Rails, both species giving good views. There were also three Ruff and another two Greenshanks. There were quite a few Little Grebes on the water too, and we were even treated to the rare sight of some of these diminutive birds in flight a couple of times. A Wren showed briefly in the vegetation beside the road. A trio of Grey Wagtails were along the edges of the other pool, and a Buzzard was perched on a fence post at the rear of the pools. A Rook family group flew over.

We headed next to Angle Park only to find that the small area where it was possible to stand and view the water has been fenced off. Undeterred we scanned from the road, drawing attention from who we assume was the 'farmer', who drove slowly past eyeing us suspiciously but saying nothing. He stopped a short distance away, and him and a colleague got out and stood chatting for a few minutes as we wandered along for a better view. We added Canada Geese and a distant Great Crested Grebe to our list here before checking the pools in the trees on the other side of the road. An Emerald Damselfly was the only thing of note here though. A Common Darter dragonfly landed on the road in front of the car as we ate lunch. A sand Martin flew over before we set off for Vane Farm.

It had clouded over and the wind had picked up, not much like the forecast weather. Unfortunately there wasn't too much to see at the RSPB reserve, most of what was on show we had already seen elsewhere - Mute Swans, Cormorants, Teal, Mallards, Grey Heron, Water Rail, Oystercatcher, Moorhen, Greenshank and a few others. The one new addition was a Meadow Pipit which flew off from the bumblebee meadow as we walked along. With another early finish for Nat required we headed back up the main road after purchasing a few second-hand books in the direction of Guardbridge but deciding instead to pop into Letham Pools again.

It was much the same species as we'd seen earlier in the day here, so we ended up spending a good bit of time chatting to the Fife Bird Recorder, Malc Ware (and his pal Ronnie), who we hadn't seen since last Autumn. It was good to catch up and have a good 'bird-y' blether in the process before we had to call a halt to proceedings and head homewards.

Goosander

Little Egret

Common Sandpiper

Black Tailed Godwit

Curlew Sandpiper

Ringed Plover, Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper

Lapwing & Curlew Sandpiper

Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper

Rook

Little Grebe

Little Grebe

Water Rail

Gadwall

Peacock Butterfly

Emerald Damselfly

Water Rail

Water Rail

Another decent day with 63 species seen. Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Eider, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Woodpigeon, Wren. 

0316 : SOS - Save Our Skua (25/8/16)

Having 'done' Fife the previous day, I decided that the Angus coast should be the main focus in the continuing search for a Curlew Sandpiper or two. Although Nat wouldn't be able to get out until a bit later than normal (and would have to finish up quite early) I arranged to head out early and to meet her somewhere around Westhaven or Easthaven a few hours later. Although the weather forecast was colder and greyer it wasn't supposed to be wet. However when I headed out at around 0725 it was rather drizzly. Rather than head back inside for a waterproof jacket I headed for the bus.

Great Skua

With high tide around 0830-0900 or so, I hoped to get to Westhaven while the tide was quite high so that the birds would be close in to shore, or on the beach. It was fairly standard stuff to start with - Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Starling, Carrion Crow and Collared Dove. House Sparrow, Blackbird and Blue Tit were seen from the bus stop on Arbroath Road while waiting for the bus to arrive. Black Headed Gull and Jackdaw were added on the way to the western end of Carnoustie.

Arriving at Westhaven at around 0830 it was still rather cold but the drizzle had stopped. The light wasn't great for photos but there were plenty of birds around. On the shoreline and among the seaweed on the beach were Turnstones and Redshanks. Offshore were numerous Sandwich Terns and Common Terns plus a mixture of gulls including Black Headed, Herring and Common Gulls. One or two Curlews could be seen further away. Offshore a Cormorant flew by and there were one or two Eiders on the water. I set off along the beach scanning ahead to try to avoid spooking anything from the beach if at all possible.

There was a Pied Wagtail and a number of Starlings feeding among the seaweed piles but surprisingly no sign of any Wheatears. Oystercatchers flew by offshore, and a Great Black Backed Gull stood menacingly on an exposed rock in the water. A small group of Mallards swam along just beyond the rocks. A pair of Stock Doves flew up from the beach towards the railway line. I spotted a single Knot ahead of me wandering across the washed up seaweed. The bird was still in partial breeding plumage with a good proportion of brick-red underparts still on show.

Stopping to scan further out I picked up a couple of Kittiwakes and Gannets. A Rock Pipit flew by me. A small group of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers passed by offshore swinging around to land on the sand not too far away. As I reached the mouth of the Craigmill Burn I scanned along the water's edge but there was nothing new to be seen except a single Whimbrel. In addition, I spotted a large brown bird sitting in the water a few inches from the pebbles on the beach. Rather surprisingly this was a Great Skua. A Bonxie. A year-tick for me. This however wasn't normal behaviour. The bird had to be injured or sick. I approached slowly but the bird stayed put unlike the rest of the birds further along the shore which took flight. I got within a few feet of the Bonxie and it just looked at me. It eventually stood up and waddled off unsteadily. It definitely wasn't a fit and healthy bird. I moved back up the beach away from it.

I considered calling the SSPCA but as the plan was to check the same stretch of beach with Nat a little later I decided to wait and see if it was perhaps just dazed or exhausted and left it to hopefully recover. If it was still there when I passed again I would phone the SSPCA to come and collect it. Nat texted to say she was on her way so I arranged to meet her in Easthaven. I headed off along the beach adding Linnet and Goldfinch to the list. A couple of Sanderling landed on the beach ahead of me. I heard a few Arctic Terns among the cacophony of Sandwich and Common Terns and eventually picked out a couple. The first Little Gulls of the day were next to be found. A youngster and a second summer stood on rocks. A Grey Heron flew past. A group of six Little Gulls circled above me, calling, and sounding quite tern-like.

As I neared Easthaven, I could see Nat waiting. A few House Martins were above the houses and a Fulmar flew along above the beach westwards. We continued a bit further east along the beach adding Bar tailed Godwit and Grey Wagtail to the list before we headed back to the car for a bit of heat and to head along to Westhaven again. It was similar species to previously though with the addition of a couple of Buzzards above Craigmill Den and Teal offshore. We had really good views of the Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover flock. When we reached the Craigmill Burn it was apparent that the Bonxie was still in place. A phone call to the SSPCA resulted in them sending someone to collect it around an hour later (though we did have to draw a big arrow marked with feathers to show where the bird was situated) which we were able to witness from further along the beach as I gave precise directions over the phone.

We headed up across the railway line to check out Craigmill Den hoping for some migrants, though not particularly optimistic of finding any. Yellowhammer and Linnets were on the wires. A Dunnock was on the path ahead of us.A flock of Lapwings flew over before we found a Willow Warbler in the bushes. A Swallow hurried over westwards. Nat spotted a male Bullfinch in a bush, and we added a youngster (and a third - female?) just above it. Heading back along the beach to Westhaven, a Peregrine passed over eastwards. We decided to have lunch in the car before heading towards Montrose Basin in the hope of finally finding a Curlew Sandpiper. As we were about to have something to eat a car pulled up. The driver recognised me, but it took me a minute to realise that it was Angus Birdtours Stuart Green. We had a sort chat before finishing lunch and continuing northwards.

Rooks were added on the way to the visitor centre. Tree Sparrows and Chaffinch were seen at the feeders while Nat spotted a Water Rail at the edge of one of the pools. I had to settle for a young Moorhen. Out in the basin I found a few Shelduck and some Red Breasted Mergansers. A Greenfinch visited the feeders. There were plenty of distant Mute Swans towards the Lurgies and Maryton Steps area. Scanning through the scope looking to the west I found a wader stood between a few Redshanks and a Dunlin. It was smaller than the Redshanks and larger than the Dunlin. It also appeared to have a yellowish tinge to the breast and a white belly. Curlew Sandpiper, at last. A few minutes later I managed to see it in flight where the white rump showed well enough to confirm my second year-tick of the day.

We headed next to The Lurgies for a quick check. A Common Sandpiper was spooked from the mud in the burn and flew a short distance up towards the bridge. A Greenshank stood across on the mud on the other bank. There were plenty of Greylags nearby and beyond them were some Canada Geese. Looking upriver there were a few hundred more Canada Geese. There were more Greenshanks around in the same areas as the Canada Geese but not much else. An Osprey was seen circling up to the west. The dead tree beyond the reedbed had a lot of Jackdaws perched in it. As we walked back to the car we were treated to the sight of a young Peregrine attempting to tire out a Lapwing by repeatedly climbing and diving at it. The large rounded wings of the wader meant it easily outmanoeuvered the falcon.

We headed back towards Dundee via Forfar adding a Great Spotted Woodpecker which flew up from the roadside onto the tree trunk above as we passed and a Kestrel hovering a short distance further on. A brief stop at Montreathmont Forest produced only silence from the trees close to the track. Another enjoyable day out with the bonus of two year-ticks (in bold) among the 68 species seen.

Common Tern

Oystercatcher & Redshank

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Turnstone

Great Skua

Great Skua

Great Skua

Common Tern

Little Gull

Common Tern, Sandwich Tern & Curlew

Common Tern

Dunlin

Ringed Plover & Dunlin

Sanderling

Knot

Stock Dove

Peregrine

Greenshank

Osprey

Canada Geese

Peregrine

Species seen - Arctic Tern, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.