Passage waders were once again on the agenda for Wednesday's midweek outing. Hopefully Little Stint or Wood Sandpiper could be found in some of the suitable habitat in Fife, or maybe a Curlew Sandpiper or two at Guardbridge or Balcomie beach. Unfortunately despite a decent start to the day the weather was to deteriorate as the day went on with rain moving in from the west. I arranged to meet Nat at the end of the Tay roadbridge at around 0820 and from there make a loop through a few sites, hopefully staying ahead of the rain.
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| Green Sandpiper |
I headed out at around 0750 to walk to the bus station. Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were first onto the list. Surprisingly, I heard the unmistakable screaming of Swifts, though it was coming from high in the sky. There were 20-30 Swifts circling around a lot higher than they usually are. The numbers suggested that they weren't only local birds, if they were indeed actually our local birds. Starling and House Sparrow were next, followed by Herring Gull, Chaffinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit before I made it to the bus station and onwards to Fife.
We headed first to Nat's patch. Coots and a Moorhen were on a pool, while a Pied Wagtail scurried around the edges. Goldfinches overflew, while a pair of Greenfinches flew out from some conifers. A Robin was next along with a family group of Wrens. A few Swallows passed over, looking like they were intent on moving on. A Blackbird was on the track ahead of us with a small group of Woodpigeons. There were a number of Teal on a small flooded area in a field along with a single Lapwing. A trio of Buzzards showed in the tree-tops further back, with two chasing each other while the third watched from on high. Little Grebes, Mute Swans, Mallard and Tufted Duck shared the large pool with a single Black Headed Gull which flew off.
A young Reed Bunting and a few Willow Warblers were in trees by the water, and a probable Blackcap was only glimpsed as it called loudly from within cover. As we walked back to the car a pair of corvids appeared heading roughly southwest, quietly calling. These weren't the expected Carrion Crows or even Rooks but a pair of Ravens. A nice bird to get on the list so early, and mostly unexpected. A large group of Mistle Thrushes passed over in two parts - a small group of around 5 or so, then another 15-20 or so a few seconds behind. A Carrion Crow was added as we neared the car along with a flyover Lesser Black Backed Gull and a Yellowhammer at the top of a tree.
Letham Pools was next. Surprisingly considering the conditions and time of year this proved to be rather disappointing. Waders were represented by a couple of Lapwings and around 10 Snipe. We did succeed in seeing 2 adult Water Rails and probably 2 youngsters as well, though all were on the far shore. In addition to Coot and Mallard, there were a few Gadwall around. Sand Martins passed over before we decided to move on to The Wilderness, near Ladybank, where hopefully we'd find at least some waders. As we got to the car a Grey Wagtail flew over from the direction of Mountcastle Quarry.
Thankfully we weren't disappointed. A Greenshank, at least 5 Black Tailed Godwits and at least 4 Ruff were all good birds to get. Curlews, Mallards, Mute Swans and Pied Wagtails were all seen along with a number of Greylags and a few Teal. We had bumped into Willie Irvine at Letham, and he joined us at The Wilderness too. Willie and I scanned through scopes while Nat went back to the car as the temperature had dropped a bit. I found an eclipse plumaged Wigeon and Willie found a juvenile Shelduck. A pair of Stock Doves landed on one of the sandy spits giving us a good view alongside Woodpigeons. A trio of Linnets landed across the far side before I headed back to the car. Myself and Nat checked the other pool just inside the gate, being careful not to spook the birds on the main pools.
There were a couple of Goldeneye and Little Grebes on the water and a mewing Buzzard flew out from the trees. A bit of scanning along the shore found a Sandpiper, looking rather dark on the back, white on the belly and a more greyish head. Not the hoped for Wood Sandpiper but a still rather nice Green Sandpiper. With lunchtime and rain both approaching fast we decided to head for Guardbridge next. Unfortunately when we arrived, along with Willie Irvine who was just getting out of his car when we pulled up, we found the centre locked up, as the floor had just been painted the day before. Fingers crossed the damaged window was also fixed at the same time.
We didn't let the lack of access stop us however, instead we scanned from outside. At last, we found Redshank and Oystercatcher along with a single Dunlin. Willie spotted an Osprey fishing. I found Goosander and Cormorant and a distant raptor which we initially took to be a Peregrine turned out to be a male Sparrowhawk with prey. With rain now falling we decided to head for Fife Ness and a bit of seawatching. Rook was added on the way to Crail.
Shags were out on the rocks and water in decent numbers. Stinky Pool had our first Common Gull of the day and there were a few Eiders offshore. Gannets passed northwards as we walked round to the Fife Bird Club hide. Fulmars were around in surprisingly good numbers. There were also a few pairs of Sandwich Terns - an adult and a youngster. Great Black Backed Gulls close in and Kittiwakes further out added to the list but it was largely Gannets that provided the photo practice, giving me a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of the various focus modes in poor contrast conditions - grey/white. The rain soon caught up with us and we called a halt quite early and headed back to St Andrews in a line of traffic held up by a very slow (and sometimes erratic) elderly driver in a small car. Kestrel was added near Drumoig giving us our 67th species of the day.
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| Raven |
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| Coot |
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| Greenshank |
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| Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Mallard and Ruff |
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| Green Sandpiper |
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| Green Sandpiper |
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| Buzzard |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Shag |
Nothing new for the year-list seen, but a decent enough day out once again with some good birds among the haul.
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
