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.
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| 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.
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| Goosander |
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| Little Egret |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Ringed Plover, Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Lapwing & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Dunlin & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Rook |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Water Rail |
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| Gadwall |
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| Peacock Butterfly |
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| Emerald Damselfly |
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| Water Rail |
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| 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.
