Another one of those days where I stayed in bed longer than planned. However, rather than write the day's birding off I decided to head to Fife instead. My plan was to see what the George Evans hide overlooking Balgove Bay had to offer at high tide. With high tide not due until around 1800, I decided to break my journey by popping into the hide at Guardbridge first to see what, if anything, was around.
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| Lapwing |
I left the house at 1240 to head into town. The local Feral Pigeon flock was the sum total of birds seen until seconds before the bus arrived. A Sparrowhawk glided over behind me at the bus stop and up and over the roof of a block of flats. I headed upstairs on the bus hoping to see where the bird had gone. I saw it again over the former Dens Road Market before it flew over towards the trees opposite where I lost sight of it. The views at the bus stop had been really clear and the bird was really just cruising along rather than hurtling by on a hunting trip. Great to see.
Herring Gull was seen at the bus station and Cormorants were seen from the bus across the bridge. Jackdaws and Rooks were added at St Michaels, with Swallows and Woodpigeon spotted as I wandered into the hide at Guardbridge. There were 3 others already in, Jim Brown and his pal as well as Gordon from the Dundee Nats. I opened the window at the left hand end and scanned around. There were plenty of Lapwings and Redshanks, as well as a few Grey Herons. A Black Headed Gull swam by. More scanning found a few Curlews on the mud. Feral Pigeons flew by from the former paper mill.
I heard the Kingfisher call seconds before it flew low over the water in front of the hide. A second bird rose unseen to join it and they disappeared out of sight, before one came back and vanished off to the south. Checking through the gulls found Common and Lesser Black Backeds among the Herring and Black Headeds. I spotted a Greenshank working its way along the far bank and 3 eclipse plumaged Wigeon further along. The poles well out in the river held an Osprey though the heat haze made it difficult to be certain (confirmed later). The mud below the hide was visited by a Carrion Crow and 2 Black Tailed Godwits. Chaffinch and Greenfinch visited the feeders.
Gordon spotted a flock of finches over the grass opposite and photos confirmed them as Goldfinches. The Kingfisher made another few appearances, a female bird resting on the seaweed for long enough to get a few photos before it departed again. A Buzzard flew up into the conifers opposite. More scanning along the northern shore found Mallards, Teal and a Goosander as well as a few Mute Swans. A Blue Tit was next to pop into the feeders for a snack. A House Martin swept through among the Swallows passing over before a young Great Black Backed Gull drifted past the hide.
A Peregrine overflew the mud setting most of the waders, particularly the Lapwings, into a panic. I lost sight of the falcon as it approached the paper mill building. Having decided that I better make a move if I wanted to get to the George Evans hide before the tide was all the way in, I said cheerio and headed for the bus stop, missing two St Andrews buses in quick succession. I did add a Robin to the list while I waited for a third bus to arrive, while I avoided the wasps loitering around the litter bin.
I arrived at St Andrews around eight minutes later, the bus having been held up slightly at roadworks on the way. I set off along the road towards the driving range in the sunshine. The playing fields being rather full meant that only a Starling, a pair of Carrion Crows on a roof and a pair of very still Pied Wagtails (resting new arrivals?) were seen, before I reached the golf course. There were more active Pied Wagtails at the golf course and a Meadow Pipit was heard, but not seen. The walk to the hide was further than it looked and it took 25 minutes to get there. Thankfully there was still enough mud exposed and the birds weren't too distant.
There was a selection of gulls, as well as Curlews, Lapwings, Redshanks, a few Oystercatchers, around half a dozen Bar Tailed Godwits and around 20 or so Shelduck. A Meadow Pipit flew by, while along the sea wall a few Woodpigeons picked around in the long grass. I confirmed the Osprey on the post across towards the base, and a small string of Eiders were out on the river. It didn't take too long for the tide to cover all the mud with a single Lapwing lingering until the water was up to its belly before it flew off. A Teal flew past and as I was packing up a pair of Pintail zipped past along in front of the hide. Unfortunately the camera was in the bag by then.
Rather than the 25 minute walk back to St Andrews for the bus, I decided to see how long the walk to Guardbridge was instead. I walked to teh end of the golf course and over the gate into the stubble field. A few paces in and up went a covey of around eight Grey Partridges and a juvenile Woodpigeon. A Yellowhammer flew up a little further on. I added Linnets on my way along the cycle path. The Lapwing flock were in a ploughed field and there were Woodpigeons and Rooks aplenty in the others. Reaching Guardbridge after around 40 minutes walking I added House Sparrows to the list. From the bus stop by the bridge I added a Collared Dove and a Blackbird to the list for the day before a rammed full bus arrived. Thankfully it emptied at Leuchars station and I managed to get a rather welcome seat for the rest of the journey home.
A fairly disappointing afternoon's birding with 48 species seen, though some of the photo opportunities weren't too bad. Better than sitting at home anyway.
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| Kingfisher |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Wigeon |
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| Lapwing |
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| Lapwing |
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| Greenshank |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Wigeon |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Lapwing |
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| Curlew |
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| Osprey |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Lapwing |
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| Shelduck |
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| Shelduck |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
