Having slept far longer than intended, I considered staying at home and catching up on my blog posts and photo editing as there was a backlog of both that was looking like taking a good bit of effort to clear. However, after some consideration I decided to head for Guardbridge as a military exercise due to take place at the former RAF Leuchars base meant some aircraft movements in and out of the base. Since the RAF moved out, there have been few opportunities to photograph military aircraft so I decided to kill two birds with one stone - which is probably not the best choice of metaphor around here.....
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| Osprey |
I headed out just before 1200 to catch a bus to Guardbridge. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Woodpigeon were all that was seen before I caught a bus into town. Cormorant was seen from the Tay roadbridge but birds seemed to be in very short supply. I decided to check the Guardbridge Reservoir pool off River Crescent first, as it was still high tide. A few Swallows passed over and a Collared Dove flew out of a roadside tree onto the apex of a roof. Things were relatively quiet at the pool with a single Greenshank, Redshank, Ruff and Common Sandpiper seen. A Grey Heron was perched in a small tree on the banks of the Motray. A Carrion Crow flew by and a Blue Tit was in a garden. A Lynx helicopter caught me by surprise and I couldn't quite manage to get the camera out of the bag before it vanished behind the trees down from the base.
Once into the hide after the short walk the first bird seen was more unusual than expected. A Fulmar. Not a common bird so far up river though as they have been known to nest inland at Balmullo Quarry it isn't the first time a bird has been seen heading in the direction of the sea from the hide. Lapwings and Redshanks were opposite in small numbers, with a single Ruff among them, with a few Teal and a trio of Goosander out on the water. Black Headed Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls, and Herring Gulls were also on the water with Mute Swans further round towards the base. A Greenfinch was on the feeders along with a few Great Tits and a Robin. A group of 4 Canada Geese flew over the hide. As the tide began to recede Curlew and Dunlin appeared among the other waders. The first Osprey of the day carrying a flat fish flew towards the hide and then up and over the trees. For the next four hours it seemed like there was almost always at least one, if not more, of these raptors in view at all times, with probably double figures seen.
A small group of Black Tailed Godwits were on the shoreline by the base. An RAF Hercules landed at the base. Oystercatchers and Common Gull were added to the list, both having been noticeable by their absence until now. A small flock of Starlings were seen out on the saltmarsh and a Little Egret appeared on the opposite shore. There were one or two Grey Herons wandering around along the banks too. The first Tree Sparrow of the day showed on the feeders. The Lynx and the Hercules both departed within a short space of time. The Fife Bird Club outing crowd popped into the hide which meant that space was at a premium. We watched various Ospreys fishing, eating and resting as well as the more ordinary species dotted around.
A few Mallards were spotted near the bend in the river, and a Dunnock was seen in below the feeders. A Meadow Pipit was a nice surprise as one headed in a roughly southerly direction, its call alerting me to its presence and helping to locate it. Once the hide had emptied of the FBC outing I was joined by a couple of regulars - Eric and Elsie Peebles, and we spent the next hour photographing Greenshanks, Herons and Egrets mostly. The Kingfisher flew low past, interrupting the conversation, but disappearing out of sight. A House Martin had a drink and caught a few insects before moving on. One surprising omission so far had been the local Buzzards and it was late in the day before one flew up into the conifers opposite.
A Great Black Backed Gull flew by before I decided that it was time to head for home. I watched the wasps coming and going into their subterranean byke in the garden by the bus stop while waiting for the bus to arrive. I managed to add Rook and Jackdaw to the short-ish list for the day as the bus passed through Leuchars, with one of each species sitting side by side sharing the same chimney top. Only 42 species seen in all, but some nice photos of both birds and aircraft taken, making it a worthwhile trip.
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| Swallow |
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| Redshanks & Ruff |
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| Hercules |
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| Hercules |
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| Osprey |
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| Lynx |
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| Lynx |
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| Osprey |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Curlew |
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| Redshank |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Goosander |
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| Redshank |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Little Egret |
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| Common Gull |
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| Osprey |
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| Greenshank |
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| Greenshank |
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| Redshank & Greenshank |
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| Curlew |
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| Little Egret & Lapwing |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Little Egret |
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| Greenshank & Redshank |
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| Greenshank |
Species seen - Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fulmar, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon.
