A very late night a few nights ago meant I was a bit more tired than I thought I was going to be, so when the alarm went off at 0615, I rolled over and went back to sleep after switching it off. This meant it was much later when I eventually emerged from my bed. However, as the sun was shining brightly and high tide wasn't until around 1600, I decided to head out. I did consider Riverside Nature Park, but as it is a bit busy on a Saturday, I changed my mind. Fife would do, with my thoughts being to get the bus to St Andrews and walk to the George Evans hide overlooking Balgove Bay, hopefully just as the tide was pushing the birds in. However, as things were to transpire, the plan went by the wayside when the bus was held up by roadworks near Guardbridge.
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| Eider |
I headed out at around 1300. Birds were at a premium with only a flock of Feral Pigeons to be seen before I reached Dens Road and a few Herring Gulls just before Victoria Road. Cormorant was added as the bus crossed the bridge to Fife. A Carrion Crow was on the grass at the car park at the end, and a single Buzzard was soaring above the fields near the 5-roads roundabout. Woodpigeon, Rook, Jackdaw and Swallow were seen around Leuchars. A Mute Swan was on the Motray and two Grey Herons clashed near the mouth as the bus sat in traffic.
Having been held up in traffic, I changed my mind and got off the bus to go to the hide at Guardbridge instead. A bird singing stopped me in my tracks as I couldn't identify the song, but I couldn't find the culprit. Moving round to the other side of the line of trees, the singing stopped. I couldn't see any birds in the trees so headed into the hide after a Magpie overflew. A Great Tit was on the feeders. Opposite were a number of waders, mostly Redshank. Among them were a few Curlews, Black Tailed Godwits, Lapwings, Dunlin, Knot and a single Curlew Sandpiper. A couple of regulars were in the hide and had been looking for Curlew Sandpiper so were pleased to have one pointed out to them.
Black Headed Gulls, Common Gulls and Herring Gulls were on the water. Teal, Mallard and Wigeon were further away in decent numbers. A flock of Goldfinches flew around across the river. By now the tide had covered up most of the mud. A party of Goosanders swam out from the bank to the north. The Kingfisher then put in a brief appearance, but avoided the cameras in the hide - I did manage 1 out of focus shot which was quickly deleted. Tree Sparrow appeared on the feeders just before I noticed movement higher up in the trees. A Great Spotted Woodpecker. A lady in the hide from Malaysia, Theresa, wanted a photo of a woodpecker but it mostly stayed at least partially hidden among the trees before she went outside for hopefully a better view. A Long Tailed Tit was a slight surprise near the feeders. A Blue Tit wasn't.
A Great Black Backed Gull was on the water, and a Robin landed on the fence off to the left. One of the regular couple found a Little Grebe close into the bank through the fence opposite and later I was able to see that it was a youngster, though most of the juvenile markings had been replaced by adult plumage. There was regular passage of Swallows overhead and among them I found a House Martin. The couple left, and I chatted about birds and photography to Theresa. A Chaffinch visited the feeders, and a Dunnock fed in below. A Pintail was another slight surprise, as one swam in to join the other ducks near the 'goalposts'. A Sparrowhawk crossed the river and flew into the trees to the north.A trio of young Eiders swam upriver before changing their mind and heading back downstream. A flight of Wigeon flying in contained a surprising five Shovelers.
I discussed some of the other local areas where Theresa could maybe see some birds. Like me, she was reliant on public transport, which limited the options somewhat. We decided to see if there was anything to see along the track south of the bridge. We had brief views of a Kingfisher from the bridge. Unfortunately things were very quiet along the track, with hardly any birds at all around except a few Swallows overhead. We heard Meadow Pipit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Wren, but apart from a few Woodpigeons and another brief view of Kingfisher, a Buzzard was all we managed to see, except for a Carrion Crow chasing a Rook.
When we arrived back at the bridge, we spotted a few Starlings on the chimneys and a Grey Wagtail flew over. A flock of Goldfinches were seen further away. Theresa decided to try to photograph a Cormorant and Grey Heron from the beer garden at the Guardbridge Inn and I walked to the bus stop to catch the bus home. I added House Sparrow and Blackbird near the new flats at the end of the bridge and a few minutes after arriving at the bus stop I was headed back to Dundee. Not the most action-filled afternoon, but a few good birds around again among the 46 species seen.
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| Redshank, Knot, Dunlin & Lapwing |
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| Cormorant (Sinensis race) |
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| Goosander |
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| Pintail |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Wigeon & Shoveler |
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| Wigeon & Shoveler |
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| Eider |
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| Buzzard |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pintail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
