Wednesday's weather forecast was for unseasonably high temperatures but also cloud blocking out the sunshine. Not the worst conditions to go birding in. With things rather quiet on the migrant front of late, Nat and I decided on Fife for our midweek outing. However, when I woke up I wasn't feeling in the right frame of mind to go birding so I almost messaged Nat to cancel. I did eventually make it out the door at around 0750 to walk into town to catch the bus over to Fife to meet Nat.
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
Birds were in rather short supply on the 15 minute walk with only Herring Gull, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon and Robin seen. A family group of Mute Swans were on the Tay just below the car park area. We headed first to Guardbridge pool picking up Carrion Crow and Jackdaw on the way. A pair of Mute Swans overflew the road as we passed Drumoig golf course. Collared Dove, House Martin and Starlings wee seen in Guardbridge before we got out of the car to check the pool. A Greenshank flew off as we walked down the track to the gate. A Reed Bunting was in the weeds to the right of the track. There were still a few young Shelducks feeding in the mud as well as a single Ruff. A few Teal and Mallards were sleeping. A Grey Wagtail overflew as did a Meadow Pipit. A charm of Goldfinches flew into the nearby bushes. A Swallow swept over and a Blue Tit was in a small bush as we walked back to the car for the short drive to the Eden Estuary Centre hide.
Things were pretty busy from the centre, with Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Lapwings and Curlews on the mud opposite. There was a single Black tailed Godwit amongst them and a single Goosander sleeping behind the tractor tyre. Two Ospreys were visible - one on the 'goalposts' and another on the large post in front of the Fife Bird Club hide at the farm. The Kingfisher was on the post out front but flew off even before we'd got the windows open. A Grey Heron was on the bank below the hide but also flew off when it saw activity at the hide. A Common Sandpiper flew past, landing somewhere to the south of the hide. A single Magpie was in the conifers opposite.
The gull flock held Common, Black Headed, Herring, and Lesser Black Backed Gulls and a Great Black Backed Gull was on the far shore below the base. There was a single female Eider in the channel near the gulls and a Little Egret a bit further along the shore to the east. Two Canada Geese were near the mouth of the Motray along with Mallards. Chaffinch and Greenfinch visited the feeders. I heard what I thought was Snipe and a few seconds later spotted four together in flight above the hidden pools opposite. A Greenshank dropped in on the mud below the hide. A Tree Sparrow showed at the other feeders before we decided we should move on. Quite a significant wee haul for such a short visit. As we were leaving I decided to check the trees outside given that there were Pipits on the move. We found a couple of warblers which the constant tail-dipping suggested were Chiffchaffs.
We headed next to St Andrews, to the car park by the golf museum. Nat spotted a Bar Tailed Godwit on the beach with the gulls, and I found a Turnstone foraging on the rocks. Cormorants were on rocks further round, and Sandwich Terns fished offshore. A single House Sparrow was on the beach. The weather forecast had been for cloud but it was now rather sunny and warm. We headed next to Boarhills to walk down to the pool by the shore. On the way we were held up a little by a clear indication of how a university education does not necessarily make one intelligent with a girl stood on the parcel holder behind the seat on a bike holding onto the shoulders of the male rider as they rode along the side of the road in traffic. One drain cover out of place and....
Willow Warbler, Yellowhammer, Linnets, and Pied Wagtail were all seen on the walk down to the pool. There were a mixture of butterflies around in the sunshine - Red Admirals, Peacocks, Painted Ladies and Small Tortoiseshells, most likely migrating south. Things seemed quiet at the pool initially though we heard a Chiffchaff calling as got closer. A Blue Tit and overflying Swallows and Meadow Pipits kept us occupied for a while. Eventually we found where the majority of birds seemed to be. A small stretch of bushes round the northeastern corner was very active with Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Great Tit, Dunnock and 2 Spotted Flycatchers as well as a number of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings all seen here. A bit of exploration of the shore added 2 Red Throated Divers flying past and a few Redshanks on the rocks.
Eventually the heat and the lure of lunch got the better of us and we walked back uphill to the car. A discussion with a local on the way resulted in him getting rather agitated when I simply said that I disagreed with his views. His voice was raised immediately and although I hadn't intended on taking the point beyond simply saying I disagreed with him, I pointed out the factual errors in his 'evidence', before he stormed off downhill muttering to himself. Obviously an avid viewer of BBC Reporting Scotland, or a Daily Record reader.
Once we'd eaten, we drove on to Kilminning in the hope that we might find some migrants there. Rook was added on the way. Things were very quiet at the top end with only a few butterflies to be seen except for Swallows and House Martins overhead and a few soaring gulls. From the bottom end we saw Gannets offshore but little else except Oystercatchers and gulls on and near the rocks. A Dunlin flew over us and headed in the direction of the airfield calling loudly as it went. A flock of birds wheeling round above the stubble spotted by Nat were Golden Plovers - regular visitors here at this time of year.
The rather unseasonal heat was rather draining and it was quite tiring even to wander round looking for birds. Things were quiet with Blackbird and Wren being the only species seen. A bit of further scanning offshore added Shag before we made it back to the car. We decided that walking much further wasn't an option so we would head back to Guardbridge, with a stop at St Andrews harbour on the way. A male Pheasant was by the roadside near Boarhills. From the small car park at the harbour we succeeded in adding Fulmar and Ringed Plover but other birds which might have been Scoters were too distant and distorted by heat haze to identify for certain.
Back at the Guardbridge hide things were rather quiet with most of the birds further away than they had been earlier in the day. One of the distant 'Osprey posts' out in the river held a White Tailed Eagle and a small party of Wigeon flew downriver. Two of the local Buzzards, surprisingly our first of the day, were in the conifers opposite. Eventually around 1600 we decided to call a halt to the day's birding and head for home. 71 species seen with some good birds among them even if there was nothing new for the year-lists seen.
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Snipe |
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| Swallow |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Little Egret |
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| Greenshank |
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| Greenshank |
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| Carrion Crow & Buzzard |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Snipe, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, White Tailed Eagle, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
