Having woken up a lot earlier than normal, especially on a Sunday, and been unable to get back to sleep I decided I might as well get up early and head out birding, Public transport however is rather hit and miss early on Sundays. I worked out with the help of the TravelineScotland app that if I made it to the bus station for 0800 I would be able to get a bus to St Andrews then around 10 minutes later catch the connection to Crail, meaning I would have most of the morning to search for birds around Kilminning etc, then maybe a spot of sea-watching around lunchtime and early afternoon, with maybe some more hunting around for migrants if anything had been found, otherwise I would head to St Andrews then either to Guardbridge or home.
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| Kestrel |
I headed out at around 0740 for the walk to the bus station. Being early there were plenty of birds active, with the relatively windless conditions also helping to hear plenty of birds, not all of which I was able to see. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Jackdaw were immediately on the list followed by a relatively late-lingering Lesser Black Backed Gull. High above a few Swallows twittered their way over. Further on a Robin sang from atop a wall, and a Chaffinch flew across Victoria Road. A Blue Tit was in trees near the bus station. Cormorants were on 'Submarine Rock' in the Tay.
Pheasants were in the stubble fields near the 5 roads roundabout. Rook and Starling were next near Drumoig. A few House Martins were still around near St Michaels. A Mute Swan was on the Motray at Guardbridge and Carrion Crows were near the farm on the Guardbridge - St Andrews road. The bus stopped for a few minutes near the Fairmount golf course and I was able to spot a Yellowhammer from the top deck. Near Boarhills I spotted a small brown raptor cruise low over a ploughed field - an unexpected Merlin. Common Gulls were in a field near Kingsbarns and Mallards were in a farmyard pond by the road just before Cambo.
Arriving in Crail, I decided to check Denburn Wood first. Robin and House Sparrow were near the houses that back onto the track behind the church. Woodpigeons were seen and a Magpie was heard, while more Swallows passed overhead, The wood itself was frustratingly quiet with only a single Blue Tit to be found. I walked out along the road to Kilminning. Unfortunately the track at the airfield was active with a constant procession of souped-up cars powering along the road, drowning out most bird noise. I did manage to see a few Meadow Pipits and more Swallows. I heard but couldn't see Skylarks passing over. A Curlew flew past just before I spotted a huge flock of birds milling around near the southeast corner of the airfield. Golden Plover, hundreds of them, maybe around five hundred - certainly the largest flock I've seen for a few years.
Magpie and Stock Dove were both added soon after seeing the plover flock, while the first Pied Wagtails were near the entrance to the airfield. Kilminning turned out to be very disappointing with only a Great Tit pair in the trees and a few Song Thrushes zipping around at the top end. Walking down towards the go-kart track I spotted a Kestrel on top of one of the telegraph poles inside the fence. As it was scanning the ground I knew if I stayed close to the fence it was unlikely to notice me. This worked out nicely with the bird dropping from its perch to hover around 6 feet above the ground for a minute or so. I was able to get a number of photos, though as I was shooting into the sun, they weren't as good as they should have been. Still, it was great to watch the bird in action from close up.
A flock of Goldfinches was next around the bottom car park and I managed to see a Skylark go over, the call alerting me to the bird. In the rose bushes I found a few Greenfinches eating the rosehip seeds. Looking out to sea I could see a few Gannets passing by, and a flock of Wigeon were also added as they headed north over the water. I headed down onto the coastal path to walk along to Fife Ness. Things were rather quiet with nothing much seen except a few Robins. A string of large-ish birds low over the water turned out to be eight pale bellied Brent Geese. A Fulmar glided over northwards and an Oystercatcher piped loudly from the rocky shore. A few Eider were offshore.
Arriving at the Ness I headed out onto the exposed rocks to sit and scan. As well as a female Eider there were a number of Great Black Backed Gulls including a yellow ringed juvenile (X:003) which was ringed in June on the Isle of May. On the rocks near the gulls were a flock of Knot and Turnstones. In addition to the Gannets passing north, I found a few Common Scoters, Black Headed, Common and Herring Gulls as well as Sandwich and Common Terns. A lone Redshank shot past low over the water close in to the rocks. I was starting to feel the slight chill on the rocks so headed up to near the hide where someone else was sea-watching. I asked if he'd seen anything but his list was similar to my own. I sat nearby and a few minutes later spotted a group of 7 Red Throated Divers approaching from the north - the largest flock I've yet seen of these birds.
A Grey Heron flopped by and a number of Shags drifted out to sea. A few more Divers and Scoters passed before the other sea-watcher headed off to check out the patch. Another couple of Red Throated Divers, and a pair of Kittiwakes were seen before I spotted a Skua low over the water - a dark phase Arctic Skua. Unfortunately it was quite far out so the views, and photos, weren't the best. One last Red Throated Diver headed south, taking my total to 13. There were 2 Dunlin and 2 Redshanks on Stinky Pool.
I wandered along the edge of the golf course to check out Balcomie Beach. A few Linnets and a Wheatear were seen, but there was only a single Oystercatcher at the beach. A Coal Tit was seen in Denburn Wood before I headed to the bus stop to wait for the bus back to St Andrews. Nothing more was added on this leg of the journey home but the roofs in Leuchars had 3 Collared Doves taking my total for the day to 58 species.
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| Robin |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Gannet |
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| Knot & Redshank |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Shag |
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| Gannet |
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| Eider |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Common Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Eider |
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| Dunlin |
Species seen - Arctic Skua, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Merlin, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Turnstone, Wheatear, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
