With the easterly winds showing no sign of letting up and having had two of my previous best finds on the 13th October (2013 - Red Flanked Bluetail (the first of the two) and 2014 - White Billed Diver), I definitely had to make the effort to get out and about on the 13th, with the Crail area being once again the focus of those efforts to find something good. I messaged birding buddy, Jacqui, to see if she was free. She messaged me back in the morning and we arranged to head out for the morning.
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| Grey Heron |
It was a slightly later start owing to Jacqui having stuff to do at home first, but I headed out at around 0815 to catch the 0835 bus to Guardbridge to meet her. There were a few birds seen on the way to the bus station - Feral Pigeon, Starling, Herring Gull and Dunnock with Carrion Crows mobbing a Buzzard just to the east of the Wellgate Centre being a surprise sighting. A Blackbird and Grey Wagtail were added before I arrived at the bus station. Cormorants were seen on Submarine Rock, before my attention turned to a wasp on the bus window next to my seat. Incredibly while trying to open the window so it could find its way out, I managed to trap its back leg somehow. It struggled for a while before finally looking like it had died. I told the guy in the seat behind me to watch it didn't end up in his lap when I closed the window. It didn't. It was still alive and probably a bit annoyed. Thankfully I was getting nearer to Guardbridge and it flew up to the skylight window on the bus before I got off.
I joined Jacqui outside the hide and quickly spied what I could, missing a few species that she had seen, but managing to get Goosander, Redshank, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Black Headed Gull and a very distant White Tailed Eagle on its usual perch way out on the river. The sun's glare was rather strong and made seeing the birds on the wet mud tricky. We set off for Crail after a few minutes, adding Rook and Pied Wagtail on the road to St Andrews. We decided to try the fields around Wormiston first with the stubble fields conceivably hiding a bunting or two, most likely Lapland which would be a lifer for me. Skylarks flew over as did a small group of Golden Plover as we walked down past the farm buildings.
A few Swallows flew by, and a number of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits lifted from the stubble fields. Goldcrests and Blue Tits were in the bushes around the holiday cottages. A flock of small birds which also lifted from the stubble turned out to be Linnets. Out on the rocks offshore at the bottom of the track we added Great Black Backed Gull, Mallards, Shag, Eider, Rock Pipit and Curlew. I suggested we wander round the edge of the field in the hope that something might be sheltering in the lee of the drystane dyke but a single Yellowhammer, a pair of Magpies and a pair of Redwings completed our Wormiston list.
Denburn Wood was next and although there was plenty of activity it was mostly just the regular Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds, though we did also find a Coal Tit and a Treecreeper as well as a single Chiffchaff. If there was anything more exotic it was in hiding. We headed next for Kilminning but again it was rather quiet with a fairly standard mix of birds with Goldcrests the most visible despite their diminutive size. A few Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds plus the ubiquitous Magpies were all we found except for Goldfinches. Greenfinches were feeding on the rosehips and there were a few Redwings and Blackbirds in the bushes. We could see the Golden Plover flock taking flight in the distance and a flock of Linnets and Skylarks much closer.
A nice surprise was a Stoat which popped up on a row of tyres on the airfield and posed nicely. Jacqui spotted a Kestrel hovering above the coastal path. A few more Skylarks and Meadow Pipits gave us decent views before we headed back to the car to head down to Fife Ness. The intention was to do some sea-watching from the hide, but we bumped into John Anderson and Beth who told us the hide was rather busy already. As we wandered along the track a bird lifted from not too far in front of us. It was grey with a very obvious white rump and a black tail. It landed a few feet further on but as soon as we lifted our binoculars it took off again and flew another few feet. This happened 3 times before it flew out of sight behind the hide.
The only thing it could be was a Redpoll, and with tweets on twitter announcing Mealy Redpolls on the Isle of May this seemed the most likely explanation though we could not completely rule out an Arctic Redpoll. We hunted for it along the path but drew a blank. Our brief spell of sea-watching gave us Razorbill, Guillemot and a Red Throated Diver in addition to the Gannets but it was pretty quiet overall. Shags, Great Black Backed Gulls, Cormorants and Oystercatchers were on the rocks beyond Stinky Pool.With Jacqui having things needing down at home we headed back to Guardridge. A low flying skein of geese at Balgove Bay were Barnacle Geese. A nice surprise.
With heavy rain forecast I decided to spend an hour or so in the hide even though the tide was well in, Jacqui headed home and I headed into the hide. Out on the water were 4 sleeping Goosander, a few Mallards, a mixed flock of gulls (mostly Herring and Black Headed but also a few Great Black Backeds and Common Gulls) and some Wigeon and Teal further out. A Tree Sparrow visited the feeders. As the tide receded waders started to appear on the mud and I managed to pick out some distant Dunlin among the Redshanks. I found 6 Pintail out on the water and they took flight with some of the Wigeon a while later. A surprise departure from Leuchars in the shape of an RAF Typhoon which actually took off from the base shook things up with a flock of around 150 or so Golden Plover and another smaller flock of Lapwings appearing from somewhere.
Also out on the mud were a handful of Bar Tailed Godwits feeding among the smaller waders. I looked for Oystercatchers but failed to find any, which was a surprise. The White Tailed Eagle was back on its perch and a few of the local Buzzards put in an appearance. The crows across near the Fife Bird Club hide found a Sparrowhawk and chased it off. Greenfinch and Chaffinch visited the feeders and a flock of around 30 Goldfinches wheeled around across the river before settling on the barbed wire fence. The forecast rain looked imminent once or twice but came to nothing. More scanning found a couple of Black TailedGodwits and a Greenshank flew in to join another 3 that I had somehow overlooked. A small group of Jackdaws flew over from the direction of the base. Eventually around 1600 I decided to head for home as the rain started to fall. A good day out with a nice mix and a total of 62 species seen - the highest total of the week so far, even if the hoped for mega-rarity never materialised.
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| Golden Plover |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Rook |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Wren |
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| Skylark |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Stoat |
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| Red Throated Diver & Razorbill |
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| Wigeon |
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| Goosander |
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| Mallard |
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| Goldfinch |
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| RAF Typhoon |
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| Golden Plover |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Wigeon |
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| Cormorant |
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| Wigeon |
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| Wigeon & Pintail |
Species seen - Barnacle Goose, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mealy Redpoll, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, White Tailed Eagle, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
