I was rather undecided where would be best to try for incoming migrants on Tuesday. The weather was to be rather showery which ruled out walking too far, unless I knew of easily reached shelter, as being soaked through can be a bit of a distraction and also be rather demoralising if the birds aren't showing. I eventually settled on heading once again back to Crail and the surrounding area. With the continuing easterly winds there was a decent chance of finding something good.
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| Yellow Browed Warbler |
I headed out again at 0735 but only managed to see Herring Gull on my short walk to the bus stop. Not a great start. Feral Pigeon was added in the city centre. Passing Drumoig, I added Starlings on the wires, and a Carrion Crow or two in the field. A Buzzard was perched on a hay bale in the field before the small wood at St Michaels, while there were a few Rooks on the roofs in the village. Black Headed Gulls were seen along with Jackdaw and Woodpigeon as the bus approached Leuchars. Curlew was added as we arrived in St Andrews, a few birds feeding on the playing fields and a Collared Dove was on a lamp post in the town as we headed for the bus station.
From the bus to Crail I only managed to add a single species with Oystercatcher just outside of St Andrews. Thankfully there were a few more birds around when I arrived in Crail. At the top end of Denburn Wood between the graveyard at the church and the new cemetery there were a few birds showing relatively well. A Robin sang from a tree, while 4 Magpies wandered around on the grass. A Wren popped out into the open very briefly. A Blue Tit was in one of the small trees and a small group of Goldfinches flew over. A couple of Blackbirds and a nice Redwing fed just in front of the small hedge in the grassy area at the top of the wood. A Dunnock also skulked around, but I was unable to turn it into a Siberian Accentor. A small group of Skylarks passed over.
Despite much searching in the wood I only managed to add a few Goldcrests and a Great Tit. There were plenty Blue Tits and a few Blackbirds but there didn't appear to be much in the way of evidence of any migrants other than a few more Skylarks heard passing over. As I walked out of the village a car pulled up and Dave Clugston offered me a lift out to Kilminning which I gratefully accepted, saving my legs a bit of effort. I spotted a covey of 4 Grey Partridges flying low over the stubble field on the right of the car. It didn't take too long to find birds at Kilminning with Yellow Browed Warbler calling from the trees making it much easier to find, although views weren't great again. A single Chaffinch was spotted by the road, and the Chiffchaff was still skulking around in the trees in the small square wood.
A few Song Thrushes were dotted around and there were Goldcrests in the trees, though the numbers seemed to have dropped from the previous days. I spent an hour or so checking a rechecking the trees around the top end but things were rather disappointing. I walked down the track towards the bottom end in the hope of seeing something else on the way. A Yellowhammer and a few Meadow Pipits flew over, while a Stock Dove was another new bird for the list as it flew off in the direction of Balcomie. There were a few Great Black Backed Gulls among the Herring Gulls roosting in the newly seeded field on the aerodrome. A few Linnets and Skylarks flew across the road in front of me and the Golden Plovers could be seen further over. I expected them to take flight when a couple of dog walkers wandered past them but surprisingly they stayed put.
I could see the sky to the east was looking rather threatening with rain looking rather imminent so I abandoned my plans to visit the bottom end and turned back to head up to the top end where there was at least a bit of potential shelter. A Reed Bunting flew over and the first Kestrel of the day was seen over the airfield. A car drew up and Graham Ewen from the Angus & Dundee Bird Club and a regular visitor to Riverside Nature Park offered me a lift, which I accepted gratefully. He was intending to head down to Fife Ness for some sea-watching but when I mentioned Yellow Browed Warbler his ears pricked up and the plan was changed. I was pretty sure I could get him one with a bit of effort, so we stopped at the top end.
The rain started to fall as we checked the trees. I told Graham what to watch for and to stand still among the edges of the small wood and listen for the call. With a bit of patience the birds would show and hopefully among them would be our target bird. One called nearby but I failed to pick it up. However after 15 minutes or so of searching I heard one in the trees over by the fence and hurried over to the tree where it was calling from. I called to Graham who headed over too. I moved slowly into a position where I could see the bird among the upper branches of the tree and rattled off a few photos while telling Graham where to look. Unfortunately from where he was he couldn't quite see the bird so I gestured to him to come round but to go slowly and take a wider route away from the tree. Just as he reached me the bird flew into the trees behind where it had been and disappeared. Despite more hunting we failed to refind it.
We headed down to Fife Ness for some seawatching at around 1330. Gannets were passing by offshore when we got out of the car and a Redshank flushed from the small inlet in front of the caravan park. There were a few Guillemots out on the water with others flying by every now and then. A Skua, subsequently identified as a young
Pomarine Skua, flew past rather close in giving us decent views. Shags and a few Cormorants commuted back and forth out to sea. A few Common Gulls and Black Headed Gulls hunted along in front of the rocks among the larger than normal waves. A young Kittiwake passed by and the first of 3 Red Throated Divers flew north low and fast.
A surprise was an adult Mediterranean Gull which flew a short circuit repeatedly just offshore to the right of the hide. This is the first time I've seen one of these gulls here and it showed really well for around 15-20 minutes. A small group of Eiders sped by, and Turnstone flew low over the rocks and out of our view to the north. A small party of Common Scoters headed north. A Grey Heron flapped its way over before Graham spotted a Sparrowhawk streaking low above the rocks. After a couple of hours we headed up into the Patch (Fife Ness Muir) for a quick check.
We bumped into Dave Waters and Malc Ware and wandered round with them. There were a few Goldcrests and a few Redpolls (possibly Mealys but not seen well enough). Graham and Dave spotted a Lesser Whitethroat where one had been seen previously but I managed to miss it, while trying to see what was calling quietly among an overgrown patch of brambles. With not much else around we eventually called it a day and headed for home, adding Pheasant to the list on the way. A pretty decent if unspectacular day with some good birds among the 53 species seen.
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| Redwing |
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| Robin |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Blackbird |
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| Blackbird |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Magpie |
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| Skylark |
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| Yellow Browed Warbler |
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| Yellow Browed Warbler |
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| Gannet |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Pomarine Skua |
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| Guillemot |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Shag |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Shag |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Shag |
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| Goldcrest |
Species seen (year tick in bold) - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Guillemot, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Linnet, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Oystercatcher, Pheasant,
Pomarine Skua, Redpoll, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellow Browed Warbler, Yellowhammer.
