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| Barnacle Goose |
I headed out and discovered I'd just missed a bus into town, so I'd be walking to the bus station. This did mean I would hopefully see some birds. Blackbird, House Sparrow and Starling had all been seen almost as soon as I was outside. Woodpigeon, Robin, Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were added on my walk down to the bus station with a Dunnock on a wall and a pair of Blue Tits in the tree above rounding off the list across the road from the bus station. Once underway we soon added a Buzzard in a field hunting for worms.
Our first stop was at the large pool in a field at the turn off the A92 for Luthrie. We found a rather large flock of Wigeon in place, along with one or two Black Headed Gulls, a Lapwing, some Teal and Mallard and after a bit of scanning two pairs of Pintail. Not a bad wee haul to get us started. More Lapwings soon dropped in and I scanned through the Wigeon flock as best as I could just in case the American Wigeon had decided to relocate. There was no sign of anything unusual though so we drove on to Letham Pools. These were very quiet with the exception of a number of Coots, a Goosander drake, Mute Swans and a Common Gull.
Birnie and Gaddon Lochs were next. Although there had been no FBC alerts that the bird had been seen that morning we were hopeful that it would still be around. From the car park we could see a few birds out on the water of Birnie Loch, mostly Tufted Ducks but also a single drake Wigeon and some Goldeneye. A few Moorhens wandered around on the grass with a few gulls and Mallards. A Chaffinch was seen in the trees behind the car park. A Cormorant overflew and a skein of Greylags passed overhead also before we headed for the small path through to Gaddon Loch.
We set up the scope to scan across the loch. A Magpie chuckled from the trees behind us. We could see some Wigeon out on the water but there was no obvious drake American Wigeon among them. Not too far from us was another birder from our side of the Tay who was just packing up his scope. He recognised us and stopped to confirm that he had seen the bird, but was surprised that the only obvious difference was the white forehead. I thought this a bit odd as the photos I'd seen of the bird showed a rather pinky body which should be very noticeable, but I said nothing. The bird had been in view a few minutes earlier but had swum round behind the island, but it had done that a few times already but always re-appeared. We thanked him and scanned some more.
A pair of Barnacle Geese, a pair of Greylags and a hybrid of both species swam into view but there was still no sign of our target bird as we walked round the path towards the far end of the loch. There were plenty of Wigeon around as well as Goldeneye, Mallards, Tufted Ducks and Goosander. We stopped to watch a pair of Goldcrests foraging in trees by the path. Rather than continue right round the loch we decided to go back to Birnie and walk down to the hide to view Gaddon from there. A small flock of Bullfinches were in the trees by the path.
On the way to the hide we had to edge past a local Mute Swan on the path and a few seconds later a dog walker with his dog off the lead tried to get by, but the swan took a bit of exception to the dog and hissed at it. The dog backed off slightly being quite a small breed. Rather than put the dog on the lead and lead it past, the dog walker stood calling to the dog as the swan stood its ground and hissed. Eventually the dog scuttled past after a few minutes of stressing out the swan. Common sense appeared to be lacking in the owner however.
Great Tits, one of which was ringed, were seen near to the hide and a Grey Wagtail overflew, but it was a similar mix of birds that could be seen from the limited view at the wooden slats next to the locked hide building. Onwards we went to see if the bird could be found from the other side of the loch, with a rased view up a hill seeming to be our best chance. Cormorants, Wigeon and Mallards were all roosting on the island but despite hunting through every bird we drew a blank. Another birder nearby confirmed that he too couldn't find it. I heard Redwings calling from somewhere beyond the railway line and spotted 2 of them perched in a tree. These were new for Nat's year-list so she had a look through the scope to confirm the ID. A short while later they flew over us.
As we were packing up a flock of finches of some sort which may have been Redpolls flew past but went unidentified and didn't land anywhere where we could see them. Possibly one that got away. The Barnacles and Greylags flew off somewhere, allowing me to get a few nice flight shots. I suspect the Barnacles and hybrid are probably semi-feral birds which frequent the local area and were seen at the Wilderness and Letham Pools last summer, possibly escapees from the now closed Fife Animal Park across the fence from Gaddon Loch. Admitting defeat we headed back to the car for something to eat and to decide where to go next.
We settled on Vane Farm/Loch Leven and we were on our way there when we spotted a flock of geese and swans in a field by the side of the main road. Thankfully it was possible to pull in so that we were off the road. They were mostly Greylags and Mute Swans, though there was a small group of Pink Footed Geese a bit further away as well as a Barnacle Goose and a hybrid (most likely the same birds we had seen earlier at Gaddon). Also around were a few Whooper Swans and we watched another fly in before we set off again for Vane Farm. We added Rook as we neared the reserve.
I headed in to browse the books in the visitor centre while Nat grabbed something to eat and a cup of tea. Needless to say I found a few to my liking and bought them for my burgeoning bird book library. I headed down to the first hide to wait for Nat. In addition to Wigeon, Mallards, Teal and Tufted Ducks as well as Coots and Cormorants, I managed to find a few Gadwall and a single drake Shoveler and a sall group of Pintail. Nat joined me in the hide with the scope and a few minutes later one of the birders we had met at Gaddon joined us.
I knew there had been a couple of redhead Smew seen at the reserve lately and decided to search for one. Seconds after mentioning it I found a small duck rather distantly. It dived over and over but it was distinctive enough to be sure that it was indeed a Smew. Another year-tick. The light was starting to go a bit so we decided to give up and head back to the centre again. Just as we were about to pop back into the cafe I heard Long Tailed Tits and quickly spotted them in the trees. Another one for my year-list. More books were purchased and we headed back northwards. We weren't quite finished yet though and did succeed in adding Jackdaw, Pheasant, Grey Heron and Sparrowhawk on the way home.
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| Barnacle Goose |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Greylags, Barnacle Goose & hybrid Barnacle x Greylag |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan & Greylag Goose |
45 species seen including 5 new for the year (in bold) and another enjoyable day out,even without any lifers or the secondary target bird. Species seen - Barnacle Goose, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Smew, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.