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| Grey Heron, Mallard & Wigeon |
I added House Sparrow in Tayport almost as soon as I got off the bus to cross the golf course. A Buzzard lifted from one of the fairways as I walked along the track to Morton Lochs. I stopped near the f end of the golf course track when I heard, and then saw, Mistle Thrushes. On my way past the house I stopped to watch a pair of Roe Deer feeding a short distance away from me in the field. One kept a wary eye on me while the other ate. I took a short video clip before moving on. A few Black Headed Gulls glided over as I arrived at the reserve. Just before I reached the gate into the hides I heard a bit of a commotion in the trees and stopped to watch a Jay harassing a Buzzard. They both flew off when they spotted me. I headed into the hide.
Out on the water there were plenty of Mallards, Wigeon and Teal, as well as a few Mute swans. There were also a couple of Grey Herons stood by the water's edge along the far bank. Little Grebe was the next addition as one swam into view. With nothing much else to see I headed along to the hide by the road for a different angle. I was able to add Coot, Gadwall and Tufted Duck from here before I walked out along the rather potholed access road to scan the fields for anything of interest. A Goldcrest was in the bushes and a Grey Wagtail overflew. A few Carrion Crows could be seen in the fields to the south while a gaggle of Greylags and a few Pink Footed Geese were in the field to the north.
I walked back down the road to walk out to the 'railway hide' at the southern end of the two lochs. There was a good bit of activity in the trees and bushes along the way here with birds flying into and out of the fields on the other side of the fence. These were mostly Chaffinches though there was also a Pied Wagtail and a Goldfinch. Blue Tits and a male Bullfinch were in the trees on the other side of the muddy track, while a Robin showed well from a low branch. I heard Redwings calling and watched as a half-dozen passed overhead. Just before I reached the end of the track a Sparrowhawk flew low over causing a panicked reaction from the finches and tits in the bushes and trees.
Things were quiet out in front of the hide with only a pair of Mallards to be seen initially. One of the Rangers filled the feeders and a succession of Great Tits and a Coal Tit or two popped in for a bite to eat. Further round the loch I could hear Long Tailed Tits calling and watched a few of them flitting through the trees. I scanned around the edge of the loch looking for a Kingfisher and found a single bird perched on a small tree off to my left. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew out from the trees and over the loch and hide. I walked back from the hide to the access road and turned right to walk back to join the track to take me round to Tentsmuir Forest. I heard plenty of activity in the trees, mostly Coal Tits and Goldcrests though I did add both Dunnock and Wren. I also managed to see, and film, around a thousand or more geese that appeared to have been spooked from a field by an RAF Typhoon fighter carrying out practice approaches at its former home, as they milled around. They were too far away to be identified properly but I suspect they were mostly a mix of Greylags and Pink Feet.
Somehow I took a wrong turn and ended up by the edge of the field that I should've been skirting round. As it was largely ploughed but still some of it was stubble I decided to use it as a short-cut. Off to the left I could see a few Pheasants and a Jay. When I reached the other side and clambered carefully over the barbed wire fence I discovered the path was a mix of mud and large puddles. I carefully negotiated the puddles and arrived at the junction that would lead me eastwards through the forest to the dunes and especially to the stand of deciduous trees beyond where I tend to have decent luck when looking for Green Woodpeckers.
It was a long, rather boring walk out with very little bird-life to keep me occupied along the way. Around an hour later I reached the edge of the forest only to find a rather large, deep puddle blocking my way. Not ideal. However, I had a fair idea that the ground was slightly higher to the north so walked a short distance in that direction and routed round the puddle. Out beyond the dunes I watched as a Great Black Backed Gull flew by. The stand of trees were busy with a mixed flock of tits - mostly Great and Blue but also a few Coal Tits feeding in the trees. A large-ish bird flew up into the trees ahead of me, but it was only a Mistle Thrush. As I neared the end of the stand of trees another large bird flew up from ahead of me. Green Woodpecker this time. It flew down to the ground out of my line of sight and I edged forward slowly. The bird lifted and flew off behind me landing on a tree trunk. Had I had the SLR with me I'd have got a photo at this point but the P900 was a bit slow t react and the bird flew off again within seconds of having landed on the tree trunk. Ah well, one year-tick anyway.
I headed through the dunes to scan the beach from the raised edges. There were a mixture of waders along the edge of the water - Curlews, Oystercatchers and Grey Plovers. There were also a few gulls including the first Common Gulls of the day. Just offshore were a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers among the breakers. A pair of Dunlin scurried along behind the Grey Plovers which stood hunched and looking rather grumpy. A Cormorant flew by offshore. The usual large tidal pool extended well back into the dunes southwards meanings access to the edge of the beach, where the Snow Buntings frequented last year, would require a rather sizeable detour with no guarantees of success. I decided to give it a miss. I stopped to scan behind me along the treetops. I was lucky enough to catch a pair of Ravens flying into the trees, my first of the year.
I pressed on southwards, along the edge of the pools until I found a way to the edge of the beach. The wind speed had increased and was coming almost directly from the south. Walking into a face full of driven sand is never great fun. Offshore among the waves I could see there were large numbers of Scoters strung out in lines. I found a relatively sheltered spot and scanned with the scope looking for Surf Scoter, or even better Black Scoter. The flock seemed to be almost entirely made up of Common Scoters though there were quite a few Long Tailed Ducks around also. I pushed on south into the wind, choosing to spend as much time as possible on the west side of the dune ridge, popping up to the top every few minutes for another scan of the Scoters. I eventually found a few Eiders and watched a few Velvet Scoters fly in to join the flock south of the Kinshaldy car park area.
A bit further on I had to take the windswept beach route when I reached an area where chemical spraying was/had been taking place. I could see that the tide was coming in quite fast. I also knew from experience that the dunes around the Goosepools area ahead of me would very likely be largely flooded and a nightmare to navigate potentially adding a large chunk of unnecessary mileage to my journey. My legs were beginning to tire and I knew I still had at least 3 or 4 miles to go before I could relax on a bus homewards. With the beach ahead almost entirely covered in water I cut inland a little to reach a raised area with an old WW2 pillbox atop it. From here I hoped to be able to assess my options. Worst case scenario I would have to double back to Kinshaldy and walk back to Leuchars from there. A Meadow Pipit, my first of the year, flew up ahead of me, calling loudly as it was buffeted by the gale.
From the raised viewpoint I could see that there was indeed a lot of water among the dunes. I would have to skirt along the edge of the beach and hope that the waves didn't crest the small ridge before I reached the end. If they did I would have no choice but to head inland away from the beach possibly through at least some water. As I headed down from the hill, three ducks flew over and swung into land in the Goosepools floods. Pintails, another nice addition, even if they weren't a new bird for the year. I eventually made it to the end of Reres Wood without getting my feet wet, though there was no beach to speak off left.
The strength of the wind made it unlikely I would see much else on my walk to Leuchars village and so it proved despite numerous stops to scan. I did add Stock Dove over Earlshall Muir from the western end of Reres Wood, and a Buzzard flew off ahead of me near the University Air Squadron hangar. Rain threatened as I neared the farm buildings, but apart from a few large drops it didn't come to anything. I did add Starling near here, and a Mistle Thrush perched up in the trees. Robin and Chaffinch were seen here too in the trees. As I neared the village again, a small flock of Blue Tits flew towards me along the road before settling in the hedge. I found a Goldcrest in the hedge and managed a short video clip of it preening though the diminishing light made it a rather dark and washed-out clip. It was around 1600 when I made it to the bus stop in Leuchars and thankfully i didn't have too long to wait for a bus.
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| Roe Deer |
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| Wigeon |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Curlew |
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| Curlew |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Grey Plover & Dunlin |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Goldcrest |
A tiring walk in the conditions and although the decision to travel light proved to be the right one, the end haul of only 3 new year-ticks (in bold) was slightly disappointing. A repeat performance may be required.
A grand total of 57 species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Kingfisher, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Raven, Red Breasted Merganser, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Velvet Scoter, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.