0371 : Sunshine On Sunday (29/1/17)

With rain having been present over large swathes of the country on Saturday, it appeared that not too many birders had ventured out with the result being that there weren't too many less common birds reported. This meant that a potential trip to East Lothian with Jacqui didn't look as worthwhile as we had hoped, with only Water Pipit to tempt us. However, as the forecast was cold but clear, we decided to try for some new birds in Fife instead, predominantly around Crail again. With a bit of luck it might be possible to add Woodcock at Kilminning, Gannets, Razorbills and Kittiwakes off Fife Ness and maybe an Iceland Gull at Anstruther harbour. On top of that I hoped to have another opportunity to get a photo of a Lapland Bunting.

Peregrine

I arranged to meet Jacqui at Guardbridge at around 0950, and headed out at about 0905. Herring Gull was first onto the list, followed quickly after by Blackbird and Blue Tit. Woodpigeon was seen on Dens Road and House Sparrows were added near the bus station. Arriving in Guardbridge (the bus windows were filthy meaning it was difficult to see outside, let alone any birds) I added Feral Pigeons before meeting Jacqui. She said she'd been unable to get into the hide, as had a woman on the Fife SOC branch outing. We scanned from the side of the hide instead.

As it was low tide, we could see plenty of birds around. Lapwings, Knot, Curlew and Redshank made up the majority of the obvious waders. On the river were Mallards and unusually a single Tufted Duck. There were Goldeneye further downstream. A few Grey Herons could also be seen. The birds coming to the feeders ignored us, giving us close views of Great Tits and Blue Tits. Jacqui spotted a male Bullfinch in the tree above us, but it moved further back in the trees before we could get photos. There were Black Headed and Common Gulls with Herring Gulls in the gull roost down by the bend in the river. A few Great Black Backed Gulls also dropped in to join them.

The lady from the SOC came back to see if I'd tried the door to get inside. I hadn't, so I did, and knowing the technique that seems to work (most of the time) found that we weren't actually locked out, so in we went. We added Dunnock and Robin below the feeders along with a bush full of tree Sparrows off to our left and a Coal Tit also popped in to the feeders, along with a female Chaffinch. The first Carrion Crow of the day flew past. More scanning found a few Black Tailed Godwits and a couple of Dunlin as I searched, in vain, for Teal (seen earlier by Jacqui).

Having exhausted the obvious birds out in front of the hide we set of for Anstruther, picking up a pair of female Bullfinches on the way back to the car. The mixed flock of Mute and Whooper Swans in the field between Guardbridge and St Andrews seemed to have grown in size. Starlings and Shelduck were seen as we passed Edenside. On the way to Anstruther we passed a field full of Fieldfares, though I didn't manage to see any obvious Redwings amongst the flock. Arriving in Anstruther, Jacqui spotted a Rock Pipit on the road in front of us as I spotted a Pied Wagtail landing on the pavement.

We walked out along the harbour, scanning the gulls on the rocks. There were Redshanks and Oystercatchers close by, while a mix of Herring, Great Black Backed and Black Headed Gulls were on the distant rocks. A few Mallards and a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers were spotted and Jaqui found a drake Eider. There were Cormorants roosting on rocks further round the coast, but despite a brief spot of sea-watching there was nothing to be added. We set off for Crail, adding Magpie and Jackdaw en route and a covey of Grey Partridges which flushed from the roadside field as we passed.

We parked at the end of Roome Bay Crescent in Crail, picking up a Collared Dove and a Goldfinch which were sharing a tree in the street with a pair of Woodpigeons. We walked up past the hotel to wander along the farm track between the fields. A pair of distant Stock Doves flew off to the north, and a small-ish flock of Golden Plover put in an appearance before we had our first views of Skylarks in the field. There was at least one smaller bird with a flock of Skylarks that took flight but the views were inconclusive. Ideally, I would have chosen to hang around the track for at least an hour or so, but Jacqui wasn't overly keen, so we headed down past the B&B adding Yellowhammer to the list.

The local covey of Grey Partridges (at least 13 birds this time) were seen again, looking like bumps in among the grass in the field. As we walked back in along the road I happened to look up and spotted a Peregrine flying over. Unfortunately, it didn't persuade the birds in the field to take flight, though we did have nice views of a Skylark relatively close by in the field. Back at the car we decided to head down across the golf course to Fife Ness and into the hide for a spot of sea-watching.

It was rather quiet out on the water with a few small groups of Eider and some Shags dotted around. Redshank, Oystercatcher and Curlew put in brief appearances on the rocks out front, as did a Carrion Crow. A Cormorant flew by, as did a few Great Black Backed Gulls. I spotted a Long Tailed Duck whirring by, low over the water, and a group of six went through shortly afterwards. Our first Red Throated Diver headed north, and we eventually added another five or six including two on the water quite far out. I spotted a very distant Fulmar before we walked back to the car. There were a few Dunlin on the rocks with the Gulls and Shags, as well as a number of Oystercatchers. A Kestrel was on the wires behind the caravans, peering down into the vegetation below.

We headed up to Kilminning next, spooking a Song Thrush as we were watching Blue Tits in a tree at the top end. There weren't too many other birds around, though there were a pair of vocal Magpies calling to each other. I added Wren and Goldcrest over the other side of the road. A male Pheasant was in among the rosebushes down the bottom end. There were a few more Curlews and Woodpigeons around but despite searching I drew a blank on Woodcock again. Jacqui found a Meadow Pipit down by the fence that did a passable impression of something more exotic, before showing itself properly.

With the time now around 1430 we decided to head back along the coast and onto Kilconquhar to check the Loch in the hope that a Smew might have dropped in. Jacqui commented that a particular area of fields used to be good for geese, just seconds before we discovered a field full of hundreds of Pink Footed Geese. We stopped to scan through them but all the birds we could see from the road appeared to be just Pink Foots. There were a number of Tree Sparrows and a Mallard a little further down from where Jacqui had pulled into the side of the road.

When we reached Kilconquhar, we decided to try Barnyards Marsh first, hoping to add Snipe, but we found none at all. A Buzzard, the first of the day for us, incurred the wrath of the local Herring Gulls as it passed over while the nearby trees held Jackdaws and Starlings. We headed round through the churchyard to the quiet garden overlooking the Loch. Most of the birds were fairly distant - Mallards, Goldeneye, Teal, Coots, Tufted Duck, Mute Swans and a few gulls as well as a Cormorant. Unsurprisingly there were no Smew, or more surprisingly, no Wigeon either. With the sun getting lower in the sky we decided to head for home, having managed a nice haul of 62 species, even if we didn't add anything to my year-list.

Grey Heron

Bullfinch

Carrion Crow

Herring Gull

Golden Plover

Grey Partridge

Skylark

Peregrine

Eider

Red Throated Diver

Red Throated Diver

Curlew

Shag

Great Black Backed Gull

Red Throated Diver

Red Throated Diver

Red Throated Diver

Curlew

Pink Footed Geese

Buzzard

Buzzard

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Fulmar, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Long Tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.

370 : Hunting For Buntings (25/1/17)

As my year-list continues to grow it is getting harder to target more than one species at a time, so it is likely that January's flood will reduce to a trickle or even a drip in February. So with that in mind, there were really only a few possible choices for my day out with Nat. Either head to Lintrathen in the hope of picking up the trio of Red Necked Grebe, American Wigeon and Green Winged Teal, or head to Fife for Snow Bunting and Green Woodpecker at Tentsmuir followed by an attempt to see the Lapland Buntings at Crail. After a spot of discussion we decided on the latter.

Corn Bunting

I headed out at around 0750 but there were no birds to be seen in the pre-dawn gloom, though I did eventually manage to see a few Herring Gulls and a Blackbird before I reached the bus station. I met Nat at the end of the roadbridge, adding Starling to the list before we set off to Morton Lochs for a quick visit until 0900 when the barrier on the access road into Kinshaldy becomes operational. Woodpigeon was seen on the way, and we hadn't walked very far along the track from the car park towards the Railway hide before we added Coal Tit and Goldcrest, followed quickly after by Blue Tits. Chaffinches and Goldfinches were in the trees further along.

Things were quiet out in front with only a pair of Mallards to be seen, though a Buzzard could be heard mewing from the trees off to the right. After a few minutes of nothing much happening we headed back along to check the other loch. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling and quickly spotted it high in a conifer, catching the early rays of the sun. A single Feral Pigeon flew over. On the other loch were Mute Swans, Mallards, Teal, Tufted Ducks, and Little Grebes, but not too much else. Heading back out to the main road, Nat spotted a Rook that I missed before she saw a  flock of geese across the far side of the field. Surprisingly, given the time of year, these were 22 Canada Geese. A year-tick for Nat.

On our way to Kinshaldy we added Mistle Thrush, Curlew and Pheasant to our list for the day before we reached the barrier. There were 2 Buzzards in the horse fields - one on the ground and the second on a fence. There was a sizeable flock of Redwings and Fieldfares feeding and as we were about to move I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye - a Treecreeper on the nearest tree trunk to the car. A pair of Bullfinches overflew as we got out of the car. Carrion Crow was seen as we walked towards the beach to walk along the edge of the dunes in the hope of seeing a Snow Bunting or two.

Unfortunately for us, things were very quiet. There was a single Oystercatcher down on the beach and a few small groups of Common Scoters offshore, but no sign of any small birds feeding along the strandline. As we neared the pools a flock of Linnets took off ahead of us but flew off to the north. Around the pools were a few Curlews, a Redshank, a Greenshank and a pair of Bar Tailed Godwits. There was no obvious sign of the Shorelarks either, though we didn't really look too hard at this point. With no Snow Bunting to be seen, we continued north towards my favoured site for Green Woodpeckers.

A Great Black backed Gull circled over the beach and more Oystercatchers were roosting beyond another pool. A pair of Reed Buntings flushed from the edge of the dunes. We could see birds in the tops of the line of trees ahead of us, so we moved closer to investigate. These turned out to be mostly Linnets, but also a few Reed Buntings, Goldfinches and even a couple of Lesser Redpoll. Not a bad wee haul. A Stonechat was perched atop some grasses a little further on. A Meadow Pipit flew up from among the grass, and a surprise as we crossed a heathery area was a Snipe which flushed and flew off. Woodcock would've been more likely but the call and flight action was definitely Snipe.

We heard a distant Green Woodpecker and headed towards where the call was coming from. Eventually I was able to narrow the calls down to a single tree but the bird flew off. My view was blocked by the branches of the trees I was under, but Nat who was stood further back confirmed that it was indeed our first Green Woodpecker of 2017. Another called from the trees where I usually see the species (if my luck is in), so as this is a much more open environment we hoped we would have a chance of a better view if we were able to locate the bird.

By listening to where the call was coming from, we were able to narrow it down to a few trees. Needless to say, the bird was watching and flew to a different part of the small wood. A slight change of direction and it was off again, but this time I was able to see where it had landed. However, it quickly sidled round the trunk so that only a slim sliver of the bird was visible. we edged closer, but again the bird flew, allowing me to grab a few flight shots, but as it was clearly not keen on posing for us, we headed back to look again for the Snow Buntings.

A pair of Crossbills overflew as we walked back towards the beach. There was a large flock of Bar Tailed Godwits circling and we watched them drop in at the water's edge where they joined a larger group including at least 60 Grey Plover, over 100 Dunlin, some Knot and at least 4 Sanderling. We made sure we didn't get too close and more birds flew in to join the roost. Out on the water, Nat found a few Eiders, and a Cormorant flew past. A Common Gull and a pair of squabbling Black Headed Gulls had dropped in at the pools. A Pink Footed Goose overflew but returned and seemed wary of landing, circling numerous times before dropping in for a minute or two before departing again. A quartet of Sanderling and a single Dunlin were also at the pools.

A Pied Wagtail passed over us as we neared the dunes again. We scanned for Shorelarks but there was no sign. We checked along the front of the dunes for Snow Buntings but there was still no sign. A bird lifted from in the dunes - clearly a lark, but it proved to be the first Skylark of the day and we saw a few more as wandered back south. Unfortunately there was nothing else added before we arrived back at the car. After lunch we set off for Crail, adding a Robin on the barrier post on the way out of Tentsmuir.

Collared Doves were seen in Guardbridge, with Jackdaws at the farm on the St Andrews road. A group of Whooper Swans were in one of the roadside fields. With the direct route to Crail closed for roadworks we had to go via Anstruther. A Kestrel watched the roadside verge from atop a telegraph pole as we headed down the slope towards the town. Arriving In Crail we found somewhere to park before walking out along the road towards Kilminning. There were a few House Sparrows around in the gardens. As we walked out along the road we heard and saw Skylarks from the field, but having listened to Lapland Bunting calls in the car to familiarise ourselves with them, we didn't hear any.

Movement from the stubble along the edge of the field we were walking along next to proved to be a rather tame Corn Bunting which perched atop the ploughed earth not too far away allowing us to take photos. Another two showed but further away. Another bird disappeared into the furrow and we couldn't get decent enough views to confirm what it actually was. We walked up the track past the B&B towards Wormiston, adding Rook and Magpie to the list. A small flock of Golden Plover overflew from the east. There was some movement at times from the corvids in the field and also the Skylarks.

Eventually we heard a Lapland Bunting call and quickly located the source, as the single bird flew up from the field, before being joined in the air by a few Skylarks. I failed to get the camera to focus on the bird and missed out on the photo, but it was the first lifer of the year for me, and a welcome one at that. We retraced our steps and added around 15 Grey Partridges to our list when they flew up from near the road end of the field, further into the field as we headed back to the village. A much larger group of over 100 Golden Plover also flew over. We routed back through Fife and had great views of a male Kestrel hovering above the grass verge at a height of about 6 feet near Drumoig.

A mostly successful day, with 2 out of the 3 target birds seen (in bold), among the 63 species seen. Not too many photo opportunities but a good day nonetheless.

Linnet & Goldfinch

Linnet

Lesser Redpoll

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting, Linnet & Goldfinch

Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Grey Plover & Knot

Bar Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Grey Plover & Knot

Cormorant

Grey Plover

Pink Footed Goose

Pink Footed Goose

Pink Footed Goose

Sanderling

Corn Bunting

Corn Bunting

Corn Bunting

Corn Bunting

Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Greenshank, Grey Partridge, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lapland Bunting, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sanderling, Skylark, Snipe, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon

0369 : Go West..and Keep Going (22/1/17)

During Thursday's outing with Jacqui to Perthshire we had a bit of a discussion. Having done pretty well for birds on the east coast so far this year, Jacqui asked how often I got the opportunity to head west to bird. The simple answer was that I really didn't get the opportunity very often at all. I did make it as far as Baron's Haugh with Nat last year but the plan to head to the west coast for the Black Guillemot got kind of side-tracked by lack of time, as did a visit to Lochwinnoch RSPB reserve. With a Hooded Merganser drake being reported there, along with sightings of Hen Harrier, Brambling and Smew, it had to be worth a trip. Add to the mix the Mandarin Ducks at Balloch, seen by Jacqui's daughter and a slim chance of Lesser Black Backed Gull and maybe even a Hooded Crow then it pretty much had to be done.

Nuthatch

Arrangements were made to head off around 0800 on Sunday morning, so as to avoid the traffic that weekdays and Saturdays tend to bring. Although the weather on Saturday had been mostly foggy, the forecast for the west was dry but cloudy all day, though there was a chance of some light rain. I headed out just before 0800 to meet Jacqui and off we went. Only Herring Gulls were seen in the gloom to start with but Carrion Crow was added on the Kingsway. It was another 40 minutes before the next birds were seen. Pink Footed Geese in a field on the far side of Perth, and a Buzzard by the roadside. What we weren't expecting to see was snow, but we found some.  It was quite sleety at first but was coating the trees and fields in white. Thankfully we soon passed out the other side of it and onto better driving conditions.

The birds were still rather few and far between. Mute Swans were seen on the Forth at Stirling before we turned off along the Gargunnock straight headed for Balloch. Soon we encountered much more snow, with a white coating almost everywhere but the road. There were a few Pheasants in the roadside fields and a small flock of Starlings in another. Our first Magpie of the day was seen near Gargunnock, with Jackdaws added a few miles further on. Blackbird, Collared Dove and Rook were seen as we passed through Drymen. Ahead of schedule, and despite the weather en route, we reached Balloch earlier than expected.

Jacqui parked the car and we crossed the river to check the area where Jacqui's daughter had seen 5 Mandarin Ducks recently. With Loch Lomond's wooded edges, the area is ideal habitat for the birds. Unfortunately for us there was no sign of the birds. There were Mallards on the river, a few Moorhens on the bank, Black Headed Gulls and a single Common Gull perched on the moored boats, and even a couple of Goosanders cruising around. But no Mandarins. I spotted some trees of which the lower branches were actually in the water just a little bit further on and went to investigate. As I had suspected, this was where the Mandarins were hiding. A male and a female just a few feet in front of us and another male slightly further back. Despite the poor lighting conditions we made the most of the opportunity to photograph these exotic looking wee ducks.

With target number 1 successfully located we headed back to the car to drive down to Lochwinnoch RSPB reserve. Jacqui knew the area well, and liked the reserve, so I was looking forward to finally visiting. The chance of some very good birds was also something to look forward to. We decided to try the Barr Loch for the Hooded Merganser first. We had both seen the female, with her punky 'hair-style' at Tayport pond years ago, but the drake was a much more striking bird. Great Tits and Chaffinch were seen as we crossed from the car park to the Loch. Out on the water were Mallards, Wigeon, Tufted Ducks and Goldeneye. I found a Great Crested Grebe and there was at least one Grey Heron along the banks.

We asked a birder on the path if the bird had been seen, and he said he'd just seen it and would show us it through his scope. Unfortunately once he'd got his gear set up he was unable to relocate it, but suggested we'd probably have better luck further along the muddy track. On we went, stopping to chat to another birder who told us where the bird had been and we both scanned along the shoreline opposite. Jacqui found the drake Hooded Merganser just before I did, among the Teal close in to the opposite shoreline. A very striking bird, black and white and orange-brown. We chatted to the birder, who it transpired was a  friend of Stuart Green of Angus Birdtours, and got some information where to try for Black Guillemot. Our plan had been to try Largs, but he suggested Saltcoats as a better bet.

Thanking him for his help, and view through his scope, we headed back to the visitor centre, picking up Goldfinch and Robin on the way. We popped into the small photo hide for a few minutes, getting close views of Blue Tits, Reed Buntings, Chaffinches, Robins, Jackdaws, Magpies and House Sparrows. We then wandered along to the feeders to try for Brambling. There was no sign of any among the Chaffinches but we did add Wren and Coal Tit to the list and were visited a few times by Nuthatches which showed for longer than the bird we'd seen at Killiecrankie on Thursday had. A bit more scanning from the visitor centre added Cormorant, Dunnock and Siskin to the list for the day.

We decided to head down to Saltcoats to try for Black Guillemot and set off around 1200. Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were added on route and as we drove along the seafront at Ardrossan looking for somewhere to park to give a decent view of the sea, we spotted a single Lesser Black Backed Gull on the grass verge. Another year-tick, the 3rd of the day. We found the parking place we'd been recommended at Saltcoats and scanned out over the flat calm sea. There were a number of Red Breasted Mergansers on the water, as well as a few Eiders and Herring Gulls. Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Curlews were on the rocky shoreline. A Great Black Backed Gull and a few more Cormorants were out on a rocky islet just offshore.

Jacqui found a pair of Rock Pipits and a pair of Purple Sandpipers while I scanned the water. It was rather quiet, so we tried a different spot, setting up the scope this time. We saw a Pied Wagtail on the road as we drove to this point, but the only birds which looked promising were just a bit too far out to identify 100%. At times they looked like Slavonian Grebes, Divers or Black Guillemots but they were too distant to be sure, and the photos I took were either totally blurred or inconclusive. We tried a harbour area, finding a Little Grebe but nothing else of note. We decided to head back to Lochwinnoch again for a second try at the birds we hadn't yet seen.

It didn't take us too long to get back and scanning from the centre through their scopes found some distant Whooper Swans and a few Pochard, but there was no sign of the Smew or Hen Harriers. We headed along to the feeders again, and chatted to one of the girls who works at the centre. She hadn't seen the Brambling. We had a few more opportunities to get photos of the Nuthatches though and just as we were contemplating giving up, I spotted a bird among the Chaffinches but a tree blocked my view. When it popped out into the open briefly it confirmed my suspicions. A female Brambling, my 4th year-tick of the day. It promptly wandered back behind the tree meaning that my record photo shows only the head.

We waited for a short while in the centre until around 1430 when we decided to head for home, though we did contemplate trying Victoria Park in Glasgow for the Parakeets which bred there last year. We did pick up a flock of Lapwings as we headed back up towards Glasgow Airport but these were almost our last additions of the day. Only some Shelduck on the exposed mud as we crossed the Forth near Kincardine were added. The weather was mostly wet until we reached Fife but as the light was poor we headed back to Dundee, making it back less than 2 hours after leaving Lochwinnoch.

Another really good day out with 4 year-ticks (in bold) among the 53 species seen, and a few new sites for me, as well as some good photo opportunities with the Nuthatches and the Mandarins, despite the lighting conditions.

Mandarin

Mandarin

Mandarin

Mandarin

Moorhen

Wigeon, Mute Swan & Great Crested Grebe

Hooded Merganser

Reed Bunting

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Purple Sandpiper

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Brambling

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Brambling, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Hooded Merganser, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shelduck, Siskin, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.