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.
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| 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.
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| Grey Heron |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Grey Partridge |
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| Skylark |
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| Peregrine |
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| Eider |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Curlew |
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| Shag |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Curlew |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Buzzard |
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| 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.
