I managed to sleep through a few messages from birding pal, Jacqui, yesterday morning before waking up around 1100. Jacqui had offered in her messages to pick me up at Guardbridge and take me to Gaddon Loch to see the American Wigeon drake but when she received no reply she went herself and had really good views of the bird. Knowing that I hadn't been in the best frame of mind of late, Jacqui persuaded me to get out of my bed and to meet her at Guardbridge and she would take me to see the duck, even though she'd already been.
 |
| American Wigeon |
By the time I was organised and ready to go it was around 1230. herring Gull was first onto the list for the afternoon, with a Blue Tit calling in a tree round the corner. A Goldcrest was singing in a tree on Dens Road as it flitted around from branch to branch by the busy road. A Woodpigeon was next and as I neared the bus station, a skein of Pink Footed Geese seemed to be struggling into the wind following the line of the river but over the Seagate, heading west. Feral Pigeons were seen from the bus station as I waited for the slightly late running bus to arrive. There were Cormorants on Submarine Rock, and a Black Headed Gull and a Carrion Crow were seen around the car park at the Fife end of the bridge. Rooks were seen at St Michaels.
Arriving at Guardbridge I headed into the hide to meet Jacqui. A Great Tit was in the trees on the way in. Out front was a single Black Tailed Godwit, though there was a large flock on the river just upstream. There was a sizeable flock of Knot bunched up down by the bend in the river and scanning around added Redshank, Mallards, Oystercatcher, Shelduck and Teal to the list. Tree Sparrows and Blue Tits visited the feeders before we set off for Gaddon.
Blackbird, Starling, House Sparrow and Collared Doves were seen on the way and when we arrived at Gaddon, there was not much room in the car park but Jacqui found a spot and we got organised. On Birnie Loch there were Greylags, Mallards, a few Eurasian Wigeon, Mute Swans and a few Moorhens. Black Headed and Herring Gulls were on the grass. We headed through the gate to Gaddon. I found a drake Pochard with another pair of Wigeon and a Goldeneye was close into shore below the trees along the bank in front of us. There were numerous Coot dotted around and a single Common Gull on the water, as well as a few Tufted Ducks.
We stopped to scan at various points along the path and saw a pair of Blue Tits in the trees. A small flock of finches shot past unidentified. As we neared the far end of the Loch, Jacqui spotted the
American Wigeon out in the middle of the Loch, but still relatively close to the shore. This was the best views I've had of the species and I took photos and a short video clip to make the most of the opportunity. The light was very favourable also. Unfortunately, the bird did get further away from us so we walked further round but it didn't come any closer. Instead it spent a lot of time beside a Coot, which I think it was attempting to rob of any food it happened to bring up from underwater. We were joined briefly by Angus birder, Alex Smith, and as we were leaving a Fife couple who I speak to at Guardbridge regularly arrived.
We had good views of a very tame Robin which Jacqui attempted to hand feed but it just wouldn't take the food from her hand even though it was calm enough to stay put even with her hand a few centimetres away. There were Long Tailed Tits further along the track. Three of the local Buzzards hung in the wind above the railway line, one of them being a very pale bird I think I've photographed here before. There were a few Oystercatchers on the island but there was only more of the same around the rest of the Loch, and Birnie was rather quiet also until we arrived back at the car park.
The grass was covered with Black Headed Gulls, one of which wore a white Norwegian ring (J3CC). I have a feeling I've seen a photo of this particular bird before online, so it will be interesting to find out a bit more about its history.There was a Common Gull amongst the gulls and on the water was a presumed female
Barnacle Goose sticking close to her Greylag mate, and their 3 hybrid offspring, Whatever the provenance of this particular Barnacle Goose (fence-jumper from the now-defunct Fife Animal Park?), the family are a fairly regular sight around the local area. I've seen them at The Wilderness and Letham Pools as well as at Gaddon the last time I tried for American Wigeon with Nat. As I'm pretty certain I've counted the same bird for my year list in previous years I'll keep that going, and hope that I get a 100% wild bird eventually (probably around September when the returning winter flocks pass over Fife on their way to the Solway).
Heading back to Guardbridge, we added a flock of Lapwings soon after leaving Birnie and a Magpie in Ladybank by the railway station. We stopped off briefly at the Wilderness where there were Mute Swans, Mallards, Teal, Wigeon and Oystercatchers as well as a Buzzard but nothing additional to what we had seen already. Pheasants were seen as we headed along the road to Letham Pools, where a small group of Pink Footed Geese put in an appearance but it was a similar haul of mostly Mallard, Teal and Wigeon and a few gulls and Oystercatchers and not much else, except a Curlew.
Jacqui dropped me off at Guardbridge and I headed into the hide. There wasn't too much else to add there but I did get a Great Black Backed Gull, a Goosander drake and a Grey Heron. A large skein of at least 300+ Pink Footed Geese dropped in for 20 minutes or so before heading off again. I scanned through them but there didn't appear to be anything unusual in their midst. There was a lot of emergency service activity visible over by the farm where the Fife Bird Club hide is, which I later discovered was because of a very serious road accident at the Strathkinness junction. I headed for home at around 1600 after what had been quite a successful afternoon out for me with 2 new year-ticks (in bold) and some nice video and photos of the American Wigeon.
 |
| American Wigeon |
 |
| American Wigeon & Coot |
 |
| American Wigeon |
 |
| Wigeon |
 |
| Black Headed Gull |
 |
| Buzzard |
 |
| Greylag Goose |
 |
| Long Tailed Tit |
 |
| Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid |
 |
| Greylag & Barnacle Goose |
 |
| Black Headed Gull (J3CC) |
 |
| Barnacle Goose |
 |
| Greylag & Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrids |
 |
| Greylag, Barnacle Goose & Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrids |
 |
| Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid, Barnacle Goose, Greylag Goose |
 |
| Pink Footed Goose |
 |
| Pink Footed Goose |
 |
| Pink Footed Goose |
45 species seen -
American Wigeon, Barnacle Goose, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Knot, Lapwing, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
