Having been out on Saturday and Sunday and with a reasonable weather forecast, I decided that I should get up early and head for Fife Ness and the Crail area. The reason for choosing Fife Ness was possibility of having a better chance at seeing Puffins as the birds commuted to and from the Isle of May where they breed in their thousands. There is also a chance of migrants funnelling through in Spring and Autumn. With a variety of habitat around the area almost anything was possible.
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| Kestrel |
I headed out at around 0735 to walk into town to catch the bus to St Andrews at 0755. Having missed out by taking the slightly later bus on my last attempt to get to Crail via public transport I was taking no chances. There weren't too many birds t be seen on the way to the bus station - Herring Gull, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit and Carrion Crow being all I had to show for the early start. From the bus to Fife I added Lesser Black Backed Gull near the bus station and Feral Pigeon near the end of the bridge. Pied Wagtail was a surprise bird to identify from a moving bus and the regular Summer sight of a small Sand Martin flock at the St Michaels golf course was once again part and parcel of the bus journey towards Leuchars.
Rook, Collared Dove and Jackdaw, all regular additions at Leuchars were all safely added to the day list along with a Starling or two. A Mute Swan was seen along with a Redshank on the Motray at Guardbridge. There were a pair of Oystercatchers on the grassy slope just west of Main Street. Curlews were in a field between Guardbridge and St Andrews and a male Pheasant strutted across another field. A small group of roe Deer were in the same field south of the road. Around the bus station while waiting for the Crail bus I watched a Greenfinch calling from a tree opposite while a Blue Tit clung to the wall behind the parked cars searching for insects.
From the bus to Crail I was able to add House Sparrow as the bus headed out the eastern end of the town. Roadworks on the way up to the caravan park gave me the opportunity to scan the bay and I was able to add Eiders to the list, the black and white drakes and the brown ducks being identifiable even at a distance. A little further on Yellowhammers were seen in flight as the bus passed. A few Stock Doves were feeding in the same field as a few Woodpigeons. Opposite the entrance to Cambo
there were two Grey Herons roosting in the field. Nearing Crail, a flock of Golden Plover circled round above a field before landing again.
Arriving in Crail I wandered along to Denburn Wood picking up Coal Tit and Chaffinch almost immediately. A House Sparrow was collecting nest material on the church stonework. A Robin posed nicely for photos. A Magpie perched atop the trees near the top end of Denburn Wood while the whole wood seemed to be alive with the raucous voices of Rooks which seem to have established a rookery in the wood. In the trees below the rookery I added Goldfinch, Wren and Great Tit. There was also a small group of Blue Tits feeding together. I stopped to photograph a pair of Collared Doves at the side of the hotel and a singing Dunnock by the gate to the caravan park.
I decided to walk along the track between the fields where I'd watched Skylarks and Lapland Buntings earlier in the year. As expected there were plenty of Skylarks. There were also a few Meadow Pipits around, but there was no sign of any Grey Partridges. Reaching the track at the end of the field I scanned the derelict buildings beyond the fence adding a male Reed Bunting to the list while more Yellowhammers were seen and a small party of Linnets overflew. A Goldfinch perched atop a small tree as I walked down to the main road again.
Just as I reached the road to Balcomie golf course I heard a Corn Bunting singing behind me. Turning around I saw it perched up on the wires I had just passed. I slowly walked back and was able to get a few photos as the bird sang its distinctive though rather tuneless song. A Buzzard glided over to the north being harassed by the local crows and a second Corn Bunting was heard and seen at the other end of the field. Reaching Kilminning I hunted round for birds. Wrens, Blue Tits and Goldcrests were the most obvious along with Blackbirds and Song Thrush. I inadvertently flushed a pair of hidden Grey Partridges twice, Unsurprisingly though it was rather quiet so I wandered down to the lower end where I had very nice views of a pair of Goldcrests feeding surrounded by blossom in a small bush just a foot or so in front of me.
I headed in to the area to the right of the access road where I spooked another pair of Grey Partridges which in turn set off another bird a little further away. They all flew over the trees and into the crops on the airfield. More Linnets overflew and a nice male Bullfinch was spotted eating the ripening buds. A male Kestrel glided away from me towards the sea and out of my line of sight. I found it later perched just over the fence in a small tree. I was able to approach the bird very cautiously and got within around 20 feet of the tree and was rewarded with some very nice photos.
I headed down onto the coastal path to walk along to Fife Ness. I though Wheatear might be a possibility but Pied Wagtails, Goldfinches and Linnets seemed to be the only birds to be seen around the path. Out on the rocks were a mixture of Great Black Backed and Herring Gulls. Cormorant, Kittiwake and Shag all flew by before I reached the rocks at Fife Ness where I found a relatively comfortable spot to sit for an hour or so. More Shags, Cormorants, Gannets and Eiders were watched and photographed. It was steady but rather quiet. A Red Throated Diver was found out on the water.
A Long Tailed Duck pair flew past, and a single Common Scoter went south. Later another 3 small groups of these black sea ducks headed back northwards. Guillemots and Razorbills could be seen racing low over the water but no matter how much I willed one of the whirring winged black pied birds to be a Puffin I couldn't make one appear. A few Common Gulls drifted by. Redshank and Oystercatchers landed on the rocks by the water's edge. A Rock Pipit flew over behind me. A Fulmar was seen as I watched a few auks go north, and a second Red Throated Diver was seen going south at speed. A Red Breasted Merganser drake hurtled past just before I decided to give up and go and check out Fife Ness Muir (The Patch). It was rather quiet here also and so I headed back into the village to catch a bus back to St Andrews. On the way I found a singing Corn Bunting on the ground in a ploughed field, and watched Herring Gulls following the plough while overhead a Buzzard was hassled by a few gulls and another flew by unmolested.
Once the bus did eventually turn up around 1510 (15 minutes late) I checked through my photos as best I could hoping to find a Puffin on the photos I'd taken - there was one particular pair of very distant birds that I thought could have been, having shown a slightly different flight style, but they turned out to be just Guillemots. So no Puffins once again. On reaching St Andrews I was able to catch a bus headed for Dundee, and decided to get off at Guardbridge to head into the hide to hopefully add a few more species to the list. It was quite busy in the hide with 3 adults and 4 kids. I recognised a Fife birder I'd met in the hide before with 3 youngsters who was looking slightly harassed. His daughters were taking photos of the birds and giving names to the Herons out front.
The other couple with a very young daughter actually remembered me from a few years ago at Letham Pools when I was looking for, and failing to find, a Wood Sandpiper one evening with my pal Ally, a few days before one of the last Leuchars airshows in September. Not being particularly great at recognising people I couldn't claim to actually remember them, but I did recall the conversation once the Wood Sandpiper at Letham was mentioned. Out in front of the hide were the usual suspects and I was able to add a number of new species for the day - Shelducks, Mallards, Black Headed Gulls and Teal.
Tree Sparrows visited the feeders giving me another addition. A pair of Greylags could be seen out among the grass on the salt-marsh. A flock of Black Tailed Godwits looking increasingly orange could be seen in flight to the north along with Knot and Dunlin. Whatever it was that was spooking the wader flocks we failed to see it. A couple of Goosanders were seen on the river and a Grey Wagtail flew past. Just before 1700 I packed up and headed for the bus home, tired but reasonably satisfied with the day's birding even if I'd failed to add Puffin to my year-list among the 69 species seen.
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| House Sparrow |
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| Robin |
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| Magpie |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Dunnock |
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| Skylark |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Wren |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Bullfinch |
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| Starling & Greenfinch |
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| Kestrel |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Shag |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Cormorant |
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| Gannet |
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| Long Tailed Duck |
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| Gannet |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Razorbill & Guillemot |
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| Shag |
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| Eider |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Skylark |
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| Buzzard |
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| Teal |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Redshank, Knot, Dunlin & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Curlew |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Goosander |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
