Having had to wait in on Monday for a plumber to come "late morning" (they didn't - after 3pm, and only because I phoned to see if they were still coming!), I was determined to get out and about birding on Tuesday. With winds from the east, I weighed up the options before settling for the Crail area/Fife Ness. I was hoping that I might find a few migrants blown in, though Autumn does generally work out better for that particular phenomenon. Still, as always, nothing ventured....
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| Lesser Whitethroat |
I needed to catch a bus at 0754, as the later bus cuts things a bit too fine, so I headed out at around 0735 to head for the bus station. The walk into town was actually rather productive with a number of species seen - Feral Pigeon, Magpie, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Blackbird, Starling and an unexpected Sparrowhawk heading over the Murraygate seen while I waited for the bus to pull away. One of the city centre Oystercatchers put in an appearance as the bus reversed from the stance at the station.
The productive start to the day's list continued on the way to St Andrews. Cormorants on Submarine Rock, a male Pheasant in a field just after the Five Roads roundabout. A Skylark fluttering up from a field a little further on, then House Sparrows near Pickletillum. The Rooks from the St Michaels rookery were in one of the fields nearby and the usual summer sight of a flock of hawking Sand Martins above the golf course was noted also. Jackdaw was added in Leuchars and a Grey Heron overflew the railway station as the bus picked up more passengers. Mute Swan was seen on the Motray at Guardbridge and Swallows zipped low over the park further along the road.
The bus journey to Crail saw the addition of only one other species, a pair of Mallards which overflew the bus station as I sat upstairs waiting for the bus to leave. On reaching Crail, I headed first for Denburn Wood. Great Tit, Robin and Chaffinch were seen on the short walk along past the church to the top end of the Wood. A Blackcap was singing towards the top end, and it posed nicely for a few photos eventually. A few Blue Tits picked around among the bushes and branches, while up in the trees one of the breeding Stock Doves eyed me and a few dog-walkers warily. A Wren showed briefly in the open at the bottom end and a Song Thrush sang loudly from the tree by the gate.
A Collared Dove was seen near the caravan park track. I spotted a pair of Corn Buntings perched on the fence between the first and second fields to the south of the road. I decided to walk up past the B&B to check out the old derelict airfield buildings from outside the fence. A Willow Warbler sang by one of the houses, and another Corn Bunting was doing likewise from the bushes surrounding the garden of another. Above the houses a number of House Martins circled. A Meadow Pipit was perched on one of the old buildings but there wasn't anything else of note, so I headed back down the track to the road and out towards Kilminning.
A Pied Wagtail flew over as I reached the top of the road . A bit of exploration around the top end produced Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. I also eventually managed reasonable views of my first
Lesser Whitethroat of the year. Having had to miss out on an afternoon trip to Riverside Nature Park the previous day in the hope of seeing this species, it was a welcome find. As was the Common
Whitethroat which sang loudly from the bushes a little further down the road. A Goldcrest picked around in a small tree and the local male Kestrel hovered above the open grassy area at the top end. A pair of Shelduck hurtled over. A Yellowhammer was seen on the golf course fairway.
Just as I was about to have my lunch a car pulled up. Fife birder Dave Waters from St Andrews got out and I told him what was around. We had another hunt around, managing to find another Lesser Whitethroat and a Chiffchaff but nothing much else. Dave offered me a lift down to the bottom end of the site. We stopped en route to check along the track at the top end of the field, but there was no hoped for Wryneck for us. We wandered round at the lower end but it was quite quiet. A spot of impromptu sea-watching from the fence gave us Razorbill, gannet, Fulmar, Shag, Kittiwake and a flypast Whimbrel. A pair of Red Throated Divers were seen among the waves not too far out and a Great Black Backed Gull also headed north. We watched a pair of Kestrels fly along the coast from the direction of Crail.
After more not particularly productive hunting we decided to head down to check Balcomie Beach and the Patch. Guillemots were added as they swept low over the water in small groups. A single Turnstone was perched on the rocks near the hide. A few Linnets flew up from the beach. Stinky Pool was quiet, and there was no Wheatear to be seen as we skirted the edge of the golf course to walk to Balcomie Beach. A small group of Dunlin and Ringed Plover were easy to see, and a roosting flock of Sanderling huddled up against the rocks. Dave spotted a drake Red Breasted Merganser out in the bay and a few Sandwich Terns were perched offshore on rocks. I found a pair of Common Scoters out on the water as well as a few Eiders.
We headed next to Fife Ness Muir "The Patch", where although it seemed quiet we still managed to find a few warblers skulking around, including another Lesser Whitethroat and a few Willow Warblers. A Dunnock also gave good views. We had another hunt around at the top end, finding another few Lesser Whitethroats but nothing any more exciting. Lesser Whitethroats are still good birds to find and I've never seen as many in one day before. We decided that we were unlikely to find a major rarity, so we called it a day. Dave generously gave me a lift back to St Andrews, which was gratefully received, saving me having to wait for a bus back.
I headed for Guardbridge to grab a short spell in the hide, but struggled to get the door to open. A few Redshanks were seen out across the river from outside. That's now 2 windows and the door lock mechanism in need of replacement. There wasn't much to see however, though a Goosander downstream was a new day-tick, as were the Tree Sparrows and Greenfinches at the feeders. After a very quick 15 minutes or so outside the hide I headed for the bus home having managed to see 66 species, including 2 year-ticks (in bold). Not a bad day out.
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| Blackcap |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Blackcap |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Skylark |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| House Martin |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Starling |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Willow Warbler (I think) |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Wren |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Kestrel |
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| Pheasant |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Turnstone |
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| Sanderling |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Dunlin & Ringed Plover |
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| Common Scoter |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull,
Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel,
Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
