Following on from the rather successful trip to St Cyrus in midweek, I wanted to try and kick-start my rather stagnant year-list which has lacked anything new recently except Roseate Tern, though some of that will have been down to not going anywhere at weekends. Feeling rather invigorated I decided not to waste the weekend. I decided against a return trip to St Cyrus, despite the temptation to do so. Instead, I figured my best bet for an addition or two would be waders, with Ruff the best bet. There was also an outside chance of Curlew Sandpiper or maybe a Spotted Redshank. With high tide sometime around early afternoon I settled on the Eden Estuary and the Guardbridge hide.
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| Marsh Harrier |
I headed out at around 1035. Herring Gull was the first bird onto the list, with Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon seen on the way to the bus station. Cormorant was seen from the bus crossing the Tay. Carrion Crow and Black Headed Gull were seen at the Fife end of the bridge, and a Buzzard was circling above a small wooded area just past the 5 roads roundabout. A Swallow zoomed over the fields near Pickletillum. The first surprise of the day was the sight of 2 Swifts above Leuchars railway station in company with a House Martin.
Reaching the hide at Guardbridge I found it full up with no-one making any effort to move over a little at the windows, so I decided to bird from outside instead. This did have the advantage of being able to follow the birds that passed over and see anything in the trees above the feeders. I scanned out across the estuary. Mute Swans, Goosanders, Redshanks aplenty and good numbers of Lapwings as well as Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls provided the more obvious mixture. Among them, slightly less obtrusive were Curlews and a few Black Tailed Godwits. A Grey Seal popped up in the middle of the river before continuing on its hunting trip.
I spotted what I was certain was a rather red looking male
Ruff but within a second or two all the birds around it, and the Ruff itself took flight and I lost sight of it. However, I found a second young Ruff nearby without too much additional effort. A couple of Little Egrets appeared among the waders as the tide began to noticeably reduce the amount of mud. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was spotted among the gull roost, and a small party of Wigeon, in eclipse plumage, swam along close in to shore. The first Osprey of the day flew over the hide carrying the remains of a fish. A group of Canada Geese flew in to join others further down river. More scanning eventually found a few nondescript looking Mallards. A Common Sandpiper flew low over the river.
Willie Irvine had arrived and had joined those already in the hide. I found a couple of Dunlin, one adult and one juvenile hidden among the Redshanks. A few Blue Tits braved the feeders despite my proximity to them. A Kingfisher flew past. With the tide having covered up most of the mud, a group of Sandwich and Common Terns flew up river before heading back out towards the mouth again. Oystercatcher was a surprisingly late addition, when a small group flew in to join the roost on the salt marsh. The two earlier Little Egrets had joined the three already in situ, giving a total of five. Photos showed that at least one of the birds is ringed but it was too far away to read any code.
A Great Black Backed Gull swam out in the estuary, while a few Starlings could be seen over by the farm. A Common Gull flew upriver and a small flock of Teal flew across the estuary towards the northern bank. Well out in the river a large flock of ducks showed the black and white patterning of Eiders. A female Sparrowhawk dropped into the grass on the salt marsh for a few minutes, with just her head showing as she eyed up the nearby waders. A Grey Heron was eventually seen before Willie shouted to me that there was a Marsh Harrier over on the salt marsh. I managed a little later to catch a glimpse of the bird as it disappeared behind the conifer stand being chased by crows, which was just enough to see that it was a female "type". An unexpected bonus bird.
A Pied Wagtail pair flew over the hide and a Stock Dove duo flew west over the farm. A Robin gave a quiet burst of sub-song from the bushes beside me and a Great Tit ventured into the feeders. Above them in the trees I spotted a Willow Warbler, possibly two, though they were almost always on the move , though I did get a photo of one briefly perched on a branch above me. With the tide having come in, and things looking rather quiet most of the photographers left to try elsewhere for photos, though Willie stayed put. I headed into the hide to join him. I added Chaffinch at the feeders on the south side of the hide and a few Linnets flying around opposite our position. Greenfinch adult and youngster showed up on the feeders too.
I found a Greylag Goose among the Canada Geese and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was very briefly on the feeders outside. A single juvenile Shelduck was near the mouth of the Motray. I finally was able to put Tree Sparrow on the list for the day as a few showed at the feeders. The mud began to reappear shortly after 1500 and I re-found both Ruff as well as a single Knot still showing a good amount of orange on the breast. Rob Armstrong popped in with his mum (I think) and he spotted a very distant White Tailed Eagle on the mud out beyond the posts where the bird often sits. A Common Sandpiper showed really well on the sea wall below the hide. The Buddleia bushes outside were covered in Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies, with a Small Tortoiseshell and a Green Veined White also putting in appearances.
I was surprised to be able to pick out the Ruff in flight without binoculars just by the much stiffer winged flight it had compared to the Redshanks. A visitor from Aviemore popped in for a while before Willie headed for home around 1630 and I had the hide to myself when the Aviemore birder left. As I was writing up the log book with the species I'd seen, I heard a bird calling and looked up just in time to see, and hear again, a very unexpected
Yellow Wagtail arcing round just over the top of the hide, with the sun lighting up its head. I hoped that it had chosen to land out on the grass, but decided that if it had, then it would possibly hang around long enough for me to finish writing up the list (another 2 or 3 minutes). I played back the species call on my phone just to confirm the ID and it was a clear match. A really nice bonus year-tick.
A Wren showed among the rocks below the hide. As I was closing the windows having finished the species list in the log book, I realised that there were 2 dark mid-sized birds flying over the river just out in front of the hide. The one on my right was a Carrion Crow, but the other had a pale face, long wings and a narrow tail. The Marsh Harrier! I abandoned the window closing and took a lot of photos as the bird circled round, gaining height just out in front of the hide. The Aviemore birder came in to see if he'd left his phone and I pointed the bird out to him. There was no sign of his phone, so I headed out to search for the Yellow Wagtail. Unfortunately, there was no sign of it, or any other birds on the grass and the rain was just beginning to fall. With the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have headed south of the river to see if there were any cattle in the fields, where the wagtail might have stopped off for some insects. A missed opportunity, as was the Marsh Harrier, with only a single in-focus shot among the 40-50 photos taken during a rather hectic few minutes.
I headed for the bus, putting a text out to the Fife Bird Club grapevine about the Yellow Wagtail and the Marsh harrier's re-appearance on the way, and homewards. Arriving back in Dundee to find I had just missed a shower of rain I spotted a bird descending over the City Square from the direction of the spire of St Paul's Cathedral. At 1720 on a Saturday afternoon, I wasn't expecting a Peregrine but that was what the bird was and it flew off over the Caird Hall and out of sight. Not the worst way to round off a really unexpectedly good August afternoon's birding, and hopefully a young bird staking a claim for territory for the winter around the City Centre, though high perches are limited now.
55 species seen, with 2 year-ticks (in bold) among them and 6 species of raptor was definitely a decent return for minimal effort, though tempered with the disappointment of the camera refusing to play ball when the Harrier appeared and also not having time to react to the Wagtail flypast.
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| Grey Seal |
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| Ruff & Redshank |
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| Osprey |
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| Canada Geese |
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| Redshanks & Little Egrets |
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| Little Egrets |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Teal & Eider |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Goosander |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Osprey |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Goosander |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Greylag & Canada Goose, Little Egret, Redshanks |
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| Canada Geese & Herring Gull |
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| Cormorant |
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| Ruff & Redshank |
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| Ruff & Redshank |
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| Canada Goose, Lapwing, Knot & Black Tailed Godwits |
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| Wigeon |
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| Curlew |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Egret |
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| Redshank |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
Species seen - Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon,
Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, White Tailed Eagle, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren,
Yellow Wagtail.
