Wednesday's weather forecast wasn't particularly good, with rain forecast, but I still wanted to get out birding rather than being stuck at home. Nat was free from around 0915-ish again, until around 1500 or so, so we arranged to meet at Guardbridge hide and then from there probably do a bit of sea-watching at Fife Ness, despite the winds being 'wrong'. As no-one really looks on those days, there's always the possibility of getting an unexpected bonus bird.
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| Osprey |
I headed out at around 0830 to catch a bus to the city centre and the bus station and from there a bus to Guardbridge for around 0915. A Blackbird was first on the list as it fed on rowan berries in a small tree near the bus stop. A Woodpigeon and a couple of Feral Pigeons were also seen. A Carrion Crow and a flyover Goldfinch were added on the short walk to the bus station, with a Herring Gull seen as I waited for the St Andrews bus to arrive. Only Cormorants were new for the day list, seen from the bus, though there were a few pigeons around also.
Arriving at Guardbridge, a Robin greeted me by the gate, and a few House Martins were catching insects above the trees. Once inside the hide I noted Greenfinches and Blue Tits at the feeders. Out in front were a few Redshanks and Lapwings. Grey Heron and Wigeon soon followed them onto the list. The gull roost held Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and a few Lesser Black Backeds, as well as one or two Common Gulls. Scanning around found Curlews, Teal, Mallards and Black Tailed Godwits before Nat arrived. More birds visited the feeders including Coal Tits, Chaffinches and Great Tits while a few Meadow Pipits, Swallows and House Martins headed westwards overhead.
I spotted six mid-sized waders stood in a line across the far side of the mud and eventually decided they had to be Golden Plover, which photos confirmed. One of the few wader species I hadn't already seen this week. While watching the feeders a bird hopped out from below the bushes before darting back into cover. Surprisingly it was a male Blackcap, not a bird I've seen on the ground very often. Despite watching for a few minutes it never re-appeared, though as it was an Elder tree it was seen below it was probably enjoying the copious amounts of berries out of our line of sight. A Dunnock popped out seconds later and a Wren showed down on the rocky slope below the hide. Tree Sparrows visited the feeders and a flock of Starlings were seen out over the salt-marsh.
A Greenshank flew in and landed opposite the hide, while a few Mute Swans heads were seen across the far side of the salt-marsh popping up from behind the grassy banking. With nothing else expected we headed off for Fife Ness, stopping off at St Andrews first where we added Eider on the rocks, Gannets out over the sea, Oystercatchers on the beach, a Pied Wagtail wandering along in front of the car and the expected large Common Scoter flock a mile or so to the north. Rooks were added on the way to Crail.
We decided as we had remained ahead of the rain that we would have a check of the bushes and trees at Kilminning in case of downed migrants seeking food and shelter. A Willow Warbler was heard calling and despite lots of tail flicking was identified as a Willow Warbler when we eventually succeeded in finding it, though photographing it was a different matter entirely, with only a single poor photo managed, which appeared to show a lump on its left foot. There were also a number of Goldcrests around in the trees, their high pitched calls ringing out. An odd sounding Skylark passed over the top of us, quite high. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen in one of the trees.
We headed down to the bottom end of Kilminning for a spot of lunch and to see what else we could see. Magpies and Pheasants were both seen before I found a Yellowhammer adult perched in the top of a bush and a youngster perched low down in another. After lunch we headed down across the golf course to the Fife Bird Club hide for roughly 80 minutes worth of sea-watching. Things looked very quiet out over the water and this was to prove to be the case for the majority of our time, in contrast to some of the days we've had here recently.
Turnstones, Redshanks, Dunlin and Great Black Backed Gulls were on the rocks out in front, while Gannets were the main interest passing by, though generally in ones or twos rather than any strings. A Rock Pipit popped up on the rocks, and a pair of female Eiders hauled out to sleep for a while. A few Cormorants flew past, as did a handful of Kittiwakes and Sandwich Terns. A couple of Shags were seen out on the water. One or two Fulmars glided by, and a single Common Tern headed north. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from outside somewhere behind the trees, so went out to investigate and flushed the bird from somewhere just to the right and behind the hide, near the fence.
There was a large party of gulls, or maybe terns well out towards the horizon, though they were difficult to make out even with the scope. A Skua, most likely Arctic, caused a bit of chaos amongst the briefly before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. With not much happening above the water, it was a pleasant surprise to see a small pod of Bottle-Nosed Dolphins swim past, though there were probably only 2 or 3 at most. A distant Sooty Shearwater headed south just before I packed up to join Nat at the car, where she'd gone about 15 minutes earlier for a bit of warmth. Not a classic sea-watch for sure. As Nat had to be home for around 1500 we headed back up the road. I decided that even though the tide was still rather low, that I would pop into the hide at Guardbridge for a wee look, though I suspected that rather than then heading for home, I would probably end up hanging around until nearer 1700 and closing time.
Most of the birds were distant when I joined Neil Redpath in the hide. An Osprey was perched out on the "goal posts" but it was mostly the same birds as seen earlier in the day that were around. A Collared Dove visited the feeders and a Canada Goose was found sleeping. The White Tailed Eagle showed up on one of its two posts, and I spent a bit of time going through a distant flock of Dunlin for what looked like it might be a Little Stint, given the size discrepancy. The photos I did manage to get were not even clear enough to rule out a Dunlin from a different angle. There was a Sparrowhawk resting on a barrel by the water's edge which generated a bit of panic when it took off. Goosander was added soon after. I found a single Knot feeding among some Redshanks.
I spotted an Osprey flying up the river to the left of the hide and we watched as it suddenly went into a dive. The open window meant that I missed the splash though I was ready for the bird lifting off again and hopefully flying towards us. This didn't happen, and the bird floundered around for a few seconds, looking like it knew it had screwed up. It managed to flap its wings a few times above the water but got nowhere before resting again. Another attempt was more successful, and on one of the photos I managed to get it was possible to see the white leg ring which identified the bird as LN, a bird I've seen in Spring a few times at Kinnordy.
It finally managed to get airborne with its prey, a rather large Sea Trout held not particularly firmly in its talons, though as it flew off across the mud away from us, it was being held in only one talon. It landed on the barrel where the Sparrowhawk had been earlier and with the time approaching 1700 we packed up to head out to catch our respective buses, pleased with our Osprey sighting. A few House Sparrows by the gate gave me a final species for the list.
Not a classic day by any means, but the Dolphins and the Osprey photos made it a worthwhile day out. Somehow I even managed to reach 67 species for the day, despite the weather conditions being far from perfect, including a few not seen before during my holiday week's birding.
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| Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull & Golden Plover |
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| Redshank & Curlew |
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| Greenshank & Redshank |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Skylark |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Shag |
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| Gannet |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Bottle Nosed Dolphin |
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| Osprey |
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| Greenshank |
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| Cormorant |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey & Redshank |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey & Redshank |
Species seen - (Arctic?) Skua, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House martin, House Sparrow, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Skylark, Sooty Shearwater, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, White Tailed EagleWigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
