Having had a long day on Monday yet having drawn a blank on Curlew Sandpiper I needed a plan B option to try to get the species on my year-list. With a better weather forecast than Monday and no lift available, I would have to rely on walking and public transport. With high tide around 0715 or so I would have to make do with the tide receding again. Having had no sightings of the species from the Guardbridge hide I decided to head for the George Evans hide overlooking Balgove Bay, on the edge of St Andrews in the hope that the birds were passing through, but no-one was really looking in the right places. Time would tell.
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| Lapwing |
It was yet another early start, though a bit later than Monday's, but I was still out the door slightly earlier than I usually am for work. Herring Gull was first on the list as I headed for the bus station to catch the bus at 0730. Feral Pigeon was next, followed quickly by Blackbird, then Robin and another flyover Meadow Pipit. A Magpie was seen at the junction of Arthurstone Terrace and Dens Road, where I see them regularly now. Carrion Crow was seen near the bus station. Woodpigeon was seen from the bus near the Fife end of the Tay roadbridge, with Rook and Starling added along with Jackdaw and House Martin in Leuchars.
Reaching St Andrews I got off the bus, to see Woodpigeons, Oystercatchers and Curlews on the playing fields between the main road and the Old Course Hotel. Both Black Headed and Common Gulls were also on the grass, while overhead Swallows and House Martins headed inland. More of a surprise was a single Swift headed the same way. Linnets and Pied Wagtails were on the golf course side of the road. At the end of the cycle path. a Greenfinch flew over when I stopped briefly to photograph the House Martins and Swallows resting on the wire fence at the edge of the driving range.
A White Wagtail was added as I headed past the Starter's Box across the golf course. A few more Meadow Pipits passed over and a couple of Skylarks lifted from the rough grass by the edge of the track out towards the hide. When I reached the hide, there was a little exposed mud, but I had more or less timed my visit to perfection. Lapwings and Shelducks were the predominant species near the hide with a large flock of gulls on the water round towards the western end of the bay. A few Black Tailed Godwits were spotted while a mix of Jackdaws, Rooks and Grey Herons were on the banking along from the hide. An Osprey was tucking into a fish on a wooden post among the gull flock.
A Sand Martin was a bit of a surprise as it flew past the hide, while further out a Common Tern headed upriver. I scanned around and found a pair of Pintail. There were Mallards a bit further out. With the amount of exposed mud visible increasing by the minute, birds were constantly moving. Oystercatchers and Curlews flew past, as did a single Bar Tailed Godwit. The first Dunlin of the day dropped in by the edge of the water. Black Headed Gull, Redshank and Woodpigeon gave good views down in front of the hide. A juvenile Stock Dove landed a little further away giving me the opportunity to get photos of a plumage that I've not seen before.
A small-ish wader flew past and I got the camera onto the bird and noticed the white rump just before it decided to land.
Curlew Sandpiper, at last. I was constantly scanning through the birds as there was so much going on that it would be easy to overlook something. A single Ringed Plover was next onto the list. Another three Curlew Sandpipers appeared from somewhere, taking the total to four. A Ruff wandered around not too far from the hide and was also joined soon after by another three of the same species. A couple of Grey Plover were found out on the mud a little to the east of the hide. Out in the river were a number of Eider and Red Breasted Mergansers.
From the side of the hide I heard a Willow Warbler and peered out the side opening. The bird moved into the trees behind the hide so I had a look from the door and managed a couple of photos before the bird flew towards me and over the hide. A Cormorant flew downriver towards St Andrews Bay. I searched for a Great Black Backed Gull and found one without too much trouble. I had heard a Whimbrel calling and had a possible contender, though I wasn't 100% certain as the crown stripe wasn't particularly strong. I soon found an actual Whimbrel, which appeared to be a fresh looking young bird, and which chose to fly off, and call, as I videoed it.
Knot was the next wader onto the increasingly long list, with a couple of birds near where the Grey Plover had been found. Over Reres Wood a Buzzard struggled into the wind, giving me one final species before I decided that the tide was now too far out to make staying any longer particularly productive. I headed out to the cycle path and headed back towards Guardbridge. . I made a brief stop at Coble Shore but only succeeded in adding Greenshank and Mute Swan to the list for the day before noticing that the White Tailed Eagle had appeared on its post out in the Estuary.
I decided to make my way next to the hide at Guardbridge. House Sparrows were seen in the village. I was weighing up my options for the afternoon and was in the process of checking bus times to Ladybank as I crossed the old bridge, when a commotion over the water grabbed my attention. A Sparrowhawk was attempting to catch a Redshank just beside one of the old bridge pillars, while a couple of Black Headed Gulls got involved resulting in the Sparrowhawk landing on the nearest support to where I stood. I took the chance to get some nice perched shots. While ducking down behind the wall in an attempt to change my angle to the bird for a better photo, the bird flew off.
There was a young couple in the hide, setting up a video tripod, who had obviously not long arrived. I got set up at the window with the disabled ramp and scanned for birds new for the day. The feeders gave me a few new ones - Tree Sparrows, Great Tit, Blue Tit and Chaffinch. A few Goosanders were out on the water and a flock of Goldfinches were over the salt marsh. A few minutes after the hourly bus to Ladybank had passed through the village a text message arrived to say that a Little Stint was at the Wilderness with Curlew Sandpipers. Had I chosen to catch the bus on the off-chance that I might find Little Stint there, I would've been half-way there. I then had to decide whether it was worthwhile trying anyway, catching the bus just after 1400.
Kingfisher and Collared Dove were both added as I chatted to the others in the hide. James, was a tour guide with Speyside Wildlife and was more of a general naturalist than a birder but he enjoyed shooting videos and we exchanged cards, so that I could have a look at his work (www.jegsmedia.co.uk). A Peregrine put up most of the waders and I spotted it well out above the estuary. The others got onto the bird but James suddenly started clicking away rapidly. I glanced up to see what he was photographing, to find that there was a second Peregrine heading our way and I got a few photos before it flew over the hide. James's partner wondered why he'd been snapping away at such a distant bird, but hadn't seen the second bird. Wigeon were another addition to the list and a Grey Wagtail flew past before I decided that I should go to Ladybank and The Wilderness, in case the bird didn't linger till Wednesday and I missed out.
While waiting for the late running bus a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling from the trees behind the village but it stayed hidden. There was nothing new added from the bus as it wound its way through northwest Fife at speed, the driver obviously keen to make up a bit of lost time. I had worked out that I had roughly an hour to find the bird. Nothing was seen as I hurried out along the road. There had been a bit of a change since my last visit to The Wilderness with the pool to the west of the entrance now visible from the road. I added a few species, Tufted Duck, Greylag, Barnacle Goose (and hybrid youngsters), Little Grebe and Goldeneye. I scanned as best as I could from various points along the wall into the main pool. There were plenty of Lapwings and gulls and it was a struggle to get good views of many of them. I added Moorhen and Gadwall quickly, followed by Shoveler.
A Curlew Sandpiper and a Ruff were found and photographed, and Pied Wagtails scurried around being distracting as their small size from certain angles, in the poor light, and rain, gave false hope. I bumped into Nick Mutch who had seen Little Stint shortly before but we failed to relocate it, though he did find a Dunlin. He had to go, so I kept hunting. Two ladies, Caroline and Ann(e) who I've met before at Guardbridge showed up and they too hunted for the Stint. I was rapidly running out of time, to be able to make it back to Ladybank for the bus back to Dundee. I had added Teal to my list but the tiny wader was avoiding me.
As is so often the case, I had one last go at it, and among a few Curlews I spotted a small wader picking around at their feet. I took a few photos to confirm that I had indeed found my
Little Stint and then ran along to tell Caroline and Ann(e). They had a wader too, which turned out to be a Dunlin. They offered me a lift back to Ladybank to save me from having to rush, so we stopped to see the Little Stint properly and I got a few more photos. I got a lift back along the road to wait for the bus (thanks again) and went home pleased to have added two more new year-ticks to my year-list. I chatted to a girl I've met on RSPB outings in the past on the bus, Heather Barnes. A Sparrowhawk and Grey Heron were seen as we chatted.
As it turned out when I was checking the photos at home I discovered that behind the Curlew Sandpiper at The Wilderness was the Little Stint, but the scope I was using balanced on the wall meant that my entire focus was on the bird I was looking at. Had I been using a better scope on a tripod, I probably would've spotted it and saved myself a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately, if I'm walking any sort of distance then my good scope and a tripod are too much weight if I'm already carrying my camera etc.
Another very productive day out with both target species for the year-list (in bold) successfully added and some nice additional species seen as well. In total I managed to see 74 species, which for a public transport day was a pretty good total.
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| Swallow & House Martin |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Redshank |
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| Shelduck & Herring Gull |
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| Shelduck & Pintail |
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| Common Tern |
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| Pintail |
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| Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Shelduck & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Knot |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Ruff |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Lapwing |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Ruff |
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| Shelduck |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Rook |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull & Herring Gull |
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| Jackdaw & Rook |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Curlew, Redshank & Greenshank |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Peregrine |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Lapwing, Black Headed Gull & Ruff |
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| Lapwing, Curlew Sandpiper, Black Headed Gull & Little Stint |
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| Lapwing, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull & Little Stint |
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| Black Headed Gull, Dunlin, Pied Wagtail, Curlew & Little Stint |
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| Curlew, Little Stint & Black Headed Gull |
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| Little Stint |
Species seen - Barnacle Goose, Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew,
Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Eider, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, ingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe,
Little Stint, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail (& White Wagtail), Pintail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whimbrel, White Tailed Eagle, Wigeon, willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
