Having had such a productive day on a foggy Tuesday I was looking forward to covering more of the Angus coast on Wednesday with Nat. However a bit of a communications breakdown and a last minute change of plan owing to Nat needing to be home early and a set of traffic lights being out of action at a busy junction almost led to a mix-up with me heading for Fife and Nat heading over to Dundee to pick me up. Thankfully, this didn't materialise and we met up in Leuchars to head for the Fife Ness area.
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| Ruff & Redshank |
I had headed out at around 0750 to catch the bus to St Andrews, seeing five species on the way to the bus station. Starling, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Magpie and Woodpigeon. There was nothing added from the rather busy bus as I was stuck at the back of the bus with no view out of the window. We discussed the options before settling on Crail first to then work back from there. Unfortunately, it was a lot windier than had been forecast and this was to play a big part in how the day went. Pied Wagtail and Curlew were seen en route to Crail with Rook and Jackdaw seen before we wandered into Denburn Wood via the churchyard. A Sparrowhawk briefly circled above the wood and a Meadow Pipit flew over westwards. A Great Black Backed Gull was next to fly overhead and out in the field along with the Herring Gulls were a few Carrion Crows.
The wood was rather quiet with Blue Tits and Blackbirds the most obvious though I did eventually find a few Goldcrests in a bush before the local primary school pupils came through on their way to the beach with their teachers. Although we could hear Robins it did take some effort to finally see one. We headed along to Kilminning. Skylarks were passing over in groups of varying sizes but things were rather quiet in the trees and bushes. A Song Thrush was flushed from the trees and a few Swallows zoomed over with the wind behind them.
With lean pickings we headed out to check the trees bordering the road and had a brief chat with a birder who had seen Yellow Browed Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher. I didn't realise at the time that this was Kris Gibb, a birder I follow on Twitter, and he mentioned that a Scops Owl had been found in Durham. As it turned out he headed south and managed to see it. We wandered over to check the walled garden at Balcomie but as it appeared one of the residents was enjoying breakfast in the garden we decided not to interrupt. Instead we headed back to the car and down to the bottom end to see if the Barred Warbler was showing.
Another birder was already there and a short chat revealed that he knew who I was but although he looked familiar my usual failure to remember names and faces meant I didn't recognise who it was at the time. Much later at home I realised it was actually John Nadin, who coincidentally I had met in 2013 on the same date in Angus while looking for a Red Breasted Flycatcher at Usan. I sent him an apologetic email for not recognising him. The Barred Warbler eventually gave us good views as it sat out in the relative open preening long enough for me to get organised to take a video clip of the bird. Needless to say that it then chose to start feeding after I'd shot about 10 seconds of video.
With very little else around and the wind keeping everything in cover we debated where to go next given the lack of available time with Nat's requirement to be finished up early. We settled on the hopefully more sheltered Kilrenny. Buzzard, Linnet and Kestrel were seen on the way but efforts to try and spot a Gannet over the Forth from the car as we drove along the road proved, not surprisingly, unsuccessful. The wood at Kilrenny proved to be almost as quiet as Kilminning with a Mistle Thrush, two Buzzards, a male Pheasant and not much else seen distantly as we wandered around the wood.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker calling loudly gave us another species on our way back to the car, with Stock Dove, Wren and Yellowhammer added from the car park area. St Andrews harbour was our next destination but a lack of parking thwarted efforts there though Black Headed Gull, Redshank and Mallard were seen. An attempt at the West Sands also encountered a lack of parking so we gave up, which meant Nat could get her early finish and I would pop into the hide at Guardbridge to see if I could bump up the total for the day to a more respectable total, despite the tide being 'wrong'.
Long Tailed Tits and Blue Tits were foraging by the gate into the park where the hide sits. When I got into the hide I found all 3 windows occupied (the 4th currently has a board instead of glass in place as it is being repaired. Thankfully I knew all 4 folk in the hide, Carol and Ian Bone, Neil Redpath and Harry Spence. Carol and Harry made a bit of space for me and I squeezed in to share a window with Harry. I asked what was around and they rattled off what had been seen before starting to scan myself. There were plenty of Redshanks and Lapwings, a few Black Tailed Godwits and Dunlin. Among the Dunlin was a Curlew Sandpiper which was a good way to start. There were also four Ruff dotted around along the bank opposite. Much further out I could see Mute Swans and a Peregrine stirred up the birds out in the estuary as it passed overhead. The White Tailed Eagle perched on one of the posts out in the estuary for a while.
A Cormorant fished out front for a while, and a Coal Tit popped into the feeders briefly. I searched for and eventually found an Oystercatcher and a few distant Teal, as well as a pair of sleeping Wigeon. A Greenshank flew in and landed opposite but didn't stay long. There were a few Grey Herons around as well, with the occasional squabble and short chase peppering the afternoon. A Chaffinch visited the feeders and a Common Gull flew upriver. Carol and Ian left to head for home. There were still birds to be added though and a Snipe was spotted flying off from across the other side of the river. Great Tit and Tree Sparrows joined some of the other birds at the feeders, before a Collared Dove finally showed up on the fence. A flock of Golden Plovers, around 120 strong, flew up from well out on the mud where they had been overlooked before I decided to call it a day and finally head for home.
The afternoon's birding at Guardbridge did indeed end up giving a more respectable look to the total of 58 species for the day. Not the best of day's birding due to the wind but once again a selection of birds that certainly count as pretty good birds on any day - White Tailed Eagle. Golden Plover, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Ruff (7 by the end of the afternoon - my best total here for the species), Curlew Sandpiper, Greenshank, Peregrine and obviously Barred Warbler.
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| Robin |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Redshank & Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Lapwing |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Redshank & Ruff |
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| Lapwing |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Cormorant |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Magpie |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Golden Plover |
Species seen - Barred Warbler, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, White Tailed Eagle, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
