Having been out birding everyday for the previous six, by Friday I was struggling to get motivated to actually go out until a text message from Neil Redpath meant a trip to meet him at Guardbridge was necessary. I decided I might as well spend the rest of the afternoon in the hide once I'd met up with Neil. Despite the tide being out, I decided to set myself a target number of species that I could reasonably expect to see. I decided on 40 species, and a quick run through of a species list showed that there were maybe another 10 possibilities with a reasonable amount of likelihood.
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| Cormorant |
I headed out around 1345 to catch the 1350 bus into town. Herring Gull was the only bird seen while I waited, though Feral Pigeons were around at the Wellgate when I got off the bus for the short walk to the bus station and a small skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew westwards, making slow progress into the wind. The bus journey to Fife produced a few more species typical of the route with Cormorant, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Kestrel, Jackdaw and Rook all seen.
Once into the hide and set up I started scanning and soon added a few more species to the list for the afternoon with Lapwings and Redshanks along the opposite shore. The gull roost had plenty of Herring Gulls, but also a slightly unexpected Lesser Black Backed Gull, a Great Black Backed Gull and a number of Black Headed Gulls. Tree Sparrows were visiting the feeders. There were a few Grey Herons around along the banks and a few Mallards on the water. Chaffinch was the next species to visit the feeders, and a Curlew flew in to land on the muddy shoreline opposite. Cormorants fished and caught a few large flatfish.
After a bit of searching I found an Oystercatcher and a small group of rather distant Teal. A pair of Blackbirds were tucking into Elder berries in the bush beside the feeders. Neil arrived and we sorted out the bit of business that we had to sort out. Mute Swans well out in the river were added to the list, before a Robin appeared on the bird table. A Magpie flew across the river and into the conifers. The White Tailed Eagle appeared back on its post out in the estuary. Both Greenfinch and Dunnock were added around the feeders.
More scanning found Black Tailed Godwit and a number of Dunlin, though unlike Wednesday there was no obvious Curlew Sandpiper this time. A Common Gull flew upriver. I scanned with the small scope I had brought with me and found a distant bird that I was certain had to be a Ruff. A photo confirmed it, despite the distance involved. Great Tit, Blue Tit and Long Tailed Tit all showed up and a small group of Swallows passed westwards over the hide. Buzzards have been in short supply around the conifers where they used to be highly visible, but one flew into the trees. A few Carrion Crows wandered around on the mud. A Kingfisher was heard but not seen, though it sounded like it had gone upriver.
I had mentioned that I was aiming to get 40 species so we worked out possible species to get me to that total. One mentioned was Golden Plover and seconds later the flock appeared out above the mud, though where they had been up until that point, I've no idea as I had actually searched for them. A small flight of smaller birds proved to be Skylarks. A skein of Pink Footed Geese flew in, looking like they intended to land but continuing over the hide. A Pied Wagtail flew past while a bit later a Grey wagtail did likewise. The Goldfinch flock wheeled around above the weedy area opposite the hide. I packed up to head for home just before 1700, but the bus failed to show up.
I added House Sparrows before the bus finally did show up, though as the next one was only another few minutes extra to wait and the one which had arrived barely had any standing room, except just inside the door, I decided to wait. This gave me one other bird as I happened to look up as a Sparrowhawk swooped across the road and down the little alley at the end of teh row of houses where the bus stop was. Not a bad way to finish off the afternoon, (though I did find a second Lesser Black Backed Gull was in the High Street in Dundee).
45 species seen in total, with 41 seen from the hide, 2 from the bus only and 2 while waiting for the bus only. Not a bad estimate/target and given a slightly different tide state I suspect I could probably have just about sneaked the 50 species. A decent enough afternoon, especially considering I almost hadn't bothered going out.
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| Curlew |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Dunlin, Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Ruff, Redshank & Herring Gull? |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Curlew |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, White Tailed Eagle, Woodpigeon.
