With migration for the Autumn seemingly going out with a whimper as October comes to a close, it was difficult to decide where to go for this week's midweek outing with Nat. Westerly winds and high tide times conspired also to reduce the choices available. Nat suggested Largo Bay for possible Great Northern Diver but Ruddon's Point in a strong westerly wind isn't the most comfortable birding, with or without a scope. We arranged to meet up in Leuchars at around 0920 to decide on the plans for the day.
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| Blackbird |
I was out the door a little after 0830 to walk to the bus station, my progress hampered somewhat by a rather sore knee which has been bothering me for a number of days now to varying degrees. Feral Pigeon and Woodpigeon were the first onto the list, soon followed by a small flock of Goldfinches and also a pair of Redwings flying over on Dens Road. The trees opposite were full of Long Tailed Tits but there were still too many leaves on the trees to be able to pick them out from the other side of the road. A Magpie was arguing with a Carrion Crow a little further on and I eventually managed to see a Herring Gull as I waited to cross Victoria Road.
The bus journey to Leuchars provided a few more species with Cormorants on Submarine Rock, and Starlings flying over the dual carriageway at the end of the bridge. A single Rook was wandering around in the fields and there were a few hundred Pink Footed Geese in the stubble field behind the old Pickletillum Inn. Arriving in Leuchars I added Jackdaw, Black Headed Gull and a perched Collared Dove. Another few Redwings flew over as I waited for Nat. I didn't have to wait very long as she pulled up almost immediately. We discussed the options and decided to head for Fife Ness in the hope of some sea-watching action and maybe some strong-flying migrants.
We got stuck behind a few HGVs exiting Leuchars base taking away an all black painted Phantom jet fighter known as "Black Mike" to an aircraft museum. House Sparrows were added as we entered Guardbridge, and there was a pair of Mallards on the water at the Motray. What were likely Golden Plover were seen wheeling around above the estuary as we headed for St Andrews. A small group of Swans, probably Whoopers overflew as we entered the eastern end of the town. Within half an hour of having left Leuchars we had reached Crail and decided to try Denburn Wood first, just in case. A Skylark struggled to make headway into the wind as we got out of the car and a charm of Goldfinches circled round overhead. The wood was relatively quiet with no obvious migrants to be seen, though Blue Tit, Blackbird, Wren and Robin were all seen. A Stock Dove pair flew over as we stood at the top end of the wood and we added Coal Tit, Great Tit and Chaffinch as we wandered back to the car.
Next stop was the Fife Bird Club hide and a Grey Heron was seen landing as got organised at the car for the short walk along to the hide. Things did look quiet offshore though Shags, Cormorants and Great Black Backed Gulls were out on their usual rocky island just offshore, along with a few Oystercatchers. The garden at the cottage gave us Greenfinch and Dunnock as well as another Redwing and Robin. A couple of Common Gulls flew past offshore and a Curlew was down among the rocks. A couple of Redshanks landed on the rocks in front of the hide as we walked along the muddy path. An Eider was on the seaweed covered rocky islet just offshore to the left of the hide and a pair of drakes were seen flying past.
Once in the hide and set up it quickly became apparent that most of the birds were quite distant and the sun's position wasn't particularly helpful either. Nevertheless we were able to add both Guillemot and Razorbill plus Gannet and Kittiwake quite quickly. We were soon joined in the hide by Willie Irvine who had come to do a bit of maintenance to the building but he joined us for a bit of sea-watching first. Nat found a few Turnstones near where the drake Eider had been. A single Common Scoter went north before Willie spotted a group of seven Whooper Swans low over the water, two adults leading a group of five youngsters.
A few minutes later I spotted a Red Throated Diver speeding southwards low over the water. A few Rock Pipits were seen out on the rocks along with a trio of Carrion Crows. A Red Breasted Merganser shot past a little later. Around 1145 Nat decided to head back to the car for a spot of lunch. She didn't miss much with another Red Throated Diver the best offshore and a pair of Purple Sandpipers near the Turnstones the best of the rest. A ringed Great Black Backed Gull (yellow X:092, I think) was found among the other gulls. I headed back to the car at around 1225. We decided to try the top end of Kilminning next, though expectations were low.
When we arrived we found it alive with Blackbirds. A Sparrowhawk stirred things up as it looked for an easy meal among the feeding birds, which were rapidly stripping the remaining berries from the trees. The local Buzzard also took to the air giving us another bird for the day. Among the Blackbirds were a few Song Thrushes and Redwings. Robins, Goldfinch, Wrens and Blue Tits made up the numbers. As we drove down to check the bottom end I spotted a bird flying low over the field next to the golf course. A Merlin. Unfortunately, I chose not to get out of the car to try for a photo, expecting the bird to disappear back to where it had came from if I tried. Things were relatively quiet at the bottom end with Yellowhammer the only new species seen though there were a few others around including Magpie and Carrion Crows as well as a few Blackbirds.
As the sky didn't look to promising we chose to head back towards Guardbridge, taking the back roads in the hope of maybe finding a flock of geese to search through. A flock of Golden Plover flew up from the stubble field as we headed back to Crail. Unfortunately the wild goose chase proved to be a waste of effort. A rather scruffy looking young male Pheasant crossed the road at Strahkinness. Nat dropped me off at Guardbridge and headed for home as she had things to do and I headed in to the hide. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling from one of the tall trees and I managed to spot it and get a few distant photos.
In the hide was Doug Milne from Blairgowrie, but with the tide state being what it was, I hadn't expected a full house anyway. We were soon joined by Angus Duncan and shortly after by Harry Spence. I moved over to make room for Harry at the end window and we set about seeing what we could find to extend my day list as far as possible. A few Lapwings were opposite the hide along with a number of Redshanks and a Grey Heron. A small number of Black Tailed Godwits were on the north bank near the mouth of the Motray along with a single Knot. I picked up a couple of distant Dunlin in flight before someone spotted that the White Tailed Eagle was out on one of the posts.
Tree Sparrows visited the feeders adding another bird to the list. More scanning found a drake Wigeon in eclipse plumage near the gull roost. A Mediterranean Gull had been seen here a few days earlier and Harry showed me his photos of the bird. An unseen (suspected) raptor put the hundreds of Golden Plover to flight and also a couple of Snipe from the salt-marsh. A number of Teal could be seen further downstream. I could hear Long Tailed Tits outside and eventually one showed at the feeders. A distant small flock of geese coming in off the sea were most likely Pink Footed Geese. What may have been the juvenile White Tailed Eagle was seen in flight while another Eagle was on its post.
Once again we decided to see if we could get my total for the day to a target number. This time the number was seventy, though there were a few birds I'd forgotten to put on the list earlier which meant my count was actually wrong. Another mass panic out in the estuary resulted in Harry spotting the cause - a Peregrine. A few dives were attempted but it went off empty-taloned. I heard and then spotted a Grey Wagtail flying past and did likewise for a Meadow Pipit. Angus headed for home not long after 1600. Harry spotted a Little Grebe opposite us with a group of Mallards and a few minutes later a Little Egret flew upriver. Three Goosanders flew downriver, again spotted by Harry.
I found a Greenshank as the tide came in further and shortly after managed to find the Spotted Redshank among the other waders. The light was ever-changing from really poor to sunshine which made giving directions to the Spotted Redshank difficult though everyone managed to get photos in the sunshine eventually. At around 1645 I heard the call of a Kingfisher, but harry reckoned it was the sounds from Doug's camera. I moved along to where Harry sat to look along the wall and sure enough the Kingfisher was sat on the wall just beyond the fence. It then flew low past us and upriver.
This took my list to seventy for the day, or so I thought, which had been the target. It was actually by this point seventy three. We were able to get a few more Spotted Redshank photos in the sunshine before Ranald the ranger locked up at 1700. I showed him my recent photos of the Otter taken from the hide and headed out with Harry to head for home. I almost mis-timed the bus, but was fortunate that the road was relatively quiet and I was able to run across to the bus shelter to catch it. I added two further species from the bus on the way home, a Mute Swan on the Motray and two Pied Wagtails at Leuchars railway station. What may have been a Kestrel was seen near Pickletillum on the wires and there were still a number of Pink Footed Geese in the field nearer the road.
All in all a surprisingly productive day with an eventual total of seventy five species seen, with some rather good species amongst them with the Merlin probably the bird of the day.
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| Skylark |
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| Starling |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Purple Sandpiper |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Redwing |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Golden Plover |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Redshank |
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| Buzzard |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Little Egret |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Redshank, Dunlin & Spotted Redshank |
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| Spotted Redshank & Redshank |
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| Redshank & Spotted Redshank |
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| Dunlin, Redshank & Mallard |
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| Spotted Redshank |
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| Black Tailed Godwit, Redshank, Mallard & Spotted Redshank |
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| Grey Heron |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Merlin, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Redshank, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, White Tailed Eagle, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
