Despite having been extremely tired on Saturday evening, almost dozing off a few times, I managed to get out of bed bright and early to get organised to head out for the second part of my Fife birding weekend attempt to reach 100 species for 2018 after only a week. I had a bus to catch at around 0830, which would mean I would be in St Andrews just shortly after sunrise. My plan was to head for the harbour directly then work my way back westwards firstly to Out Head via the West Sands, then along Balgove Bay to the Eden estuary local nature reserve and round via Coble Shore back to the road and then possibly a stop at the Fife Bird Club hide, then on to the Eden estuary centre hide at Guardbridge for a well earned rest. The forecast was for clear skies and lighter winds. Hopefully the birds would deliver the 10 new species I needed to reach the century.
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| Whooper Swans & Pink Footed Goose |
I was out the door just before 0815 to walk to the bus station. It wasn't as dark as the previous day because of the clear skies. It also wasn't as frosty as I thought it might be. Both were big plusses. A Herring Gull was first on the list, followed quickly after by Feral Pigeon and then a Magpie and Grey Wagtail near Arthurstone Terrace. A Woodpigeon was in the same tree as the Magpie. A Blue Tit was in a tree on the side of the road I was on. A Siskin overflying was more unexpected than the Grey Wagtail though both were equally welcome. A Black Headed Gull flew low up Victoria Road as I crossed over to head down Dens Brae. Another Woodpigeon was seen near the bus station.
From the bus to Fife I managed to add a handful of extra species. A Buzzard was perched in a roadside tree near Pickletillum, with Jackdaws on roofs in Leuchars. A Redshank and a Black Headed Gull were seen as we crossed the Motray at Guardbridge. A Starling was seen on roofs at the southern end of Main Street and Carrion Crows were in fields by the farm. Arriving in St Andrews I headed east along the quiet town centre streets where a Pied Wagtail wandered around unconcerned.
I cut down a side street to overlook St Andrews Bay from near the castle ruins. A Great Black Backed Gull was out on the rocks along with a few Grey Herons, some Oystercatchers and a Cormorant or two.
Fulmars glided and flapped from their cliff-side nesting sites - my first year-tick of the day. A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed low over the town and a Rock Pipit was seen down among the rocks. A Wren flitted around by the steps down to the small section of beach. A Curlew was added before I scanned out over the bay. Fulmars rested on the water and among them were a trio of Common Scoters and a
Great Crested Grebe. The Grebe was another year-tick.
More scanning found a Mallard pair, and a Turnstone or two among the rocks and some Eiders off the harbour. House Sparrows were around the lobster creels and a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers headed south. From the end of the harbour breakwater I found a Red Throated Diver and a Shag. A second Red Throated Diver looked a bit Black Throated Diver-like on the two photos I took, but appears to be the former. Another year-tick was a
Razorbill spotted just before it dived and then hunted for over a ten minute spell without success before I finally re-found it near the end of the harbour again. A Purple Sandpiper flew in to land on the rocks.
From the mock cannons I scanned towards the West Sands where I could see a suspected Scoter flock. Checking the photos confirmed not just assumed Common Scoters but also a number of
Scaup and a few more Great Crested Grebes. I headed along The Scores towards the West Sands. I stopped to photograph a showy Song Thrush on a wall, and had even closer views of probably the same bird before an elderly jogger who had stopped when she saw me pointing the camera happened to speak and off went the previously unconcerned bird. A Goldfinch was seen in the trees above the road. A surprise however was the Treecreeper which briefly landed on a tree-trunk a few feet away before disappearing round the back of the trunk and then vanishing before I could get a photo.
Rooks, Carrion Crows and Herring Gulls picked around on the beach by the Golf Museum. I heard a Robin but didn't see it. There were a few Common Gulls among the Black Headed and Herring Gulls where the burn flowed out. The beach itself held a large number of Oystercatchers before the mass arrival of people and dogs, though there were already plenty around. I stopped to photograph the Rooks and Jackdaws before I walked out along the road to Out Head. A Kestrel was seen hovering over the golf course and a solitary Linnet overflew. I stopped to scan out over the water a few times, mostly to see where the best views of the Scoter flock were most likely from.
I eventually found them and headed down the beach for a closer look, being careful not to spook some Oystercatchers at the water's edge. Needless to say, this proved to be too much to even attempt for a pair of dog walkers and their border collie. The flock of Scoters seemed to be all Common Scoters though I did find a few Great Crested Grebes and Scaup among them, though the low perspective offered by the beach meant that views were limited to when the birds were either in flight or were lifted up by a rolling wave. Reaching Out Head I loitered for a few minutes in the hope of a Snow Bunting or two but saw none. As I'd seen one the day before I wasn't too fussed and headed round into Balgove Bay where I hoped to find some more additions though the tide state was far from ideal.
A Mute Swan flew in to land on the river. I checked the wooden posts for White Tailed Eagle but both were empty of birds. I could see a few waders along the water's edge ahead of me - a few Sanderling and Bar Tailed Godwits as well as Oystercatchers. Further round I spotted a few
Brent Geese, a hoped for bird, and a year-tick. More scanning from the raised viewpoint of the golf course added Wigeon and among the sleeping flock a few
Pintail, another hoped for bird. A few Dunlin were seen close in along with solitary Redshanks and a small flock of Starlings bathed in a drain outflow. Further out I could see a few Grey Plover scurrying around in stops and starts. I had better views of Brent Geese feeding alongside Shelduck as well as a few more Mallards.
Ice filled the small pools at the saltmarsh alongside the golf course so looking for Snipe and Jack Snipe was likely to be pointless. A
Lapwing flew in and landed, giving me yet another year-tick before a pair of Skylarks flew up from the salt marsh and a Rock Pipit did likewise a short distance further on. A Robin, a few Redwings and at least one Fieldfare were in the trees near the George Evans hide. With the golf course not in use I did a lap of the frozen reed-fringed pond spooking a Moorhen as I did so. A pair of Stonechats were feeding along the edge of the fairway nearby. A male Yellowhammer and a Greenfinch were in the trees at the western end of the golf course.
I headed up onto the raised banking running along the edge of the bay. Most of the birds were further out so disturbance was minimal. A flock of Skylarks flew up from the field and another of Linnets were seen further on, along with at least another Yellowhammer among them. A flock of
Tree Sparrows was in a hedge dividing the turf fields. A Meadow Pipit was seen in the next field. I headed down onto the beach at the first opportunity and a few minutes later I was pleasantly surprised to see a
Black Tailed Godwit drop in to land in the bay. Another year-tick along with the Tree Sparrows. I knew I was getting close to hitting my target, if I hadn't already.
A Kestrel hovered above the fields and a Buzzard flew off from a tree bordering the nature reserve area with a Carrion Crow in hot pursuit. A Dunnock was seen along the fringes. I popped up the banking to scan and found that there was a flock of swans in among the sheep. Mostly
Whooper Swans, though also a few Mute Swans. There were also 4 or 5 Pink Footed Geese. The Whoopers being ever-wary flew a short distance across the field and I dropped back down to the shore. A Sparrowhawk overflew the estuary spooking large clouds of waders, mostly Dunlin but also a number of
Knot (another year-tick). I had thought I'd missed out on the species further round in the bay so it was a relief to see the species so far upriver.
Another hoped for bird was seen when I rounded the tip to Coble Shore. A
Teal was near a small group of drake Goldeneye. There was a bit of ice on the beach so I had to work along the large concrete sections. In the small nature reserve area were a few Black Tailed Godwits and Oystercatchers as well as juvenile Mute Swan and a few Fieldfares. A small covey of five Grey Partridges spotted me before I saw them as I neared the gate back to the track up to the road and flew off across the field. I added a pair of collared Doves as I neared the outskirts of Guardbridge as a pair flew into the trees. A Buzzard was perched on the fence across the salt marsh. A trio of Coal Tits were in a tree near the garage.
Arriving at the Eden Estuary Centre around 1425, I found a trio of familiar faces inside and thankfully room at the now-fixed window. A quick chat about where I'd been and what I'd seen and was still hoping to see followed and then I started scanning for more new birds for the day and year. A
Goosander drake was the first new find. Little Grebes showed sporadically out front. I managed to miss a Peregrine that Willie Irvine had in his scope as it flew up past the farm. Great Tit and Chaffinch showed around the feeders along with Blue Tits and Tree Sparrows. A few
Golden Plover were seen flying up from the base when the bird-scarer was deployed, giving me another year-tick.
A possible Greenshank was only a distant Redshank with muddy legs. A Sinensis Cormorant was photographed in flight. A Magpie was heard but not seen. A skein of Pink Footed Geese looked like they might land but they continued over. As the light started to go and the temperature dropped I was left in the hide with just Brian Williamson for company. Brian offered me a lift back to Dundee and I added a single Mistle Thrush near Drumoig and a Kestrel on the Leuchars bypass as we headed back to Dundee after a successful outing.
I managed 14 year-ticks (in bold) among the 79 species I managed to see, taking me to 104 for the year in only 4 outings (can't really count the Grey Wagtail seen on my way to the local shop on the 2nd as during an actual birding outing). I've walked somewhere around 45 miles in that time too. Well worth the effort though.
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Fulmar |
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| Redshank, Turnstone & Oystercatcher |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Razorbill |
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| Common Scoter & Great Crested Grebe |
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| Scaup, Common Scoter & Great Crested Grebe |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Rook |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Rook |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit & Sanderling |
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| Wigeon & Pintail & Dunlin & Oysercatcher |
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| Brent Geese & Shelduck |
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| Dunlin |
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| Brent Goose |
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| Starling |
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| Starling |
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| Redshank |
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| Grey Plover |
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| Stonechat |
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| Linnet |
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| Redshank |
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| Lapwing |
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| Tree Sparrow & Yellowhammer |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Kestrel |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Fieldfare, Black Tailed Godwit, Curlew & Oystercatcher |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Redshank, Dunlin & Oystercatcher |
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| Dunlin |
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| Herring Gull, Teal, Goldeneye, Redshank & Oystercatcher |
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| Grey Partridge |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Mute Swan & Whooper Swan |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Buzzard |
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| Goosander |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Curlew |
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| Curlew |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Whooper Swan & Mute Swan |
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| Cormorant (Sinensis race) |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull,
Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit,
Brent Goose, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare,
Fulmar,
Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch,
Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel,
Knot,
Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose,
Pintail, Purple Sandpiper,
Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling,
Scaup, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat,
Teal,
Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Turnstone,
Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
