A later rise than intended meant a change of plan for Thursday's birding. Initially I had intended to head for Loch of Kinnordy to try for Bramblings but I prefer an early start as it is over an hour on the bus followed by a 20 minute walk to the first of the hides, so roughly 90 minutes to get there and begin birding proper. There were a number of places where I could be birding in less than a third of that time. I was still rather undecided which I would choose when I headed out with plenty of possibilities.
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| White Tailed Eagle & Buzzard |
As I headed for the bus station I racked up a few species beginning with Herring Gull, then Woodpigeon and Magpie. Feral Pigeons, a Robin, a Blue Tit and a Carrion Crow were seen closer to the bus station. I had made up my mind to head for Tentsmuir as the area always offers a mixture of birds. With a number 99 just about to depart I decided to start in Leuchars but to walk out through the farmland rather than either of my usual routes, via Earlshall Muir, or Reres Wood. This, in theory, would give me a chance of finding a finch or bunting flock with perhaps a Brambling among the birds.
A number of birds were seen from the bus - Black Headed Gulls near the car park at the Fife end of the bridge, a hovering Kestrel near Drumoig, a fluttering Skylark a few hundred metres up the road and a Buzzard stood in a muddy field. Rooks were around at St Michaels making the rookery ready for this year's breeding attempts. Arriving in Leuchars I immediately spotted Jackdaws and House Sparrows when I alighted from the bus. The walk through the outer parts of the village towards the countryside added a Wren and a Dunnock as well as a few Starlings. A Pied Wagtail called as it flew overhead from the direction of the primary school.
The large trees surrounding a large house on the outskirts proved productive with a Blackbird, a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, a few Chaffinches, a Blue Tit and a Great Tit all seen. A few Siskins flew over as I scanned through the branches for a better look at the woodpecker. A Tree Sparrow was found in a small section of hedge before the farm buildings. In a partially flooded field there were a few Black Headed Gulls and Common Gulls. The first skein of Pink Footed Geese of the day passed northwards high above. A Meadow Pipit flew past and as I passed the end of the farm track a female Bullfinch flew off towards the trees across the field.
A Pheasant wandered across the same field before a Reed Bunting showed on the overhead wires. A few Curlews flew over and a Stock Dove sped past in the opposite direction. A pair of Goldfinches rose from the ditch at the edge of the furrowed field I was passing but didn't fly far before perching on the earth to watch me. Two pairs of Buzzards circled up on thermals above the fields. An adult White Tailed Eagle caught my eye as it soared upwards. It also drew the attention of a Buzzard which made an attempt to mob the bird as they both circled.
I was distracted by jet noise and a trio of USAF F-16 fighters and a KC-135 tanker passing over heading for the USA and when I looked again for the Eagle I couldn't find it, so I moved on again onto the short area of road that leads into the forest proper. A small group of Linnets and a Chaffinch or two were in one of the small trees in the sheep field. A Carrion Crow flew past as I tried to get a photo of a distant bird perched atop a large conifer but heat haze thwarted my attempts at an ID. There were no doubts however when a Raven flew past me, heading south towards Reres Wood. A Coal Tit showed in the first trees at the edge of the forest. A final spot of scanning found another couple of soaring Buzzards as well as brief spot of circling by a single Peregrine before it continued westwards, probably towards Guardbridge.
Along the forest road I added Mistle Thrush and Long Tailed Tits and a Red Squirrel were near the barrier while the large horse fields held the expected mix of Mistle Thrushes, Fieldfares and Redwings as well as a number of Woodpigeons and a sole Pied Wagtail. Another skein of Pink Footed Geese passed over at the car park, though these birds seemed to come in from over the sea and headed south towards the Eden estuary. A few Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls were on the beach while offshore I could see a number of Common Scoters.
I walked down to the water's edge for a better view having glimpsed a bird that hinted at Surf Scoter but was likely just a badly viewed Common Scoter. I passed a Ringed Plover on the beach and scanned through the birds on the water. A Slavonian Grebe was found, the first of at least 2 seen. Long Tailed Ducks flew past as did a Kittiwake, while further out on the sea I spotted a Red Throated Diver. Further out also were a number of Eiders and more gulls including a few Great Black Backed Gulls. A Cormorant flew past and more searching eventually found a single Velvet Scoter. A dead Guillemot was washed up on the shore, no doubt a victim of the recent stormy weather.
Eventually I moved on along the beach finding a small group of Grey Plover and a single Knot roosting at the water's edge. The tide was coming in fast as I hunted along the edge of the dunes. A Razorbill and a Guillemot were seen not far offshore along with a few Red Breasted Mergansers. Much further on I could see a few Grey seals hauled out on the fast disappearing sandbars. A pair of Shelducks lifted from the Lagoons where a number of Common Gulls and a single female Red Breasted Merganser as well as a Curlew or 2 were seen. A very pale backed Ringed Plover was seen here too. A small group of Skylarks were picking around on the mud but my camera batteries both showed as empty of charge - though I was able to revive one later having kept it in my pocket for a while - meaning I missed out on a nice close photo of the birds. I managed to negotiate a rather muddy route across to the forest side of the pools and headed north through the dunes spooking a single Rabbit on my way.
A flock of Goldfinches in the trees where I search for Green Woodpeckers also contained a Lesser Redpoll that did look a bit pale, but I couldn't quite convince myself that it was a Mealy. That will likely have to wait for an Autumn arrival. The yaffling call of a Green Woodpecker rang out from nearby and I walked slowly in the direction before seeing a large bird fly low over the ground away from me before swooping up to perch in the top of a bare dead tree where I was able to get some distant photos of it. One of the local Ravens called from a tree on the edge of the main forest. With the time now around 1615, I checked the times of the buses from Tayport to Dundee so I knew how fast I had to walk the rest of the way. Thankfully there were buses timetabled for roughly every 20-25 minutes, so I didn't have to walk too fast. I reached the northern edge of the forest and scanned out across the river and shoreline. There was a large roost of Oystercatchers, gulls and Cormorants on the eastern side of the fence.
To the west there weren't too many birds visible on the shore which was disappointing. Out on the river however there were hundreds of Eiders though more towards the coast on the Broughty Ferry side of the Tay. As I scanned over the river I picked up a single bird closer to the Fife side of the river. It was a year tick for me. A very obvious
Great Northern Diver in winter plumage and I sent out a text message reporting it to the Fife Bird Club grapevine. Yet again, this report wasn't circulated. Have decided I won't waste my time in future - will put out news via my own Twitter feed ( @stonefaction ), so if you want news on any birds I might find then that's where you'll get the news from now on.
A few Wigeon dabbled along the shoreline and Oystercatchers picked around on the mud. There were lots of Oystercatchers, Curlews, gulls and Eiders on Lucky Scalp, the shingle island not far offshore. Red Breasted Mergansers could be seen there also with the water so calm. As I neared Tayport I eventually found a few Redshanks and also some Bar Tailed Godwits. I searched through the gulls roosting on the water for obvious white winged gulls but found none. A Song Thrush sang from the trees behind the Foodmek factory and with roughly 15 minutes before the next bus was due I headed for Queen Street, not knowing whether or not the buses that late in the afternoon still routed to the turning circle where I was now stood.
A trio of Mallards flew overhead and a Greenfinch sang from the trees as I headed for the caravan park and on towards the duck pond. There were plenty of Mallards at the pond, as well as a few Moorhens picking around on the grass at the edges. A Mute Swan pair were on the water and the whinnying call of a Little Grebe alerted me to the bird swimming just in at the edge of one of the small reedbeds fringing parts of the pond. I made it to the bus stop in time, only to find that the bus was running late anyway. Nothing else was added as I waited for the bus or as I headed for home however.
Another good day out with an unexpected year-tick (in bold) the undoubted highlight among the 71 species of bird seen, as well as 3 species of mammal. I had another Great Northern Diver on the same stretch of the river on February 15th last year at a similar time of day (late afternoon) and with Stuart Green regularly seeing the species off Carnoustie throughout the year perhaps this stretch of river should be checked more often for these birds in winter. A regular 'hot-spot' for the species would certainly be handy and might also be more likely to turn up a White Billed Diver on passage than other areas.
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Great Spotted Woodecker |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Great Tit |
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| Buzzard |
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| Common Gull |
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| Pink Footed Geese |
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| Rook |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Raven |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Fieldfare, Redwing & Woodpigeon |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Skylark |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Slavonian Grebe |
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| Slavonian Grebe |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Knot & Grey Plover |
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| Linnet |
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| Razorbill |
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| Shelduck |
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| Black Headed Gull, Common Gull & Herring Gull |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Linnet & Goldfinch |
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| Green Woodpecker |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Cormorant, Oystercatcher & mixed gulls |
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| Great Northern Diver |
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| Eider |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Wigeon |
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| Curlew |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Song Thrush |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Northern Diver, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Plover, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Raven, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Slavonian Grebe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Tree Sparrow, Velvet Scoter, White Tailed Eagle, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal, Rabbit, Red Squirrel.
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