With another day off on Tuesday I chose to sleep a bit longer than Monday as the weather forecast wasn't particularly promising until after 1100. Having chose to go to Crail on Monday I decided that I would try the Ladybank and Letham areas in the hope of Garganey, Yellow Wagtail and anything else that might be passing through. With the bus taking an hour to get to Ladybank I would hopefully miss the worst of the wet weather.
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| Osprey |
I headed out at 1030, after a heavy rain shower to try to catch the bus at 1050. Woodpigeon, Herring Gull and a singing Blackbird were seen before I caught the bus to the Wellgate Centre and walked the rest of the way to the bus station. Unfortunately the bus that should have been sitting waiting to leave was still showing as being 16 minutes away. It also became rather obvious that the large group of around 30 OAPs were also waiting for the same bus. Rather than spend an hour on a packed bus running late I decided on Plan B. I would head to Guardbridge instead. It was unlikely to give me much chance of anything new, except maybe House Martin, but it also meant a lot less walking.
From the bus I spotted a pair of Shelduck down on the mud at the Fife end of the roadbridge, and Rook and Jackdaw were seen near St Michaels. Starling was added in Leuchars. The bus was held up at Leuchars railway station as lots of new passengers got on. This meant that I didn't get to the Guardbridge hide until 1125. The hide was empty so I managed to get my favourite window and settled down to see what I could find. Redshank, Teal, Oystercatcher and Black tailed Godwits were along the opposite shore while Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch and Dunnock were around the feeders.
A Buzzard landed in one of the trees over by the conifers. More scanning found Curlew and at least 15 Knot. A Cormorant flew upriver. There were 2 pairs of Lesser Black Backed Gulls among the Herring Gulls further downriver. Mallard was added, and a Grey Wagtail called as it flew past alerting me to look out for it. A Magpie flew from the conifers to the former paper mill buildings. An Osprey was well out in the river perched on one of the wooden posts around a mile and a half away. The female Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the feeders and the first Blue Tit of the day was seen shortly after it had left. Feral Pigeons from the paper mill flew by and the local Carrion Crows dropped in.
A Great Black Backed Gull glided by and I eventually succeeded in finding Dunlin among the other larger waders. A Pied Wagtail landed on the mud near the hide but flew off again almost immediately. I was joined in the hide by Angus Duncan a few minutes after a Sparrowhawk sped low along the small wall in front of the hide a foot or so above the mud. Angus and I had a chat about recent sightings while looking out for more birds. A Swallow zipped by while a Great Tit showed at the feeders. A Collared Dove flew over and a few Sand Martins were seen over the river.
By now the tide was coming in and I had a plan to wait until it had pushed the birds in closer opposite and then head for the Fife Bird Club hide as there was a good chance of the saltmarsh being flooded, hopefully pushing waders into position for a photo. The weather had shown little sign of the promised sunshine and it was rather gloomy and grey with some rain when I spotted an Osprey over the bend in the river. The local gulls also spotted it and gave chase, pushing the bird closer to us. I managed to direct Angus onto the bird eventually, though head-on gulls and Ospreys going in all sorts of directions are a bit tricky to separate when you are trying to get a photo. We both snapped away as the birds got closer to the hide, with the Osprey eventually passing the hide over the rived at around eye level before shaking off the gulls and hovering just upriver.
When we reviewed our photos it turned out that neither of us had had much success though the bird was identifiable as Blue YD, the radio-pack bird I'd seen a week or so earlier. Given the opportunity we had just had it was incredibly frustrating to see that we'd more or less failed to maximise the possibilities offered to us. To compound things, Angus somehow managed to delete all his photos of the bird while reviewing them. I found a few Eider round the bend in the river as the tide started to cover the mud, pushing the waders closer though they were rather unsettled by something and there was lots of flying around en masse at times. A Coal Tit visited the feeders adding another species to the list, and a pair of Goldfinches flew over as the skies started to clear.
A Grey Heron was spotted out on the saltmarsh along with a Pink Footed Goose and the Wigeon flock swam into the small bay by the goalposts though there was no sign of the Pintail seen the day before. Angus decided to pack up and I wrote up the sightings in the book before heading round to the Fife Bird Club hide at the farm. As I got closer a car was waiting to join the main road but had dropped back down the hill a little. It was John Anderson, who had been in the hide but with little happening had decided to head for home. After a short chat he changed his mind and decided to join me in the hide. His visit having been inspired by my recent photos of Blue YD the Osprey, but having had no visits by any Osprey in his time at the hide.
It didn't take long before John's luck changed. We had more or less just sat down and oped the windows when John told me to look behind me at the post. An Osprey had landed on it with a large flatfish and with the sun shining and water behind we had a great opportunity to get some nice photos of the bird. It wasn't ringed and didn't have any radio-pack which was even better from a photographic point of view. We snapped away as the bird struggled to drag the fish onto the top of the pole. With its talons holding the top and bottom side of the fish it proved a tricky manoeuvre though after a few minutes the bird succeeded. After taking the first 2 chunks from the fish, from around the mouth area, a pair of Carrion Crows flew past. The Osprey seemed unnerved by them and watched them go by.
Something then attracted the bird's attention above and behind the hide and it looked a bit agitated. Suddenly it took to the air, heading straight towards us, as both our cameras fired away seemingly in unison before the bird gained a little height and passed to the west of the hide. John kept an eye on the bird but lost it against the background clutter shortly afterwards. We both checked the results of what potentially had been a great photo opportunity. After my earlier attempts I was slightly nervous, but for once the camera and lens had largely delivered sharp, in focus shots, and one in particular looked like it could be one of my best ever photos - if it held up to scrutiny on the computer screen at home later. John was also quite pleased with the results he had got too.
Nothing much else happened after that, though we did add Pintail and a
2nd Pink Footed Goose plus a Linnet flying by. A Grey Seal was seen out
in the river. A few Redshanks eventually showed near the hidebut the
light was all wrong for a decent photo. We decided to call it a day at
around 1650 and John offered to drop me off in St Andrews for the bus,
an offer I gratefully accepted. Skylark, Whooper Swan and Pheasant were
added from the car and I didn't have long to wait for a bus home after
John dropped me off. At home later the Osprey photos proved to be as
good (and as bad - the earlier shots) as expected.
A total of 47
species of bird seen with the undoubted highlight being the amazing
photo opportunities from the third Osprey of the day at the Fife Bird
Club hide with John Anderson. Each time I visit that hide, I come away
with a new 'best' photo taken there of an Osprey.
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| Black Tailed Godwit & Redshank |
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| Knot & Redshank |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Magpie |
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| Buzzard |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Cormorant |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Buzzard |
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| Curlew |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Grey Heron & Redshank |
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| Black Tailed Godwit, Knot & Dunlin |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Wigeon, Teal & Oystercatcher |
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| Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Shelduck |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Pintail & Wigeon |
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| Pintail & Wigeon |
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| Curlew & Redshank |
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| Shelduck |
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| Redshank, Teal, Oystercatcher, Wigeon & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Redshank |
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| Redshank |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Mammal seen - Grey Seal
