With nothing actually planned for Saturday I was pleased to receive a message from Susan on Friday evening to see if I fancied a spot of birding. As Susan is attempting to see at least 200 species this year I suggested the possibility of a spot of sea-watching at Fife Ness. I had a feeling that Susan hadn't done any seawatching previously and that Skuas and Shearwaters were likely on her wishlist of species still to see. Susan confirmed that both were indeed the case and arrangements were made to meet at Guardbrudge for 1000.
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| Blue Tit |
I decided to head over a bit early so left the house at 0855 to catch the 0915 bus. A quartet of Magpies flew across the street ahead of me and a House Sparrow dropped into the bush I was passing. Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon and a flyover Oystercatcher were seen before I caught the bus into town for the short walk to the bus station. A pair of Goldfinches flew over as I walked down the Wellgate Steps. What was surprisingly the first Herring Gull was seen over the Cowgate.
From the bus to Fife I added a Swift over the Seagate as the bus pulled out of its stance. A few Starlings were seen at the Fife end of the roadbridge. Rooks were seen arund St Michaels. Blackbirds were in a large garden just oustside Leuchars. House Martin was seen overhead the village and a Carrion Crow flew past at the railway station. Mute Swan was added on the Motray at Guardbridge before I got off the bus to walk into the hide to wait for Susan to arrive.
A Blue Tit and a Rabbit were seen as I headed in along the path to the empty hide. Given the time of year and the likely lack of waders and wildfowl, and thus photo opportunities for the regular photographers, I wasn't surprised to find it empty. However as photos weren't my reason for visiting, I wasn't fussed. Swallows and Sand Martins zipped around over the pools opposite> Lesser Black Backed Gull was spotted among the Herring Gull roost to the north and across the river a few Black Headed Gulls mingled with Oystercatchers and Shelduck.
A Buzzard circled above the saltmarsh, and a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls were seen perched atop the ex-papermill building. There were lots more Shelduck around and I found a few pairs of Mallard on the river. A few Tree Sparrows visited the feeders and there was a very distant Osprey on one of the wooden poles favoured by the White Tailed Eagles at other times of year. A Pied Wagtail flew past as I was joined in the hide by Susan. As there was nothing much to see, we decided to set off for our first stop at Boarhills for a walk down to the pond. A calling Greenfinch flew over as we headed out of the park to the car.
A Grey Heron flew over the car between St Andrews and Boarhills. Swifts and House Martins swpt overhead as we walked up the hill through the small village. Heading down the farm track we added a Grey Partridge to the list as one disappeared over the wall into the next field. Yellowhammers, Skylarks and a Corn Bunting singing were added to the list soon after. A single Lapwing was seen flying over another field to the northj of the track. Lots of brown moths which we were sure were Silver Y moths were seen along the verges but wouldn't settle long enough for us to actually see them properly. A Silver Ground Carpet moth was more cooperative though.
Blue Tailed Damselflies were seen as we walked down to the pond where there were lots more around. Green Veined White butterflies flitted around as well. A Linnet flew over and a Skylark posed briefly on the drystane dyke. At the pond we found a number of Reed Bunting males and a few Sedge Warblers but very little evidence of anything else. We decided not to explore further round owing to the overgrown vegetation beyond the car and tent which were somewhat surprisingly to be found at the bottom corner of teh field down from the Gorse patch.
We added Large White butterfly, Whitethroat, Chaffinch and Dunnock to the list as we walked back up to the car in the rather warm sunshine. Back at the car we had something to eat before setting off for Fife Ness for our planned introduction to seawatching for Susan. Nothing extra was added on the way to Crail, though a pair of Grey partridges were seen in the same field I'd seen them on Wednesday with Paul, just outside of Crail. Eiders, Shags, Cormoramts and Oystercatchers were seen out on the rocks before we headed into the relative cool of the hide.
Within a minute or so of having opened the shutters I spotted a Red Throated Diver low over the flat calm water and quickly got Susan onto the bird. There were plenty of birds moving but nothing exciting. Just the usual Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets, Eiders, Fulmars, Sandwich Terns, Kittwakes and Shags that are to be expected at this time of year. Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls stood out on the rocks. A Cormorant flew by and we had distant Common and Arctic Terns as well as a pair of closer in Red Throated Divers. I passed on what pointers I could on the style of flight of each of the birds we were seeing, and of those we weren't but might. The light and heat haze was making conditions slightly less than ideal but there was plenty of movement.
A party of Eider females and a small group of ducklings hauled out onto the rocks under the gaze of a Great Black Backed Gull which chose tyo ignore them. A Guillemot which photos suggest may have been oiled appeared on the rocks but made its way back down to the sea where it tentatively swam out to sea. It drrew some attention from a pair of Herring Gulls and a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls. The appearance of a Grey Seal however sent the gulls skywards and the Guillemot no doubt breathed a large sigh of relief. The only Puffin of our short stint of seawatching headed south alone as we were about to pack up.
We headed up to Kilminning where a lone Whitethroat was more or less the only bird of interest and we ended up looking at the insects. There were plenty of Silver Y moths around, and we finally managed to find one settled. We found a couple of micro moths - a small pure white Elaschista argentella and another unidentified one that looked similar to some oths I've seen before. John Nadin was also looking for migrants but drawing a blank and we had a short chat before we headed back to Guardbridge for another short spell in the hide.
It was still very quiet though the tide was on its way in. Susan spotted a Pill Woodlouse on the hide floor - not yet a particularly common species in Scotland. A pair of Ospreys were perched close together out at the far side of the saltmarsh and moved over later to the 'goalposts'. A party of a dozen Canada Geese made their way upriver to the mouth of the Motray before Susan headed off. I was joined by David and Margaret McPhearson, regular weekend visitors to the hide. A few minues later Ian Cummings and Nick Mutch came in and though there was little of interest to be seen there was plenty of chat. A pair of Teal showed opposite the hide and a Jackdaw was chased off by a Carrion Crow before the hide emptied and everyone, including me, headed for home.
Not the most exciting of day's birding, but fairly typical for early June, with insects providing a welcome distraction from the apparent lack of birds. Somehow I still managed to finish the day with 53 species of bird seen, 2 of butterfly, 3 identified moths, 2 mammals and 1 damselfly.
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| Spider sp. |
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| Blue Tailed Damselfly |
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| Caddisfly sp. |
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| Blue Tailed Damselfly |
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| Blue Tailed Damselfly |
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| Blue Tailed Damselfly |
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| Hoverfly sp. |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Shag |
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| Razorbill |
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| Razorbill & Guillemot |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Eider |
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| Linnet |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Puffin |
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| Gannet |
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| Silver Y |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Cydia ulicetana |
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| Elachista argentella |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Shelduck |
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| Teal |
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| Osprey |
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| Pill Woodlouse |
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| Mute Swan & Canada Geese |
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| Ospey |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterfly species seen - Green Veined White, Large White.
Damselfly species seen - Blue Tailed Damselfly.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal, Rabbit.
Moths seen - Cydia ulicetana (micro), Elachista argentella (micro), Silver Y, Silver Ground Carpet.
