With Paul back onshore again, plans were made to head out on Wednesday. Unfortunately, heavy rain was forecast to coincide with our start time, so I messaged Paul to push our start time back an hour from 0730 to 0830. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen the message by the time he left the house. so I headed out to meet him at our original start time of 0730. The plan was to pop down to the Tay Reedbeds to try and add Bearded Tit to Paul's list for the year (and maybe for me to get a photo of a Reed Warbler). After that we'd head to Fife to try Boarhills Pond for migrants then to Balgove Bay for the tide on its way back out.
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| Little Egret |
I headed out into the drizzly rain at around 0715. Only a Herring Gull and a Magpie were seen before I met Paul. As the rain wasn't forecast to stop until around 0900, I suggested we make a few stops where we might be able to see birds from the car on our way out to Errol. Riverside Nature Park car park added Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Swallow and Carrion Crow before we headed out to Kingoodie. Here we spotted Oystercatcher, Curlew, Black Headed Gull, Lapwing and Mallard. Starlings and a couple of Roe Deer were seen as we drove the next stretch to Errol. Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon and Collared Dove were added from the car. A Robin was heard as we sat out the last of the rain at Gas Brae, but it remained hidden from our sight.
The rain finally stopped at around 0850 and we headed off downhill. Pied Wagtails were seen flying past (possibly vis-mig) but it was surprisingly quiet. We headed down past the house at the foot of the track. Blue Tits and Willow Warblers skulked in the trees and a Chaffinch was seen. A young Marsh Harrier quartered over the reeds after Paul spotted it perched among the reeds. A Grey Heron flew upriver. A small group of Sedge Warblers fed among the Japanese Knotweed while a party of Sand Martins headed westwards above us.
We stopped off at the nettlebed where you can see out over the reedbeds, looking eastwards. A Sparrowhawk flew past us as we scanned for Bearded Tits, though there seemed to be a dearth of birds among the reeds. I heard a Greenshank call from out on the river and as I photographed a Cormorant on a sandbank, it flew past. We moved on again and stopped at various points to check the eastern pool. Mute Swans, Little Grebes, Moorhen, Wigeon and Mallard were seen as well as a surprise Little Egret. A Common Gull flew past. Reed Bunting was seen in the trees across the other side of the pool and a Coal Tit foraged in trees by the path. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling from the top of a tree near the houses at Port Allen and I managed to find it near the top.
A Wren popped out into the open behind us as we looked for the Woodpecker. A Redshank flew by and House Martins zoomed over the roofs of the houses. Things were quiet beyond the houses though we did add a Chiffchaff in the bushes. A small group of Canada Geese landed out on the river. A rather faded Brown China Mark moth flitted around in the grass by the mouth of the burn and a Common Toad(let) was found scrambling around nearby. House Sparrows flew up from behind the houses. More scanning of the pools found Gadwall and Tufted Duck as we headed back towards Errol. A male Marsh Harrier was seen out over the reedbeds from the nettle patch before tangling briefly with a Buzzard.
As we headed back up the track towards Errol what was likely the same male Marsh Harrier flew over the trees to our left before descending down overt the field to the north and heading back west to hunt over some of the other fields. Green Veined White butterfly was seen as we headed uphill. On our way back to Dundee we checked Kingoodie but only gulls were seen and a Song Thrush flew up into a tree behind a Blackbird as we exited Invergowrie. A Sandwich Tern flew over the roadbridge as we headed into Fife. A quick stop at Guardbridge reservoir proved fruitless, except for a Small Copper butterfly, so we continued on to Boarhills.
Painted Lady butterflies flitted around Buddleia bushes in the village along with a few Peacocks. Walking down the track past the farm we added at least 1 Tree Sparrow with some House Sparrows. Offshore we could see a large group of Gannets diving into an area of water while further west a cloud of gulls appeared to have discovered their own shoal of fish to decimate. A Great Black Backed Gull flew past. By now the sun was shining and it was quite warm. Lots of butterflies flitted around among the trackside vegetation - Small Whites, Green Veined Whites, Large Whites, Peacocks, Red Admirals and Painted Ladys. A Kestrel hovered briefly over the fields before flying off. I found a female Common Blue butterfly, and a few Silver Y moths as we headed down the edge of the field to the pond, as well as one or two Udea Lutealis macro-moths. A pair of Roe Deer spotted us and took off into cover.
There were Willow Warblers in the trees but it was rather quiet. A Grey Heron was spooked from the edeg of the pond as I noticed a Great Skua passing slowly but purposefully westwards just offshore. It was nice to get one in decent light for a change. A pair of Stock Doves flew by. We found our way down through the small channels and pools along the front of the reedbed at the northern edge of the pond to scan along the shore. Common and Sandwich Terns, Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Turnstones and Curlews stood out on the rocks. A few Eider were just offshore and surprise flock of Canada Geese appeared from behind some rocks A flock of Lapwings circled round slightly to the east before settling back down out of sight. A Grey Partridge flew up and over the wall when it saw us. A small flock of Teal flew by, while further out over the sea a party of Common Scoters headed northwards and a pair of Shags headed out to sea.
Linnets and a couple of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were additions to the list as we headed back uphill to the car to drive back to the golf courses just west of St Andrews to walk out to the hide overlooking Balgove Bay. A Brown Hare ran across the fairways as we headed west along the track. Rooks were seen too but things were pretty quiet overall, though most likely because the course was so busy. As we neared the hide it became apparent that we were a bit later than ideal with the tide already quite far out. We were still able to add a few new species - Shelduck, Dunlin, Black Tailed Godwit and at least 5 Ospreys. Grey Seals could be seen distantly hauled out on a sandbank near the mouth of the river.
We debated our options as we headed back across teh golf course before deciding to pop into the Eden Estuary Centre for 20 minutes or so before it closed. This did allow us to add Greenfinch on the feeders and a Lesser Black Backed Gull to the list. A pair of Little Egrets showed well down in front of the hide but there was no sign of anything too unusual though the tide state wasn't in our favour. Just after 1700 we decided to call it a day and head for home.
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Common Gull |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Cormorant & Greenshank |
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| Wigeon |
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| Little Egret |
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Little Egret
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| Brown China Mark |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier & Buzzard |
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| Marsh Harrier & Buzzard |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Gannet |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Silver Y |
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| Small White |
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| Starling |
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| Kestrel |
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| Teal |
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| Teal |
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| Redshank |
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| Shag |
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| Curlew & Redshank |
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| Common Tern & Sandwich Tern |
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| Black Headed Gull & Shelduck |
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| Curlew |
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| Carrion Crow & Kestrel |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Black Tailed Godwit, Lapwing & Redshank |
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Redshank
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Despite nothing too spectacular we still ended the day with 69 bird species, 1 amphibian, 9 butterflies, 3 mammals and 3 moth species. Not a bad haul, all in all and I even managed a few reasonable photos too, which is always a nice bonus.
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lawing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Shelduck, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Amphibians - Common Toad.
Butterflies - Common Blue, Green Veined White, Large White, Painted White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Mammals - Brown Hare, Grey Seal, Roe Deer.
Moths - Brown China Mark, Silver Y, Udea Lutealis.
