For Wednesday's mid-week outing I decided to head inland. With a Spotted Redshank having been seen at The Wilderness near Ladybank on Monday and a decent supporting cast including Green, Common and Wood Sandpiper plus Ruff, I had to hope that there was a chance that the Spotted Redshank was still around somewhere to give me another year-tick. There was also a possibility of trying for Roseate Tern at Westhaven later in the day with Jacqui, weather permitting.
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| Buzzard |
It was an early start, leaving home at 0645, to catch the 0705 bus to Bow of Fife, then a walk to Letham Pools then from there to The Wilderness and onto Ladybank. From there the plan was rather fluid. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Collared Dove, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and Song Thrush were seen on the walk to the bus station. There were a few more additions on the bus journey with Swift, House Sparrow, Swallow and Starling all seen.
The short walk to Letham Pools from Bow of Fife gave me Dunnock, Yellowhammer, Greylag Geese, Goldfinch and Linnet. The pools were rather busy with moulting Mallards, Mute Swans, Black Headed Gulls, Sand Martins and Swallows as well as Coot, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron and a single Little Egret. In addition, Moorhen, Snipe and Little Grebe were also seen. One of the local Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid offspring was with the Greylags on the water. A distant Buzzard and a flypast by Feral Pigeons were soon found and a Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, pair of Lapwings and a Greenfinch were noted before I set off for The Wilderness.
There weren't huge amounts of birds to see along the way though there were plenty of Large and Small White butterflies. I did add Tree Sparrow, Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Stock Dove, Rook and Skylark before arriving at the flooded gravel-pit that is known as The Wilderness, around a mile east of Ladybank. The vegetation made viewing rather haphazard and heat shimer anddistance wasn't much help either. Shelduck, Black Tailed Godwit, 3 Greenshanks, a Ruff, a Redshank, 3 Dunlin, a Wood Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail and Common Sandpiper joined the earlier birds on the list for the day. A juvenile Buzzard gave great views as it mewed loudly from the trees near where I stood. A Fox trotted out in front of me without spotting me for a few seconds allowing me a few photos before disappearing back out of sight again.
A walk along the wall to check the western pool, which was more or less empty, saw me being distracted by insects. A Small Copper butterfly shared the plants by the roadside with a few Common Blue Damselflies and lots of hoverflies of 2 species - the first evidence of a massive influx from the continent apparently of a few species down the east coast of Scotland. I walked back along checking the pools having chatted briely to Fife birder, Alan Carpenter. Curlew, Pied Wagtail and a Willow Warbler were found but ther was no sign of my hoped for Spotted Redshank. I chose to try and catch a bus bound for Dundee at Pitlesse and made it with a few minutes to spare, thankfully.
This worked out quicker than the Ladybank option and I headed to St Michaels t catch a bus to Guardbridge. The hide was empty when I arrived and the Buddleia bushes out front were busy with butterflies - a Painted Lady, numerous Peacocks, a few Small Tortoiseshells and lot of Whites. Birds were fairly typical for the time of year with Redshank, Black Headed Gull and Grey Heron all around. A Great Black Backed Gull was seen on the paper mill buildings and Ospreys were seen distatly on their usual posts. Oysercatchers, Curlew and the temporarily resident pair of Canada Geese were soon added.
There were also 2 Little Egrets around out in front of the hide. Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls plus Mallards could be seen down by the bend in the river. I was joined by Angus Duncan and a while later by Harry Spence. The feeders didn't seem to be attracting anything but out in the distance I did add a few Cormorants as well as a few Goosander a bit closer. A Common Gull flew upriver. A mixed age creche of Eiders swam upriver and 4 Magpies flew across the river. Harry and Angus left and a short while later a couple from Glasgow popped in.
Unfortunately a little later we were visited by a trio of young girls of around 10 or 11 years old (at a guess) whose behaviour would have earned me a smack at their age from my parents had I ever been as annoying. Having to cope with them meant that I missed out on checking the waders on the rising tide though it appeared to be a pair of Common Sandpiper and a trio of Dunlin that were the only vaguely unusual birds. Thankfully, Ranald the ranger showed up slightly early and soon got the message that it wasn't likely to be a good idea to leave the trio unattended in the hide when I headed out the door, given what had gone on earlier.
I headed for home having managed a total of 62 species of bird, 6 of Butterfly, 1 of Damselfly and 1 of mammal. Not a classic day but still plenty to see. Unfortunately, the forecast heavy rain which was just starting as I left meant that Jacqui decided to give the tern hunting a miss.
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| Linnet |
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| Little Egret & Mallard |
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| Snipe |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| Greylag Geese, Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid |
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| Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid |
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| Snipe, Mallard, Greylag Goose & Little Egret |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Little Egret |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid |
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| Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Large White |
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| Skylark |
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| Greenshank, Redshank, Ruff & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Lapwing & Greenshank |
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| Fox |
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| Fox |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Lapwing, Coot, Dunlin & Moorhen |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Small Copper & Hoverfly sp. |
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| Lapwing, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Dunlin & Snipe |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Little Egret |
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| Peacock, Painted Lady & Bumblebee sp. |
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| Little Egret |
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| Peacock & Large White |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret & Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Dunlin |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Lapwing |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Mute Swan & Canada Goose |
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| Common Gull |
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| Eider |
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| Eider |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Redshank |
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| Woodpigeon |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Wood Sandpiper, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Large White, Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Damselflies seen - Common Blue Damselfly.
Mammals seen - Fox.
