Once again, I didn't make it out on Saturday with too much on my mind distracting me from even attempting any birding. However, I decided that I wasn't going to lose the whole weekend and was up and out of bed even before the time I'm normally up for work on a weekday. This meant that I was ready to head out birding for around 0700. Unfortunately, public transport on a Sunday is pretty abysmal limiting where I could realistically get to. I settled for the Eden Estuary. I was hoping for Swallow, House Martin and Osprey primarily, but any summer migrants would be a bonus.
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| Osprey |
With few folk around so early the local birds were quite easy to see, with a few House Sparrows around their usual bush and a singing Dunnock nearby. A Blackbird flew across the road as a Woodpigeon watched from atop a lamp post. A Feral Pigeon raced over and a Herring Gull glided over at a far more sedate pace. A Starling was 'singing' from a TV aerial. Further on a pair of Magpies were perched in one of their regular locations though a Herring Gull had usurped them from their more prominent spot. A pair of Goldfinches flew over and a Lesser Black Backed Gull pair stood together on another roof. A Carrion Crow was added as I neared the bus station in time to catch the 0715 bus to St Andrews.
The windows on the bus were rather dirty meaning that identifiable birds were few and far between on the journey with only the St Michaels rookery Rooks and Leuchars chimney dwelling Jakdaws seen well enough to confidently identify. I got off the bus at Guardbridge and a Wren flew out from the small patch of bushes near the bus stop. A Robin sang from the trees by the gate into the pak were the hide is situated. A pair of Oystercatchers and a Woodpigeon were feeding on the grass. A Blue Tit was seen in the trees as I wandered up to the side of the hide to scan out over the estuary.
A Goldeneye was on the water, while opposite it was possible to make out Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit and Dunlin despite the sun being behind them. More scanning found a Mute Swan and plenty of distant Shelduck. A Buzzard was perched on the 'see-saw' plank overlooking an extension to the pool where a number of Teal were swimming. A pair of Eider were in the channel round the bend in the river beyond the gull roost which appeared to be mostly Herring Gulls and a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls. The local Tree Sparrows visited the feeders cautiously as I stood, while from the other side of the hide a Coal Tit and a pair of Chaffinches were added.
My plan had been to head for the Fife Bird Club hide round at the farm, but I got sidetracked as I crossed the bridge when I spotted a quartet of Pink Footed Geese and a small group of Pheasants in the fields to the south. A
Swallow swept over low, my first of this year. A pair of drake Mallards swam below the bridge. A Great Tit called loudly from the tree in front of the pub and a Sand Martin zipped over fast. I had a wander down the muddy path on the south side of the road to see if there were more geese around. It turned out that there were - though on the north side of the river. Around 200 Pink Footed Geese. I didn't notice at the time but my photos showed a White Fronted Goose amongst them.
There were also a mixed group of gulls sharing the field including a few Common Gulls. A few Curlews flew across the river and as I headed for the reedbed at the bend in an effort to sneak up on the Pink Footed Geese I stopped to watch a male Reed Bunting. I succeeded in not spooking the geese though they did walk away from me, rather than fly, so I turned around and left them to their feeding. Looking upriver from the muddy track once more I spotted a heavy winged bird flying towards me. The initial assumption was a Heron, but it wasn't. It was an
Osprey, and another first of the year. It stopped for a brief hover above the bend before continuing on towards the main estuary. Photos showed it to have a radio antenna on its back and a ring on its leg.
A Long Tailed Tit was added among the trackside trees and a Pied Wagtail flew off up through the village as I walked out towards the farm. A Collared Dove was the next addition. From the car park at the end of the village I looked down towards the farm where I found the post in front of the hide occupied. An Osprey was perched atop it, tucking into a catch. I hurried on, hoping that the bird would stay where it was, allowing me the opportunity to get some nice photos. I stopped briefly at the driveway down to the farm to photograph a Pied Wagtail and a Robin, though the Woodpigeons feeding were ignored.
I made it down to the hide without alarming the bird, but it chose to fly off within a few seconds of me getting inside. I watched it landing on the 'goalposts'. Within a minute however it was on its way back which meant I was in position to catch the bird landing back on the pole with its partially eaten flatfish breakfast. I spent most of the next hour photographing, and filming, the bird as it tore into the fish. A Buzzard overhead merited an upward glance from the Osprey, and a Chiffchaff could be heard singing from one of the nearby trees but I failed to see it. A few Linnets, Skylarks and Meadow Pipit were added before the Osprey flew a short distance to a rock where a Carrion Crow chased it off and a Herring Gull gave chase as the bird headed across the river.
I packed up to walk along to the Balgove Bay hide. A pair of Starlings and a House Sparrow were in a tree behind the stables and I had a short chat with the farmer who was gutted he'd missed the Osprey though he was impressed with the photos. A few more Pied Wagtail photos were taken and a singing Yellowhammer was in the bushes by the bay behind the B&B. There were 4 Whooper Swans still in the field where they've been all winter, though the lay of the land meant they were tricky to see except from a very short section of the cycle path. I'd chosen not to head down to Coble Shore as a couple with a dog off the lead had got there first, meaning that any birds were likely to be distant or flying off. A pair of Buzzards perched on the fence posts at the northern edge of the fields indulged in a spot of mating.
There were plenty of singing Skylarks around with a few landing close by in the longer grass. Further along the road I counted (at least) 31 Meadow Pipits together in one of the 'turf' fields. I cut along the hedge line at the last field before the golf course, a Stock Dove diverting at the last second when it spotted me as it was about to land, and flying off again. From the banking, most of the birds were rather distant except a Blackbird which flew off noisily when it spotted me. I headed into the hide to scan out across Balgove Bay. I found 3 Brent Geese and a flock of Wigeon and a pair of Grey Seals but with everything too far away from the hide I decided to retrace my path back to Guardbridge.
Another male Reed Bunting was seen along the edge of the field and a male Yellowhammer also. I found a dead Oystercatcher by the fence-line but apart from a few Mute Swans having joined the Whoopers. A singing Greenfinch was seen when I reached the outskirts of Guardbridge. From the bridge I watched a pair of Grey Wagtails and a pair of Pied Wagtails investigating a possible nest site though it appeared that the Pieds had chosen to use it. A Tree Sparrow was perched on a nest box by the gate into the park. The hide was empty except for Harry Spence though not for long with a few others coming and going over the course of the next hour or two, including Angus Duncan and Richard Bennie.
Most of the same birds that I'd seen earlier were still around though I did add Cormorant and Great Black Backed Gull quite soon after arriving. A distant Kestrel was harassed by corvids. A few Jackdaws flew over, as did a few Goldfinches and a Meadow Pipit. A Sparrowhawk was seen relatively close circling up above the saltmarsh. A single sleeping Knot was opposite the hide with a Redshank and a Dunlin. A Black Headed Gull, the first of the day and a Grey Heron were added. A distant pair of Long Tailed Ducks were quite far downriver. We had a few false alarms with possible Ospreys which turned out to be gulls, though eventually myself and Richard had one over Balgove Bay which put up everything including 10 Brent Geese and a pair of Pintail.
There were also plenty of Swallows and Sand Martins around throughout the afternoon. As Richard had his scope set up he was able to pick up more of the distant birds and he found a drake Goosander and what seemed to be a Slavonian Grebe, not quite yet in breeding plumage. The small scope I had with me wasn't quite up to the challenge of picking up birds at a similar distance and the photos I was able to get were inconclusive with regards the grebe but given the visible plumage, the diving action and relative size there is little else it could realistically be. A Great Spotted Woodpecker spent a few minutes on the feeders before I headed out to catch the bus just before 1700 rather tired after around 10 hours of birding.
A decent enough day out in mostly decent weather. In total I managed to see 65 species including 2 year-ticks (in bold) and somehow managed to take just short of 1000 photos, though a number of these were ID shots of distant specks above the forest (Buzzards) or out above the estuary. I also took a few hundred Osprey shots again. The particular Osprey in question was Blue YD, ringed as a chick in 2012 at Balgavies Loch in Angus, and a bird I was in the right place at the right time to see dropping back into the same nest site in 2016. The bird's radio transmitter had stopped working around Yorkshire in 2015 but had been seen a bit earlier in 2016 in Senegal, so I have passed on news of the bird's return to Scotland to the SWT via twitter.
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| Eider |
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| Herring Gull, Redshank, Lesser Black Backed Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Redshank. Dunlin & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Dunnock |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Pink Footed Goose & White Fronted Goose |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Robin |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Buzzard |
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| Osprey |
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| Cormorant, Curlew, Carrion Crow & Oystercatcher |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey & Carrion Crow |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Skylark |
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| Buzzard |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Linnet |
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| Shelduck & Brent Goose |
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| Wigeon & Shelduck |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Mute Swan & Whooper Swan |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Tree Sparrow |
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| Curlew |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Shelduck, Redshank, Knot & Dunlin |
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| Cormorant (& Redshank) |
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| Teal |
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| Grey Heron, Black Tailed Godwit, Redshank & Dunlin |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Mallard |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Shelduck |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Common Gull |
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| Swallow |
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| Brent Geese, Osprey & Oystercatcher |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Magpie |
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| Teal |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Redshank |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan,
Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Slavonian Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove,
Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, White Fronted Goose, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
