It was another late start to my midweek birding this Wednesday, owing to ongoing dental treatment, which meant a choice between trying to catch a bus to Crail (via St Andrews) or a bus to Montrose with sea-watching the main interest. I was hoping that I might manage to add a Skua species (or 2) to my year-list. In the end, I decided to head for St Andrews and onto Crail. This gave me a better chance at maybe adding a migrant or two than Ferryden and Montrose Basin did.
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| Corn Bunting |
I headed out at 1100 for a quick walk to hopefully catch the 1115 bus to St Andrews. A few Herring Gulls glided overhead. A Starling flew over Dens Road carrying food for youngsters somewhere and a Woodpigeon was perched atop a lamp post. Feral Pigeon was seen near the bus station. From the bus to Fife I managed to add Swallows over the roadside fields near Drumoig, a Skylark hovering above a field near St Michaels, Rooks and House Martins at St Michaels then Jackdaw, Collared Dove and House Sparrow in Leuchars. A trio of Mute Swans were seen on the Eden to the south of Guardbridge.
I made the connection with time to spare and the bus to Crail was running a few minutes late anyway. As I sat at the bus station the sound of an agitated Swallow made me look up. The Swallow in question was harassing a raptor. It was a small-ish, slim falcon but clearly not a Kestrel, with the wings longer and more swept back and a thin closed tail. Unfortunately, my camera was in my bag and the bird was already passing in front of me when I looked up. Within 5 seconds the bird was disappearing to the south over the town. A possible Hobby but I can't be 100% certain so I'm not going to count it. A Grey Heron flew over to the west of the bus station a minute or so later.
Heading out of St Andrews on the bus added Swifts to the day's list and then a small flock of mostly Stock Doves (and a few Woodpigeons) were seen near the Fairmount golf course. A field full of Carrion Crows, Rooks, Jackdaws and Herring Gulls also had a couple of Lesser Black Backed Gulls in the throng. A Chaffinch flew across the road near Cambo. A Yellowhammer flew along beside the bus as we neared Crail. Walking along to Denburn Wood Blue Tit and Blackbird were seen around the houses. The Rooks in the rookery at the wood were still making a lot of noise as was a "singing" Stock Dove. Despite taking my time through the wood, Blue Tit was the main bird seen.
I headed out along the road to Kilminning, stopping to photograph a singing Corn Bunting near the WW2 pillbox by the edge of the 1st field. Another flew off from the fence ahead of me. Scanning south over the fields, I managed to add a Gannet following the coast eastwards. A Meadow Pipit flew past me to perch on another fence. At the top end of Kilminning, I took my time to check as many bushes and trees as possible for movement. Goldfinches and a Coal Tit were seen before I spied a bird in the small patch of Rowans. Raising the binoculars to check the bird 6 feet above me, I was rather pleased to see a
Spotted Flycatcher looking back at me. As I raised the camera for a photo te bird dropped down from its perch and retreated back into the small copse where I was unable to re-find it.
A pair of Linnets flew past as I checked. A Magpie was perched in a tree near the airfield fence. A singing Chiffchaff was looked for and found flitting around in a large tree. A singing Willow Warbler proved to be a lot easier as it sang from the very top of another tree. A singing Dunnock was added as I walked down to the bottom end of Kilminning. I detoured along the side of the Oilseed Rape field to the south of the go-kart track where I managed to find a pair of Pheasants and another singing Corn Bunting. A Pied Wagtail flew past from the karting track and an Oystercatcher flew low over the yellow flower filled field.
Things were raher quiet around the bottom end with a few Magpies and a few Whitethroats seemingly the only activity. A Whitethroat did a passable impression of a Lesser as it picked around among the leaves, but the rufous wing panel ruled out the hoped for smaller bird. I stopped at the bench overlooking the track down to the coastal path to see what the sea-watching possibilities were. This added a few more species to the list with a Great Black Backed Gull passing, Eiders on the water, passing Shags, Sandwich Terns, Guillemots, Razorbills, a trio of Common Scoters and a Fulmar. This helped make my mind up to pop down to the sea-watching hide. Rather than taking the coastal path I decided to head back up to the golf course road and to head down across the course to Fife Ness.
A singing Song Thrush was seen by the metal shed as was another Dunnock and a Whitethroat. Having crossed the golf course safely I found a singing Sedge Warbler in the Bramble patch near the pink cottage. I chose to sit out on the rocks for my sea-watching and added Kittiwake, Cormorant, Common Gull, Arctic and Common Terns as well as a few Puffins passing with Auk flocks. There were also plenty of Gannets streaming by, mostly in small groups. A seal offshore turned out to be a Common Seal rather than the expected Grey. I moved into the hide after 20 minutes or so on the rocks and as I was getting ready to pack up I spotted a few small groups of Bottlenose Dolphins quite distantly out to the northeast. I managed to get a few photos before heading outside again to try and get some more before heading back to Crail for the bus home.
I showed a couple of passing walkers the Dolphins, much to their delight. A Green Veined hite butterfly fluttered past. A Reed Bunting male was seen near Stinky Pool. I had a longer than ideal wait to cross the golf course which meant I would have to hurriedly walk back along the road at a quicker pace than I wanted to. A pair of Grey Partridges were seen at the edge of the driving range and another flew across the road into the crop field as I walked back towards Kilminning. There was nothing else added on the way back to Crail and I made it in time for the bus.
Rather than look through my photos on the way back I decided to see if I could add anything new to boost the list a little further. A Sparrowhawk circled up over a field near Boarhills and a pair of Buzzards were seen over the trees to the east of the Fairmount golf course driveway. Despite plenty of effort there were no further additions before I made it home around 1830.
A slightly unspectacular spot of sea-watching with no Skuas seen (2 Bonxies were off Easthaven for a few hours apparently) but the Spotted Flycatcher made it a good afternoon's birding. 56 species seen including the year-tick (in bold), as well as 2 marine mammal species and a single butterfly species.
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Swallow |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Dunnock |
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| Magpie |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Skylark |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Guillemot & Razorbill |
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| Early Purple Orchid |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Gannet |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Seal |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Fulmar |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Shag |
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| Common Gull |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Cormorant |
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| Bottlenose Dolphins |
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| Bottlenose Dolphins |
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| Puffin, Guillemot & Razorbill |
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| Bottlenose Dolphins |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Grey Partridge |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Seal.
Butterfly - Green Veined White.
