Although a bit of sunshine is (almost) always welcome, I'm not a huge fan of higher temperatures to go with it. Carrying my birding gear around on foot over any kind of distance becomes more of a chore than something to enjoy, so when the thermometer shoots up, my birding tends to be rather limited. However, Saturday was too nice a day to stay at home all day so I decided that I would head out, though with no actual plan. I considered walking to the George Evans hide at Balgove Bay, near St Andrews for the tide receding. Another possibility was sea-watching at Fife Ness.
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| Oystercatcher |
It was shortly before noon when I headed out into the sunshine. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon were the only birds seen until I reached the bus station and caught the 1205 bus towards St Andrews. Woodpigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Starling and Swallow were seen from the bus. Black Headed Gull and Mute Swan were seen at the Motray and the water levels suggested that I would arrive too late at the George Evans Hide to make it worthwhile. I worked out that it would be almost 1400 before I made it to Fife Ness, which would give me a round 2 hours maximum sea-watching. Not ideal.
So, I got off the bus at the next stop and headed into the hide at Guardbridge where I found Willie Irvine and Harry Spence inside and another birder who was just packing up to leave. Things were as quiet as expected with similar amounts of birds visible outside as Wednesday though the tide state meant that there was no chance of anything close in front of the hide for a while. Mallards, Carrion Crows, Curlews along with a single Black Tailed Godwit and Oystercatchers made up the initial finds. Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gull and 2 Goosander were soon added. One of the local Buzzards put in an appearance and I found some sleeping Shelduck on the salt marsh near the 'goalposts'. A few Grey Herons were noted at various points downriver.
Harry spotted some distant birds on the river which turned out to the Eider creche. Before I'd arrived a Yellow Wagtail had appeared on the wall below the hide but no-one was able to get a photos before it flew off again. On Wednesday, I'd had a bird fly over the hide which had me thinking it had to be a Yellow Wagtail but I dismissed it at the time as wishful thinking. Maybe I was wrong to do so after all. An Osprey was seen distantly in flight and another 2 were seen perched, one on the poles and another on the tree trunk beyond. Blue Tits visited the feeders including youngsters.
More birds were added to the list as the afternoon progressed. Swifts over the base to the north, Great Tits, Tree Sparrows and House Sparrows at the feeders, Magpies and a Pied Wagtail flying across the river, a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls on the old papermill building, a few Wigeon downriver and some House Martins swooping around over the water and mud along with Sand Martins and Swallows. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers flew across the river and Harry pointed out a distant Cormorant that he'd spotted in the channel. This bird flew in later and appeared to be very white headed (and a possible Sinensis race bird, though photos were inconclusive). A small flock of Lapwings dropped in. A few Goldfinches called as they flew up into the trees outside. A little later a pair of Linnets flew across the river.
A trio of Jackdaws calling noisily flew over the hide. A pair of Canada Geese arrived unseen down by the bend in the river. A Chaffinch showed at the feeders. A pair of Collared Doves briefly landed on the fence posts opposite the hide beore flying off again. The rest of the afternoon provided rather limited photo opportunities, mostly Grey Herons and Oystercatchers, and we were joined by Neil Redpath and Angus Duncan who had been down to Kilminning for the latter part of the afternoon. I added a few Blackbirds on the grass outside as I headed for the bus just before 1700. A singing Dunnock round the corner from home gave me one last species for the day, taking the total to just 42, 2 less than Wednesday.
Some more practice with the 200-500mm lens and decent photos once again meant that it wasn't a wasted journey and it was a fairly relaxed afternoon's birding despite the variety of birds around. There are signs that the waders are beginning to move through again as July approaches, so hopefully things will soon start to pick up pace again and new birds will be added to the year-list which is still 7 ahead of the same point last year with a few almost definites still to get.
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| Oystercatcher, Curlew & Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Goosander & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Eider |
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| Osprey |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Wigeon |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Magpie |
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| Magpie |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Canada Goose & Mute Swan |
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| Canada Goose & Mute Swan |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Starling |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Mallard |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Magpie |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Carrion Crow & Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Lapwing |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Black Headed Gull |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
