Having not added anything to the year-list since the King Eider on 13/6 and with Paul on holiday I had to decide what would give me the best option of adding something new. The choice fell between Montrose Basin and Ferryden or Fife Ness. With less walking necessary and a slightly better sea-watching situation I settled for the latter for my Wednesday outing this week. The weather was to start overcast with a chance of rain but brightening up by afternoon. Winds would once again be light and it would be rather warm.
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| Bank Vole & Blue Tit |
I headed out at 0750 to catch the bus to St Andrews at 0810. It was a relatively productive walk into town with a total of 7 species seen on the walk. Herring Gull, Swift and Woodpigeon were first, almost immediately followed by Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow. A Collared Dove fed on the ground on Dens Road and a Blue Tit was seen near the bus station. Lesser Black Backed Gull was spotted at the bus station perched on the nearby roofs. The bus journey to St Andrews also proved quite productive. A Blackbird flew across the road near the Olympia, and a Starling did likewise at the Fife end of the bridge. A Buzzard was seen near Drumoig, Sand Martins at St Michaels golf course and House Martin, House Sparrow and Jackdaw were noted in Leuchars. Mute Swans were on the Eden at Guardbridge and Oystercatchers were on the playing fields as the bus entered St Andrews.
Things were slightly quieter between St Andrews and Crail though I still managed a few more additions. A male Pheasant was in fields near Boarhills and Swallows flew low over the village. A Curlew flew over as the bus approached the bridge over the Kenly Water just after Boarhills. Unusually a Grey Heron was stood in the burn by the bridge, the first time I've seen one here. The small roadside farm pond by the entrance to Kingsbarns golf course had Moorhens wandering round the edges of the rather muddy and much diminished pool.
Arriving in Crail I soon added a Greenfinch perched in the dead tree by Denburn Wood in the corner of the graveyard. A juvenile Robin was seen halfway through the wood but the thick foliage made it difficult to see much else. A Pied Wagtail wandered around on the grass by the new flats and a juvenile Greenfinch shared a tree with a Goldfinch in a garden on the outskirts of the village. Small White butterflies flitted along the edge of the fields as I walked out towards Kilminning. Just when I thought I would draw a blank on Corn Bunting by the pillbox I heard a short burst of song and there was the resident singing bird perched on a fence post. A Meadow Brown butterfly flew up from the path and a Skylark ascended from among the cereal in the field.
A Reed Bunting sang from the Oilseed Rape field opposite and a Meadow Pipit flew past. Rooks and Lapwings shared the next field with the cattle, though I almost missed the waders as they were half-hidden among the grass towards the top of the field. Another Meadow Pipit gave a spot of song-flight before dropping back into the grass. I found a number of what I suspect were Grey Partridge feathers, possibly a young bird which didn't make it across the road, though there was no sign of any carcase, though the feathers were strung out along a length of the fenceline. A Kestrel was perched on an aerial on one of the buildings at the edge of the airfield, and it was briefly joined by a Blue Tit.
I stopped briefly at Kilminning where I managed to add a Whitethroat, a Magpie, a Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Yellowhammer and Wren as well as a soaring Great Black Backed Gull depsite it being rather quiet. A Rabbit was seen as I wandered back out to the road. I decided to check Balcomie beach for waders rather than head directly to Fife Ness. There were a few Oystercatchers on the beach but not much else apart from a few Black Headed and Common Gulls. A Grey Heron waded in the shallows and a few Eider were seen further out. A Redshank flew in and landed on the rocks, while a quick check offshore added Shag, Cormorant and Gannets. A small flock of Linnets were seen at Stinky Pool as well as a few House Martins still collecting mud for nest building. It then began to rain, but it had stopped by the time I reached the hide a couple of minutes later.
Out front on the rocks were a small group of Turnstones as well as a few Redshanks and an Oystercatcher or two. Things were slow offshore with steady movemnt, mostly Gannets and Puffins. A few Sandwich Terns passed by and a single Kittiwake was spotted quite far out. A Goosander youngster was spotted down among the rocks, probably the same bird seen last week. Guillemot and Razorbill were added together as a small group of 3 auks passed northwards. A Grey Seal swam by and a few Ringed Plover were spotted picking around on the seaweed covered rocks being uncovered by the receding tide.
A small group of 6 Common Terns was a slight surprise. A Fulmar glided very low across the water. Minutes later a bird heading the other way proved to be a Manx Shearwater. It was still very quiet and I contemplated heading back to Crail and catching the bus back to St Andrews and onto Guardbridge. I decided to give it another hour. A fmaily group of 4 Shelduck drifted by just offshore. A Bar Tailed Godwit was a surprise, flying up from the rocks before departing southwards. Just 15 minutes later it was followed by a flock of a dozen Black Tailed Godwits. It was still proving to be rather steady but slow, and around 1300 I had to decide whether to head for the bus or stay another hour. Once again, I did the latter.
I saw a couple with a scope appear to the left of the hide and as the sun was starting to come out I headed out. It turned out to be Rob Armstrong and his wife, Sue, so I sat with them and scanned as we all chatted. A pair of Common Scoters headed north. Rob and Sue continued their walk and I moved forward to the more raised position up on the rock 'ridge'. Another birder had taken up position by the pillbox with a scope and when I picked up a second Manx Shearwater going north I shouted to him to alert him but he failed to get on it. I joined him for a chat before deciding to finally head back to Crail just after 1400.
A few Common Blue butterflies were seen along the stretch of track past the static caravans and a queen ant was a surprise on the road at the entrance to Balcomie. Nothing else was added on the walk back to Crail, or from the bus back to St Andrews. However, on my way to Guardbridge when the bus stopped by the playing fields behind the Old Course Hotel a Sparrowhawk female flew over the hedge and across the road and into the trees to the left of the bus. A nice surprise. Until this point my list for the day stood at 62 species and I was trying to work out what I might hope to add at Guardbridge to take me to a nice round 70 species.
There was already a birder in the hide, a gentleman I'd met before who comes from North Queensferry but who visits Kinghorn Loch frequently. We chatted as I scanned around for anything new I could find but even the hoped for Osprey and Tree Sparrow (the 2 easy species) were proving to be elusive. Eventually I spotted a Coal Tit on the feeders. A few minutes later another glance round found a Bank Vole on the same peanut feeder. When I tried to quietly open the window it scarpered back into the tree. Patience paid off and it soon reappeared allowing me to get some photos of it, including one where it shared the feeder with a young Blue Tit.
More scanning produced a pair of sleeping Teal and a 'flagged' Redshank (only noticed from photo later). Minutes later I found the Canada Geese pair near the bend in the river. It was still rather standard fayre round about though I did find some sleeping Mallard round on the pipe past the bend, along with Goosander. A female Chaffinch dropped into the feeder, but still no Tree Sparrow. No sign of any ospreys at any of the usual perches. I was now on 68 for the day and we were joined in the hide by another birder. Peering past him to check the feeders to the north I glimpsed a probable Great Tit and he was able to confirm that it was indeed a Great Tit. Number 69.
As the time edged towards the centre's closing time of 1700 I was beginning to think that maybe I would stall at that number when I heard the call of a Common Sandpiper and picked up a pair low over the river. They soon flew over to our side of the river with 1 landing in front of the hide briefly. I had succeeded in reaching my target. With still 15 minutes to go, I continued to search and managed to add a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker on the north side feeders and eventually spotted a very distant Osprey circling over Balgove Bay which proceeded to hover and confirm that despite the distance and heat haze it was indeed an Osprey. I stayed after the usual closing time before leaving at 1710 to catch the bus back to Dundee and home.
Nothing new for the year but a nice mixture of species regardless with a final total of 73 species (The Common Scoter were only ID'd from photos at home - having been put down as Eider from a glimpse at the LCD screen on the camera earlier) which isn't too bad for mid-July. Heat haze at Fife Ness put paid to most of the seabird and wader photos but overall a good day.
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| Greenfinch |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Kestrel & Blue Tit |
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| Buzzard |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Wren |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Common Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Linnet |
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| House Martin |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Goosander |
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| Redshank |
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| Shag |
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| Common Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Shelduck |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Swallow |
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| Curlew & Ringed Plover |
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| Linnet |
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| Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Black Tailed Godwit |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Gannet |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Queen Ant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Lapwing |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Bank Vole |
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| Bank Vole |
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| Bank Vole |
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| Teal & Redshank |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Mallard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail. Puffin, Razorbill, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Turnstone, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Small White.
Mammals seen - Bank Vole, Grey Seal, Rabbit.
