I had taken a few days holiday this week but the weather decided not to cooperate. Monday however looked like being the best day of the Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday mini-break and I did consider getting up early and heading to Kinnordy to try for Bittern and maybe photos of Bearded Tits but once again I rolled over and went back to sleep. By the time I did get up there was little point in attempting to get to Kinnordy as it takes just over an hour on the bus followed by roughly 25 minutes walk to get there meaning it would be at least noon before I sat down in a hide, so I needed an alternative plan.
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| Crossbill |
I chose to head for Leuchars and to walk back round the coast to Tayport. There wasn't a huge expectation of seeing anything new for my year-list but I would look for Snow Buntings and Shorelarks on the way and by the time I reached the Tay the high tide would be bringing waders in closer so a decent mix of species was likely. The weather forecast looked reasonable but there was a chance of showers. Thankfully the forest does provide a degree of shelter if required. I headed out at 1040 noting Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Herring Gull while waiting for a bus and then adding Blue Tit near the bus station.
From the bus to Leuchars I was able to add Cormorant, Starling, Woodpigeon, Rook and Pheasant. A Buzzard was seen just outside Leuchars. A couple of Black Headed Gulls perched atop a lamp-post near the bus stop while a Collared Dove and a few House Sparrows were in the trees and bushes nearby. A flock of Lapwings flew over as I passed the church and a few Redwings flew into trees off Earlshall Road. A small flock of Goldfinches along with a Lesser Redpoll were in a tree and a Chaffinch was seen as I left the last few houses behind. A Jay flew up from the grass at Earlshall Castle. Blackbirds, a Great Tit and a Wren were seen near the farm and a small skein of Pink Footed Geese could be seen to the north.
I added Coal Tit a little further on and another Lesser Redpoll flew over. I had very distant but brief views of a hunting Short Eared Owl before my view was blocked by some trees. I debated cutting up through the forest to the access road but having not taken the Reres Wood route recently I chose that way instead. A few Long Tailed Tits were in the small copse of trees on the right hand side of the path. The walk through the wood proved to be very quiet with no birds at all seen. As I walked along the small muddy track between the base and the south side of the wood I heard Crossbills and managed to see at least half a dozen of the birds at the top of some conifers. A couple of males showed quite well and I even managed some wobbly hand-held video.
Continuing on to the end of the trees I scanned out across the river mouth finding a Slavonian Grebe and a Long Tailed Duck. A few Grey Seals were hauled out on the shore opposite. A few Oystercatchers were near the Seals. The walk north past the Goosepools was also fairly fruitless with a pair of Stonechats and a couple of Roe Deer all I managed to see. The sea was quite rough and I wasn't able to see any Scoters offshore among the waves. I had to take shelter from a short rain shower but got slightly wet from another as I headed north through the car park at Kinshaldy.
I stayed in below the trees until the rain stopped and then decided I probably had enough time to try for Snow Buntings before the next shower on the horizon arrived. I was lucky enough to find the end of the flooded area by chance and headed into the dunes. A small flock of Linnets were all I found and there was no sign of anything resembling a Snow Bunting. At the 'Lagoons' I added a couple of Common Gulls, a few Red Breasted Mergansers, a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls, a Greenshank and a Curlew. As I reached the end of the dunes I spotted the high tide roosting waders flying low over the sea and watched them land further north along the beach.
Scanning through them I found a mixture of mostly Knot, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Sanderling and a Bar tailed Godwit as well as a few Oystercatchers. The biggest surprise however was a totally unexpected fresh looking full breeding plumaged Grey Plover about 6 months out of sync. Unfortunately it was just too far away to get a really good photo of it. I had a brief attempt at crossing the narrowest part of the pool by edging along the fence but I doubled back after only one fence span length. The rain started again and I hurried back along the edge of the pools spooking a Skylark, a pair of Linnets and once across again, a Meadow Pipit.
I headed back into the forest for shelter and continued on for what seemed like an age only to find I was only at the fenceline I had contemplated crossing. By now the light was beginning to go. Although I wasn't expecting anything much in the trees where I sometimes see Green Woodpeckers I did decide to check them out when I saw a Buzzard being harassed by a couple of Carrion Crows. A pair of Buzzards were seen near this small stand of trees. As I worked my way along the length I saw 2 birds fly past me along the far side of the trees. One landed up in a bare tree, and I was fairly sure it was a Mistle Thrush before I raised the binoculars to confirm that it was. The other bird seemed larger and hadn't landed in the open. I suspected it was a Green Woodpecker and it had landed on the tree trunk. A quick check and sure enough it was.
A pair of Mistle Thrushes were on the small wind turbine stand and another pair of Buzzards hung in the air at the edge of the forest. The tide was further in than expected and the dimming light meant that other than a Shag on the water and the Eider flock things were quiet on the long walk back to Tayport. Nearing the town I added a few Mallard by the water's edge and a larger number of Wigeon near the burn mouth though it was only the white patch near their rear ends in the gloom that made them identifiable, though I did get a few confirmatory whistles as I hurried towards the bus stop.
Despite having seen some decent birds - Green Woodpecker, Crossbills and Short eared Owl in particular, it felt mildly disappointing with a lower than usual total and a few 'misses' that I would have usually expected to see (Scoters to name 2 or 3). It was still a good walk and a reasonable mixture amongs the 52 species of bird seen, and the 2 of mammals.
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| Goldfinch & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
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| Slavonian Grebe |
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| Slavonian Grebe |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Linnet |
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| Knot, Grey Plover & Bar Tailed Godwit |
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| Grey Plover, Knot, Sanderling & Dunlin |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Curlew & Greenshank |
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| Curlew |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Dunlin, Grey Plover & Knot |
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Green Woodpecker |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Mistle Thrush |
Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sanderling, Shag, Short Eared Owl, Skylark, Slavonian Grebe, Starling, Stonechat, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal, Roe Deer.
