With no plans in place for the weekend, Jacqui's offer on Friday morning of heading somewhere on Saturday was rather welcome. Scone Palace was chosen for the possibilities of Hawfinch and Nuthatch. Unfortunately, Jacqui had to cancel when her dog became unwell on Friday evening. With time off work coming up quite soon I decided not to head for Scone Palace. Instead I decided that I would try for the Snow Bunting(s) at Out Head, St Andrews. The likeliest flaw to this plan however was the amount of walkers on the beach at the weekend. I had intended on an early start to get around this but slept a bit too long.
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| Rook |
I headed out at around 1030. Herring Gull and Feral Pigeon unsurprisingly started off the list for the day with a Magpie next and a Carrion Crow on Dens Road. Near the bus station I heard Long Tailed Tits and stopped to try to see them. I was successful and thankfully still made it in time to catch the bus. Black Headed Gull, Jackdaw, Rook, Woodpigeon and Blackbird were all seen in Leuchars village with a single Grey Partridge spotted in the field east of the road and opposite the railway station. A drake Teal was seen as we crossed the Motray and a large flock of Lapwings flew upriver as we crossed the Eden at the southern end of Guardbridge. A couple of Oystercatchers were in a field at the farm and a Curlew was added a few fields further on.
As I was about to get off the bus in St Andrews I spotted a Kestrel hovering over the edge of the golf course. I headed for the roof of the golf museum to scan out over the bay. Fulmars were active on the cliffs and a Pied Wagtail landed down on the beach. There weren't too many birds out in the bay though the majority of these not unexpectedly were Common Scoters. I soon managed to find the 2 Surf Scoter drakes and as they appeared to be the closest birds to the largest rocks I headed down for a closer look. When I got to the largest rocks I couldn't find the birds which was a bit frustrating. Eider and Long Tailed Duck were added as was a Rock Pipit. Turnstone and Great Black Backed Gull were noted before I again managed to find the Surf Scoters with a small group of Common Scoters.
I managed to get some relatively decent photos and a lengthy video clip. Behind me a small group of students were jumping off the cliffs by the restaurant into the water and their shouts can be heard on the video.
https://youtu.be/-JRbqypmO_U (At 1:04 in the video you can see that one of the Surf Scoters is displaying to a female Common Scoter). After about 30 minutes I decided to continue out to Out Head. A flock of Starlings were seen on the long walk out and at the 2 fenced paddocks where the sheep are I could hear a Skylark singing. It sounded close by and I realised that it was just a few feet the other side of the fence. I was able to get some nice photos before moving on again.
A pair of Stonechats were seen as well as another few Skylarks before I detoured down towards the beach. A male Reed Bunting flew up from in the dunes as I passed through. Not unexpectedly there was no sign of the Snow Bunting on the beach. Heading round the tip of the dunes I spotted a drake Red Breasted Merganser offshore. A single Linnet flew up ahead of me. I sat on the edge of the dunes to see what else I could find. A small flock of Linnets appeared and I found a couple of Ringed Plovers roosting down by the water. A Cormorant fished just offshore. Further out a pair of drake Long Tailed Ducks were seen. I spent a bit of time photographing the Linnets but every time they approached relatively close a dog walker or their dog would flush the flock again and I'd have to wait and see if they came back.
A drake Goldeneye was seen out on the river an hour or so later. Pied Wagtails and a Rock Pipit were noted along the strand line when I went for another look round towards the West Sands. With the tide on its way back out a small flock of Sanderling began feeding on the freshly exposed section of beach. Needless to say, within a minute a dog had flushed this flock again. A Buzzard was seen over Reres Wood and a little later a pair of Ravens. A trio of Common Gulls flew upriver. A flock of Knot along with a single Grey Plover were flushed by walkers on the north side of the bay and flew into Balgove Bay. A flock of Teal also flew past westwards upriver.
As I was heading back towards St Andrews I stopped to chat with a young Countryside Ranger and while we chatted I spotted a Shelduck heading north across the mouth of the river. Skylark and Stonechat were seen on the walk back before I encountered a very relaxed Rook perched on a fence near the coach parking area. I was able to stand just a couple of feet directly in front of it and take photos without it bothering in the slightest. After taking a few I left it in peace and moved on.
I then ended up helping a guy take some photos showing off his pal's clothing brand (he was trying to take them with a remote and asked if I could spare a couple of minutes to help him out) and he was quite pleased with the results before the battery died on his camera. There were many more birds out in the bay but they appeared to be Common Scoters with no obvious signs of anything else including the Surf Scoters. I debated catching a bus to Guardbridge but with the time now around 1530 there was little point as I would only have around 10 minutes before closing time by the time I managed to get there. Instead I decided to call it a day and headed for home.
Not the most successful outing with no sign of the Snow Bunting or even a White Tailed Eagle in the estuary. The photos of the Rook, Skylark and Surf Scoters were some consolation however. Only 41 species seen though given just how busy the beach was that wasn't all that bad a total.
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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Surf Scoter
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| Surf Scoter |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Stonechat |
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| Linnet |
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| Knot |
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| Knot & Grey Plover |
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| Linnet |
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| Teal, Oystercatcher, Curlew & ? |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Common Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Raven |
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| Linnet |
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| Long Tailed Duck |
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| Linnet |
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| Sanderling |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Skylark |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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| Rook |
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| Rook |
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| Rook |
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| Rook |
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| Rook |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Common Scoter |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Fulmar, Goldeneye, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Partridge, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Breasted Merganser, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stonechat, Surf Scoter, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
