Thankfully, bad weather doesn't come along too often - or at least not to the extent that I don't get any birding done. However, as Saturday was forecast to be cold northeasterly winds and heavy rain, I decided it wasn't worthwhile venturing out. Needless to say, a bird I haven't seen before decided to show up - an Egyptian Goose, at Letham Pools in Fife. It was with a flock of Pink Footed Geese so I would have to hope that it chose to stick around into Sunday when the weather forecast was more favourable - or at least drier than Saturday, though still quite chilly.
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| Little Egret |
I wasn't convinced that the bird would still be around given the improvement in the conditions on Sunday morning, so I considered a couple of other options - Montrose Basin & the Angus coast, or seawatching at Fife Ness. Having checked the bus times it turned out that the Letham/Ladybank area looked the best bet for both travel and birds, so I headed out at about 0845 to catch the bus at 0905 to Pitlessie from where I would walk to Letham Pools and most likely back again. Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Lesser Black Backed Gull started off my list for the day with Blue Tit, Woodpigeon and Goldfinch added as I neared the bus station. An Oystercatcher flew over calling loudly from the direction of the Wellgate Centre as I boarded the bus.
The (roughly) 30 minute bus journey added just Pheasant and Blackbird to the small list but Pitlessie proved a little more productive with Jackdaws on the chimneys, House Sparrows in the gardens as well as Chaffinch in a tree and Starling on a roof. I managed to spot some distant Pink Footed Geese to the east of the village as I crossed the bridge at the north-western corner. A Brown Hare was spotted laying low in the middle of a large field and a lone Lapwing stood among the covered crops in a field with very little potential nesting/feeding areas. Opposite Skylarks were climbing into the sky singing loudly. A trio of Mute Swans flew out from the direction of The Wilderness as I neared the junction to the site and Ladybank.
Robin and Mistle Thrush were seen as I wandered along the road to peer over the wall surrounding the flooded gravel pit. Coot, Teal, Goldeneye, Gadwall, Shoveler, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Curlew and Mallard were noted and I watched a pair of Roe Deer skirt around the eastern edges of the pool. A Buzzard was seen through the trees circling a little to the east. A Shelduck pair was found and Siskin, Long Tailed Tit and Great Tit fed in a tree overhanging the wall. A drake Pintail was a nice surprise among the other ducks and I eventually managed to find a singing Chiffchaff though the views weren't great. Tufted Ducks were on the smaller pool by the gate.
I walked back along to continue on to Letham Pools but stopped to speak to a couple of Fife birders, one of which I recognised as Kris Gibb, the other was his pal Andy (I didn't get a surname). They had already checked Letham for the Egyptian Goose but hadn't seen it. They were intending on heading back to check again but were going to try some of the other sites in the area and offered me a lift, which I gratefully accepted. Not only would it save my legs but I would be able to check other areas that would have been out of reach on foot if I was to stick to my original plan. Stock Doves were seen in a field as we headed for Angle Park. A Grey Heron flew over.
At Angle Park, a Magpie fed in the pig pen and Sand Martins could be seen zipping around low over the water. Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting were noted as well as the first Black Headed Gull of the day and also Wigeon and Greylags. Our next stop was Birnie and Gaddon Lochs and as we stepped out of the car a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over. A hirundine was circling above the car park and a quick check gave me a year-tick - my first
House Martin of 2019. The camera had stayed in my bag until now but out it came to try and get some photos. We then did a circuit of Gaddon Loch which is usually the better of the two but only added 2 more species. One was another year-tick for me - a
Swallow, and the other was a Cormorant. A Chiffchaff did give us some rather nice close views by the path. One of the hybrid youngsters from the odd couple of Greylag and Barnacle Goose was also present.
Next we headed for Letham Pools but there were no geese to be seen though Common Gull was seen before we turned around and headed round to Mountcastle Quarry for a look there. Susan's car was parked at the entrance and we found her looking through a small flock of Pink Footed Geese between the gravel pits and Letham Pools but there was no Egyptian Goose among them. Susan headed off and we tried another part of the site but again drew a blank. Kris and Andy were heading for home but I decided I would scout around further then wander back towards Ladybank or Pitlessie as I hadn't used up too much energy during the morning.
I found a group of around 10 Greylags at the far end of the pools. Great Crested and Little Grebe were seen on the water before I headed round to Letham Pools. The rest of the Pink Footed Geese flock were visible from the road so I checked thoroughly just in case the Egyptian Goose had been in a dip in the field but to no avail. I had a short chat to Willie McBay who offered me a lift back to Ladybank which I declined as there was a slim chance I might find the geese flock somewhere along the route between the pools and Ladybank/Pitlessie. A Goosander was added before I set off southwards along the road.
A Coal Tit was calling in a tree by the road beyond the small burn before I reached Bow of Fife and a Mistle Thrush was perched up on the wires across the field. I managed to see a Sparrowhawk circling over the village before it dived out of sight behind trees. As things turned out my only addition to the list for the day on the walk back was Rook, though I did see a few Buzzards, some Stock Doves sharing a field with Feral Pigeons and Woodpigeon plus a few Jackdaws. I was hoping I might stumble upon a Wheatear, having done so before on this route but I was out of luck. I detoured for a quick look at The Wilderness again. A Redshank was the only 'new' species different from the morning visit. I had to hurry back to Pitlessie having slightly misjudged the time it would take to walk but managed to catch the St Andrews bus. I decided to pop into Guardbridge hide for a look.
The tide was in when I arrived and Anne Galbraith was scanning out over the estuary. The wind was blowing in the windows but Redshank, Eider and Red Breasted Merganser were found. A trio of Little Egrets were roosting across on the far bank but took flight as the water rose higher. One of the birds had quite extensive yellow colouring on the legs but checking books later at home identified it as last year's youngster rather than Snowy Egret which I knew had more yellow than Little Egret on their legs. We were joined in the hide by Susan who managed to spot a trio of Brent Geese on the edeg of the saltmarsh near a Pintail I had found earlier. A flock of Black Tailed Godwits and another of Knot dropped in to roost at the far side of the saltmarsh.
Tree Sparrows were seen at the feeders and a male Pheasant flew across the river and landed in front of the hide. A pair of Mallards visited the feeders to the left of the hide and another male Pheasant visited those to the right before Anne headed for home. Collared Dove was seen before Susan packed up and despite much searching I failed to find any sign of Osprey though the choppiness of the water and the tide state did make it unlikely that I would be successful. I headed out to catch the bus just before 1700 having chatted for a while to a father and son from Cupar who were visiting the hide for the first time, about other places to see birds locally. Nothing else was added on the way home.
I ended the day having seen 65 species including 2 year ticks (in bold). It was mildly disappointing to miss out on the Egyptian Goose (Susan had seen it on Saturday evening) but that's birding - you can't see every bird you set out to, and the House Martin and Swallow were slightly unexpected bonus birds. Thanks again to Kris and Andy for the lift and the chat, as well as Willie McBay for offering a lift later.
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| House Martin |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Greylag x Barnacle Goose hybrid |
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| Sand Martin |
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| Buzzard |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Common Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Gadwall |
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| Pheasant |
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| Buzzard |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Siskin |
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| Stock Dove, Woodpigeon & Feral Pigeon |
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| Pintail & Mallard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Pintail, Shelduck, Teal & Wigeon |
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| Little Egret |
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| Cormorant |
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| Brent Goose, Curlew, Teal, Wigeon, Oystercatcher |
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| Pheasant |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull,
House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove,
Swallow, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Mammls seen - Brow Hare, Roe Deer.
