Ian messaged me during the week to see if I fancied a trip west to try and see the Chough on the Ayrshire coast at Turnberry golf course on Sunday. Naturally, I said yes, as Chough would be a lifer for me if we were successful. The downside with Sunday is the almost complete lack of public transport before 0830 as I needed to meet Ian in Perth as early as possible to maximise our time looking for the bird and potentially squeezing in other opportunities while through in that part of the world. A train to Perth at 0845 would get me in at 0905. A bus could get me there around 0857 but would require a much earlier start for a gain of only a few minutes, so the train it was.
Chough
The weather for Sunday was looking rather 'iffy' as the week progressed and a text message received at 0130 in the morning woke me up and I struggled to get a meaningful amount of sleep afterwards. I then as I was about to leave found the screw was missing from the leg of my glasses (which were an older back-up pair owing to my new ones breaking when I was cleaning them last weekend). Things were not going well. I was a bit later than intended when I got out which resulted in a few short bouts of running to ensure I reached the station in time. Bird-wise I managed to see Herring Gull, Starling, Carrion Crow, 2 Magpies, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow and Blue Tit on the way.
There wasn't a huge amount added from the train despite managing to get a seat on the 'right' side of the train - Redshanks in Invergowrie Bay, a small flock of Pink Footed Geese in a field near Longforgan, a group of Black Headed Gulls not too far downriver from the Friarton Brdge, a Shelduck and a few Mute Swans at the fishery by the bridge and a pair of Mallards at the island on the Tay as the train crossed the river. The car park at the station was open despite planned resurfacing work, which appeared to have been finished earlier than planned and I met Ian and off we went towards Glasgow and the west.
A few Jackdaws and a Roe Deer were seen near Dunning with a hovering Kestrel seen half an hour later further on. Rooks in a field near Ayr were the final addition before we reached our destination. Herring Gulls, Carrion Crows, Magpies and Woodpigeons had also been seen along the way but overall it was a very quiet journey bird-wise. Things picked up as we left the car to head across the golf course with a Chaffinch seen in a gorse bush by the road, a small group of Curlews landing in the field to the north and a flyover Stock Dove. A Song Thrush was seen on the golf course while a male Pheasant strutted around near the end of the old airfield runway.
We managed to cross the golf course without interrupting any golfers. We had a very rough map supplied via twitter from a local Ayrshire birder which we hoped would make things a lot easier and we headed for the area indicated on it. Things were pretty quiet along the seaward edge of the course which meant a spot of scanning along the coast and out over the water. It was still rather windy but bearable. A Skylark flew up singing from behind us. Offshore we found a few Red Throated Divers, Gannets, Cormoarnst, Shags, Red Breasted Merganser and a Common Guillemot, rather than the hoped for Black Guillemot. On the rocks we managed to find a few Ringed Plovers. Mallards were on the sea towards Maidens.
We seemed to be the only birders out looking for the Chough and we moved slowly along the edge of the golf course heading northwards. A small flock of gulls flew past and I picked up a Mediterranean Gull among them. I alerted Ian to the bird then took a few photos - when I checked the photo on the back of the camera it seemed to show a Common Gull. I must have been mistaken. What I didn't notice at the time was the Mediterranean Gull wasn't the main bird in the photo, and that it was actually there after all. Something I only found out when I was editing the photos for this blog-post, having focussed on other photos on Sunday.
As we hunted for the Chough, Turnstone, Rock Pipit, Reed Bunting, Oystercatcher, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull and Great Black Backed Gull were all seen. A false alarm was caused by a Carrion Crow suddenly flying up from the shore ahead of us. We eventually, after about an hour, saw a couple of people coming along the golf course together from the north - one obviously a birder, the other with a couple of small dogs in tow. We stopped to talk and found that I'd met the birder, Steve Bowie from Airdrie (and a Fife Bird Club member) before when Jacqui and I were looking for the Hooded Merganser at Lochwinnoch a few years ago. His son was walking his dogs while they looked for the Chough.
As they'd had no luck to the north we decided to try a bit further to the south and set off along the edge of the fairway. We hadn't gone too far when a corvid suddenly rose up from a small gulley below us. Binoculars were raised quickly and we got onto the bird which flew off across the fairway before dropping into the rough on the far side. The red bill was obvious and we had ourselves a rather nice Chough. Video and photos were taken. Another photographer was wandering along the fairway seemingly oblivious to the bird. I poiinted frantically towards it as he was much closer to it but he didn't seem particularly interested, which seemed odd.
The bird flew back down to the shore after a few minutes though again it was out of sight, having disappeared behind an outcrop wher Ian and I had sat and scanned from earlier. We proceeded cautiously back towards where we'd originally flushed the bird from but there was no sign. As Steve and I stopped however, the bird again flew up from below us and off to the north where it landed on another outcrop. We had good views before I suggested that as it appeared the bird wanted to come back to where it had been, if we hid out of sight, it might return thinking that we had gone and we would get even better views. We hid behind a small cliff face and sure enough back came the bird. By peering over a small rise I could just see the bird and managed to get a few photos before the bird realised that we were still there and flew back to where it had been a minute or so before.
Steve and his son and the other photographer (who wasn't a birder and who hadn't realised he had been looking at the Chough earlier as he couldn't see the red legs he'd been told to look out for) headed off and Ian and I watched the bird feeding down on the pebbled shore, as it moved stones out of its way forcibly using its beak. More video was taken before we decided to move on again. On our way in I'd noticed some pools that looked worth checking for Snipe and possibly Jack Snipe too, so I suggested we have a look at them out on our way back across the course.
A pair of Teal flushed as we neared the pools and a male Pheasant did likewise before the first Snipe took to the air. More birds took flight as we explored - all Snipe. Ian spotted a Moorhen before another few Snipe took off. The final bird was our hoped for year-tick, a Jack Snipe, which flew off in a more Snipe-like manner. Donald Trump's golf course had come up trumps again. We discussed options for where to try next then drove the short distance to check out Maidens harbour. There were plenty of waders - Dunlin mostly but also Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher as well as a few Goldeneye and Eider.
We headed up the coast towards Irvine, adding a trio of Buzzards to the list on the way. We were hoping to check out the former Bogside horse racing course for Hen Harrier and Short Eared Owl. We found what we thought was the way in but the golf course and a potentially lengthy walk stood in front of us. We decided to instead continue on to Ardrossan harbour to look for Black Guillemot as it was now around 1500 and Ian was hoping to be home for before 1800. Ardrossan proved disappointing as did Saltcoats though we did at least manage to add Feral Pigeon, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Pied Wagtail and a flock of Purple Sandpipers to the list for the day.
We headed for home via Glasgow. Our only addition on the way back through the city was a flyover Grey Heron, seconds after the species had come up in conversation. We arrived back in Perth around 1700 and with a 40 minute wait for the next train I decided to do a spot of birding by the river to kill some time and hopefully add a few species to the list for the day. Ian dropped me off near the North Inch and he headed back to Blairgowrie. I found a few Long Tailed Tits near the Black Watch memorial. A Wren was heard buit didn't show. Jackdaws and Blackbirds were noted while Black Headed Gulls drifted to roost overhead.
A Grey Heron was roosting on an island and as I scanned along the shore I found a few Mallards. A Dipper was heard calling loudly but with few places for it to land I struggled to find it. I eventually found it below one of the arches of the Queen's Bridge. A small flock of Goldfinches flew over. A female Goosander fished across the far side of the river as I neared the railway bridge and a splash closer to where I was stood turned out to be drake Goosander landing. Nothing else was added as I headed back to the railway station in time to catch the train back to Dundee, or from the train and bus home as the light faded.
Despite only picking up 2 target birds - a lifer and a year-tick (both in bold), among the 52 species seen, it had definitely been a worthwhile trip west. The views of the Chough as it flew, fed and called were very welcome and the Jack Snipe was a really handy bonus bird to get. The other possibilities which we missed out on will all still be potentially 'gettable' later in the year too.
Curlew
Mediterranean Gull
Mediterranean Gull & Common Gull
Gannet
Turnstone & Ringed Plover
Common Gull
Rock Pipit
Shag
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Gannet
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Chough
Snipe
Snipe
Jack Snipe
Jack Snipe
Jack Snipe
Eider
Species seen - Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chough, Common Gull, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jack Snipe, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon.
