With waders already on the move, along with Terns, I decided that I should probably try to find something passing through. I considered a trip to The Wilderness and Letham Pools but I stayed in my bed a little bit too long. I decided in the end to head for the Balgove Bay George Evans hide on the Eden Estuary, near St Andrews. I would wait for the tide to come in around mid-afternoon, hopefully bringing the birds in close and again hopefully bringing a nice mixture of waders with it.
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| Stock Dove |
I headed out at around 1140. Swift, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Lesser Black Backed Gull were noted before I caught the bus into town. A pair of Carrion Crows flew over the bus station as I sat on the bus. I was able to add a few more species on the way to St Andrews. Cormorant, Starling, Jackdaw, House Martin, Swallow, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail and Rook were noted before I got off the bus to walk across the golf course. It was rather warm meaning a slow walk. There also appeared to be a golf tournament of sorts on meaning a rather stop/start walk.
Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Sand Martin, Willow Warbler and Linnet were seen along with a mixture of butterflies (Small White, Meadow Brown, Small Copper and Painted Lady) and Shaded Broad Bar moth before I reached the hide around 1300. The tide was still well out though there was a number of birds along the channel off to the left where the water flows out from the fields. These were mostly Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and Common Gulls along with Lapwings, Shelduck and Mallards. A few Oystercatchers and Curlews were found as I scanned around. A Green Veined White and a Small Tortoiseshell flitted around along with a few more Painted Ladys out in front.
I managed to find a very distant Osprey and a female Teal was half-hidden among the Mallards. Out in the estuary were a large number of Grey Seals sharing a shrinking sand-bar with Cormorants and a Great Black Backed Gull. A pair of Stock Doves landed in front of the hide but didn't linger long. Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon also gave close views. Oystercatcher, Jackdaws (adults and youngsters), Rooks, Carrion Crow and Pied Wagtail also showed quite well. A Grey Heron was found out at the water's edge. A pair of Dunlin and a trio of Redshanks upped the wader count slightly. As the tide pushed birds in closer I was able to add distant Eider to the list.
A Buzzard soaring over Reres Wood was picked up and the calling of Sandwich Terns alerted me to the presence of a number of the birds as they fished out over the river. The tide had covered all the mud by around 1515 and the hoped for wader influx turned out to be a non-starter. By way of consolation, I did find a pair of Little Gulls as they circled above the water and a further surprise were a few Gannets hunting off to the left near the western end of the bay, over by the base. A few Common Terns showed near the hide before I packed up around 1650 to walk back to catch the bus home. A Skylark flushed from by the path and a Yellow Shell moth flitted around before landing in the Gorse. Rooks, adult and juvenile Pied Wagtail, Swallows and a pair of Linnets were spotted along with a few more butterflies. A Blackbird was seen near the bus stop. Nothing else was added on the way home.
A rather disappointing afternoon's birding with just 40 species seen though I did mostly manage some much needed peace and quiet - except for the female dog walker who was all set to let her dog run off over the mud in front of the hide until I pointed out that the purpose of the hide was to avoid disturbance to the birds on the estuary. She wandered off muttering to her dog that it "could've been running about out there".
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| Shaded Broad Bar |
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| Small Copper |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Lapwing & Teal |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Lapwing |
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| Herring Gull, Oystercatcher, Black Headed Gull & Dunlin |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Common Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Shelduck, Mallard, Common Gull, Herring Gull & Black Headed Gull |
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| Redshank, Lapwing & Black Headed Gull |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Teal |
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| Redshank |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Cormorant |
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| Osprey |
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| Mallard |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Mallard |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Little Gull |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Mallard |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Shelduck |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Curlew |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Carrion Crow |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Mallard, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal.
Moths seen - Shaded Broad Bar, Yellow Shell.
