Having had a remarkably successful 1st of January out and about with Jacqui I was hoping to add a few more species on the 2nd while out and about with Ian. A trip over to Fife was on the cards with only the rarities (Snow Buntings, Smew, Black Redstart) being actual targets for the day and there being no actual plan beyond an 0800 pick-up. Having not used the P900 camera I had packed on the 1st I decided to lose a bit of weight from my bag and left it at home.
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| Glaucous Gull |
We headed first for The Wilderness, near Ladybank which added a few minutes to the journey time but which also meant the sky would be a good bit brighter when we arrived there. A large flock of
Redwings streamed out of trees near Mountcastle Quarry as we passed (possibly just leaving a roost?)
Whooper Swans and
Greylag Geese were year ticks at The Wilderness, but despite much scanning there were some expected species that weren't seen. As a Glaucous Gull had been seen at Angle Park on the 1st I suggested that we should probably pop by for a look on our way back to Letham Pools. There was a massive flock of gulls in the air, all of which appeared to be Herring Gulls with lots of them younger birds but unfortunately for us none on the water below.
There was nothing added at Angle Park so we headed along the road which ran by the rubbish tip. We decided to stop for a look through the fence as there were plenty of gulls visible. After a few minutes I picked up a pale winged gull which dropped down and landed on the small rubbish heap we could see from the fence. It was marginally slighter than the Herring Gulls around it and slightly 'whiter' than a Glaucous youngster and lacked the heavy billed look of the larger bird. It was an
Iceland Gull, a rather nice surprise. Unfortunately, the lack of camera and the brevity of its stint on the ground worked against us and off it went in a cloud of gulls. A few minutes later, a larger, chunkier, white winger with a heavier bill landed on top of some matresses.
Ian remembered he had his camera in the car and went to get it. Needless to say, this
Glaucous Gull vanished in another cloud of gulls. Thankfully, it returned at least 4 or 5 times giving us really good views - and an opportunity to get some sort of record shots, which we did, though admittedly they were far from any sort of decent quality but show enough to confirm it as a Glaucous Gull. We eventually gave up waiting for the Iceland Gull to return at 1045 as the sky was looking quite threatening by this time and heavy rain was forecast, though for around lunchtime. A quick stop at Letham Pools failed to add anything new so we set course for Cameron Loch to get Smew for Ian. Thankfully, it was a lot easier to find than on the 1st and saved us some time. We headed for Crail trying to keep ahead of the rain which was starting as we left Cameron. It was dry when we reached Roome Bay not long after Will Cresswell had put out an alert reporting the Black Redstart.
Unfortunately, we couldn't find it. A
Kestrel (we'd seen one on wires on our way to Crail) and a
Sparrowhawk were in view at the same time over the beach before the rain started. As the rain got heavier our chances of finding the Black Redstart seemed to diminish. We checked the area below the cliffs thoroughly before the rain stopped for a few minutes. I suspected the Black Redstart was probably around an area of seaweed further along the beach so we headed in that direction. A Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail and a few Rock Pipits flew off in typical undulating flight before another bird flew off straight and level and landed on a distant rock. A quick check and we had our
Black Redstart. The timing was almost perfect as the rain got heavier as we tried to relocate the bird before heading back to the car.
Ian thought he saw Grey Partridges in a field so we went back for a look, about a mile from Crail. They weren't Partridges after all but as we turned out onto the main road again a
Snipe flew up from the field opposite and zig-zagged away. Another year-tick. We decided against trying for the Snow Buntings at Out Head because of the unpleasant weather and headed back to Dundee to try for Waxwings on the Kingsway where Lainy and Adam had seen them on the 1st instead. We drew a blank though there were some Redwings, Fieldfares and Starlings around. We ended up trying Eastern Cemetery where a
Song Thrush gave me one final year-tick for the day before Ian dropped me off. Although we only saw 54 species, 10 of them were year-ticks (in bold), some of which were rather unexpected. Another good day out which left me within striking distance of my fastest ever '100' at the start of a year.
Species seen Dundee to/and The Wilderness - Rook, Buzzard, Redwing, Teal, Pink Footed Goose, Wigeon, Whooper Swan, Tufted Duck, Coot, Grey Heron, Goldeneye, Mute Swan, Mallard, Moorhen, Greylag Goose, Gret Tit, Coal Tit.
Mammals seen - Roe Deer.
The Wilderness to/and Angle Park/Refuse Dump - Starling, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Curlew, Siskin, Gadwall, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Great Black Backed Gull.
Letham Pools to/and Cameron Reservoir - Goosander, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Smew, Magpie.
Cameron Reservoir to/and Crail - Kestrel, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Rock Pipit, Turnstone, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Grey Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, Black Redstart, Eider, Shag.
Crail to/and Dundee - Snipe, Song Thrush.
(Photos used in this post are not from today).
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Iceland Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Wren |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Redwing |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Eider |
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| Gadwall |
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| Teal |
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| Smew |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Mute Swan & Whooper Swan |
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| Coot |
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| Kestrel |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Rook |
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| Snipe |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Turnstone |
Species seen -
Black Redstart, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Coot, Curlew, Eider, Gadwall,
Glaucous Gull, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail,
Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow,
Iceland Gull, Jackdaw,
Kestrel, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank,
Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Shag, Siskin, Smew,
Snipe,
Song Thrush,
Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Turnstone,
Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Roe Deer.
