A very late night on Friday meant that it was around noon when I eventually woke up on Saturday. I discovered Lainy had messaged me a bit earlier asking if I wanted to join her and Adam later for a trip to the Eden estuary in Fife to try to catch up with Black and Roseate Terns which had been reported there. As they weren't planning on leaving till after 1400, I was able to say that I was very much up for the trip out. As the time to leave approached I remembered that due to a football match the roads round about, including my street, were likely to be a bit more congested than usual, so I said I would head for Swannie Ponds and meet them there.
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Gannet
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I headed out around 1405 for the 10 minute walk to the ponds. Herring Gull, Robin, Feral Pigeon and Magpie were the only birds noted on the way. At the ponds things were still rather quiet though Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan, Coot, Mallard and Moorhen were all seen and 2 Meadow Pipits overflew. Long Tailed Tits were heard but not seen. Once Adam and Lainy arrived we set off for Fife, for only my second visit this year - the other one was also courtesy of Lainy and Adam, a very productive May visit to Kilminning for Icterine Warbler and a few other migrants passing through. Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon were spotted from the car and as we crossed the bridge a few auks could be seen on the water below.
There were a number of Pheasants in the field at the 5 roads roundabout but birds were otherwise in short supply. As we neared Guardbridge the question was asked as to whether or not it would be worth our while stopping to scan the estuary from beside the hide before continuing on to St Andrews. We decided to give it a go. It did prove relatively productive with Lainy seeing her first Greenshanks and Ruff. In addition there were Redshank, Eider, Teal, a White Tailed Eagle, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goosander, Wigeon, Dunlin, Lapwing, Black Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Common Gull, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Great Black Backed Gull and some distant Sandwich Terns all noted while we searched from the shelter on the north side of the hide. We had a brief chat to Angus Duncan before setting off to Out Head at the West Sands, St Andrews.
Starlings were seen en route and there were a few birders leaving as we walked out to the tip of the dunes. I scanned out over the bay once or twice which gave us Red Throated Diver, Common Scoter and Gannet. A Rabbit was also noted as a flock of Goldfinches flitted around a bit ahead of us. There was one birder still stood out on the sand when we arrived on the western side of the dunes, overlooking the wide expanse of Balgove Bay. We later got talking to him, discovering he was Tom Beckett (a young student, and someone who has at some point read this blog - thanks, Tom!). There were unexpectedly decent numbers of terns - given the almost complete absence elsewhere - much further round in the bay but we searched the area closer to us first, just in case. There were a few Red Throated Divers visible plus 2 Slavonian Grebes (a year-tick for me), a lot of gulls, a good number of Razorbills and Guillemots plus a few Cormorants.
More scanning with the scope added an Arctic Skua chasing a few of the gulls and terns. A little later the skua flew out of the bay past us just prior to a few large-ish feeding frenzies kicking off, which it would have been able to capitalise on had it remained. Common Tern, Kittiwake, Shelduck and Red Breasted Merganser gave us a bit of additional variety. A skein of Pink Footed Geese arrived from the north. Lainy spotted a trio of Stonechats in the dunes and a small flock of Ringed Plover landed on the beach not too far away. They were soon joined by a smaller wader that adopted an odd tail up pose which threw me for a while. Eventually the penny dropped, we were actually watching my second Little Stint of the week - which turned out to be a lifer for Tom.
A flock of Dunlin dropped in nearby and a Wheatear was seen in below the dunes. To the north a few hundred Oystercatchers flew in to roost along with a few other assorted waders. Through the scope I had a view of a bird on the north shore that was behaving like Grey Plover but was impossible to ID conclusively. I also had a few views of birds that looked a bit Black Tern-like but none that were completely convincing. A few Grey Seals were seen on the river. A small flock of Sanderling gave us brief views before they finally landed opposite us just before we wandered back to the car. Jackdaw and Rook were seen as we drove back to have a quick look from the Bruce Embankment car park but things were rather quiet offshore from there.
We called it a day and headed homewards with the only additions on the way a couple of Roe Deer in a field. Despite dipping on the terns, I did manage to add a year-tick (in bold) among the 55 species we managed to see or hear. As I had chosen to take my scope with me, I didn't capitalise on most of the photo opportunities that presented themselves and problems with the camera meant that some of those I did take ended up in the PC recycling bin when I got home. All in all though, another productive and enjoyable few hours' birding, thanks to Lainy and Adam once again.
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Dunlin
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Slavonian Grebe
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Dunlin
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Gannet
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Dunlin
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Kittiwake
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Red Throated Diver
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Red Throated Diver
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Arctic Skua
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Ringed Plover & Little Stint
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Ringed Plover & Little Stint
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Dunlin, Ringed Plover & Little Stint
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Stonechat
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Stonechat
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Gannet
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Gannet, Herring Gull & Black Headed Gull
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Gannet
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 | Dunlin, Ringed Plover & Little Stint
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Oystercatcher & Black Tailed Godwit
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Oystercatcher & Dunlin
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Gannet, Razorbill & Herring Gull
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Ringed Plover, Dunlin & Little Stint
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Dunlin
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Cormorant
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Pink Footed Goose
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Red Throated Diver
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Red Throated Diver
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Common Tern
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Common Tern
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Sanderling
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Sanderling
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Sanderling
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Birds - Arctic Skua, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Little Stint, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck,
Slavonian Grebe, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Wheatear, White Tailed Eagle, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit, Roe Deer.
