Friday 28th July 2023

Planning the Day

I was determined to make the most of this, my last day of birding opportunities – tomorrow I was due to collect Maia from the Flute School and spend the day exploring the delights of Edinburgh, before heading back home early the next day.

My first priority was to visit, or at least see, the famous St Andrews golf course – an absolute ‘Must See’ place if you are anywhere near it even if, like me, you are a non-golfing visitor to the area.

After a substantial breakfast (I couldn’t manage the black pudding or the baked beans on top of two eggs, a pile of bacon, mushrooms and fried tomatoes), I headed to St Andrews about 10 miles away from my B & B.

My intention was to park at the Old Course clubhouse and walk along the public pathway to the sea as suggested by the Scottish birding app which I had once again consulted for advice.

St Andrews

St Andrews village was busy and I had to make quick decisions about which turning to take, which had me going the wrong way down a narrow one way right in front of the famous golf course’s last hole.

Fortunately I realised my mistake fairly quickly and found an empty parking spot to pull into before I could cause mild chaos in front of the most famous golf course in the world – never mind that I was facing the wrong way and it was obvious to all passers-by what I had done.

After taking a couple of iphone images of the classic scene before me I managed to extricate myself but, in the process, missed the next turning and ended up much further down the road, heading away from where I had hoped to find the access road to the parking area.

River Eden Estuary

This turned out to be the best thing as it led me to the hide at the River Eden estuary that the birding app had also mentioned as a good viewing spot for waders, depending on the tidal conditions.

I parked in the designated area and walked through the adjacent park to the river / estuary where I found the hide – locked but with instructions to phone the local nature office for the combination. That let me into the spacious hide which I had to myself for the next four and a half hours.

Why so long? Well, when I got there after 11 am the water levels were still high, with birds crowded along the narrow sandy edge that was exposed, but the longer I stayed the lower the water levels dropped, exposing more muddy fringes for the shorebirds, and creating ideal wading conditions for those birds that like the shallows.

Compare the images below to see the difference an hour and a half made

It was fascinating to watch the changes and the movement of the birds as they took their turns flying in and out – so much so that I could not tear myself away with my only regret that I hadn’t brought any lunch with me. I did go to the car to fetch my flask of tea and a snack bar which was still in the cubby to sustain me to 4 pm when I left.

Seeing Red ….. shanks

Most prominent of the birds was the Common Redshanks which numbered over 400 at a rough count!

Considering I have only ever seen one Common Redshank in 40 years of birding (in Botswana) it was quite something to see it ‘at home’ in such astounding numbers.

When I arrived at the hide, they were all bunched close together on the narrow sandy edge on the opposite side of the river, so dense I did not spot them immediately as they appeared at a glance to be part of the vegetation.

Gradually they started to spread out as the sand widened and, as if instructed, they all marched in unison to the water’s edge, then started flying off individually and in small groups to forage, some returning later.

I was especially happy when one or two came to forage right in front of the hide, and I was able to take some decent images of this bird which had managed to stir the senses of an excited birder

I also tried my hand at some in flight images with my new camera which I’m still getting to know – a few of the dozens of images turned out quite nicely…. I was particularly pleased with this one…

And Many Others ….

Scanning the scene before me just after entering the hide, I could see large numbers of birds on a distant sandbank, still partially submerged – in the image below the front row of white birds are gulls while the remainder of darker birds are Eurasian Curlews, numbering in the hundreds as well as Black-tailed Godwits, Eurasian Oystercatchers and others

Northern Lapwings were as plentiful, including many juveniles without the crest of the adults

As the water level dropped, the massed birds began to disperse. Eurasian Curlews approached within shooting distance of the hide, probing with their long ungainly looking bills into seaweed as it became exposed

Some Familiar Birds

Among the throngs of birds not generally seen in my home country were some familiar species that occur back home or are regular migrants

The Gulls

Gulls were initially strung out across the mud flats, then dispersed to other parts of the estuary – a few came close to the hide, providing an opportunity to get a photo of two of the three gull species present – the Lesser Black-backed Gulls stayed too far away for any chance of a reasonable photo.

The Swimmers

Swimmers also appeared with Eiders prominent and later a group of Common Mergansers (Goosander) and a couple of Mallards.

Still More

An unexpected bird on the shoreline….

A Kingfisher caused a moment’s excitement as it flew low across the river and settled briefly on a fence but vanished almost immediately.

The scene in front of the hide continued changing right up until I reluctantly left to explore further on my last day.

Tentsmuir Nature Reserve

Next stop was also found by chance as I drove away from St Andrews and saw the signboard for Tentsmuir Nature Reserve which I knew of. Following the road which became single again for a few miles, I took a short detour to get coffee and cake (no sandwiches as ‘the kitchen closes at five’ I was told), then carried on to the reserve entrance, parked and set out on a walk down the Icehouse trail which I hoped would take me to the beach.

The trail went through the forest and emerged into open undulating ground but all I managed was a distant view of the sea as I was tired by now. I slogged back to the car, drove back to the B & B and walked – again – to the village hotel for another pleasant supper to round off the birding side of my trip.