Well it's official, Fridays have been renamed as Eddays (at least by me they have). Since I recently changed to working four days per week (Monday to Thursday) I have declared Fridays as official 'do what I want' days. I know it sounds selfish but I have my lovely wife's blessing to get out in the countryside and do what I enjoy doing (and she can get time to do what she enjoys doing).
Last Friday was the first opportunity for me to do just what I wanted, so I packed up my tent and my bird-watching gear and headed north. I did not travel too far from home, just to a campsite at Strathkinness near St Andrews, where I pitched my tent ready for the day ahead:
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| Getting Started |
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| Tent Erected |
With the tent erected I could get started on my great adventure, a nature-packed fun day at Tentsmuir Forest. As I didn't hang around there was no scope for the old 'loitering within tent' joke so I won't mention it.
From the vantage point of the campsite I could actually see Tentsmuir Forest, just beyond the Eden Estuary and RAF Leuchars.
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| Eden Estuary with Tentsmuir Beyond |
Once I had driven through Guardbridge and Leuchars I went along the narrow road that takes you to the car park at the southern end of Tenstmuir. I got all my clobber together (rucksack, binoculars, telescope, etc.) and set off through the woods heading towards the beach.
It's a great place for wildlife watching Tentsmuir because you get so many different habitats in the one area. There is a conifer forest, extensive dunes, a beach with golden sand, the Eden Estuary, the Tay Estuary, etc. I had been there before but did not spend as much time as I would have liked.
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| Tentsmuir Forest and Dunes |
Once I reached the beach I set up my trusty telescope ready for a bit of 'sea watching' whilst I was having my lunch. My apologies to my work colleagues but this is really where I want to be on Fridays at lunch time!
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| Telescope in Position for Lunch on the Beach |
So with the sun shining in the sky and the sound of skylarks singing in the background I sat down to each my lunch whilst watching squadrons of gannets plunge-diving into the sea in search for their lunch.......bliss!!
After lunch I headed north along the beach keeping a watchful eye out for any wildlife. I know that many people don't count insects as wildlife, but I do like my bugs, here are a couple I spotted:
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| 7-spot Ladybird on beach |
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| Ground Bug or Beetle? |
I am afraid I still haven't been able to identify the little armour plated bug, so any suggestions would be welcome.
I was also fascinated by the natural sculptures I found on the beach, such as these pieces of driftwood:
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| Fossilised Skull or Driftwood? |
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| Crocodile near Dundee? |
As I moved north I came inland from the beach to the sand dune area and stumbled across what looked like a dried up river bed:
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| Dried up River Bed |
It also had some natural artwork around the edges where the water had evaporated in stages:
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| Natural Artwork |
It even looked like the dried up river bed had a dried up crocodile on the far bank waiting to pounce?
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| Watch out for the Croc |
I moved onto where there was a bit more vegetation and found some lovely dune flowers:
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| Birds-foot Trefoil |
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| Silverweed with Ladybird |
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| Sea Sandwort |
There were also plenty of birds about including skylarks, gulls, pied wagtails, terns, etc. but they would not sit still long enough for me to photograph them. So I just enjoyed watching them and listening to them singing.
As I moved further up the coast I noticed towards Tentsmuir Point that there was some movement on a sandbank just off the shore. I set up my telescope and saw that it was a group of Atlantic Grey Seals clinging on to the remnants of a sandbank which the rising tide was trying hard to submerge.
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| Seals on Sandbank |
I tried to get closer to the seals by moving further north towards the point but the tide was rising fast and the sandbank was not going to be there much longer:
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| Resisting the incoming tide |
I grabbed my camcorder and tried to catch the drama as it unfolded, these seals were definitely not wanting to give up their sunbathing position in a hurry:
It was fascinating watching these seals cling on to this little patch of sand until finally they had to face the inevitable and swam off in search of somewhere else to sunbathe.
As I had now reach the most northerly point of this peninsular I moved west and headed inland, it was a shame to leave such a glorious beach and dune setting but here is a couple of photos to enjoy:
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| Unspoilt Beach at Tentsmuir Point |
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| Tin Shack on Stilts....why? |
Just before I left the dunes there was an old railway wagon on a plinth which I thought was strange, then I found a interpretation panel which explained all:
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| Rusty Wagon? |
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| Now I understand! |
Once I moved off the sand dunes I was expecting to enter back into the conifer plantation that makes up most of Tentsmuir Forest, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a little deciduous woodland:
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| Lovely Woodland |
If you look carefully you will see a creature lurking under the shade of one of the trees..........
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| Highland Cow Sculpture |
Yes it's a rare Irn Bru Coo made from girders.
Not only was it a lovely woodland with nice sculptures there were lots of pretty flowers and butterflies about including the following:
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| Common Dog Violet |
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| Green-veined White on Bluebell |
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| The Cinnabar |
For those of you who like butterflies but hate moths I present Exhibit A: The Cinnabar (moth)...............I rest my case m'lud!!
I had reach the point in my adventure where I had the choice of carrying on along the Tay estuary to Tayport or head back through the forest to the car park. As it was after 4pm I thought I would mosey on back to the car park and then drive back to the campsite for some well earned bangers and beans.
It was a pleasant trip back through the forest:
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| Path thro' Tentsmuir Forest |
I wasn't in any hurry and stopped several times to look at various birds, flowers and butterflies before I got to the car park, then headed back to the campsite.
Tent was still there OK but now the campsite was a lot busier. So I set up my cooker and got my grub on:
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| Tent and Chuck Wagon |
Soon I was enjoying my sausages, beans and tattie scones, all wash down with lashings of hot tea, whilst enjoying the beautiful view:
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| Meal-time View |
All in all I had a great day, so I topped it off by having a stroll down to the Strathkinness Tavern (
http://www.strathkinnesstavern.co.uk/index.html ) to enjoy a couple of pints of real ale.
All Fridays (sorry Eddays) should be like this!
Take Care
TeddyEdward
