I happened to be awake at 03:30 today when a female Tawny Owl was calling loudly and repeatedly from the woods next to the house. This afternoon's weather forecast was for heavy rain so headed out first thing in the morning and was at the RSPB Skinflats reserve by about 10am. The tide was well out (I will have to time my visits better in future) so the scrapes were mostly empty. However a couple of Common Sandpipers were present, plenty of butterflies were along the field edges and a male Kestrel was hunting over the marshy area to the north. A flock of over 50 Goldfinches was on thistles and around 20 Tree Sparrows were flying between a hedge and a stubble field. Heading back to Kincardine for the bus, several of the wild rose bushes along the approach road were infested with the hymenopteran gall wasp and were growing the characteristic "Robin's Pincushions".