Nat had let me know that she had nothing planned for the coming Saturday at the end of our Wednesday outing, so we arranged to head for Fife Ness to do a spot of sea-watching, hoping to perhaps see a Manx Shearwater or two, and maybe a Skua too. It would also give Nat the opportunity to practice her seabird identification. With sunshine forecast there was a chance of glare on the water but we would work around that as best we could.
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| Kittiwake |
Having arranged to meet Nat at Guardbridge just before 9am, I headed into town to catch the bus at around 0815. Once again there seemed to be a shortage of birds around. Herring Gull occupied the usual early spot in proceedings, followed by Woodpigeon and Blackbird. Swift was next with a few birds circling around at height. A bird I never tire of seeing and how I measure my own summer - the birds arrive and summer begins, the birds go and summer is over, so usually early May to early August constitutes my summer. In that context autumn will be here very soon. Carrion Crow and Lesser Black Backed Gull were added before I reached the bus station. The windows of the bus were covered by that horrible metal mesh used to decorate the whole sides of a bus with advertising. It makes identifying anything bird-sized impossible. Two unidentified corvids were seen, but nothing else before I arrived at Guardbridge.
Feral Pigeons were seen as I headed into the hide to meet Nat. From inside there was plenty of variety around. Goosander, Canada Geese, Mute Swan, Black Headed Gull, Lapwing and Redshank were all noted before a Greenshank called and diverted my attention to the flying bird which I pointed out to Nat. A nice bird to get. Grey Heron, Mallard, Oystercatcher and Curlew were all added, while at the feeders Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Blue Tits and Great Tits were all seen. Swallows swept over along with a few Swifts. The local young Buzzards mewed loudly from across the river and a Common Sandpiper wandered along the exposed mud in front of the hide.
Looking out the side window found me me a Dunnock, while a flock of Starlings could be seen circling around over the salt marsh. A Goldfinch flew past the window and into the trees. There was no sign of any of the Little Egrets or any Godwits so we decided to head down the coast to Fife Ness. On our way to the car we added Collared Doves on the chimneys opposite, as well as House Martins over the houses and a Pied Wagtail overflying. Stock Dove and House Sparrow were the only new birds for the list before we arrived at Fife Ness.
There were loads of Shags offshore in the bay, probably as many as I've ever seen together anywhere other than at the Isle of May, quite easily at least 40+ birds, though that may be an underestimate and as the birds kept diving it was impossible to get an accurate count. Sandwich Terns and Gannets passed northwards offshore, while a Yellowhammer flew in and sang from a bush behind us. A Whitethroat was seen among the vegetation on the way to the rocks in front of the hide. The tide was quite low, so the small rounded rocky island was still above water and held Great Black Backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and 3 Knot in Summer plumage. A pair of Oystercatchers joined them later. There were a few Eiders on the water and Kittiwakes could be seen passing further out, with the odd bird showing closer in.
Although the sun was shining it still wasn't particularly warm. There was plenty of activity though it was mostly quite same-y with Gannets and Kittiwakes making up the bulk of the birds passing by. Common Gull, Guillemot and Fulmar were added, before I picked up two distant birds well out towards the horizon, they were arcing up above the horizon and sweeping back down below again. They had to be Shearwaters. I tried to get Nat onto the birds while trying to locate them through the camera viewfinder. I failed the former but managed the latter, the photos confirming that they were indeed
Manx Shearwaters. A year-tick for me. Unfortunately these were the only two seen. We will need to try again to get them onto Nat's list, but as we both enjoy sea-watching that won't be a chore.
With nowhere we needed to be, and decent conditions we decided to continue sea-watching, just enjoying the views of the passing seabirds and all the time hoping for something a bit different, or even better, rare. Common Tern was added before a party of Common Scoters headed north. Around 2pm we decided to head back towards Guardbridge, stopping at Kingsbarns beach briefly on the way. Jackdaw went onto the list for the day along the way. I had hoped we might get good views of roosting terns at Kingsbarns, but there was only a solitary Sandwich Tern flying past. A few distant Gannets could also be seen out over the water but overall it was quiet out to sea.
With the sun shining the car park and beach area was quite busy so birds were few and far between. Pied Wagtails were the most numerous species, with a pair of Linnets and a Swallow youngster in a nest, and one perched briefly on a roof giving good photo opportunities. With things looking less than promising we headed back northwards debating possible stops along the way. St Andrews looked a bit busy, and the water levels at Guardbridge ruled out the hide, so we decided to pay a quick visit to the pool off River Crescent in the village. Tufted Duck was added here before the rain started. As it was clearly going to be a bit of a downpour we called it a day and headed for home.
Another really enjoyable day's birding with a year-tick for me (in bold) thrown in. 53 species seen in total - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Mallard,
Manx Shearwater, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
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| Eider |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Gannet |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Gannet |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Knot |
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| Gannet |
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| Cormorant |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Gannet |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Cormorant |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Linnet |
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| Swallow |
