As previously mentioned, my week off work had largely been a disappointment from the angle of adding new species to my year-list, with only Buff Breasted Sandpiper showing up, and then not hanging around. That was the case until around 1600 on Sunday afternoon when a Fife Bird Club text alert came through with news of a migrant. Not just any migrant though. A first for Fife and a bird with less than 50 British records, none of which had been as early as September. The bird in question was identified as a Brunnich's Guillemot. A long way from the north Atlantic where it should be. However, even if I was able to head out immediately I was faced with a round trip of at least 4.5 hours minimum (that would give me enough time to get off one bus, see the bird quickly then jump back on the next bus back. Otherwise it would be a 5.5 hour round trip. I wasn't that fussed.
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
As the week wore on, and the controversy over the identification wore off a lot, with more and more photos appearing to stifle the armchair experts proclamations of doubts, I hoped that the bird would hang around until Wednesday. Thankfully, Nat had more or less recovered from her recent illness, and was also wanting to see the bird. It would be a lifer for us both. Willie Irvine phoned me on Tuesday night to tell me the bird had been re-found, having seemingly gone missing in the afternoon. I told him I was headed through on Wednesday morning. He said he'd let me know if it was still around. I arranged to meet Nat at our usual time across the bridge.
I headed out at about 0750 to walk to the bus station. Woodpigeon, Herring Gull and a Robin singing from atop a fence kicked off the list for the day. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow and Feral Pigeon soon followed with Cormorant added from the bus across the bridge. We decided to head straight for Anstruther. Rook, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow and Collared Dove were seen between St Michaels and Guardbridge. A small party of Golden Plover overflew the car from the fields near the George Evans hide. There were plenty of Swallows passing over. Willie phoned to say the bird was still around and showing brilliantly. Thanking him for the info, I said we'd see him around 20 minutes.
Arriving in Anstruther, we looked for some free parking and wound up in Cellardyke. This only meant a few minutes walk to the harbour, so it was no big deal. Meadow Pipits were passing over in small groups as we wandered towards our target. A Grey Heron was in the eastern part of the harbour, and a skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew. I spotted Willie's 4 x 4 across the far side harbour and then Willie a bit further along with John McHale and another birder nearby. They were quite clearly looking at something. Our pace quickened. On the rocks to the west of the harbour were Oystercatchers and Herring and Black Headed Gulls.
Reaching Willie and John, we could see the
Brunnich's Guillemot tucked in near the boats just below the seawall, sleeping and gently drifting on the water. Its feet waved lightly, allowing it to keep station. Cameras clicked, and photos aplenty and video clips were taken, though the light wasn't great. A lifer for us both, and great views too. An Eider flew past the harbour mouth, while Swallows, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails passed overhead. Scanning the rocks again found Curlew and Shelduck as well as the gulls. The bird eventually woke up and swam out a bit, did some preening, and thought about hunting but obviously failed to see any fish below the surface, so more sleeping and preening ensued. A few more birders arrived. As the bird drifted I moved further round towards the town to see if the bird would come in close there, but it didn't. A drake Mallard flew past the harbour, and a Redshank was down on the rocks over the wall.
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
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| Brunnich's Guillemot |
Discussing our options while chatting with Willie, resulted in a wee change of plan, with Kilrenny Common decided on as our next port of call, once I'd taken over 300 photos of the Brunnich's Guillemot. The light had improved slightly with the sun threatening to come out once, before disappearing behind the increasing grey clouds again. Off we went, though as always we managed to miss the turn for the parking at Kilrenny but found it at our second attempt. Goldfinches overflew as we got out of the car. There were a few Starlings and Woodpigeons in the trees, but not much else. We were hoping to see Tawny Owl, with directions from Willie as to which tree he'd seen it last in.
Into the wood we went, full of hope. Great Tit and Coal Tit were soon on the list, with a flock of Long Tailed Tits plus Blue Tits and Great Tits encountered near where we had been told to try for the owl. Robin and Wren were also seen here, and once we found the tree we were looking for, (we hoped), we looked for the owl. No luck, despite much scanning of branches. We may have had the wrong tree, so we tried others that potentially fitted the description, but to no avail. Across the fields I spotted a male Pheasant which promptly disappeared into thicker vegetation before Nat managed to get onto it. Crows, Pigeons and Lapwings lifted from another field. Meadow Pipits were still moving through, and Skylarks were also on the move, with a few seen from the bench at the Sea Eagle Tree sign. On came the rain, a bit earlier than forecast. I checked the field but added only a Buzzard, while Nat sheltered below a tree.
We headed back to the car, the rain easing off as soon as it had started. There were a couple of Stock Doves on wires, but they flew off. With no luck with the owl we decided to head for Kilminning for some lunch, and then to the hide at Fife Ness for some seawatching. The hide would keep us dry if the forecast for more rain was accurate. Things were quiet as we ate lunch and nothing new was added at Kilminning, with only a few Swallows zipping past the car, and some Goldfinches seen. There were a few gulls and crows in the fields further down but we decided not to waste too much time and headed for the golf course.
With few golfers around we found a large flock of newly arrived Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails feeding by the road across the fairways. Among them was a bird with strong white wing bars but it appears to just be a slightly unusual Meadow Pipit. Before raising the binoculars I thought the olive tone to the back and white wing bars meant I was going to be looking at a fresh juvenile Yellow Wagtail, but I was surprised to see a Pipit. I took a few photos and we continued on to the bay near the caravans, where we parked up.
There were Gannets passing offshore, some Great Black Backed Gulls, Shags and Oystercatchers on the rocks. A few Sandwich Terns were diving not too far offshore and I picked up a young Kittiwake passing too. Things didn't look too bad, despite the conditions seeming less than promising, so we headed into the hide. A Redshank was on the rocks out front. Nat found a Guillemot, just a common, further out. A while later I added another auk, a Razorbill near Nat's Guillemot. A Little Gull flew by, quite distantly. Although the Gannets were moving, the numbers were on the low side. With nothing too exciting happening I suggested we give it till 1300 and then reassess the situation.
A Turnstone showed out on the rocks and I picked up a few Common Terns further out, indulging in some fishing. There were a few more Sandwich Terns around too. A Seal was spotted quite far out. As the time got closer to 1300, I picked up what had to be a Skua low over the water. I thought it was an Arctic Skua, but checking the photos on the camera later I saw the suggestion of 'spoons' at the tail on a couple of photos. However, these weren't visible on the computer at home, so the bird stayed as an Arctic Skua on the list. With the Skua being another good bird and the temperature not being too cold, we decided to give the seawatching an extension. I said to Nat to say immediately if she felt cold and we would pack up and head back to the car, rather than run the risk of her health deteriorating once again.
As things turned out, we spent the next hour seawatching and added some very nice birds to the list. Common Gull was first, before Nat spotted a wader's head peeking up from behind the rocks. It wasn't a Redshank. Instead, the relatively short-ish curved bill and the dark cap with a pale line down the centre showed it to be a slightly unexpected Whimbrel. It eventually showed well for us before disappearing back behind the rocks out front. A skein of Pink Footed Geese passed by, realtively close in. A Rock Pipit landed among the rock pools.
Nat spotted two waders low and fast over the water. Photos showed these to be rather unexpectedly, a pair of Snipe. Slightly further out at the same time, a pair of Golden Plover headed south too. Our first Red Throated Diver flew by, quite close in. Three Teal were next, followed by another few Red Throated Divers, and some better views of the Whimbrel before it flew off. An Arctic Skua landed on the rocks for a few minutes before departing as quickly as it had arrived.Another few Red Throated Divers passed before a female Red Breasted Merganser shot by.
The weather seemed to change and we suspected that the rain wasn't far away so we headed for the car before it came on. We decided to check Kilminning again. Watching from the car near the bottom end eventually got us a few Greenfinches and a Song Thrush plus a few Blackbirds but it was pretty quiet. Three Magpies were in the field opposite the green shed. Nat grabbed a quick cup of tea at the top end while I quickly checked for birds in the drizzly rain, finding none. We decided to head back towards St Andrews. A brief stop overlooking the bay at the north end of the harbour didn't add anything though there were plenty of Eiders out on the water but not much else. I debated visiting Guardbridge but high tide had just passed and the light was poor so we called it a day and headed for home.
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Skylark |
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| Buzzard |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Meadow Pipit (?) |
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| Gannet |
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| Turnstone |
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| Gannet |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Gannet |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Redshank |
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| Common Gull |
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| Snipe |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Teal |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Shag |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Redshank |
A very productive day with some nice birds and the one very welcome lifer (in bold) in the shape of the Brunnich's Guillemot. 59 species seen - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit,
Brunnich's Guillemot, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gannet, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Little Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Geese, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Wren.
In a bit of a sad postscript the Brunnich's Guillemot was found dead on Friday morning (30/9) on the beach at Anstruther harbour. It hadn't looked to be in good condition at all, with some suspicion of oiling and bare skin on show on the rather tatty looking wings, though moult was suspected to be the main reason for the wings condition. My theory as to how the bird had ended up where it had was that the extremely high westerly winds from the Atlantic had picked the bird up somewhere off Iceland and swung it round towards Scotland, eventually depositing it in the Forth. As a number of Guillemots were also seen inland (Kinnordy, Forfar Loch and Loch Faskally) over the weekend after strong westerlies I think this theory looks at least possible.
