I'm not sure how bad the overnight rain was here in Dundee as I slept through it. I was hoping that it might bring in some early Autumn migrants to Fife Ness, but if not, then the fact that the relatively strong winds were from the southeast meant that sea-watching was likely to be worthwhile. I had arranged with Nat to meet her at Guardbridge at around 0915, which would hopefully avoid at least some of the heavier forecast rain.
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| Arctic Skua |
As it happened I seemed to just miss a really heavy shower before I headed out to catch the bus into town just after 0830 (I've seen a video of flooding on Dens Road from that time of morning), but after waiting for 10 minutes I decided I would have to walk to stand any chance of catching the bus to Guardbridge for the arranged time. All I saw between leaving home and arriving at the bus station were a few Herring Gulls and Feral Pigeons. The steamed up windows on the bus to Guardbridge limited the birds seen to Cormorants on Submarine Rock.
When I arrived at Guardbridge a few minutes late, I spotted Nat on her way in just ahead of me. A Swallow was zipping around over the grass. At the hide, Ranald the ranger was strimming the grass out front but we set up the scope and scanned around, though the light was rather poor. Carrion Crows, Woodpigeons, Mute Swans, Black Headed Gulls, Grey Herons, Curlews, Redshanks, Lapwings and Mallards were found quite quickly and I soon added Great Black Backed Gull and Goosander to the list while a Blue Tit popped in to the feeders. I found an Osprey eating a fish out on the mud and a few Oystercatchers in the same general area.
Ranald popped in just as we were about to leave and mentioned the report of an Avocet in the book from yesterday, but there was no indication who had seen it. As we chatted one of the Little Egrets landed across the river. We headed off for Crail and Kilminning to check for migrants. A pair of Blackbirds were seen as we got into Nat's car, and a Starling flew over as we headed out the end of the village. Rooks were in a field on the way to St Andrews and House Martins were seen at the far end of the town. House Sparrows were seen as we headed out of Crail.
Things were rather quiet at Kilminning though a Stock Dove and a Feral Pigeon flew out from the ruined building at the top end. A Wren and a Willow Warbler were both heard but only a Goldcrest was seen. With things being very quiet we decided to head for a spot of sea-watching instead of checking out the bottom end. There were Pied Wagtails and a Black Headed Gull on the golf course, and Stinky Pool held a trio of Redshanks. Offshore I could see Gannets passing by. Ken Shaw was on his way back to his car and told us he'd had a few Skuas and Shearwaters passing, and that Rab Shand was still in the hide.
We headed in and got set up alongside Rab. There was plenty of movement and Rab confirmed that he'd had Sooty and Manx Shearwaters already as well as a few Bonxies. There were plenty of Kittiwakes passing and much further out I spotted a bird shearing high, but was a bit disappointed to realise it was just a Fulmar. Nat spotted a Red Throated Diver heading past, and a small group of Common Scoters sped northwards. I picked up my first
Sooty Shearwater of the year heading northwards after about 20 minutes in the hide. A small flock of Teal headed south. Rab had seen a Gadwall earlier and he spotted a pair of Shoveler that I missed.
An Arctic Tern was next onto the list, before a Manx Shearwater headed north. A Shag was out on the water and I found a Razorbill relatively close in to shore. I heard a Whimbrel but didn't see it. Sandwich Terns passed by calling noisily in among quite sizeable flocks of Kittiwakes. We added a second Sooty Shearwater and a few more Manxies. With the wind coming in the windows it wasn't as warm as had been forecast, so around noon, Nat decided to head back to the car for a spot of lunch and some warmth. Not long after she left, Rab spotted a Bonxie going north. Common Gull and Common Tern were both seen among the Kittiwakes. I thought I had a 2cy Mediterranean Gull, but I now suspect it might have been a Kittiwake with regrowing primaries showing as small black dots, rather than the usual black triangle.
As I had been expecting much warmer temperatures I was also beginning to feel the cold by about 1230. As I scanned over the water, I picked up a large dark-ish bird shearing up in a lazy arc above the waves. It wasn't as dark as a young Gannet, or even as dark as a Sooty Shearwater, but it looked to be a Shearwater in both the long winged shape and its behaviour. I was struggling to make sense of it when I got a view of its underside which was white, though there was a darker border around the underwing. I said to Rab "What is THAT?" and thankfully he was able to get onto the bird almost straight away. He also knew exactly what it was - a
Cory's Shearwater! A lifer for me, and despite there having been huge numbers of them reported off southwest England recently a bird that I was not expecting to see at all so far north. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find it with the camera, so I have no pictures, though Rab's experience should help the record get accepted.
Rab spotted a trio of Skuas not too far offshore shortly after Nat had come back in, 2 of which were Arctics (one light and one dark phase) and the third appeared to be a potential Pomarine Skua. Another Bonxie, and another Arctic were seen before Rab picked up a definite
Pomarine Skua, and my third year-tick of the day. A pair of female Eiders whizzed past over the rocks. A pair of Guillemots were seen offshore and another Red Throated Diver flew past. We decided to pack up at around 1430, though Nat headed out to the car about 10 minutes earlier after we'd seen a flock of Dunlin and Knot take off from behind the rocks and headed north. Rab spotted a Whimbrel out on the rocks, but there were to be no more new birds after that. However, it had been a really good three and a half hours or so.
A flock of Linnets overflew the car as I arrived back to find Nat chatting to John Anderson who had been tempted out by the report of the Cory's which had gone out. A Magpie was seen as we crossed the golf course on our way back to Crail and then Guardbridge. The sun had come out though the sky had a rather thundery look to it in most directions. Nat was headed home, so I decided to head into the hide at Guardbridge for the best part of two hours despite the tide already appearing to be most of the way in. A Collared Dove was on a chimney as I wandered in. There were a few folk in the hide, including the person who had found the Avocet along with Neil Redpath the day before, and he showed me a few photos of the bird. The distance and poor light hadn't helped, but it was still recognisable as an Avocet - a bird I've still to see. There was however still no sign of it.
There wasn't too much to add to the list that I hadn't already seen, either at Guardbridge in the morning, or at Fife Ness. A Chaffinch showed on the feeders though I failed to add Tree Sparrow. There was plenty of activity from the Ospreys, and a flock of Common and Sandwich Terns came upriver as far as opposite the hide eventually, allowing me to experiment with different focusing options on my camera. A Knot was with a few Oystercatchers. One species I did manage to add was Wigeon with a pair on the water near the wader roost. I heard but didn't see a Common Sandpiper, and eventually added a Wren in its usual place. I waited for Ranald coming back to lock up to let him see the photo the finder of the Avocet had left, and at around 1715 I headed for the bus home. I had one last addition to the list as a Goldfinch flew over near the McManus Galleries. A Magpie was seen as I got off the bus near home.
A really unexpectedly good day with a trio of year-ticks (in bold) including a lifer among the 57 species seen, taking me past my tally for the same point last year giving me the chance at surpassing last year's total if I can keep up the same rate of finds between now and the 31st of December as I managed last year. Fingers crossed. More days like today will help.
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| Gannet |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Eider |
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| Sooty Shearwater |
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| Teal |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Great Skua |
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| Redshank |
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| Eider |
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| Skua sp. |
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| Skua sp. & Kittiwake |
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| Skua sp. & Kittiwake |
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| Gannet |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Skua sp. |
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| Skua sp. |
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| Skua sp. |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Little Egret, Curlew & Redshank |
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| Curlew |
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| Mallard & Wigeon |
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| Osprey |
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| Cormorant |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey, Sandwich Tern & Common Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Swallow |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Swallow |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
Species seen - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant,
Cory's Shearwater, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail,
Pomarine Skua, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag,
Sooty Shearwater, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Whimbrel, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
