As we are still in a bit of a quiet spell bird-wise I was unsure where t go on Wednesday this week. With temperatures inland set to soar above 20 degrees, I didn't want to go inland, so I decided I would head to the coast for some slightly unseasonal sea-watching. The choice was between Scurdie Ness in Angus, or Fife Ness. In the end I decided on Fife Ness as there was the option of sitting in the hide out of any strong sunshine. As it happened the strong sunshine chose to stay inland, away from the coast with the haar making for a rather grey day though it wasn't particularly cold.
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| Gannet |
Having spent an extra hour or so in bed meant a later start to the trip. The walk to the bus station to catch the 0805 bus was relatively productive. A Swift was a nice way to start the list, with Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Goldfinch following soon after. House Sparrow, Magpie, Blackbird and Woodpigeon were all added on the final stretch from Dens Brae and an Oystercatcher flew over as I was getting on the bus to St Andrews. Carrion Crows, Swallows, Buzzard, Jackdaw and Starling were spotted from the bus. Things were much quieter on the second leg of the journey through Fife with the only definite addition being Rook, though Yellowhammer was very likely to have been at least 1 of the birds seen perched on wires above fields.
Arriving in Crail I chose to walk along towards the top of Denburn Wood and then to the caravan park beforeheading down to the road out towards Kilminning. A Greenfinch was calling from the trees as I took out my camera and binoculars. A House Martin zipped around over the fields to the north of the village. A Yellowhammer and a Corn Bunting were both seen on the fence to the north of the caravan park. Walking out along the road I added a couple of Linnets, a Meadow Pipit and the usual Corn Bunting singing near the pill-box in the second field out to the east.
A Skylark was spotted singing from a fence post further on in the field and the 3rd Corn Bunting of the morning was seen singing from a fence post on the southern edge of the field. A Chaffinch was seen near the industrial estate entrance. I made a brief detour into the top end of Kilminning which added a singing Willow Warbler and a few Rabbits to the list. Blue Tit and Whitethroat were also seen before I continued on towards the golf course and Fife Ness itself. A singing Reed Bunting and another Whitethroat showed briefly in the bushes on the edge of the golf course.
Having crossed the rather quiet golf couse a Pied Wagtail flew over. House Martins were collecting mud from the edge of Stinky Pool. I had a quick scan offshore to make sure I wasn't likely to be wasting my time. Thankfully this did produce a good mix of birds passing offshore. Shags were on the usual rocks while over the water I could see Kittiwake annd Gannet. A female Eider was in one of the small tidal inlets as I wandered past the cottage. A pair of Greenfinches, a Linnet and a Goldfinch were on the wires behind the static caravans. A young Stonechat and a few juvenile Whitethroats also showed rather well along this stretch.
As it was rather grey I decided that I would sit in the hide and if the sun came out I might have a spell on the rocks as the tide came in, hopefully bringing birds in closer. There was plenty of movement over the sea with more Gannets and a Fulmar seen almost immediately. There were also lots of Puffins passing by in small groups, sometimes in company with Guillemots or Razorbills or sometimes both. It isn't very often that I even see 1 or 2 Pufins while sea-watching so the numbers seen, which over the course of the day must have been easily more than a couple of thousand birds were both welcome and slightly unusual for me.
It didn't take too long before I spotted a distant Manx Shearwater shearing over the water quite far out. A small-ish flock of around a dozen Common Scoter passed by much closer in. A few Great Black Backed Gulls roosted on the rocky island just a little to the north of the hide. A Curlew flew south calling loudly. A few minutes later the tell-tale sign of dorsal fins breaking the surface not too far out got me a small group of Botlenose Dolphins - possibly a couple of adults and at least 1 probable youngster. After they had passed by rather slowly another marine mammal was seen - a Grey Seal.
There was always something to be seen and I was hoping to perhaps see a Great Skua or something even better passing by. I had to make do with a Cormorant and an Arctic Tern before a Red Throated Diver hastened by, over the rocks but above my line of sight. Thankfully I happened to catch sight of the bird and managed a few reasonable photos thanks to the reaction times of the new lens. Sandwich Terns, Common Gulls, Common Terns and a Black Headed Gull gave me a few more additions before noon. Another Manx Shearwater headed north closer in though I almost missed it, having been distracted by a larger Common Scoter flock. A pair of Red Throated Divers passed southwards while lots more Puffins and Gannets headed northwards.
A couple of pairs of Ringed Plovers were seen on the rocks as the tide advanced. A Dunlin flew out over the sea and shortly afterwards a pair of Feral Pigeons did likewise. Later a Skylark was seen out over the sea before it flew back inland. A pair of Swallows chased each other out over the sea for a short distance before coming back onshore again. A Large White butterfly gave good views in front of the hide and I was surprised at the lens capability in getting a nice photo or two of it. A Grey Heron flew over and another Manx Shearwater and a 4th Red Throated Diver were seen. A couple of Dunlin were spotted roosting on the rocks where the Ringed Plover had been. A flock of juvenile Starlings and a couple of Carrion Crows showed well on the rocks in front of the hide and another Curlew flew by.
Despite willing something good to show up I had to settle for a pair of Manx Shearwaters before I packed up at 1500 to walk back to Crail for the bus. As I neared the golf couse crossing a car pulled up. It was John Anderson who was hoping for some Dolphins to photograph. John offered me a lift back to Crail once he heard that the Dolphins had gone by much earlier. As it was still almost an hour until the bus to St Andrews I suggested we head back for a spot of additional sea-watching for 30 minutes or so, before heading back to Crail.
It was more of the same though a flock of Oystercatchers and a single Red Breasted Merganser provided a slight bit of variety before we headed back to Crail and the bus back to St Andrews and Dundee. It was much sunnier in Crail with only a few wisps of haar overhead, and as ths bus headed back through Fife it was under blue skies and sunshine. A few Buzzards circled up on thermals and a single Lapwing flew past near Boarhills. I debated getting off the bus for 10 minutes in the hide at Guardbridge but chose to continue on homewards. There were plemty of Mute Swans visible on the Eden from the bus though nothing else was added before I made it home.
Despite the lack of anything new for the yearlist it was a good test of the lens capability at picking out distant birds against a grey background. Performance was rather patchy compared to the closer birds at Guardbridge but success was still higher than with previous lenses. A total of 54 species for the day was mostly down to the variety passing offshore. Hopefully within a few weeks that variety will also include the likes of Sooty Shearwater and Skuas, though a repeat of the Storm Petrels from 2011 would be even better, though less likely. Time will tell.
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Rabbit |
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| Goldfinch |
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| House Martin |
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| House Martin |
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| Stonechat |
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| Greenfinch |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Bottlenose Dolphins |
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| Puffin |
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| Shag |
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| Curlew |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Gannet |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Puffin |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Shag |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Common Tern |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Guillemot |
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| Cormorant |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Guillemot, Razorbill & Puffin |
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| Eider |
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| Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemot & Puffin |
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| Shag |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Gannet |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Skylark |
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| Shag |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Large White |
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| Shag |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Puffin |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Starling |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Starling |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Curlew |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Gull |
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| Dunlin |
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| Swallow |
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| Gannet |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Gannet |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Puffin |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Linnet, Magpie, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Skylark, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Large White.
Mammals seen - Bottlenose Dolphin, Grey Seal, Rabbit.
