Having had a very successful week's birding I was keen to extend my run of good luck and good birds on Saturday. With strong-ish winds from the south and southeast forecast throughout the day with stormy weather overnight and also the chance of showers during the day I decided to head straight for Fife Ness and spent the majority of the day seeing what was flying past offshore. There was also a chance of waders moving through. My two main targets were Sooty Shearwater and Great Skua, with the latter the likelier of the two.
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| Shag |
Although there was an earlier bus I could have caught the weather forecast suggested that I would still run the risk of getting soaked walking out to the golf course, so I settled for the 0755 bus to St Andrews and the 0850 bus to Crail. This would mean I'd be likely sea-watching sometime around 1000, all going to plan. As it wasn't the greatest of mornings weather-wise there was little to see on my way to the bus station with only Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon seen en route. A very chatty elderly ex-Dundonian visiting from the USA ensured I saw very little from the bus to St Andrews though I did still manage a few - Lesser Black Backed Gull at the bus station plus Jackdaw and Blackbird in Leuchars.
The weather looked even worse between St Andrews and Crail with visibility only a few hundred metres at time, which was far from ideal for sea-watching. Swifts over St Andrews, Carrion Crows just outside the town, plus Stock Dove, Swallow and House Sparrow near Kingsbarns were all I had to show for the 30 minutes journey. Undeterred by the likelihood of low visibility from the hide I walked out from Crail towards Kilminning. Collared Dove, Goldfinch, House Martin and Corn Bunting were all seen before a few Curlews flew up from the cattle field a little further on towards Kilminning. Rooks and a Common Gull were also in the same field. Starlings were seen around the airfield buildings while a Chaffinch was added in the trees near the industrial estate entrance.
Yellowhammer and Pied Wagtail were added as I headed down towards the golf course. I detoured down to Balcomie Bay in the hope of some waders on the beach. There were but nothing more exciting than Redshanks and Oystercatchers. A few Black Headed Gulls were on the sand as well as a couple of Common Gulls. Offshore were a few Goosaders in the waves. A Cormorant stood out on the rocks and a pair of Sandwich Terns called loudly further out over the sea. A single Grey Seal was also not far offshore. I followed the coastal path round past Stinky Pool where a few Linnets were seen. The rocks were covered in Cormorants and Shags with Oystercatchers round about them and a Great Black Backed Gull or two.
I headed into the hide, which surprisingly giving the promising conditions was empty, and was soon settled in to watch what was flying past. The visibility was still relatively limited but as I was using binoculars anyway it didn't make a huge difference to what I was able to pick out. Gannets, Kittiwakes, Fulmar and Puffins were quickly added to the list before an all dark shearwater headed north through the murk - a
Sooty Shearwater - target number 1. Ten minutes later I had my first Arctic Skua of the day, also heading north. Common and Arctic Terns, Guillemots and Razorbills were added to the list as the visibilty improved a little. The first Manx Shearwater passed northwards. There was plenty of movement though it was largely Gannets and Puffins that I was seeing with low numbers of the other usual species.
At 1105 I spotted a dark, stocky bird low over the water out towards the horizon powerfully making it's way north. My second target for the day - a Bonxie or
Great Skua. Mission accomplished and I hadn't even been in the hide an hour. A few more Manx Shearwaters passed by then a larger group with around 15 or so in the group and a few more smaller groups. Another couple of Bonxies were also added along with a pair of Common Scoters before I sent a text reporting what I'd seen so far. This seemed to jinx things a little for me as passage seemed to quieten down a bit. I spotted 3 summer plumaged Knot and a Redshank on the rocks. The first Eider flew past just after 1300.
John Anderson wandered down onto the rocks a little while later as the tide rose and the sun came out a little. As he did so, he managed to miss a trio of Arctic Skuas just offshore as he was busy being careful not to fall on the rocks. The weather soon turned nasty and a heavy shower chased John off the rocks and into the hide where it became necessary to close the shutters - though it was still possible to see out the north side one while staying dry. More Knot and Turnstone passed once the rain abated. John spotted a couple of Whimbrel. We were joined by Tom Moodie, who I'd never met before, though whose photos I've seen on Flickr and the FBC gallery. There was some discussion while more birds passed by, including more waders.
Ken Shaw joined us in the hide and his expert eyes were soon picking up an almost constant stream of Manxies heading south as well as additional Arctic Skuas before I picked out another Bonxie. A gull over the rocks near the hide caught my eye and the few photos I got showed it to be a not wholly unexpected Mediterranean Gull youngster. Another Arctic Skua, more Whimbrels, more Knot, some Dunlin, many more Manx Shearwaters and lots of more typical fayre passed by before John gave me a lift back to Crail to catch the bus back to Dundee. A Magpie was seen on the golf course and from the bus at Guardbridge I added Mute Swan to the list for the day.
My longest single sea-watch and a rather successful one at that, though had Ken been around earlier I suspect the list of birds seen would have been even better than the 52 species I managed to see. Getting both my target species for the day (in bold) was an added big bonus. Hopefully I will manage to squeeze in some more lengthy sea-watches as the season progresses though the pressure is now off to get the more commonly seen species, and anything rarer will be a bonus. As last year showed, almost anything is possible.
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| Puffin |
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| Gannet |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Gannet & Arctic Skua |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Great Skua |
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| Common Tern |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Fulmar |
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| Curlew |
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| Great Skua |
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| Great Skua |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Great Skua |
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| Puffin |
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| Razorbill |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Great Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua & Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Guillemot |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Cormorant |
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| Shag |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Shag |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Knot |
Species seen - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull,
Great Skua, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Manx Shearwater, Mediterranean Gull, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag,
Sooty Sheawater, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Grey Seal.
