Having spent the majority of my week's holiday on the north side of the Tay with the exception of Sunday's trip to St Abb's Head with Ian by Thursday a trip to Fife was well overdue. Although there was nothing in particular around, my plan was to head for Crail and do some seawatching with Great and Arctic Skua the hoped for target birds. Any incoming migrants would be a bonus. The weather forecast was cooler than the preceding days and given easterly winds I wasn't expecting it to feel particularly warm.
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| Gannet |
It was yet another early start as mornings are often better for seawatching, although when it is sunny the glare off the water does make things a little more difficult than ideal. I headed out just before 0645 to catch the 0705 bus to St Andrews then the 0750 to Crail. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Blackbird were the only birds seen on the walk to the bus station. Things perked up slightly on the bus journey to St Andrews with Skylark, Rook, Sand Martin, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Swallow all noted.
From the bus to Crail I was able to add Blue Tit, Swift, Stock Dove, Buzzard, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Brown Hare to the list. Arriving in Crail I wandered along to Denburn Wood. Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Dunnock and Robin were the only additions until I headed out along the road towards Kilminning. A Corn Bunting was seen on the wires by the track up to the B&B. A Whitethroat was on the wires in the industrial area between the 2 cow fields. Things were very quiet at the top end of Kilminning with only Great Tit added and a singing Robin before I walked down past the golf course where Meadow Pipit and Reed Bunting were seen.
I detoured down to Balcomie Beach where Eider were seen offshore with a small flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover as well as Oystercatcher picking around towards the top end of the beach. Despite the sunshine it was rather cold in the wind and I wasn't sure I had worn enough layers. I headed into the hide out of the wind and settled down for a few hours worth of seawatching. Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemot, Razorbill, Arctic Tern, Fulmar, Sandwich Tern and Great Black Backed Gull were soon on the list. Curlew, Cormorant, Common Tern and Shag followed on soon after.
Around 40 minutes in the first Red Throated Diver flew past. For the next few hours things were steady with birds passing by all the time at various distances. Around 1145 I was rather surprised to pick up a decent sized flock of Manx Shearwaters approaching from the south. There were at least 25 birds in the flock, possibly closer to 30. Having not seen any Manx Shearwaters up to this point it was slightly odd to see so many pass through together so suddenly. With the cold I was swithering on whether or not to pack up and head elsewhere. The Manxies persuaded me to stick around for another hour at least. A Great Black Backed Gull carrying a large orange fish looked very strange. Things were still rather steady but unspectacular though there were a few more Red Throated Divers and Manx Shearwaters passing by in singles. A quartet of Red Breasted Mergansers and the first Common Gulls were added.
I eventually decided to try and see if sitting out in the sun would be warmer than the shade of the hide and headed outside. Will Cresswell was sat behind the pill-box so I joined him for more birds passing. It didn't take long for Will to pick up a very distant Great Northern Diver which I struggled to get onto with the camera but eventually succeeded in confirming the ID, despite the bird being in excess of a mile away. Will headed off a little later and I moved further out onto the rocks to try and get some photos as some of the birds were coming in quite close to the rocks. A few Swallows were heading out over the sea in small groups of 3 or 4 birds at times. An inquisitive Grey Seal came in close for a look at me resulting in some decent photos.
Just after 1400, I heard a bird call and looked up to see a Yellow Wagtail overhead and heading out over the sea. I struggled to get the camera to focus but did succeed in catching a yellow "blob" which confirmed my identification made from the initial call. There were plenty of photo opportunities with Shelduck and Black Headed Gull joining the other species on the list. Despite using the rocks as a windbreak as best I could the cold eventually got the better of me around 1500 and I set off back to Crail to catch the bus back to St Andrews. House Martin, Linnet and Yellowhammer plus Green Veined White butterflies were seen on the rather hurried walk back - having been delayed by some Italian golfers taking forever to take their tee shots. The only addition on my way home was a Grey Heron from St Andrews bus station.
Despite the cold and the lack of anything new for the year-list, it was a reasonable day's birding with not too much effort required other than getting out of bed early and the 2 mile walk each way to and from Fife Ness from Crail. 58 species of bird seen, as well as 2 mammals and 1 butterfly.
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| Dunnock |
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| Collared Dove |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Robin |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Dunnock |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Gannet, Fulmar & Guillemot |
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| Guillemot & Razorbill |
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| Herring Gull & Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Gannet |
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| Guillemot & Gannet |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Ringed Plover & Dunlin |
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| Guillemot & Razorbill |
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| Guillemot & Razorbill |
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| Gannet |
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| Manx Shearwater & Gannet |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Gannet |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Eider |
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| Shag |
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| Great Black Backed Gull & Lumpsucker(?) |
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| Great Black Backed Gull & Lumpsucker(?) |
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| Great Northern Diver |
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| Gannet |
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| Shag |
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| Gannet |
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| Fulmar |
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| Red Throated Diver |
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| Shag |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Shag |
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| Shag |
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| Common Gull |
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| Swallow |
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| Gannet |
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| Guillemot |
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| Gannet |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Grey Seal |
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| Eider |
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| Gannet |
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| Guillemot |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Gannet |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Shag |
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| Gannet |
Species seen - Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Northern Diver, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Yellow Wagtail, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White.
Mammals seen - Brown Hare.
