Ian messaged me on Friday evening to see if I fancied a trip over to Fife on Saturday. Needless to say, of course I did! Although I've been relatively successful in Dundee lately (and across the year as a whole) the chance to search some proper rarity habitat and especially, get some sea-watching practice in, was an offer I wasn't going to turn down. Ian's pal, Colin Haggart was also coming along, so we arranged for an 0730 start at our usual pick-up point. The weather forecast was to be dry but with the wind increasing from the south as the day went on. Although I wasn't expecting too much on the migrant front there had been a Dusky Warbler lingering at Kilminning. Grey Phalarope and Little Auk had both been seen from Fife Ness...
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| Woodcock |
I headed out into the darkness at 0725 to meet Ian and Colin. I wasn't sure whether I'd accurately gauged the weather and the amount of layers of clothing required but time would no doubt tell. Herring Gull, Blackbird, Robin and Carrion Crow were noted before Ian and Colin arrived and we headed Fife-wards. With sunrise after 0800 it was no surprise that birds noted en route were rather limited in number though Magpie, Jackdaw, Pink Footed Geese, Starling and Buzzard were all seen before we reached Fife Ness. Cormorants and Great Black Backed Gulls were out on the rocks and a few Goldfinches were seen around the caravans. House Sparrows were heard chirping and Blue Tit and Wren were both noted as we carried our scopes round to the hide.
As there were three of us, rather than the permitted two, we chose not to go into the hide. Instead we positioned ourselves out of the wind between the hide and the pillbox. As things were to turn out this proved to be a good choice. Oystercatcher, Gannet, Eider and Shag were all quickly added to the list. A few Meadow Pipits passed overhead, having arrived in from over the sea. Both Common Gull and Black Headed Gull were rather unsurprisingly added. The first Common Scoter passed by and a flock of Linnets circled round before a male Velvet Scoter passed by going southwards relatively close in. Razorbills and a few Guillemots were spotted low over the water in small groups and the occasional single bird. Unfortunately, the reported Little Auks of the previous day proved elusive for us.
A possible Pomarine Skua was seen low over the water but was too far away to be certain by the time I spotted it. An adult Great Northern Diver took off a little to the south but I failed to re-find it with the camera and didn't get a photo either. A Manx Shearwater heading north was a welcome bird, though not new for the year. A few groups of Skylarks arrived overhead, their calls alerting us before we saw them. My first
Long Tailed Duck of the year was soon added as was my first
Purple Sandpiper - a pair were seen out on the rocks, avoiding the incoming waves. Unfortunately, Ian failed to get on to them. A Red Throated Diver was seen out on the water and another landed nearby. A pair of female (or young) Velvet Scoters passed by.
We had been joined by a couple of others (Danny Rumble and William Howarth) and were all scanning intently, calling out any birds of interest as and when we found them. At 0930 I heard a flock of Skylarks overhead and looked up to see a flock of around 30 birds. From somewhere within the group I could hear a different call and searched for something different among them. As I was looking, a fast moving larger bird above them caught my eye and I called it out "Diver, going north, above us". Thankfully everyone got onto the bird and I ratttled off a series of photos, more in hope than anything. As we were more or less behind and below the bird I wasn't overly hopeful we'd have enough for a definite ID.
Once the bird had passed us by, I chose the sharpest looking photo and zoomed in on the back of the camera. Ian said something along the lines of "maybe it'll be a White Billed Diver", though more as a joke given that I've previously found two of the species in October (2014 & 2018) than as a realistic prosepct. However, as I looked a little closer at the photo onscreen in front of me it quickly became apparent that a
White Billed Diver was indeed what I was looking at!. I said "Yep, it's a White Billed Diver" and showed everybody the photo. It was a lifer for William, and (I think) Danny too, though Ian has seen the species in their Spring hotspot off the north coast of Aberdeenshire/Moray. Smiles all round and I quickly put the news out along with a snap of the back of the camera.
As it turned out Graham Sparshott had also had a White Billed Diver an hour earlier which headed inland over Ferryhills, near the Forth Bridges (Sam Taylor added another on Sunday, off the Fairmount Golf Course, to the east of St Andrews - taking the Fife total for the species to (I believe) nine birds, of which incredibly, I've been in the right place at the right time to see three of them). A few congratulatory messages came through via WhatsApp as we tried to get back to the seawatching. A large skein of Pink Footed Geese came in low from the east. We were joined a few minutes after the White Billed Diver by Will Cresswell who was a bit disappointed by his rather unfortunate timing. However, Will was soon picking out very distant Little Auks out on the horizon as they passed - but I failed to get onto any of them.
Pied Wagtail and Grey Wagtail both flew past us. A very similar mix of birds to what had gone before were noted over the next hour or two, along with an increasing number of Kittiwakes. Matt messaged to say he was on his way down from St Andrews. I eventually managed to get onto a single northbound
Little Auk, not quite as far out as the majority, giving me yet another welcome year-tick. Curlew, Redshank and Rock Pipit were all added before Matt joined us. Ian went for a look round the Patch with Colin. A few minutes later Matt picked up a probable Great Skua well out over the sea which was just too far out for photos and which went down as a "Skua sp." - the second of the day.
Just before noon, I happened to be looking out without binoculars when a brown bird shot through low above the rocks, I called it as a Merlin, but Matt got his binoculars on it quickly and called 'Snipe' before correcting himself to '
Woodcock'. The bird landed very briefly on the rocks before quickly heading off southwest and out of sight. I managed to get a few 'almost in focus' photos against the waves. Ian and Colin had also found a few Woodcock in the Patch. Just as we were about to pack up to head up to Kilminning, Will found a Little Gull and I did manage eventually to get onto the bird. A Coal Tit was added on the wires behind the caravans.
There seemed to be plenty of birds around at the bottom end of Kilminning - though Rob Armstrong's SOC outing hadn't managed to see the Dusky Warbler. A Kestrel was hunting just beyond the fence-line and a flock of Linnets were wheeling round above. We split up to search as wide an area as possible. Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Dunnock, Chaffinches and Yellowhammers were easy to find among the trees and bushes, along with a probable Blackcap and a Greenfinch. Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove and Woodpigeon were feeding in the field to the east. A Stonechat pair was spotted down by the fence and Brambling and Redwing were both seen in flight. A Reed Bunting was also seen flying over. A few small groups of Starling were also noted along with a few more Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. A Brown Hare was seen on the airfield.
Unfortunately, despite much searching we drew a blank on anything too unusual though a trio of Whooper Swans to the east, likely just behind the Ness, were a welcome addition before we headed up to the top end to check there. A Siskin, and a Goldcrest were the best we found up there before we decided to head for Out Head at St Andrews where some decent birds had been reported earlier in the day. We wandered up to the north end of the dunes to scan over the estuary mouth and the sea. Ian found a drake Goldeneye offshore followed soon after by a Slavonian Grebe in the river mouth. Sanderling and
Grey Plover were spotted across the far side of the river towards the base. A small flock of Dunlin, Sanderling and Ringed Plover dropped in, in front of us, but were soon disturbed by walkers.
A Red Breasted Merganser flew out of the bay. Scanning into the bay towards the golf course I managed to pick out a few Shelduck and a Wigeon or two but failed to find any certain Brent Geese. We added a few more Red Throated Divers and a flock of Common Scoters in St Andrews Bay before driving along to the golf museum car park to scan from there. Ian found a flock of
Scaup beyond some Eider and Common Scoters. There were a handful of Velvet Scoters also present. A Grey Heron was roosting on the cliffs to the east and as we were packing up I found a Great Crested Grebe near the Scaup flock giving us another bird for the list.
As we drove back to Dundee we added a flock of Lapwings wheeling around between Guardbridge and St Andrews, plus Collared Dove and Jackdaw in Leuchars, Rook near St Michaels after a bonus Great Spotted Woodpecker on a tree opposite the old paper mill buildings in Guardbridge taking the day's total to 75 species, including a rather handy 7 year-ticks for me (in bold). Bird of the day though unsurprisingly was the White Billed Diver and a much needed wee boost to the system it was. With that and the Hawfinch this month - given how poor an Autumn it has been - I can't really complain. All in all, another really good day out.
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| Gannet |
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| Eider |
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| Shag |
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| Eider |
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Black Headed Gull
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| Oystercatcher |
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Meadow Pipit
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| Linnet |
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Red Throated Diver
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| Razorbill |
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Velvet Scoter
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Velvet Scoter
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Pink Footed Goose
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Skylark |
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Long Tailed Duck
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Red Throated Diver
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Velvet Scoter
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| Gannet |
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| Skylark |
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White Billed Diver
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White Billed Diver
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White Billed Diver
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| Gannet |
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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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| Curlew |
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| Razorbill |
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| Razorbill |
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Common Scoter
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| Eider |
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| Shag |
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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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| Woodcock |
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Common Scoter
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Coal Tit
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| Kestrel |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Linnet |
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| Starling |
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| Yellowhammer |
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Brown Hare
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
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Stock Dove
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Reed Bunting
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
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| Brambling |
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| Brambling |
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Whooper Swan
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Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove & Woodpigeon
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| Redwing |
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| Linnet |
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| Linnet |
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| Goldeneye |
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Slavonian Grebe
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| Yellowhammer |
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Sanderling, Dunlin & Ringed Plover
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Sanderling, Dunlin & Ringed Plover
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Sanderling, Dunlin & Ringed Plover
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Guillemot |
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Red Throated Diver
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Common Scoter
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| Cormorant |
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Eider, Scaup & Common Scoter
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| Scaup |
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Grey Heron
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Birds - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Brambling, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Northern Diver, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Auk, Little Gull, Long Tailed Duck, Magpie, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper, Razorbill, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Scaup, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Slavonian Grebe, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Velvet Scoter, White Billed Diver, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Brown Hare, Grey Seal.