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| Gannet |
Rather unexpectedly, Ian messaged me to see if I fancied a trip to Fife Ness on Wednesday. As the weather forecast was to be a bit too warm for me I had practically written off the chance of me doing any birding before Ian's message came through. It is exhausting walking miles in the hot sun carrying my birding gear and even choosing to travel light doesn't solve all the issues, so I tend to limit my birding outings in the hotter weather of summer. Thankfully, this mostly coincides with the quieter period in the birding calendar year. With Fife Ness being our destination, it would only be a short walk from the car and the likelihood of a cooling breeze off the sea would also mean that I wouldn't end up too hot and irritated. A major plus for me was the chance to get in some seawatching, which is one of my favourite types of birding and something I cannot really do within Dundee's boundaries.
Ian picked me up at 0730. A trio of unidentified ducks (though most likely Mallards) had flown over northwards while I waited for him to arrive. A number of other species were noted before we set off for Fife - Swift, Herring Gull, Hosue Sparrow, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Dunnock, Magpie, Chaffinch, Jackdaw and Feral Pigeon. A Grey Heron was seen stood in the Tay at the Fife end of the bridge. Collared Dove was noted as we passed through Leuchars with Oystercatcher and Mallard, a little further on. Both Swallow and House Martin were seen over Guardbridge. A Skylark was spotted over a roadside field before we reached St Andrews. Rooks were noted in good numbers in one of the fields as we headed out to Fife Ness from Crail.
We parked opposite the static caravans at Fife Ness and got ourselves organised. Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtail and Whitethroat were all seen close by while a number of Gannets could be seen passing by offshore. There were 2 female Eiders in the small bay next to where the car was parked. The rocks to the north held Cormorants, Shags and Great Black Backed Gulls. A Grey Seal was 'bottling' beyond these rocks and a Song Thrush was heard singing from the direction of the 'Patch'. We sat round behind the pillbox and having set up our scopes we began scanning out over the sea. Gannets and a mix of Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins made up the majority of the passing birds to start with before a trio of Common Scoters headed north and a few Sandwich Terns went by closer in, in the opposite direction.
Kittiwake, Fulmar, Common Tern and finally the first few of an eventual total of 11 Manx Shearwaters were added. Heat shimmer from the rocks in front of us was causing some problems so we decided to move down nearer the water to alleviate the issue. This worked out well, especially when we became aware of 'something' heading towards the rocks a little to our north. It didn't look like anything that made any sort of sense but it was definitely being propelled towards the rocks. Eventually it became apparant what it was we were looking at - an Otter carrying a rather large Lobster in its mouth. It clambered out of the water onto a sloping rock which meant we couldn't see the Lobster. I decided to creep closer for a better angle. I was able to get round behind the Otter and proceeded to take some photos.
The camera shutter noise drew some attention from the Otter but it continued to munch on the Lobster which was still hidden from view by the slope of the rock. I took a few more photos with the Otter turning its head to face me once or twice. From the photos it appears that the right hand eye is smaller (or more sunken) than the left, perhaps suggesting an injury and there is what appears to be a scar on the nose too. A Great Black Backed Gull showed up above the Otter and with nothing additional to gain from remaining where I was I attempted to return the way I'd came so as not to disturb the Otter any further as it was tucking in to breakfast. When I got back to my scope I discovered that my movement and the loitering gull had seemingly persuaded the Otter to take its meal elsewhere.
Getting back to the birds we added a few more Manx Shearwaters, Common Terns, Sandwich Terns, Puffins and Fulmars as well as the far more numerous Guillemots and Gannets. A lone Arctic Tern was added eventually. A pair of RAF Typhoons were mock dog-fighting out over the sea which did provide us with another distraction from the Gannets and Guillemot passage. A few Common Gulls and a trio of Redshanks were also noted. Eventually around 1115 we decided to head up to Kilminning for a look about there, though our expectations were realtively low. Ian dropped me off at the top end while he popped back to Crail to buy something for his lunch. There was a large noisy flock of Jackdaws milling around overhead and a Buzzard drifted over a bit higher in the sky above them.
Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Wren and a singing Skylark were all noted. A Willow Warbler was heard singing and a Rabbit ran off when it spotted me. Swallows and House Martins swept low over the field to the north of the road. A couple of Meadow Brown butterflies were seen flitting around as well as a Speckled Wood butterfly before Ian arrived back. We drove down to the much changed bottom end which is now owned by the Crail community and is being redeveloped to be more wildlife friendly. Lots of trees have been planted and there has been some landscaping done to limit parking. A wander around added Sedge Warbler and Stonechat down by the fenceline. A Green Veined White butterfly and a couple of very fresh looking Ringlets were seen in a few sheltered spots. Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Pheasant, Blue Tit and Great Tit and a distant male Sparrowhawk with prey were all noted along with a second Sedge Warbler before we had to call it a day to allow Ian to get home for around 1400.
We finished the birding for the day having noted a total of 55 species of which 4 (in bold) were new for my almost forgotten year-list. Two of the five species of butterflies seen were also firsts for the year for me, though the main highlight was undoubtedly the close views of the Otter. Having only visited Fife four times in six months this year, I've managed to get amazing views of Otters in two of these visits, both times with Ian, which have resulted in my best photos of this often hard to see species. When I was a kid this would have been unthinkable. On the down side it has now been many, many years since I last saw a Water Vole anywhere which were relatively common back then. For every species gained there seems to be at least 2 or 3 losses which is not good news. The ready availability of photos and news of sightings on the internet seems to create an illusion of plenty of wildlife. Had the internet (and digital cameras) been around 40+ years ago I suspect there would have been some very noticeable differences in both quantity and quality of wildlife to be seen.
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Herring Gull
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| Guillemot |
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Sandwich Tern
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Manx Shearwater
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Common Scoter
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| Puffin |
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Otter with Lobster
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| Otter |
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| Otter |
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Common Gull
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| Cormorant |
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Common Tern
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| Fulmar |
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Great Black Backed Gull
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| Goldfinch |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Buzzard |
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House Martin
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| Stonechat |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Reed Bunting
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| Ringlet |
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| Swallow |
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Sedge Warbler
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Birds -
Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter,
Common Tern, Cormorant, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard,
Manx Shearwater, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail,
Puffin, Razorbill, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwhich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Shag, Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies - Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Otter, Rabbit.
