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| Linnet |
Avoiding public transport as I have been doing for the past the past 2 and a half years has meant that I've missed out on some 'good birds' that I might otherwise have seen. Concentrating on my Dundee list has become my priority and at times it has reaped dividends. Sometimes it can feel a bit 'samey' however, so when the offer of a spot of 'twitching' comes up, I will usually take the opportunity. I had planned an early morning trip up the Law for Saturday morning, knowing that the Tree Pipits were on the move, with a chance of something else too. However, a message from Ian on Friday evening suggesting a trip to Fife, with a White Rumped Sandpiper at Kilrenny Mill the main target was too good a chance to pass up, so arrangements were made for a 0700 pick-up.
Not long after getting out of my bed I looked out my living room window and saw 6 large birds heading in my direction. The camera and binoculars were both packed away for the trip so I had to rely on just my eyes to ID the birds as I didn't have time to get to the bag before it seemed likely the birds would pass overhead. Thankfully, despite my initial puzzlement at what they might be, it soon became clear that they were half a dozen Cormorants - only the second time I've seen the species over this area. I met Ian at 0700 as planned and we set off for Fife. Jackdaw and Collared Dove were both seen in Leuchars. A surprise species from the car was a Great Spotted Woodpecker in flight as we passed near Kingsmuir airfield.
We reached Kilrenny Mill around 0745. There were numerous Shags, many of them colour-ringed, out on the rocks just offshore and a large number of mostly Black Headed Gulls on the shore nearby. A Yellowhammer was heard singing and as we scanned from the coastal path we added Turnstone, Pied Wagtail, Mallard, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Ringed Plover, a single
Golden Plover, Redshanks, Rock Pipit and a Meadow Pipit. There had been no messages via the Fife WhatsApp grapevine which didn't seem particularly promising but we headed east along the path to find the spot where the bird had shown really well the previous evening.
Lapwing, Skylark, Linnet, Goldfinch and Tree Sparrow were noted around the field to the north of the path while offshore some Gannets and Sandwich Terns were spotted. Sam Taylor stopped on his way back to his car to tell us he'd drawn a blank but had at least found some Dunlin, which the bird had been associating with previously. I happened to catch some movement out of the corner of my eye as I was scanning through the scope which I thought was a Stoat crossing the path in a very stop/start manner. I got some not very good photos given the opportunity, but it turned out to actually be a Weasel which I've not photographed previously. A pair of Roe Deer were shortly after seen running up a hill and into the next field. We found the Dunlin but there was no sign of the Sandpiper. Rook and Robin were noted before we called it quits and headed back to the car. It had been raining lightly for most of the time we had been searching which was annoying as it hadn't been forecast, but thankfully we didn't get too wet.
We decided to head for Fife Ness for a spot of seawatching, in the hope of perhaps adding a Skua or a Shearwater that wasn't a Manxie, or maybe even a Roseate Tern (though an Arctic would suffice given I've not seen one this year yet). A Buzzard was added from the car as we drove back to Crail and then out to Fife Ness. As it wasn't raining there we chose to sit outside the hide and scan. Although it wasn't overly busy offshore there was a fairly steady passage of Gannets and Kittiwakes visible almost constantly. It didn't take too long to get our first Manx Shearwater of the day. Fulmar and Sandwich Terns soon followed. A large swarm of around 50 House Martins very briefly hung around high above the rocks before vanishing once again as suddenly as they had appeared. A pair of Common Sandpipers (ID'd from photos) headed south, well out over the sea. Another 2 pairs of Manx Shearwaters went north over the next 20 minutes or so.
A Curlew went south before a pair of Common Terns passed by northbound. Just before 1100 I picked up a dark bird over the sea. Until I got a decent view there was some brief hope it might be a Skua, but it turned out to be a lone Swift low over the water southbound. With some intermittent rain interrupting things we decided to move into the Fife Bird Club hide. A Greenshank close in to the rocks was a nice bonus catch. More Common Terns and Manxies as well as some distant auks kept things ticking over before I spotted a single Knot on the rocks near the Great Black Backed Gulls. A pair of Common Scoters gave us a little bit more variety and after a lull the number of Manx Shearwaters picked up again, all heading north. There were a few Linnets around on the rocks as well as a few Pied Wagtails.
After 2 and a half hours we discussed our options but with nothing much of any great interest being reported elsewhere we decided to stay put in the hide. We added more Manxies, Sandwich and Common Terns, Common Scoters and a few Guillemots. Around 1340 I picked up definite Skua quite distantly and eventually managed to get Ian on to the bird too. It had a go at a Kittiwake allowing us to settle on
Arctic Skua (a year-tick for us both). A surprise at 1355 was a flock of a dozen Manxies heading north together, given that all our previous sightings had been 1s or 2s. Another even more distant Arctic Skua was seen a little later but we managed to lose sight of it which meant no photos. Another Common Sandpiper was seen among the rocks before we called it a day at around 1450. What appeared to be a rather pale looking young Starling with a larger group had us trying to refind it on the walk back to the car, but I suspect it was just a slightly paler than usual young Common Starling rather than a Rosy.
Despite missing out on the White Rumped Sandpiper we had a decent enough day out. Kilrenny Mill was a new location for us both and the seawatching while not exactly thrill-a-minute was definitely steady enough to keep the interest levels up. We managed a total of 54 species of which 2 (in bold) were year-ticks. All in all, it was probably the right decision to forego the Tree Pipits over the Law in favour of the trip to Fife.
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Shag, Cormorant & Great Black Backed Gull
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| Weasel |
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| Dunlin |
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Roe Deer
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| Kittiwake |
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House Martin
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Manx Shearwater
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| Curlew |
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Common Tern
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| Greenshank |
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Common Tern
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| Kittiwake |
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Sandwich Tern
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Common Scoter
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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Common Scoter
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Arctic Skua
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Manx Shearwater
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| Gannet |
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Lesser Black Backed Gull
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Birds -
Arctic Skua, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Fulmar, Gannet,
Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Skylark, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals - Grey Seal, Rabbit, Roe Deer, Weasel.
