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| Merlin |
This year, all but one of my birding outings have been within Dundee (bar a few minutes cutting a corner, a couple of times). Back in May, I spent a few hours down at Easthaven with Ian which proved to be quite productive with a Black Guillemot, 2 Yellow Wagtails and a Whimbrel being the main highlights. There have been some rather interesting seabirds around recently, with amazing numbers of Cory's Shearwaters in particular being spotted off southwest England. Ian messaged me on the 9th of August to see if I fancied a trip over to Fife Ness the following Sunday. Seawatching is something I really enjoy but which is nigh on impossible to do from within Dundee, so I was definitely up for a trip to Fife for the first time this year. You just never know what you might see while seawatching....
Ian arranged to pick me up at 0715 on Sunday. My list for the day started off with Carrion Crow, Swift, Herring Gull, House Sparrow and Feral Pigeon before Ian arrived, right on time. Once across the bridge into Fife, Woodpigeon was noted followed by Jackdaw and House Martin in Leuchars. A Grey Heron was on the Motray at Guardbridge and at the south end of the village a Little Egret was seen in flight as we drove over the bridge there. Swallow was noted as we neared St Andrews and Starling and Blackbird were spotted as we passed through the town. We reached Kilminning around 0805 where we saw/heard Blue Tit, Curlew, Dunnock and an unidentified warbler species, as well as a Rabbit.
We continued down across the golf course and got ourselves organised with our scope and tripods. There were Gannets and Sandwich Terns passing offshore while numerous Shags could be seen on the rocks off to the north. A couple of Redshanks flew past and a Collared Dove overflew as we wandered round towards the hide. An adult and juvenile Great Black Backed Gull were stood down on the rocks, the adult bird being ringed (yellow T:044). Rather than go inside the hide we positioned ourselves on the bench just at the northern end of the hide building. The sun was shining which wasn't great for birds passing by straight out, but did make for relatively comfortable birding. Having set up our scopes, Ian nipped back to the car for something he'd forgotten.
There were plenty of Gannets moving through and a couple of Oystercatchers flew past relatively close in. I picked up a large-ish bird going south, which was already past when I first spotted it. The only thing that it could be was a Cory's Shearwater (or a Scopoli's, I suppose) but the rear 3/4 view hid most of the features I would need for a description. Ian arrived back and I got him onto the bird quickly. He agreed that it looked good for a 'large Shearwater' and flew just like those Cory's he's seen around Tenerife on his holidays. However, it had to go on the list as just a 'probable' at best. A small group of Common Scoter went north and a pair of Razorbills did likewise. The first Kittiwakes of the day were soon noted and a few Swallows arrived in off the sea, did a spot of hawking over the rocks and hide, before continuing on their way.
A Guillemot was next onto the list before a small flock of Ringed Plover flew low over the sea just beyond the rocks.The first Manx Shearwater of the morning was picked up around 0905, heading north in characteristic flight. A pair of Whimbrel went southwards a few minutes later. More Sandwich Terns and another trio of Manxies and then a singleton were spotted before I picked out a Fulmar. A Pied Wagtail dropped in onto the rocks to our left. We had been joined by another birder, whose name I've forgotten in the intervening period (sorry!) who sat on the bench in front of the hide. A dark brown bird flew very low above the rocks just below the 3 of us as we sat there. I said "Sparrowhawk" just before the bird perched up on the rocks at the other end of the hide. I then rather quickly realised my mistake. It was a rather nice Merlin which perched for around 90 seconds or so before flying off again. Long enough for me to get a few photos and a 40 second video clip. - https://youtu.be/WIXVEMZkS1Q?si=fTETQpZMamT8iMJx
There were 3 Wall butterflies and a few Small Whites flitting around near us. Another pair of Manxies passed by before a small flock of Linnets landed in front of us. Some distant Common Terns were seen much further out. Sand Martin was the next addition for the morning, in a flock with around 20 more Swallows. A trio of Knots went south and what were likely Teal followed a similar track. More Kittiwakes, Sandwich Terns and Cormorants headed north and a couple of Curlews headed south. A Red Throated Diver and a Great Skua were spotted heading north, the former much closer than the latter.
An Arctic Skua headed southwards before swinging back northwards shortly afterwards. A few more Manxies, Ringed Plovers and another Arctic Skua were next. Common Gull, Turnstone, a Puffin and Arctic Tern were all noted as was another Red Throated Diver, another Bonxie and a further 2 Arctic Skuas as well as a flock of around 30 Golden Plover, and a few Dunlin were in a mixed flock of Ringed Plovers. We packed up around 1500 noting a Yellowhammer and a Magpie as we headed back up across the golf course. Rooks were in a field near St Andrews and a Sparrowhawk was seen over the inner ring road when we made it back to Dundee. Although my year-list is of minor importance this year I did manage 7 new birds (well, 6 and a probable) in bold) for my 2023 list.
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| Shag |
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| Wall |
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Common Scoter
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Merlin
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| Merlin |
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| Gannet |
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Redshank & Oystercatcher
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| Curlew |
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Great Black Backed Gull
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| Shag |
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| Kittiwake |
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Black Headed Gull
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Cormorant & Shag
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Common Gull
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Sandwich Tern
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Sandwich Tern
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Ringed Plover & Turnstone
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Common Tern
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Golden Plover
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Cormorant (Sinensis race?)
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| Razorbill |
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Red Throated Diver
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| Knot |
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Arctic Skua
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Birds - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Cory's Shearwater (probable), Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fulmar, Gannet, Golden Plover, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Skua, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Knot, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Manx Shearwater, Merlin, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterflies - Peacock, Small White, Wall.
Mammals - Rabbit, Grey Seal.
