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| Common Tern |
Ian had messaged me on Saturday around the time I found the Whimbrel to see if I fancied a trip over to Fife Ness for some seawatching on Sunday. Although it was unlikely that we would be able to see the Bridled Tern, there did seem to be a decent mix of species passing Fife Ness, including at least one other potential lifer for me - Balearic Shearwater (which I think has now been 'lumped' with Yelkouan Shearwater to become a single species named Mediterranean Shearwater). Other possibilities that I hadn't yet seen, due to having done no seawatching outwith Dundee and the Tay this year, included Manx and Sooty Shearwaters, Great, Pomarine and Long Tailed Skuas, Roseate Tern, Puffin and Black Guillemot. There was also a chance of something rarer such as Sabine's Gull, Cory's Shearwater or maybe even a Great Shearwater. One of the big attractions of seawatching is the unpredictability of what can turn up (there have even been a few southern hemisphere species seen around Scotland and the north of England in recent years).
Ian had suggested an 0700 departure from just around the corner so I made sure I was organised and ready to go for that time. The weather forecast was reasonably warm and sunny though with fairly light winds, which wasn't completely great news - given shearwaters prefer some wind over the water, though the warm temperatures and the sunshine weren't (due to glare and heat distortion). However from a comfort perspective, the warmth would most definitely be a plus. While waiting for Ian to arrive I noted Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Starling, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Robin, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon and a Pied Wagtail. Ian arrived bang on 0700 and we set off for Fife. En route we managed to see a few species - Cormorants on the Tay, Swallows, Collared Dove, Jackdaw and House Martins as well as a young Brown Hare leveret which ran across the road in front of the car.
We reached Fife Ness around 0800 and could see Gannets passing by offshore as well as Shags out on the rocks. We wandered round to the hide where there were already 2 birders, 1 inside and 1 outside. It turned out that I've met both of them previously and actually follow them both on social media too - Sandy Morrison outside the hide, and Pete Carroll inside the hide. Unfortunately the light was even worse than expected with a combination of glare and heat distortion coupled with most birds being well out towards the horizon, bar the Gannets. An Arctic Skua headed north before Pete called the 1st for us (but 2nd of the day) Balearic Shearwater. I managed to get onto the bird and watched it head north low and steady over the water. I was struggling to see any sort of detail due to the light. A pair of Manx Shearwaters headed north, with the flight style being noticeably different to that of the Balearic. Razorbill and Guillemot were seen on the water before a Great Skua headed northwards.
A few Great Black-backed Gulls were down on the rocky island in front of us, and a few groups of Sand Martins headed past southwards. There were plenty of Sandwich Terns on the move. I thought I had a shearwater a few times but each time it turned out to be a Fulmar. Lack of recent 'proper' seawatching practice with the 'big' scope was clearly hindering me. We picked up Kittiwake and another Balearic Shearwater before Pete found a couple of Little Gulls relatively close in. A small flock of Linnets landed on the rocks but didn't stay long before flying off again. A mixed flock of House and Tree Sparrows flew around behind us before a Sooty Shearwater headed past, out towards the horizon. I did manage to get some 'photos' of this bird but you'd be hard pushed to tell it was even a bird, let alone what species it was. A Puffin was next on the day's list before a small group of Eider were seen on the water to the south. Sandy headed off to Tentsmuir shortly after the Bridled Tern was seen distantly from Musselburgh.
Around 1135, I heard a Whimbrel calling to the north and managed to pick it up just before it passed us. A small flock of Common Scoters went north around 70 minutes later while a small flock of Dunlin headed past southwards at 1300. A pair of summer plumaged Red Throated Divers and a Curlew shortly afterwards kept things interesting enough. A small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins swam past reasonably close in to the rocks and a Grey Seal a bit closer in were seen around 1345. Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Black Headed Gull, Redshank, Turnstone and Grey Heron as well as both Large and Small White butterflies were seen over the course of the next few hours and a Rock Pipit was down on the rocks. A Wren was heard as we headed back to the car around 1530 and Rooks and a Sparrowhawk seen from the car were the final additions for the day as we headed back towards Dundee.
I finished the day with 51 species of birds, 2 of butterflies and 3 of mammals. Balearic Shearwater was a lifer, and Puffin, Great Skua, Sooty Shearwater and Manx Shearwater were all new for the year for me - even though I'm not really 'doing a year-list'. It was a slightly frustrating day overall, though I did manage to suss out how to stop the camera from focussing on every wave top, which will likely come in useful in future. Thanks again to Ian for the day out and the chance to get another lifer (something that doesn't happen very often in Dundee).
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Razorbill |
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Shag, Great Black-backed Gull & Oystercatcher |
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| Linnet |
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| Common Tern |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Dunlin |
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| Fulmar |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Curlew |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin |
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| Gannet |
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| Gannet |
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| Arctic Skua(?) |
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| Arctic Skua(?) & Kittiwake |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Cormorant |
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| Gannet |
Birds - Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Balearic Shearwater, Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Scoter, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Skua, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Manx Shearwater, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Puffin, Razorbill, Red-throated Diver, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Sooty Shearwater, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Tree Sparrow, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Large White, Small White.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Brown Hare, Grey Seal.
