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| Guillemot |
On Wednesday the 4th of February, I was stuck at home, and also feeling a bit sick. There seemed to be Slavonian Grebes being reported from a variety of places in Fife. The thought that there might be one in City Quay niggled at the back of my mind. Was it worthwhile me taking a look? It was still wet and windy but there did appear to be a bit of a potential window of opportunity, though it was already around 1430 in the afternoon. If I was going to have a look I would have to make my mind up before I simply ran out of time (and daylight, such as it was on a very grey day). I decided to go for it. I knew the likelihood of there being a Slavonian Grebe in City Quay was fairly slim but given the weather there was the possibility of being something taking shelter there.
It was 1505 before I made it out the door. I still wasn't feeling particularly great and I wasn't entirely convinced that the weather window would remain open very long. Herring Gull, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon were seen in my street. The only other bird seen on my walk down to City Quay was a Carrion Crow. Things appeared rather quiet around the water park area of the quay with only a couple of Herring Gulls stood on the pontoons. Round by the footbridge I almost missed a bird that was actually sheltering from the conditions out at sea, and the river. A Guillemot - new for the year, and a very welcome find. A female Red-breasted Merganser could be seen further to the east.
House Sparrow and Robin were spotted by the flats, and there were a few Cormorants roosting by the broken wooden jetty. A couple of Blue Tits were working their way through the Buddleia bushes along the edge of the 'dry dock', but there was no sign of the Kingfisher. A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers were in the outer part of the quay. A Great Black-backed Gull was stood on the concrete block at Submarine Rock and I had a fleeting glimpse of a Rock Pipit as it dropped down off the harbour wall and out of sight. A Black-headed Gull flew past and there were a couple of Starlings calling from the edge of the roofs of some of the smaller buildings as I headed back to the inner quay again after checking the river.
A pair of Oystercatchers were huddled up on the broken wooden jetty. It had started to rain quiet heavily by this time so I headed homewards after getting a few more photos of the Guillemot. The walk home added Pied Wagtail, Magpie, Jackdaw, Goldfinch and a Grey Wagtail closer to home. These took my list for the short wander to just 20 species, though the 1 new species (in bold) had meant that it wasn't a wasted journey, and maybe a Slavonian Grebe might yet seek shelter in the quay as there appears to be no end in sight for this extended spell of uncharacteristically wet and windy winter weather we are having in 2026. The longer this weather lasts, the harder it is proving to get motivated to actually go out into it, though being stuck at home is no fun either. Once again, the conditions and overall lack of variety meant I didn't take too many photos.
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| Guillemot |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Starling |
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| Cormorant |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Guillemot |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Herring Gull |
Birds - Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Goldfinch, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Red-breasted Merganser, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Starling, Woodpigeon.
