Velvet and the King.
During the last three and a bit weeks away offshore, I had kept a close eye on Bird Track for reports on my patch. Only one had been registered. A couple of nice birds on it though with Greenshank and Ruff. Some really good reports of divers on either side of the patch at Kinghorn and Dysart, so this morning I set out for my first session back with hope in my heart.
It was as if I'd never been away, with a bright sun shining out of a blue sky onto relatively calm waters. I was late getting to the car park, having had to wait to let a decorator into the house, while Mrs Goose (don't ever tell her I call her that!) did the school run. It was ten to ten as I emerged from the car into the sunshine. The tide was well up the beach, and the good weather had brought out every dog walker for miles. My hope started to fade a little, but there were birds out on the water.
A Herring Gull in the car park was the first bird in the book, closely followed by a nearby BHG, its black head now becoming very obvious. Turning my attention to the birds on the water, the Herring Gull tally continued to rise, as it would for the rest of the session, but it was the Eiders that were the dominant presence. Twenty counted from the front of the car park.
It was while scanning the Eider, that I noticed two ducks at distance, that didn't seem right for Eider. With so many Eider around, my thoughts were already on the possibility of King Eider. These were not King Eider though. They were black looking. Common Scoter I thought, then one of them had a flap of its wings while facing me, and there I saw whitish wing bars. I hardly dared believe I could have found Velvet Scoter.
I headed down onto the beach. I had to get closer, so I walked across the soft sands to the advancing tide line. For twenty minutes or more, I played chicken with the small waves, while staring relentlessly through the 10x42s at these two dark ducks. My arms started to ache holding the binoculars up. My eyes watered as I strained them to pick out a detail that would confirm Velvet Scoter.
The ducks of course, did what every bird of interest seems to do. They resolutely stayed at that difficult distance where you can't quite pick out enough detail to be sure. Worse than that, they both had their heads tucked away for a mid morning snooze. Persistence paid off though. Eventually one of them put its head up for a look around, and I could clear see the orange in the bill that said Velvet. But I still wasn't 100% sure. The birds were still too far off to make out any of the expected white face or wing markings. I now whipped out the bridge camera and started taking shots to analyse later.
The ducks were now drifting away, so I headed back up onto the path and restarted the list. Carrion crow, Oystercatcher, Shag, Starling, House Sparrow, Oystercatcher, Dunnock, GBBG, Robin, Magpie, Blackbird, Redshank and Turnstone were all noted before I got to Seafield Tower.
The Eider count had continued to rise, and always I scanned the scattered flock with King Eider in the back of my mind. But it was not out on the water that I found my king for the day. In front of the tower, perched on a rock, I spotted a bird. The binoculars revealed a patch tick of a Kingfisher. Not a King Eider, but a very welcome royal visitor none the less.
With time running out, I headed back to the car park, but had a quick look around the back of the tower first, adding a Curlew to the list. On the way back, I also added Rock Pipit, Ringed Plover, and Cormorant. A small fishing boat was motoring close in. It flushed a Long-Tailed Duck into the air. At the harbour, I found a flock of Purple Sandpiper clinging to the eroded sea wall in the splash zone. And as I approached the car, a Mute Swan became my last entry in the note book, as it flew low over the shining waters.
Back home now, I have had a look at the photos of the Scoter. I feel confident enough to say that they are indeed Velvet Scoter. I can just about make out the near eye marking and in one photo I can see a hint of the white wing slash. Also the size of the bird in comparison to the nearby Eider, along with the sturdy looking neck, all point to Velvet. I'm confident enough to not bother the Bird ID Q&A section of this forum, but let me know if you think I've made a pigs ear of the ID (Photos attached).
All in all, a very good session with two new ticks for the list. :t: