Seafield to Kinghorn (4 Viewers)

[Stonefaction]

Yes, I'm certainly seeing more BG reports this year. Quite a few from Fife Ness.

Had a Black Guillemot yesterday off Hatton water treatment plant between Easthaven and Arbroath yesterday in Angus, my first for Angus or Fife (my only other east coast bird was years ago up at Lybster in Caithness).

 

[Gander]

Had a Black Guillemot yesterday off Hatton water treatment plant between Easthaven and Arbroath yesterday in Angus, my first for Angus or Fife (my only other east coast bird was years ago up at Lybster in Caithness).

Yet to find one myself in Fife, but I did see one a couple of weeks ago in Buckie harbour on the Moray Firth.

I still remember that day we had when they were waddling around our feet at Oban!!!

 

[Gander]

Following my first Lapwings at the loch back in March, I had two fly over on Friday. Also received a report that there were a group of them in the field above Rodanbraes, on Thursday.

 

[Gander]

At the loch, we are now seeing many fledgling birds. Not least amongst these are the two Great Crested Grebe humbugs that are growing at a tremendous rate. We also now have a second pair of GCGs that have nested, so more humbugs on the way. Other new arrivals include seven cygnets for our resident pair of Mute Swans.

There is a strong presence of Blackcap in the woods, but I never did find a Garden Warbler. Also in the woods, a fledgling Tawny Owl was photographed. Jays are patrolling the west end of the loch, and I suspect they have an eye open for the numerous Mallard ducklings that are about. I am really happy to see a Jay presence, as at one point, it looked like the Magpies had pushed them out.

I have also seen Stock Dove flying over the loch area. This is important to the Eco Centre at the east end of the loch, as it was a species missing from their biodiversity list, which currently stands at over 1,500 species. I think their bird count is now about 110 species, so still room for expansion. One bird that may well end up on that list was a Corn Bunting reported by the Fife Recorder at the NE boundary of the patch. I am trying to ascertain from him, if the bird was seen inside the loch reporting boundary.

Along the coastal strip, things have been fairly quiet. There is a definite lack of seabird activity, with tern numbers in particular being very low. Along the path, two separate Lesser Whitethroat have continued their activities throughout the month of May, but have fallen silent this week.

At both loch and coast, Kestrels have been making a strong showing, with Sparrowhawks also being seen. Raptor of the month though goes to the Peregrine that was photographed sitting on the rocks at Seafield Tower, having just caught what looked like a Turnstone (Picture posted on the Kinghorn and District Wildlife Group Facebook page - Feel free to join).

And lastly, following last year's discovery of Wall Brown butterflies near Seafield Cave, I am happy to report that they have reappeared there in force, and that I have now found them some distance away in both directions on the path. I can confidently say that I have a breeding population, and they are spreading. To back that up, I also discovered some at an off patch site in the Burntisland area during the week.

 

[Gander]

I made my way up through the woods, then along past the allotments back to Craigencalt Farm.*At this point I could have dropped back down to the loch, but decided to head up the lane to the hilltop, then loop around the arable cereal fields. I have this faint hope of coming across Corn Bunting up there.

The quote above was a sentence from a post I made in Aug 2020. I am happy to inform all that the Fife Recorder has confirmed that the Corn Bunting he spotted, was indeed in the referenced fields. This means it was both on my patch, and also in the Eco Centre's smaller reporting area. Of course, I still have not seen one myself, but the faint hope is now strong hope. I've been combing the fields up there for a few days now, but no sign of my target so far. Hopefully, it won't take another three years to get my own.

Corn Bunting takes my patch total to 165, and the loch list to 106.

The Stock Dove I mentioned yesterday takes the loch list to 107. Already had one at Seafield for the patch list.

165 (107). Corn Bunting

 

[Gander]

I headed along Seafield this morning, not really expecting anything out of the ordinary, but hoping to pick up a Puffin for my patch year list. There have been several around the corner at Pettycur Bay, but I am not seeing any along my stretch. Sadly, the only Auk I found was a Guillemot sitting on the rocks with its head thrown back in typical Bird Flu pose. Ten minutes later, the bird was in the jaws of a spaniel. Said spaniel was severely yelled at by owner, before dropping the bird, which was then picked up by the owner before being tossed into the sea.

I carried on down the path, and was just starting to climb the slope beyond the tower, when a raptor drifted past. I knew it was something different, and getting the binoculars on it, I found I had my first Fife, let alone patch, Red Kite. The bird dropped out of view behind the trees at the hill top, so I ran up the hill while pulling the camera out of its case. Let me tell you that me running up a hill, is a rarer sight than a Red Kite, but frustratingly, it was to no avail, as the bird had disappeared from sight.

No Puffins were found, but I'll take a Red Kite instead, everyday of the week.

166. Red Kite

 

[Gander]

It has been typical summer fare over the last couple of weeks, with fledglings everywhere, and very few new birds arriving.

On the Seafield strip, there has been a notable lack of terns. The single Common Tern pictured, allowed me to walk right up to it. I suspect Avian Flu would be the reason. I backed off slightly, and was trying to decide how best to deal with the situation, when the bird suddenly took to the air. Hopefully it has survived, although judging from reports up and down the coast, many have not.

At the very end of June, we had a couple of Common Sandpipers visit the loch. Then yesterday, I found three or four on the rocks at Seafield, along with a Whimbrel. It can only mean one thing.......Winter is coming!

 

[delia todd]

Winter is coming!

Oh don't!!!!!!

Last winter didn't seem to end until a few weeks ago!

 

[Frank van Drogen]

It has been typical summer fare over the last couple of weeks, with fledglings everywhere, and very few new birds arriving.

That's unique! Over here, most if not all fledglings are new birds

 

[Gander]

Happily, there have been a few more terns about along the strip. Also, a few Kittiwakes have made a showing. The resident Goosander flock is now at about 110+ birds.

Common Sandpiper have also made a strong showing, with at least six on one occasion near the tower.

At the loch, a Kingfisher showed up a few days ago. Then this morning, in the pelting rain, I found two together. I think they are juvenile males that have possibly been forcibly ejected by their parents from whichever water they were bred on.

 

[Gander]

The Kingfishers at the loch, and the Common Sandpipers on the coastal strip, appear to have moved on. They have however been replaced by a female Kingfisher and a couple of Dunlin at the strip, and a juvenile Whinchat (pic) near the loch.

 

[Gander]

The day after my last post, I relocated the juv Whinchat, and found an adult in attendance. Most of the action however, has been on the Seafield coast, with a steady flow of returning waders. The highlights have been a Greenshank, which is the first I've seen here for a while, and five very early season Purple Sandpipers. In addition, we have had another wave of Common Sandpipers.

I am also seeing an increased numbers of Kittiwake on the rocks, although that may be because of Avian Flu disrupting their breeding on the Forth Islands. The good news is that over the last couple of days, I've started seeing juveniles, so there has been some successful breeding in the area. The same goes for BHGs.

 

[Gander]

I have been away for most of this week, but returning yesterday, I was out on the patch first thing this morning. The coastal Seafield strip was very quiet, as was the loch area. This afternoon, on a whim, I returned to the loch and headed for the grassy fields at the south western corner of my area. Pretty quickly, as I did a week or two ago, I located a Whincat sat on a fence post. Within a minute or two, a Wheatear was sighted, and as I edged my way along the path, several more were spotted.

I am used to seeing Meadow Pipits in this area, so I did not pay a lot of attention when a few pipits appeared with the Wheatear. Some were certainly Meadow Pipits, but having put the photos up on the ID pages, it has revealed that some were Tree Pipits (Thanks again Stonefaction). I have had a Tree Pipit on the coastal strip of the patch, but this is the first time I have found Tree Pipit in the loch area.

 

[Tomwbhx]

A very hot walk yesterday to the tower from Kirkcaldy.
Birding was busier than I thought it would be. Sadly a number of dead Guillemot were among the rocks with quite a few more swimming very close to shore.

Otherwise plenty to see, A couple of Black tailed Godwit, Curlew, Greenshank, Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatchers of course. Small flocks of Linnet were zooming around the rocks. The usual suspects were also around, Eider, Gulls, Cormorant etc. Plus a solitary Mute Swan paddling in the pools.

 

[Gander]

It has been an interesting few months along the Seafield coastal strip. Winter birds are now resident, with Purple Sandpiper, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser and Rock Pipit commonly seen. The later months of the Autumn were marked by regular sightings of Knot in the area. Not huge numbers, but still more than I usually see in this area. Bar-tailed Godwit have also been present in higher numbers than usual, and over the last few weeks, Sanderling have also exceeded expectations in the last few weeks, and there are stronger than normal numbers of Red-throated Diver appearing.

On the downside, storm Babet had a devastating affect on the area. Most notably, a large section of the remains of the harbour sea wall has been toppled. The attached photo shows what was a whole section of wall, but now shows a 30 - 40 ft long section that has been knocked over by wave power. Sadly, since Babet, I have been finding multiple dead Shag and Cormorant, with the same situation being reported up and down the Firth of Forth.

At the loch, it has been a bit on the quiet side, with nothing too unusual to report. I did not see it myself, but a Long-tailed Duck was reported on the loch, just after one of the storms. I have picked up on Pochard a couple of times, but numbers of Tufted Duck seem lower than usual. Goldeneye however are making a regular showing. In the woods and fields, winter thrush have been showing, with Redwing a bit sparse, but Fieldfare showing in really good numbers this year.

This is the time of year, when we tend to get a few of the rarer visitors on the loch, so hopefully, I'll soon have something good to cap off the year.

 

[Gander]

A patch tick today with a Greater Scaup at the loch. First found there yesterday by the Fife bird recorder, Graham Sparshott.

 

[Gander]

After three pretty barren weeks offshore, I was glad to return to the loch this afternoon. A little surprised though to find that the Scaup found last month was still present. Last month's female Pochard was also still in residence, although there was no sign of the male.

A Goosander was seen, which I think is my first on the loch. Also seen were about 40 Tufted, 25 Coot and two Kingfishers.

Good to be back!

 

[Gander]

On Saturday, I returned to the Seafield coastal strip. There was not too much out of the ordinary, but good to see the Knot are still hanging about. Out on the Forth, the highlight was a small group of Common Scoter.
Yesterday, at the loch, I found a Red-breasted Merganser. My first on this loch. However, having thought I had a first Goosander there a few days ago, I was prompted by doubt to go back and double check my original sighting's record shot, using the ID pages on this website. The opinion is that the first bird was also a R-b Merganser, with the light breast and white chin being the result of a long distance shot in poor light.
The female Pochard and a Kingfisher were still present, but there was no sign of the Scaup, or indeed about 30 of the 40 Tufted that had been present.

 

[Gander]

Yesterday, I did a full tour of both loch and coastal areas of the patch. Despite it being a little cold, blustery and subdued, as you would expect at this time of year, there is still always something to see.
Highlights at the loch were a Kingfisher that I finally managed to get a picture of, and the return of the 1W male Scaup. At Seafield, a Red-throated Diver fishing close in, made an appearance, and also a first for this year was a loan Sanderling. The Knot flock was still present.
Sadly, I also found the carcass of a porpoise near the tower, then a little further down the path, a second one in much the same condition as the first. I have reported them to SMASS, and was informed that they are most likely the victims of Grey Seal predation.

 

[Gander]

Springtime is now in full flow at both the coastal strip and at the loch. Chiffchaffs have been here in force for a while, but this week they are being joined by both Blackcap and Willow Warbler. This morning at the Kinghorn end of the strip, I found a Lesser Whitethroat.
Along the shoreline, Purple Sandpiper and Knot are still showing. Out on the Forth, there were 30+ Red-breasted Merganser, but that number was dwarfed by the 400+ Common Scoter spread out between Seafield and Kinghorn.