First winter 2023-early May 2023 Part 1 

2022 was a memorable year in Fife, but 2023 looks to be already surpassing it for rare birds. 

I've been trying to find under watched spots close to my home in West Fife this year but that's not to say I've haven't been tempted away at times by the superb array of quality birds out East. But first a bit on West Fife. 

Loch Fitty 

This large Loch is only 10 minutes from my house but I hadn't been there until this year! Its actually been off the radar of most Fife birders probably because in the past it was heavily fished. There is no organised fishing these days and an excellent path network takes you through a good variety of habitats surrounding the Loch including marshy grassland, deciduous woodland and grazing pasture. 

Regular coverage has already turned up some quality birds. A Greylag Goose flock in fields at the west end pulled in two Russian White-fronts and and a Tundra Bean Goose in the first winter period. The Greylag Goose flock was of interest on its own, as a bird found dead with a orange neck collar proved to be of Icelandic origin.

Best bird was a Great White Egret for several days in  February, still quite rare up here in Scotland although getting more frequent. Several quality raptors have been recorded flying through this spring-osprey, red kite and merlin. The loch has some really good breeding species for Fife too with grasshopper warbler, common sandpiper and snipe on territory. 

There was long staying adult Russian white-front which was joined by a second cal year bird in late March

A Tundra Bean Goose showed up for just one day on 3rd March.