March 9th
Tour of Fife
An enjoyable outing with my mate JD who I haven't seen for ages. First up Ruddons Pt where the Queen Eider was eventually located still a few hundred metres to the South-west of the point with Common Eider.
Other birds offshore included 12 Slav Grebe, 5 Red-necked Grebe and a BTD. Also a flock of 24 migrant Whooper Swan resting on the sea in Largo Bay.
Nearby at the mouth of the Cocklemill Burn 2 good candidates for Scandi Herring Gulls, Adult and 3rd winter.
Next up Letham where there were less duck than last weekend, but more Whooper Swans; a total of 33 including a ringed bird Yellow N5 on right leg and metal on left. We dipped on the Firecrest thats been frequenting the nearby entrance to Mountcastle Quarry.
Then the Tay at Newburgh for the Ring-bill. It was initially distant on a sand bar but having had experience of these greedy guts before, I reckoned a bit of bread might change that. Must admit I was thinking I was being a bit optimistic with the distance involved, but no, true to form it came straight for us. Impressive bread spotting skills from about half a mile away.
Finally a quick stop at Kinross didn't get the Ibis, but it was pretty late by then so it had probably gone to roost.