chair

Date	Count	Species	Location
1st	1	Marsh Harrier	Mugdrum Island
1st	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Newburgh
1st	2	Surf Scoters	Leven
1st	20	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
1st	7	White-fronted Geese (European)	St Monans
1st	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Leven
2nd	c231	Corn Buntings	Bowhouse Farm – pig field
2nd	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
2nd	1	Green Sandpiper	Lochore Meadows CP
2nd	1	Red-necked Grebe	Lower Largo
2nd	2	Slavonian Grebes	Lower Largo
2nd	2	Surf Scoters	Methil
2nd	22	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
2nd	6	White-fronted Geese (European)	St Monans
2nd	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Leven
3rd	4	Ravens	Kilmany
3rd	15	Brent Geese (Pale-bellied)	Balgove Bay
3rd	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
3rd	1	Jack Snipe	Valleyfield Lagoons
3rd	3	Mediterranean Gulls (2 ad,1 3rd CY)	East Wemyss, Back Dykes roost
3rd	1	Merlin (male)	Balgove Bay
3rd	14	Scaup	Methil
3rd	22	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
3rd	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Methil
3rd	27	Whooper Swans	Dunshalt
4th	1	Little Egret	Pittenweem
5th	11	Brent Geese (Pale-bellied)	Balgove Bay
5th	1	Great White Egret	Birnie & Gaddon Lochs LNR
5th	1	Marsh Harrier (S)	Eden Estuary LNR
5th	c18	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
5th	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Methil
6th	1	Black Guillemot	Leven
6th	50	Canada Geese	Loch Fitty
6th	60	Cormorants	Loch Fitty
6th	2	Marsh Harriers (female)	Mugdrum Island
6th	2	Red-necked Grebes	Largo Bay
6th	c11	Red-throated Divers	Largo Bay
6th	11	Scaup	Methil
6th	1	Short-eared Owl	Outh Hill
6th	6	Slavonian Grebes	Largo Bay
6th	2	Surf Scoters	Methil
6th	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Methil
7th	2	Mediterranean Gulls	East Wemyss
7th	2	Peregrines (W)	Kinghorn
7th	2	Surf Scoters	Methil
7th	22	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
7th	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Methil
8th	11	Brent Geese (Pale-bellied)	Kingsbarns
8th	28	Purple Sandpipers	Kingsbarns
8th	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
9th	c6	Black-throated Divers	Lower Largo
9th	2	Black-throated Divers	Lundin Links
9th	1	Great White Egret	Birnie & Gaddon Lochs LNR
9th	1	Merlin	Out Head
9th	2	Red-necked Grebes	Lower Largo
9th	3	Red-necked Grebes	Lundin Links
9th	c10	Scaup	Leven
9th	c9	Slavonian Grebes	Lower Largo
9th	c9	Slavonian Grebes	Lundin Links
9th	2	Surf Scoters	Leven
9th	1	White-fronted Geese (European)	Longannet
9th	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Leven
10th	1	Great White Egret	Birnie & Gaddon Lochs LNR
10th	1	Little Egret	Birnie & Gaddon Lochs LNR
10th	1	Manx Shearwater	Pittenweem – cliffs
10th	1	Mediterranean Gull	East Wemyss
10th	1	Sandwich Tern	Dalgety Bay
10th	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
11th	1	Black Guillemot (on the sea)	Fife Ness
11th	1	Great Northern Diver (S)	Fife Ness
11th	1	Puffin (on the sea)	Fife Ness
11th	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
11th	c16	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
12th	1	Iceland Gull (2nd winter)	by B9097 near Ballingry
12th	2	Short-eared Owls	Rossie Bog
12th	25	Whooper Swans	Dunshalt
13th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
13th	1	Little Egret	Angle Park GP
13th	38	Purple Sandpipers	Methil
13th	5	White-fronted Geese (European)	Lochore Meadows CP
14th	1	Barn Owl	Falkland
14th	1	Barn Owl	Longannet
14th	1	Great White Egret	Birnie & Gaddon Lochs LNR
14th	2	Red-necked Grebes	Methil
14th	6	Red-throated Divers (2E, 4 on sea)	Pittenweem – cliffs
14th	c20	Scaup	Methil
14th	4	Slavonian Grebes	Methil
14th	2	Surf Scoters (pair)	Methil
14th	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Methil
16th	1	Barn Owl	Gateside
16th	1	Black-throated Diver	St Andrews Bay
16th	51	Purple Sandpipers	St Andrews Bay
16th	1	White-billed Diver	Pathhead
17th	1	Black Guillemot	Ruddons Point
17th	3	Greenshanks	Angle Park GP
17th	2	Mediterranean Gulls (adults)	East Wemyss
17th	7	Red-throated Divers	Ruddons Point
17th	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
17th	c200	Velvet Scoters	East Wemyss
18th	1	Great White Egret	Loch Fitty
18th	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
18th	7	Whooper Swans	Loch Fitty
20th	1	Barn Owl	Near Cullaloe LNR
20th	1	Black Guillemot	Fife Ness
20th	44	Gannets	Fife Ness
20th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
20th	4	Greenshanks	Angle Park GP
20th	1	Merlin (female/immature)	Rossie Bog
20th	1	Sandwich Tern	Dalgety Bay
20th	1	Snow Bunting	Anstruther – west
20th	4	Whooper Swans	Angle Park GP
21st	1	Barn Owl	Cupar
21st	1	Barn Owl	Freuchie
21st	2	Hen Harriers (female and 2nd CY)	Cameron Reservoir
21st	30	Purple Sandpipers	Methil
21st	2	Surf Scoters (pair)	Methil
22nd	1	Hen Harrier (adult male)	Outh Muir
22nd	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
24th	3	Crossbills	Loch Glow – road entrance
24th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
24th	1	Green Sandpiper	Lochore Meadows CP
24th	1	Greenshank	Luthrie
24th	1	Little Egret	Angle Park GP
24th	1	Marsh Harrier (2nd CY)	Newburgh
24th	1	Merlin (female)	East Lomond – car park
24th	25	Whooper Swans	Dunshalt to Freuchie
25th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Outh Muir
25th	1	Snow Bunting	Pittenweem – cliffs
26th	1	Black Guillemot	Leven
26th	2	Black-necked Grebes	Leven
26th	3	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
26th	2	Red-necked Grebes	Leven
26th	3	Slavonian Grebes	Leven
26th	2	Surf Scoters (pair)	Leven
26th	1	White-winged Scoter	Leven
27th	1	Avocet	Coble Shore and Edenside
27th	1	Black-necked Grebe	Leven
27th	2	Black-throated Divers	Leven
27th	1	Black-throated Diver	Lower Largo
27th	2	Little Egret	Cameron Reservoir
27th	1	Red-necked Grebe	Methil
27th	5	Red-necked Grebes	Leven
27th	2	Red-necked Grebes	Lower Largo
27th	4	Scaup	Methil
27th	1	Short-eared Owl	Balgove Bay
27th	7	Slavonian Grebes	Leven
27th	1	Slavonian Grebe	Lower Largo
27th	1	Surf Scoter (adult drake)	Leven
27th	1	Surf Scoter (adult drake)	Methil
28th	1	Avocet	Edenside
28th	2	Black-necked Grebes	Leven
28th	1	Black-throated Diver	Leven
28th	4	Little Egrets	Guardbridge
28th	1	Nuthatch	Strathmiglo
28th	27	Purple Sandpipers	Seafield
28th	1	Red-necked Grebe	Leven
28th	17	Red-throated Divers	Leven
28th	5	Red-throated Divers	Seafield
28th	5	Slavonian Grebes	Leven
28th	1	White-winged Scoter (drake)	Leven

Date	Count	Species	Location
1st	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
1st	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
2nd	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
2nd	7	Grey Partridges	Cullaloe LNR
2nd	1	Hen Harrier (male W)	Stenhouse Reservoir
2nd	2	Marsh Harriers (females)	Mugdrum Island
2nd	2	Ravens	Cullaloe LNR
2nd	1	Short-eared Owl	Out Head
2nd	2	Snow Buntings	Pittemweem
3rd	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
3rd	1	Blackcap (female)	Kilmany
3rd	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
3rd	3	Little Auks	Fife Ness
3rd	1	Swift	Ruddons Point
4th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
4th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Knockhill – Outh Moor
4th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
4th	4	Little Auks (3N, 1 on sea)	Fife Ness
4th	2	Ravens	East Lomond
4th	2	Ravens	Knockhill – Outh Moor
4th	1	Short-eared Owl	East Lomond
5th	5	Snow Buntings	Anstruther Golf Course
5th	1	Great Northern Diver (S)	Fife Ness
5th	2	Little Auks (1N, 1 on sea)	Fife Ness
5th	1	Mediterranean Gull	Dalgety Bay
5th	1	Raven	East Lomond
5th	3	Red-throated Divers (S)	Fife Ness
5th	1	Short-eared Owl	East Lomond
5th	1	Stonechat	Fife Ness
5th	1	Velvet Scoter (female)	Dalgety Bay
6th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
6th	2	Green Woodpeckers	Benarty Hill (wood)
6th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Stenhouse Reservoir
6th	1	Kingfisher	Townhill Loch
6th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
6th	18	Purple Sandpipers	Seafield
6th	30	Ringed Plovers	Seafield
6th	5	Snow Buntings	Anstruther Golf Course
7th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
7th	47	Little Auks	Fife Ness (day count)
7th	2	Sooty Shearwaters (N)	Fife Ness (day count)
8th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
8th	7	Brent Geese	Coble Shore
8th	1	Great Northern Diver (on the sea)	Pettycur Bay
8th	2	Great Northern Diver (SE)	St Andrews Bay
8th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
8th	1	Greenshank	Newmills Bay
8th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Ballo Reservoir
8th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
8th	1	Little Auk (E)	Dalgety Bay
8th	51	Little Auks	Fife Ness
8th	1	Mediterranean Gull (1CY N)	St Andrews Bay
8th	1	Merlin	Fife Ness
8th	19	Pintails	Newmills Bay
8th	1	Puffin	Pettycur Harbour
8th	10	Purple Sandpipers	Pettycur Harbour
8th	9	Red-throated Divers (3N,1SE,5 sea)	St Andrews Bay
8th	c30	Twite	Coble Shore
9th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
9th	2	Little Auks	Dalgety Bay
9th	1	Red-throated Diver	Dalgety Bay
9th	220	Shags	Pettycur Harbour
9th	1	Slavonian Grebe	Dalgety Bay
10th	1	Barnacle Goose	Letham Pools
10th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
10th	5	Ravens	Kilmany
10th	2	Surf Scoters	Leven Promenade
10th	2	White-fronted Geese (Russian)	Lochore Meadows CP
11th	Several	Little Auks	Methil
11th	3	Snow Buntings	Pittemweem – cliffs
11th	2	Surf Scoters	Methil
12th	c40	Corn Buntings	Pittenweem – stubble fields
12th	1	Greenshank	Fife Ness
12th	12	Grey Partridges	Pittenweem – stubble fields
12th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	The Binn, Burntisland
12th	1	Marsh Harrier (1st winter)	Newburgh
12th	2	Ravens	Newburgh
12th	c300	Skylarks	Pittenweem – stubble fields
13th	1	Black-throated Diver	St Andrews Bay
13th	2	Great Northern Divers	St Andrews Bay
13th	1	Little Auk	Dalgety Bay
13th	1	Little Auk	St Andrews
13th	4	Red-throated Divers	Dalgety Bay
13th	14	Red-throated Divers	St Andrews Bay
13th	1	Slavonian Grebe	Dalgety Bay
13th	2	Slavonian Grebes	St Andrews Bay
13th	3	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – cliffs
13th	15	Twite	Cocklemill Marsh
14th	4	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – stubble fields
16th	C1000	Dunlin	Coble Shore
16th	11	Greenshanks	Coble Shore
16th	15	Grey Plovers	Coble Shore
16th	1	Marsh Harrier	Newburgh
16th	4	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – cliffs
16th	c30	Twite	Coble Shore
17th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Stenhouse Reservoir
17th	1	Greenshank	Fife Ness
17th	2	Little Auks (S)	Fife Ness
17th	1	Little Egret	Burntisland
17th	134	Pochard	Lochgelly Loch
17th	1	Red-throated Diver (S)	Fife Ness
17th	41	Redwing	Craigluscar NR
17th	1	Short-eared Owl (S)	Out Head
17th	3	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
18th	1	Barn Owl	Dunshalt
18th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
18th	3	Greenshanks	Angle Park GP
18th	1	Marsh Harrier (adult female)	Mugdrum Island
19th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Stenhouse Reservoir
19th	1	Great Northern Diver	Lower Largo
19th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
19th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
19th	1	Lesser Scaup (1CY female)	The Wilderness
19th	2	Nuthatches	Ravenscraig Park
19th	3	Slavonian Grebes	Lower Largo
20th	1	Black Guillemot	St Andrews Aquarium
20th	1	Chiffchaff (possible collybita)	St Andrews
20th	1	Jack Snipe	Loch Fitty
20th	1	Lesser Scaup (1CY female)	The Wilderness
20th	c200	Linnets	Pittenweem – stubble fields
20th	3	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – stubble fields
21st	1	Black Guillemot (S)	Fife Ness
21st	1	Little Auk (N)	St Andrews Aquarium
21st	108	Little Auks(107N, 1S)	Fife Ness (day count)
21st	2	Purple Sandpipers	Fife Ness (day count)
21st	1	Red-throated Diver	Fife Ness (day count)
21st	3	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – stubble fields
22nd	1	Black Guillemot S	Fife Ness
22nd	1	Hooded Crow (95%)	Crail
22nd	10	Little Auks (8N, 2S)	Fife Ness
23rd	1	Great Northern Diver (on the sea)	Leven Beach
23rd	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
23rd	1	Greenshank	Angle Park GP
23rd	1	Kingfisher	Loch Fitty
23rd	1	Lesser Scaup	Angle Park GP
23rd	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Mugdrum Island
23rd	1	Puffin	St Andrews Aquarium
24th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
24th	1	Black Guillemot	Fife Ness
24th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
24th	15	Little Auks (S)	Fife Ness
24th	2	Marsh Harriers (female,1st W)	Mugdrum Island
24th	3	Puffins	Fife Ness
24th	1	Red-throated Diver (W)	Pittenweem – cliffs
24th	1	Smew (adult drake)	Cameron Reservoir
24th	3	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – cliffs
25th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
25th	1	Green Sandpiper	Lochore Meadows CP
26th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
27th	18	Great Black-backed Gulls	Angle Park GP
27th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
27th	1	Puffin	East Wemyss to Buckhaven
27th	5	Shovelers	Angle Park GP
27th	1	Slavonian Grebe	East Wemyss to Buckhaven
27th	24	Slavonian Grebes	Tentsmuir Point NNR
27th	180	Velvet Scoters	East Wemyss to Buckhaven
27th	60	Yellowhammers	East Wemyss to Buckhaven
28th	17	Gannets	Fife Ness
28th	1	Little Auk (S)	Fife Ness
29th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
29th	1	Green Sandpiper	Lochore Meadows CP
29th	2	Mediterranean Gulls (adults)	East Wemyss (Back Dykes)
30th	1	Barn Owl	St Andrews
30th	1	Black-throated Diver	Hawkcraig Point
30th	1	Grey Phalarope (W)	Pettycur Harbour
30th	1	Manx Shearwater (N)	Fife Ness
30th	1	Manx Shearwater	Pettycur Harbour
30th	1	Puffin	Pettycur Harbour
30th	1	Short-eared Owl	St Andrews
31st	3	Little Auks (W)	Pettycur Harbour
31st	5	Puffins (1W, 4 on the sea)	Pettycur Harbour
31st	6	Red-throated Divers (W)	Pettycur Harbour
31st	3	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem – cliffs

Date	Count	Species	Location
1st	1	Bewick’s Swan (possible immature)	Dalgety Bay
1st	1	Bittern	Letham Pools
1st	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
1st	1	Mediterranean Gull	Seafield
1st	17	Purple Sandpipers	Seafield
1st	c50	Sanderlings	Seafield
1st	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
2nd	10	Barnacle Geese	Eden Estuary Centre
2nd	c170	Goldeneye	Newburgh
2nd	1	Great Northern Diver (S)	Fife Ness
2nd	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
2nd	1	Green-winged Teal (drake)	Morton Lochs NNR
2nd	4	Greenshanks	Eden Estuary Centre
2nd	8	Little Auks (3S, 5 offshore)	Fife Ness
2nd	3	Little Egrets	Coble Shore
2nd	10	Little Egrets	Eden Estuary Centre
2nd	303	Little Gulls (S)	Fife Ness
2nd	1	Marsh Harrier (immature)	Lindores Loch
2nd	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Newburgh
2nd	1	Marsh Harrier (immature)	Newburgh
2nd	15	Red-throated Divers (S)	Fife Ness
2nd	2	Scaup	Eden Estuary Centre
2nd	1	Snow Bunting (over)	Eden Estuary Centre
2nd	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
2nd	35	Twite	Coble Shore
3rd	6	Barnacle Geese (S)	Tentsmuir Point NNR
3rd	1	Black-throated Diver (S)	Fife Ness
3rd	1	Black-throated Diver	Ruddons Point
3rd	1	Brambling	St Andrews (Spinkie Den)
3rd	1	Bullfinch (Northern)	St Andrews (Spinkie Den)
3rd	3	Crossbills	St Andrews (Spinkie Den)
3rd	6	Great Northern Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
3rd	c3	Great Northern Divers (inland)	Ruddons Point
3rd	1	Great Skua (u-turned)	Ferry Hills
3rd	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
3rd	1	Green-winged Teal	Morton Lochs NNR
3rd	2	Hawfinches (SW)	Ferry Hills
3rd	2	Jack Snipe	Cocklemill Marsh
3rd	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
3rd	7	Little Auks (S)	Fife Ness
3rd	68	Little Gulls (lingering)	Fife Ness
3rd	1	Marsh Harrier (1CY)	Kilconquhar Loch
3rd	25	Red-throated Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
3rd	20	Red-throated Divers (3S)	Fife Ness
3rd	1	Short-eared Owl (S)	Out Head
3rd	3	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
3rd	7	Twite	Coble Shore
4th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
4th	1	Great Northern Diver	Kinshaldy Beach
4th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
4th	1	Green Sandpiper	Letham Pools
4th	1	Iceland Gull (probable)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
4th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
4th	2	Marsh Harriers (juveniles)	Rossie Bog
4th	3	Mediterranean Gulls  (adults)	Dysart
4th	5	Red-throated Divers	Kinshaldy Beach
4th	2	Short-eared Owls	Out Head
4th	7	Slavonian Grebes	Kinshaldy Beach
5th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
5th	2	Black-throated Divers	Out Head
5th	1	Brambling	Boarhills / Kittock’s Den
5th	12	Crossbills (S)	Boarhills / Kittock’s Den
5th	2600	Fieldfare (SW)	St Andrews
5th	3	Great Northern Divers	Out Head
5th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
5th	1	Great White Egret	Ballo Reservoir
5th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
5th	2	Ravens	St Andrews (Aquarium)
5th	15	Red-throated Divers	Out Head
5th	462	Redwings (N)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
5th	3	Ring Ouzels (2 adults,1 1CY)	Boarhills / Kittock’s Den
5th	5	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
5th	c3000	Thrushes (different species)	Boarhills / Kittock’s Den
5th	6	Twite	Boarhills / Kittock’s Den
5th	42	Whooper Swans	Ballo Reservoir
6th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
6th	42	Bar-tailed Godwits	Ruddons Point
6th	3	Barnacle Geese	Torry Bay
6th	3	Black-throated Divers	Ruddons Point
6th	2	Great Northern Divers	Ruddons Point
6th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
6th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
6th	2	Greenshanks	Torry Bay
6th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
6th	50	Linnets	Kilminning (Lower)
6th	2	Little Auks	Ruddons Point
6th	c1340	Pink-footed Geese	Torry Bay
6th	7	Pintails	Torry Bay
6th	3	Ravens	Balcomie
6th	11	Red-throated Divers (4+1E,6W)	Pettycur Harbour
6th	54	Red-throated Divers	Ruddons Point
6th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
7th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
7th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
7th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
7th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
7th	5	Little Auks (N)	Fife Ness
7th	43	Mediterranean Gulls  (adults)	East Wemyss (Back Dykes roost)
7th	1	Shore Lark (E)	East Lomond
7th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
8th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
8th	2	Barnacle Geese	Torry Bay
8th	5	Great White Egrets (4E)	Angle Park GP
8th	1	Green Sandpiper	Angle Park GP
8th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
8th	1	Marsh Harrier	Kilrenny
8th	13	Pintails	Torry Bay
8th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
8th	1+	Water Pipits (probably 2)	St Margaret’s Marsh
9th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
9th	1	Black Guillemot	Leven
9th	1	Great Northern Diver	Leven
9th	3	Great Northern Divers	Ruddons Point
9th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
9th	1	Great White Egret (E)	Dalgety Bay
9th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
9th	1	Little Auk	Elie
9th	1	Little Gull	Elie
9th	1	Mediterranean Gull	Otterston Loch
9th	1	Merlin (female)	Carnbee Reservoir
9th	513	Pochard	Loch Gelly
9th	2	Ravens	Carnbee Reservoir
9th	2	Ravens (E)	Leslie
9th	6	Slavonian Grebes	Leven
9th	1	Spotted Redshank	Leven
9th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
10th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
10th	27	Barnacle Geese	Out Head
10th	2	Bewick’s Swans (adults)	Kilconquhar Loch
10th	1	Brambling	Kinghorn Loch (approach road)
10th	2	Great Northern Divers	Fife Ness
10th	1	Grey Phalarope (S)	Fife Ness
10th	1	Hawfinches (S)	Tentsmuir Point NNR
10th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
10th	1	Little Auk	Fife Ness
10th	1	Little Egret (S)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
10th	12	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
10th	17	Red-throated Divers	Pettycur Harbour
10th	1	Spotted Redshank	Leven
11th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
11th	45	Bar-tailed Godwits	Ruddons Point
11th	6	Crossbills (SW)	Ferry Hills
11th	3	Great Northern Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
11th	1	Great Northern Diver	Ruddons Point
11th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
11th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
11th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
11th	1	Little Egret	Morton Lochs NNR
11th	1	Mediterranean Gull (juvenile)	Bankhead Moss
11th	1	Merlin (S)	Angle Park GP
11th	27	Red-throated Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
11th	2	Short-eared Owls	Out Head
11th	1	Smew (eclipse drake)	Angle Park GP
11th	28	Whooper Swans	Letham Pools
12th	44	Bar-tailed Godwits	Ruddons Point
12th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
12th	1	Great White Egret	Ballo Reservoir
12th	3	Great White Egrets	Lochore Meadows CP
12th	2	Green Sandpipers	Lochore Meadows CP
12th	1	Kingfisher	Lochore Meadows CP
12th	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Newburgh
12th	3	Marsh Harriers (females)	Mugdrum Island
12th	c100	Pochard	Ballo Reservoir
12th	111	Red-breasted Mergansers	Ruddons Point
12th	1	Reed  Warbler (possible)	Morton Lochs NNR
12th	1	Slavonian Grebe	Ruddons Point
12th	1	Smew	Angle Park GP
12th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
12th	99	Velvet Scoters	Ruddons Point
12th	50	Whooper Swans (13 juveniles)	Ballo Reservoir
13th	2	Great White Egrets (1E)	Angle Park GP
13th	2	Great White Egrets	Lochore Meadows CP
13th	2	Green Sandpiper	Lochore Meadows CP
13th	1	Green Sandpiper (SE)	Rossie Bog
13th	1	Green-winged Teal (drake)	Morton Lochs NNR
13th	2	Hawfinches	Leuchars
13th	1	Hen Harrier (male)	St Michaels
13th	1	Kingfisher	Morton Lochs NNR
13th	1	Little Egret	Morton Lochs NNR
13th	2	Pintails	Morton Lochs NNR
13th	1	Raven	Dunfermline (Rumblingwell)
13th	1	Red-necked Grebe	Lochore Meadows CP
13th	2	Short-eared Owls	Out Head
13th	1	Smew	Angle Park GP
13th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
13th	1	Swallow	Morton Lochs NNR
14th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
14th	1	Black Guillemot	Leven to Lundin Links
14th	1	Black Guillemot	Ruddons Point to Lower Largo
14th	2	Great Northern Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
14th	2	Great Northern Divers (S)	Fife Ness
14th	4	Great Northern Divers	Kinshaldy Beach
14th	1	Great Northern Diver	Ruddons Point to Lower Largo
14th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
14th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
14th	1	Great White Egret	Tayport
14th	1	Green Sandpiper	Lochore Meadows CP
14th	1	Green-winged Teal (drake)	Morton Lochs NNR
14th	2	Greenshanks	Fife Ness
14th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail W/SW)	Stenhouse Reservoir
14th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
14th	1	Little Auk (N)	Fife Ness
14th	10	Little Egrets	Tayport Lucky Scalp
14th	15	Mediterranean Gulls	East Wemyss
14th	5	Puffins (offshore)	Tayport
14th	35	Red-throated Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
14th	1	Short-eared Owl	Out Head
14th	23	Slavonian Grebes	Kinshaldy Beach
14th	c12	Slavonian Grebes	Ruddons Point to Lower Largo
14th	1	Smew	Angle Park GP
14th	c110	Velvet Scoters	Ruddons Point to Lower Largo
15th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
15th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
15th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
15th	2	Little Auks (W)	Ravenscraig
15th	21	Purple Sandpipers	Seafield
15th	1	Raven	Cameron Reservoir
15th	43	Sanderlings	Seafield
15th	1	Smew	Angle Park GP
15th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
16th	2	Black Guillemots (N,S)	Fife Ness
16th	1	Black Redstart	Kilminning
16th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
16th	2	Greenshanks	Fife Ness
16th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
16th	109	Little Auks (N and lingering)	Fife Ness
16th	1	Little Auk (N)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
16th	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Newburgh
16th	21	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
16th	1	Scaup	Kilconquhar Loch
16th	1	Smew	Angle Park GP
16th	1	Spotted Redshank	Leven
16th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
16th	35	Twite	Fife Ness
16th	1	White-fronted Goose (adult)	Windygates
17th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
17th	2	Black Guillemots (S)	Fife Ness
17th	1	Great Northern Diver (S)	Fife Ness
17th	1	Great Northern Diver	Lower Largo
17th	2	Great Northern Divers (W)	St Margaret’s Marsh
17th	1	Kingfisher	Seafield
17th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
17th	1	Little Auk	Cocklemill Burn
17th	1	Little Auk (N)	Kilminning
17th	1	Little Auk	Leven
17th	1	Little Auk (E)	Lower Largo
17th	61	Little Auks (N and lingering)	Fife Ness
17th	1	Little Gull	Fife Ness
17th	233	Pochard	Loch Gelly
17th	c50	Purple Sandpipers	Seafield
17th	1	Raven	Cullaloe LNR
17th	4	Red-throated Divers (W)	St Margaret’s Marsh
17th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
17th	1	Water Pipit	St Margaret’s Marsh
17th	1	White-fronted Goose (adult)	Struthers Farm
17th	32	Whooper Swans	Craigluscar NR
18th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
18th	1	Black-throated Diver (E)	Anstruther
18th	2	Brent Geese (Pale-bellied)	Out Head
18th	1	Great Northern Diver	Dysart
18th	1	Great Northern Diver	St Andrews (Aquarium)
18th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
18th	7	Greenshanks	Coble Shore
18th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
18th	58	Little Auks	Fife Ness
18th	10	Little Auks (2N, 8S)	Out Head
18th	1	Little Auk (E)	Pettycur Harbour
18th	3	Little Auks (2N, 1S)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
18th	15	Purple Sandpipers	St Andrews (Aquarium)
18th	71	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
18th	8	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
18th	1	Spotted Sandpiper	Cameron Reservoir
18th	4	Twite	Coble Shore
19th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
19th	20	Gadwall	Loch Fitty
19th	7	Great Northern Divers (N)	Fife Ness
19th	1	Great Northern Diver (N)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
19th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
19th	1	Great White Egret	Eden Estuary LNR
19th	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
19th	1	Hen Harrier	Wester Forret Farm
19th	1	Kingfisher	Loch Fitty
19th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
19th	2	Little Auks	Dalgety Bay
19th	2	Little Auks	Elie Ness
19th	199	Little Auks (N)	Fife Ness
19th	2	Little Auks (N)	St Andrews (Aquarium)
19th	16	Red-throated Divers (N)	Fife Ness
19th	2	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
20th	1	Black Guillemot (N)	Fife Ness
20th	1	Great Northern Diver (N)	Fife Ness
20th	2	Jack Snipe	Culross (lagoon by football field)
20th	333	Little Auks  (N and lingering)	Fife Ness (day count)
20th	1	Raven	Balgownie Woodland
20th	4	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
21st	65	Golden Plover (N)	St Andrews (Bogward Road
21st	1	Hawfinch (W)	St Andrews (Bogward Road)
21st	4	Little Auks (together)	Burntisland
21st	1	Little Auk	Fife Ness
21st	2	Little Auks (W)	Kinghorn (Easter Braes)
21st	4	Little Auks (W)	Pathhead
21st	3	Little Auks (W)	Pettycur Harbour
21st	28	Whooper Swans (S)	St Andrews (Bogward Road)
22nd	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
22nd	1	Barn Owl	West of Lundin Links
22nd	2	Great Northern Diver (S)	Fife Ness
22nd	1	Great Northern Diver (juvenile)	Out Head / Eden Estuary LNR
22nd	1	Hen Harrier (juvenile)	Kilminning (Lower)
22nd	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
22nd	135	Little Auks (N)	Fife Ness (day count)
22nd	21	Little Auks (W/landing on sea)	Pettycur Harbour
22nd	1	Puffin	Pettycur Harbour
22nd	1	Short-eared Owl	Out Head
22nd	2	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
22nd	7	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head / Eden Estuary LNR
23rd	865	Gannets (E)	Anstruther
23rd	18	Little Auks (E)	Anstruther
23rd	7	Little Auks (W)	Dalgety Bay
23rd	28	Little Auks	Fife Ness
23rd	424	Little Auks (421E, 3W)	Pettycur Harbour
23rd	37	Little Auks (8N, 29E)	Pittenweem
23rd	4	Little Auks (3E, 1W)	St Margaret’s Marsh
23rd	76	Long-tailed Ducks	Pettycur Harbour
23rd	7	Red-throated Diver	Pettycur Harbour
23rd	1	Sooty Shearwater (E)	Pettycur Harbour
24th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
24th	1	Great Skua (N)	Fife Ness
24th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
24th	1	Green-winged Teal (possible)	Otterston Loch
24th	1	Greenshank	Angle Park GP
24th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
24th	39	Little Auks (3N, 36S)	Fife Ness (day count)
24th	c1030	Razorbills (N)	Fife Ness (day count)
24th	c29	Twite	Coble Shore
25th	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
25th	1	Great White Egret	Rossie Bog
25th	5	Red-throated Divers (2N,3 on sea)	Fife Ness
25th	52	Shags (S)	Fife Ness
26th	1	Brent Goose	Anstruther
26th	2	Great Northern Divers	Out Head
26th	1	Great Northern Diver	St Andrews Bay
26th	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
26th	2	Little Gulls	Out Head
26th	45	Long-tailed Ducks	Out Head
26th	22	Red-throated Divers	Out Head
26th	19	Red-throated Divers	Ruddons Point
26th	1	Red-necked Grebe	St Andrews Bay
26th	8	Slavonian Grebes	Out Head
26th	1	Slavonian Grebe	Ruddons Point
26th	7	Twite	Coble Shore
27th	1	Great Northern Diver (S)	Fife Ness
27th	2	Greenshanks	Torry Bay
27th	1	Greenshank	Wormiston Beach
27th	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Knockhill (Outh Moor)
27th	18	Knot	Dalgety Bay
27th	1	Little Auk (S)	Fife Ness
27th	14	Pintails	Torry Bay
27th	2	Ravens	Knockhill (Outh Moor)
27th	3	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem
28th	2	Jack Snipe	Bankhead Moss
28th	7	Ravens	Clatto Reservoir
28th	7	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem (cliffs)
29th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
29th	1	Black-throated Diver	Dalgety Bay
29th	2	Great White Egrets (1N,1E)	Loch Fitty
29th	1	Greenshank	St Andrews (Bruce Embankment)
29th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
29th	21	Little Auks	Fife Ness
29th	1	Little Auk E	Pettycur Harbour
29th	2	Red-throated Divers	Dalgety Bay
29th	40	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
29th	27	Whooper Swans	Loch Fitty
30th	1	American Wigeon (drake)	Otterston Loch
30th	10	Bar-tailed Godwits	Out Head
30th	1	Black-throated Diver (W)	Ferry Hills
30th	6	Brent Geese (Pale-bellied)	Out Head
30th	2	Great White Egrets (S)	Angle Park GP
30th	1	Lesser Scaup (female)	Otterston Loch
30th	21	Little Auks	Fife Ness
30th	c18	Purple Sandpipers	Pittenweem (cliffs)
30th	13	Red-throated Divers (1W)	Ferry Hills
30th	4	Snow Buntings	Pittenweem (cliffs)
30th	28	Twite	Cocklemill Marsh

Apologies for the later than usual posting of this summary. This was due to circumstances outwith our control. Also, we are trying a new format for the sightings. See below.

Date	Count	Species	Location
01/10/2024	1	Long-tailed Skua (juvenile)	Carlingnose Point
	6	Arctic Skuas	Carlingnose Point
	1	Mediterranean Gull (adult)	Carlingnose Point
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
	9	Arctic Skuas	St Andrews, Aquarium
	1	Great Skua	St Andrews, Aquarium
	132	Barnacle Geese	St Andrews, Aquarium
	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Angle Park GP
	1	Marsh Harrier (female)	Letham Pools
	27	Sooty Shearwaters	Fife Ness
	4	Arctic Skuas	Fife Ness
	9	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
	3	Little Gulls	Fife Ness
	2	Great Skua	Fife Ness
	2	Black-tailed Godwits	Seafield
	c80	Barnacle Geese	Fife Ness
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Newburgh
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
02/10/2024	2	Green Sandpipers	Angle Park GP
	1	Ring Ouzel	Fairmont
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
	5	Great Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	1	Pomarine Skua	Fife Ness (day count)
	5	Arctic Skuas	Fife Ness (day count
	22	Sooty Shearwaters	Fife Ness (day count)
	116	Skylarks	Fife Ness (day count)
	110	Barnacle Geese	Fife Ness (day count)
	5	Little Gulls	Fife Ness (day count)
	5	Great Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	7	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness (day count)
	45	Manx Shearwaters	Fife Ness (day count)
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Siberian Chiffchaff	Balcomie
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
03/10/2024	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
	1	Yellow Wagtail	Bow of Fife
	25	Little Egrets	Eden Estuary Centre
	2	Greenshanks	Eden Estuary Centre
04/10/2024	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Fife Ness Muir
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
05/10/2024	1	Marsh Harrier (adult female)	Mugdrum Island
	3	Little Egrets	Mugdrum Island
	1	Whimbrel	Pittenweem
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Morton Loch NNR
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Anstruther
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
06/10/2024	1	Merlin	Kilminning
	1	Pale-bellied Brent Goose	Cocklemill Burn
	13	Little Egrets	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Slavonian Grebe	Eden Estuary Centre
	3	Pomarine Skua (juveniles)	Hawkcraig Point
	8	Arctic Skuas	Hawkcraig Point
	2	Little Gulls	Hawkcraig Point
	2	Pomarine Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	14	Arctic Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	393	Little Gulls	Fife Ness (day count)
	1	Great Skua	Cocklemill Burn
	1	Greenshank	Eden Estuary Centre
	3	Pintails	Eden Estuary Centre
	14	Red-throated Divers	Eden Estuary Centre
	2	Barnacle Geese	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
	1	Little Bunting	Kilminning
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
07/10/2024	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Anstruther
	2	Arctic Skuas	Hawkcraig Point
	c57	Little Gulls	Hawkcraig Point
	2	Green Sandpipers	Drumoig
	1	Greenshank	Drumoig
	1	Long-eared Owl	Rossie Bog
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Great White Egret	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
08/10/2024	1	Arctic Skua (juvenile)	Pettycur Harbour
	1	Pomarine Skua (juveniles)	Pettycur Harbour
	1	Ruff	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
	9031	Gannets	Fife Ness (day count)
	5360	Kittiwakes	Fife Ness (day count)
	215	Little Gulls	Fife Ness (day count)
	21	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness (day count)
	4	Arctic Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	1	Pomarine Skua (juvenile)	Fife Ness (day count)
	249	Barnacle Geese	Fife Ness (day count)
	38	Barnacle Geese	Pettycur Harbour
	32	Little Gulls	Pettycur Harbour
	80	Barnacle Geese	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Scaup	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Manx Shearwater	Pettycur Harbour
	3	Arctic Skuas	Pettycur Harbour
09/10/2024	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
	8	Red-throated Divers	Pettycur Harbour
	15	Sooty Shearwaters	Fife Ness (day count)
	14	Arctic Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	3	Little Gulls	Pettycur Harbour
	1	Great Skua	Fife Ness (day count)
	76	Little Gulls	Fife Ness (day count)
	14	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness (day count)
10/10/2024	c2000	Pink-footed Geese	Ferry Hills
	1	Little Egret	Newburgh
	1	Ring Ouzel	Boarhills
	1	Lesser Whitethroat	Boarhills
	1	Merlin	Fife Ness
	1	Black Tern	Fife Ness
	1	Arctic Skua	Fife Ness
	4	Raven	Kilminning
	1	Scaup (female)	Stenhouse Reservoir
	1	Great Northern Diver	Fife Ness
	3	Little Gulls	Fife Ness
	1	Greenshank	Fife Ness
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Spotted Sandpiper juvenile	Cameron Reservoir
	14	Taiga Bean Geese	Crail
	11	Taiga Bean Geese	Ferry Hills
11/10/2024	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
	1	Arctic Skua	Fife Ness
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Boarhills
	1	Lesser Whitethroat	Boarhills
	1	Merlin	Kilmany
	3	Arctic Skuas	Anstruther
	21	Barnacle Geese	Anstruther
	11	Little Gulls	Anstruther
	33	Mediterranean Gulls	East Wemyss (Back Dykes roost)
	1	Merlin	Boarhills
	1	Brambling	Boarhills
	2	Ravens	Boarhills
	1	Sooty Shearwater	Fife Ness
	2	Little Gulls	Fife Ness
	1	Black-throated Diver	Fife Ness
	2	Great Skuas	Anstruther
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
12/10/2024	1	Curlew Sandpiper	Balcomie Beach
	15	Mediterranean Gulls	East Wemyss
	1	Snow Bunting	Kilminning
	1	Brambling	Kilminning
	1	Barnacle Goose	Kilminning
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Lochore Meadows CP
13/10/2024	1	Brambling	Kilminning
	3	Raven	Kilminning
	1	Black-throated Diver	Ferry Hills
	7850	Pink-footed Geese	Ferry Hills
	88	Swallows	Ferry Hills
	22	House Martins	Ferry Hills
	2	Twite	Boarhills
	c6	Crossbills	Elie Estate
	1	Scaup	Stenhouse Reservoir
	1	Raven	Pitmedden Forest
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
14/10/2024	1	Merlin (female)	Kilminning
	1	Greenshank	Kilminning
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
15/10/2024	738	Redwings	Cullaloe LNR
	3	Greenshanks	Newmills
	1	Pintail	Newmills
	1	Raven	Newmills
	1	Red Kite	Cullaloe LNR
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Letham Pools
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
16/10/2024	1	Ring Ouzel	Kilminning
	1	Brambling	Kilminning
	1	Ring Ouzel	Balcomie
	1	Black Redstart	Kilminning
	11848	Redwings	Ferry Hills
	29	Barnacle Geese	Ferry Hills
	5	Ravens	Kilminning
	6	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
	1	Great White Egret	Cameron Reservoir
17/10/2024	1	Ring Ouzel	Kilminning
	1	Black-throated Diver	Ferry Hills
	11	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	8	Pintail	Ferry Hills
	1	Hen Harrier (male)	St Monans
	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Carnbee
	1	Ring Ouzel	Crail
	14	Twite	Boarhills
	1	Ring Ouzel	Fife Ness Muir
	1	Ring Ouzel	Fife Ness
	1	Long-eared Owl	Craighead Cottages
	1	Ring Ouzel	Craighead Cottages
	1	Marsh Harrier (immature)	Mugdrum Island
	2	Ring Ouzel	Wormiston
	1	Brambling	Wormiston
	1	Ring Ouzel	Kingsbarns
	2	Brambling	Kingsbarns
	1	Greater Scaup	Stenhouse Reservoir
	1	Siberian Chiffchaff	Fife Ness Muir
	1	Siberian Chiffchaff	Wormiston
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Kilminning
18/10/2024	2	Great Northern Divers	Ferry Hills
	10	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	1	Arctic Skua	Ferry Hills
	10	Bramblings	Ferry Hills
	2	Black Redstarts	Bowhouse Farm
	c10	Corn Buntings	Bowhouse Farm
	1	Great Northern Diver	Ruddons Point
	20	Red-throated Divers	Ruddons Point
	1	Jack Snipe	Cocklemill Burn
	4	Barnacle Geese	Crombie
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
	12	Taiga Bean Geese	Ferry Hills
19/10/2024	2	Black Redstarts	Bowhouse Farm
	1	Yellow-browed Warbler	Dairsie Bridge
	1	Great Skua	Ferry Hills
	1	Black-throated Diver	Ferry Hills
	55	Brent Geese	Fife Ness
	11	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
	15	Barnacle Geese	Buddo Rock
	4	Greenshanks	Buddo Rock
	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Rossie Bog
	4	Ring Ouzels	Kittock’s Den
	90	Blackbirds	Kittock’s Den
	115	Golden Plovers	Kittock’s Den
	1	Marsh Harrier	Rossie Bog
	1	Siberian Chiffchaff	Kilminning
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Long-tailed Skua (juvenile)	Ferry Hills
20/10/2024	42	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	2	Black Redstarts	Bowhouse Farm
	1	Snow Bunting	Kirkcaldy (behind Morrisons)
	5	Brambling	St Andrews
	32	Barnacle Geese	St Andrews
	1	Goshawk female	St Andrews
	2	Ravens	St Andrews
	1	Mediterranean Gull	Lochgelly Loch
	565	Little Gulls	Fife Ness (day count)
	1	Pomarine Skua	Fife Ness (day count)
	8	Arctic Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	11	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness (day count)
	c3	Long-tailed Skuas	Fife Ness (day count)
	1	Great White Egret	Moor Loch
	1	Hawfinch	St Andrews
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
21/10/2024	27	Little Gulls	Pettycur Harbour
	5	Red-throated Divers	Pettycur Harbour
	1	Green Sandpiper	Rossie Bog
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
22/10/2024	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Kilminning
	5	Barnacle Geese	Eden Estuary Centre
	8	Greenshanks	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Ruff (juvenile)	Eden Estuary Centre
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
23/10/2024	2	Slavonian Grebes	Leven Beach
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
24/10/2024	1	Black-throated Diver	Fife Ness
	2	Little Auks	Fife Ness
	13	Little Gulls	Fife Ness
	6	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
	4	Snow Bunting	Balcomie
	1	Great White Egret	Newmills
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
25/10/2024	5	Bramblings	Ferry Hills
	1	Little Gull	Fife Ness
	1	Long-tailed Skua (juvenile)	Ferry Hills
	86	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	2	Red-throated Divers	Fife Ness
	32	Redpoll	Ferry Hills
	4	Snow Bunting	Balcomie
	3	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
26/10/2024	1	Crossbill	Ferry Hills
	3	Barnacle Geese (W)	Cameron Reservoir
	c25	Twite	Balcomie
	c300	Redwings	Balcomie
	60	Barnacle Geese	Balcomie
	1	Snow Bunting	Out Head
	4	Snow Buntings	Balcomie
	c100	Lapwings (over)	Crail
	2	Twite	Coble Shore
	8	Corn Buntings	Bowhouse Farm
	1	Merlin female	Bowhouse Farm
	1	Marsh Harrier (adult female)	Newburgh
	4	Taiga Bean Geese	Ferry Hills
	1	White-rumped Sandpiper	Ferry Hills
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
27/10/2024	2	Snow Buntings	Balcomie
	3	Black-throated Divers	Fife Ness
	1	Great Northern Diver	Fife Ness
	1	Twite	Ferry Hills
	3	Crossbills	Ferry Hills
	10	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	2	Red-throated Divers (S)	Fife Ness
	1	Little Gull	Dalgety Bay
	7	Red-throated Divers (W)	Dalgety Bay
	1	Hen Harrier (ringtail)	Kilminning
	61	Mediterranean Gulls	East Wemyss (Back Dykes roost)
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
	13	Taiga Bean Geese	Ferry Hills
28/10/2024	103	Red-throated Divers (W)	Ferry Hills
	1	Green Sandpiper	Angle Park GP
	1	Marsh Harrier	Angle Park GP
	2	Bramblings (S)	St Andrews
	1	Crossbill (S)	St Andrews
	1	Goshawk (male S)	St Andrews
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	3	Hawfinches (S)	St Andrews
	1	Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile)	Cameron Reservoir
29/10/2024	6	Crossbills	Ferry Hills
	1	Merlin (female/juvenile)	Ferry Hills
	35	Red-throated Divers	Ferry Hills
	967	Redwings	Ferry Hills
	1	Merlin	Baldinnie
	1	Short-eared Owl	Out Head
	4	Greenshanks	Out Head
	23	Grey Plovers	Out Head
	1	Slavonian Grebe	Out Head
	1	Short-eared Owl	West Sands
	c55	Shovelers	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Angle Park GP
	4	Taiga Bean Geese	Ferry Hills
30/10/2024	1	Merlin (over)	Muirhead Farm
	1	Black-throated Diver (inland)	Ferry Hills
	12	Bramblings	Ferry Hills
	5	Great Northern Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
	1	Hawfinch	Ferry Hills
	81	Red-throated Divers (inland)	Ferry Hills
	78	Whooper Swans (12 juveniles)	Freuchie
	1	Bewick’s Swan (NE)	Ferry Hills
	2	Great White Egrets	Angle Park GP
	1	Great White Egret	Letham Pools
31/10/2024	1	Marsh Harrier	Letham Pools
	8	Greenshanks	Newmills
	1	Kingfisher	Newmills
	1	Little Egret	Newmills
	3	Pintails	Newmills
	1	Bittern	Letham Pools

September and the start of autumn, with the promise of some rare migrating birds. Sunday 1st was the all-day sea watch at Fife Ness where all Club members were invited to attend at some time and learn what “all the fuss was about” regarding seawatching! Results will be published in Scope. The wind had turned easterly at last and significant sightings away from Fife Ness included: 16 Arctic Skuas at Carlingnose Point, five Great Northern Divers and a Sooty Shearwater at Elie, one Roseate Tern at Pettycur Harbour, one Redstart at Kilminning and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua at Boarhills. Monday 2nd was incredibly wet, but that didn’t stop determined birders! 49 Mediterranean Gulls, including 11 juveniles, were recorded at the Back Dykes roost, East Wemyss. Two Pied and one Spotted Flycatcher were seen at Kilminning with Pied Flycatchers also recorded at Balcomie, Craighead and Fife Ness Muir. One Curlew Sandpiper, three Ospreys and 30 Little Egrets were seen from the Eden Estuary Centre and a Roseate Tern, one Kingfisher and 33 Little Gulls were recorded from Boarhills. The highlights from Fife Ness included: one Bonaparte’s Gull, one Pomarine Skua and 28 Red-throated Divers. The easterly wind continued on 3rd and a steady flow of birds on migration were reported throughout the day. Pied Flycatchers, Whinchats, one Red- breasted Flycatcher, one Hen Harrier, one Green Sandpiper and one Red-backed Shrike were amongst the species seen at Kilminning. A Pied Flycatcher was also recorded at Craighead Farm and a Red Kite spotted at Wormiston. One Lesser Whitethroat and a Kingfisher were noted at Glebe Park, St Andrews, a Marsh Harrier reported from Newburgh and two Ruddy Shelducks seen at Torryburn, perhaps the pair recorded last month. One Yellow Wagtail flying south and a Kingfisher on a small SUDs pond in Dunfermline were the first reports on 4th. Observers at Kilminning recorded one Pied Flycatcher, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Merlin. Sightings at Fife Ness included one Cory’s Shearwater, 24 Little Gulls offshore and two Curlew Sandpipers on the “Stinky Pool”. Two Little Stints, two Ospreys and 27 Little Egrets were seen at the Eden Estuary LNR before one Roseate Tern was recorded at Out Head. The wind continued to be easterly or northeasterly on Thursday 5th and was forecast to remain from that direction for several days to come bringing the promise of more migrant birds. A Redstart and 140 Meadow Pipits were recorded at Ferry Hills with a Peregrine and three Marsh Harriers seen at Newburgh. Sightings from the Eden Estuary Centre included: one Honey-buzzard, one Little Stint, two Spotted Redshanks (one a juvenile), three juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and three juvenile Ruff. One Lesser Whitethroat and one Pied Flycatcher were seen at Kilminning and the day totals from Fife Ness included: one Leach’s Petrel, one Long-tailed Skua, 37 Sooty Shearwaters and one Black Tern. The first record on a foggy 6th, where the haar didn’t clear Fife Ness until1530, was from Balcomie where a Pied Flycatcher was seen. A Lesser Whitethroat and Whinchat were recorded at Kilminning, a Spotted Flycatcher was seen in St Andrews and a Green Sandpiper was disturbed at Dairsie. Records from the Eden Estuary Centre included: one Osprey, two Spotted Redshanks, six Curlew Sandpipers, one Ruff, 14+ Greenshanks, two Peregrines and one Kingfisher and amongst the day totals from Fife Ness were: 12 Arctic Skuas, one Curlew Sandpiper, 1021 Manx Shearwaters, two Pomarine Skuas, three Ruff and 151 Sooty Shearwaters. It was again very foggy on 7th, perhaps that was why there were no reports from Fife Ness. A Marsh Harrier was seen at The Wilderness and two Spotted Redshanks, two Ospreys, five Curlew Sandpipers, three Ruff, 31 Little Egrets and three Kingfishers were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre. Finally, three Spotted Flycatchers, one Short-eared Owl and 40+ Little Grebes were reported from Cameron Reservoir.    A Great White Egret seen at Angle Park GP was the first report the next day (8th,) and then a Wryneck at Craighead promised an interesting day for unusual sightings! A Green Sandpiper, five Ruff and 20+ Snipe were recorded near Stenhouse Reservoir and a Red Kite flew over Gartarry. A Yellow-browed Warbler was seen at Rosyth and one Icterine Warbler (caught and ringed,) one Spotted Flycatcher and one Lesser Whitethroat were recorded at “The Patch,” Fife Ness. Sightings from the Eden Estuary Centre included: 36 Little Egrets, four Curlew Sandpipers and two Ospreys, whilst selected records from the Fife Ness day count included: 16 Sooty Shearwaters, one Roseate Tern, three Arctic Terns and 66 Little Gulls. The Great White Egret was still at Angle Park GP the next day (9th,) and stayed all month! The, now westerly, wind had cleared away the mist and fog and it was also a day when many observers across Fife reported increasing numbers of Pink-footed Geese on the move, a sure sign of autumn! 250 Meadow Pipits and three Arctic Skuas were amongst the species seen at Ferry Hills, with two Little Egrets, two Whooper Swans and 120 Pochard recorded at Loch Gelly. One Green Sandpiper, one Ruff and five Snipe were seen at Stenhouse Reservoir and three Whinchats noted at Kilminning. Selected sightings from the Eden Estuary Centre were: four Curlew Sandpipers, one Ruff and one Spotted Redshank. The Fife Ness day count included: 18 Arctic Skuas, three Great Northern Divers, two Pomarine Skuas and 47 Sooty Shearwaters. Stormy gusts were forecast for 10th with plenty of sunshine. A Black Tern and three Arctic Skuas flew by Hawkcraig Point and a Redstart was seen at Kilminning, before records from the Eden Estuary LNR included: one Little Stint, one Spotted Redshank, six Curlew Sandpipers, c450 Redshanks, 32 Goosanders and a Kingfisher. A Black Tern flew by St Monans on 11th and nine Curlew Sandpipers, one Ruff, one Osprey and 190 Knot were seen at Out Head. Records from the Eden Estuary Centre included: four Curlew Sandpipers, one Little Stint and one Ruff before selected sightings from the day count at Fife Ness were: eight Arctic Skuas, three Great Northern Divers, three Great Skuas and three Sooty Shearwaters. The unseasonably cold northwesterly winds on 12th brought snow to the Highlands but sunny days in Fife. A Spotted Redshank and Curlew Sandpiper, both juveniles, along with 15 Greenshanks and an Osprey were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre before a Red-necked Grebe, one Black Tern, 394 Eiders, 29 Goosanders and five Arctic Skuas were amongst the species seen from Pettycur Harbour. The day count from Fife Ness included: three Arctic Skuas, one Cory’s Shearwater, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua, one Merlin, one Red-necked Grebe and six Sooty Shearwaters. That night, 13th, the Northern Lights were seen in Fife and the first report came from Ferry Hills, where sightings included: one Black-throated Diver, one Great Northern Diver, two Pintails and 360 Meadow Pipits. 17 Mediterranean Gulls were at East Wemyss and sightings from Pettycur Harbour included: one Great Northern Diver, 15 Arctic Skuas and 245 Gannets, most of which were juveniles. Finally, records from Fife Ness, on a slow day, included one Cory’s and one Sooty Shearwater. Saturday 14th began with reports of two juvenile Little Stints at Edenside and one juvenile Curlew Sandpiper at the Eden Estuary Centre. 18 Arctic Skuas, three Pomarine Skuas, a Peregrine and eight Pintails were seen from Pettycur Harbour before the day count from Fife Ness included: five Arctic Skuas, two Long-tailed Skuas, one a juvenile, three Pomarine Skuas and two Sooty Shearwaters.   The next day, 15th, a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, an Osprey and 13 Little Egrets were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre, one Ruff was seen at Stenhouse Reservoir, one Whinchat was recorded at Letham Pools and a Spotted Redshank was observed at Edenside. Sightings from Pettycur Harbour included one juvenile Pomarine Skua and 14 Arctic Skuas. 43 Mediterranean Gulls were seen at the Back Dykes roost, East Wemyss and, finally, day totals from Fife Ness included: three Arctic Skuas, one Black Tern, one juvenile Pomarine Skua and seven Sooty Shearwaters. First reports the next day, 16th, were from Ferry Hills where one Spotted Flycatcher, 22 Red-throated Divers and 750 Meadow Pipits were recorded. Eight Black-tailed Godwits, c100 Dunlins, one Kingfisher, 22 Little Egrets, two Ospreys and one Ruff were amongst the species seen at Edenside. Light easterly winds with plenty of sunshine were forecast for the next few days, once the early morning mist had cleared and Tuesday 17th was just that! A Whinchat was seen at Kilmany, a juvenile Marsh Harrier flew past Ferry Hills and a juvenile Black Tern was recorded at Balcomie Beach. A Spotted Redshank, one Ruff and 20 Little Egrets were amongst the species seen at Edenside and the day count from Fife Ness included eight Arctic Skuas, one Black Tern and one Pomarine Skua. A stunning Harvest Moon shone overnight 17th_18th attracting two Yellow–browed Warblers to “The Patch”, Fife Ness. Another Yellow-browed Warbler, one Spotted Flycatcher and one Whinchat were recorded at Kilminning, and a Black Tern was seen at Balcomie Beach before a fourth Yellow-browed Warbler was spotted near Craighead Farm. A Pied Flycatcher was at Boarhills,13 Golden Plovers were seen at the “Stinky Pool”, Fife Ness where the day counts included: two Arctic Skuas, one juvenile Black Tern, one Pomarine Skua and two Sooty Shearwaters. The next day, 19th, a new Yellow–browed Warbler was recorded at “The Patch”, Fife Ness, with c170 Pochards and two Whooper Swans were amongst the species seen at Loch Gelly. A Hooded Crow and two Ruddy Shelducks were observed at the Lower Lagoon, Preston Island, probably the same pair seen previously at Torry Bay and Stenhouse Reservoir. 73 Red-breasted Mergansers were recorded at Cocklemill Burn before two Arctic Skuas and one Long-tailed Skua flew past Ferry Hills. Cold, dull weather returned on 20th, although the light wind remained easterly. A juvenile Goshawk, Yellow-browed Warbler and 16 Stonechats were recorded at Kilminning, with a Yellow Wagtail seen at Billow Ness and a Whinchat noted at Craighead Farm. Two Shovelers and unusually, another Great White Egret, were observed at Cullaloe LNR. A Goshawk was also seen at Boarhills where a Short-eared Owl was also spotted. Abbreviated sightings from St Davids Harbour included six Arctic Skuas, one Long-tailed Skua and two Pomarine Skuas, with the selected day count from Fife Ness giving: six Arctic Skuas, two Black Terns, two Pomarine Skuas and one Sooty Shearwater. The first report of the Autumn Equinox (21st) was from Cullaloe LNR where a Great White Egret was seen. An amazing six Great White and 34 Little Egrets were also seen from the Eden Estuary Centre before, yet another, Great White Egret was amongst the species recorded at Loch Gelly. A Long-tailed Skua and Red-necked Grebe, both juveniles, were seen from Pettycur Harbour. Finally, the day count from Fife Ness included: 23 Arctic Skuas, 85 Golden Plovers, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua, 29 Red-throated Divers and one juvenile Pomarine Skua. The cold easterly wind persisted into the next week bringing an array of migrants to coastal areas. A Red-breasted Flycatcher and a Yellow-browed Warbler were caught and ringed at “The Patch” Fife Ness (22nd,) with Yellow-Browed Warblers also seen at Crail Airfield, Kilminning, Craighead Farm, Kilrenny and Wormiston; a grand total of 12. A Red-breasted and a Spotted Flycatcher were recorded at Balcomie and a Barnacle Goose was amongst the sightings at Loch Gelly. A juvenile, Red-necked Grebe was seen from Pettycur Harbour before the day count from Fife Ness included 16 Arctic Skuas, five Little Gulls and eight Sooty Shearwaters. An amazing sighting from Ferry Hills of 87 Red-throated Divers with 83 in one flock, was the first report on 23rd. This was followed by confirmation of a Yellow-legged Gull at Pettycur Harbour, a bird seen in recent days, but not positively identified. 19 Arctic Skuas and 13 Grey Wagtails were also seen here later in the day. At least 11 Yellow-Browed Warblers were in the same areas as yesterday with a Red-breasted and Spotted Flycatcher again recorded at Balcomie. Finally, an Arctic Warbler was seen and photographed at Crail Airfield. Sunshine returned briefly on 24th with a light easterly wind. Three Yellow-browed Warblers were recorded at Crail (Kirklands) with singles at Denburn Wood and Kilminning where 23 Stonechats were also reported. A juvenile Red-necked Grebe and two Whimbrel were seen from Pettycur Harbour and a Great White Egret was amongst the species recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre. The day count from Fife Ness included three Arctic Skuas, five Sooty Shearwaters and one juvenile Pomarine Skua. After a cold night with frost in some areas, Wednesday 25th was a lovely day with a rare Spotted Sandpiper seen throughout the day at Cameron Reservoir being the early highlight. Single Great White Egrets were recorded at Lochore Meadows CP and at Newburgh with two Yellow-browed Warblers noted at Kilminning and one at Craighead Farm. More than 75 Golden Plovers were seen at Balcomie before the day count from Fife Ness included two Sabine’s Gulls and 116 Sooty Shearwaters. The first report on a 26th was of two Arctic Skuas, three Brent Geese, six Barnacle Geese and two Slavonian Grebes, seen at the Eden Estuary LNR. The Spotted Sandpiper was recorded again at Cameron Reservoir where it stayed for the remainder of the month. A Great White Egret was reported from Riverside Park, Glenrothes and a Pomarine Skua was seen from Pettycur Harbour as well as two Arctic Skuas. Over 1900 Kittiwakes and 80 Little Gulls were recorded at St Andrews (Castle Sands), with selected sightings from the Fife Ness day count showing: one Balearic Shearwater, three juvenile Pomarine Skuas and 23 Puffins. The wind direction changed from easterly to a cold northwesterly on Friday 27th bringing five Arctic Skuas, two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas and two juvenile Pomarine Skuas to Hawkcraig Point. A Long-eared Owl was recorded at Boarhills and observers at Fife Ness reported the fascinating sighting of a Brown Booby along with seeing 10 Arctic Skuas, one Slavonian Grebe and 93 Sooty Shearwaters, amongst many other species. Another Great White Egret was spotted at Morton Lochs NNR the next day, 28th. This was the eighth different location to host this species during the month. Over 300 Golden Plovers were seen at Kilrenny and 16 Little Egrets noted amongst the Eden Estuary LNR sightings. Finally, the Fife Ness day count included: 10 Arctic Terns, one Peregrine, one Red-necked Grebe, 19 Red-throated Divers and eight Sooty Shearwaters. The next day, 29th, a juvenile Long-tailed Skua was seen at Ferry Hills along with early sightings of Brambling and Redwings. Selected records from the Fife Ness day count included: one Balearic Shearwater, one Grey Phalarope. 73 Little Gulls and one Long-tailed Skua. The final day of September brought a report of one Ruff and 11 Little Egrets at the Eden Estuary Centre. A Yellow-browed Warbler and 10 Bramblings were recorded at Kilminning and finally, a Barn Owl was seen on a post near Tayport.

The first sighting of the month (1^st) was from the Eden Estuary Centre, where a Curlew Sandpiper was seen. The Lesser Yellowlegs was still at St Andrews where it remained until last reported on 2^nd, and a Merlin was spotted at East Wemyss, where the Mediterranean Gulls were flushed by dogs. A Short-eared Owl was reported at Out Head and finally the day count from Fife Ness included, one Cory’s Shearwater, six Arctic Skuas, three Little Gulls and one Black Tern.  The first report on 2^nd was of a Little Ringed Plover off Billow Ness, Anstruther. Five Greenshanks were then reported from Newmills Bay and a Yellow Wagtail was seen at Kilminning, before one Curlew Sandpiper, 19 Little Egrets and one Osprey were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre. Saturday 3^rd attracted a Green Sandpiper to a pool near Gillingshill Reservoir and a Marsh Harrier to fields near Carnbee. A further two Green Sandpipers were seen from Ferry Hills, along with one Whimbrel and 11 Tree Pipits.  Reports from the Eden Estuary LNR listed 26 Little Egrets, one Curlew Sandpiper, two Ospreys, one Greenshank and at least one Whimbrel. Another Curlew Sandpiper and one Greenshank were then recorded at Coble Shore. The day count from Fife Ness included: one Arctic Skua, three Black Terns, two Puffins, 66 Sandwich Terns and two Whimbrels.  The recent settled spell of warm weather was interrupted by showers on 4^th; however a Quail was heard calling near Kingsbarns and a most welcome Green Sandpiper was then seen on the new wetland at Kilminning, a positive sign for the future! Monday 5^th began with a sighting from Kilminning of a Sooty Shearwater. This was followed by a report from Billow Ness, Anstruther, of a Cory’s Shearwater and another Sooty Shearwater, with a Cory’s Shearwater also seen off Crail. Three Manx Shearwaters and two Arctic Skuas were then spotted from Earlsferry.  Finally, the day count from Fife Ness included: two Arctic Skuas, one Little Gull, four Sooty Shearwaters and 28 Whimbrels. The first report on the 6^th was again from Fife Ness and included one Sooty Shearwater, one Great Skua, one Arctic Skua, and five Puffins. The next report was from Billow Ness, Anstruther, where one Black Tern, one Mediterranean Gull and 18 Common Scoters were seen. A Mediterranean Gull along with a Little Gull and 14 Manx Shearwaters were then spotted from Earlsferry.  Two Roseate Terns were seen from Pettycur Harbour, before the final record of the day was of two Marsh Harriers seen over a field of oats north of Kilrenny. After a spell of warm but showery days, Wednesday 7^th dawned with gusty south-westerly winds and the report of a Quail calling south of Kilmany. A Green Sandpiper was then spotted flying SE over Kirkcaldy, before a Kingfisher was seen at the pond in Belleknowes Industrial Estate, Inverkeithing. An observer at Seafield saw one Bar-tailed Godwit, six Dunlins, 10 Ringed Plovers, three Curlews and two Redshanks. The only count from Fife Ness that day included 20 Common and three Velvet Scoters.

The second week of August (8^th) began with a report from Pettycur Harbour of four Arctic Skuas, four Manx Shearwaters, six Fulmars, two Little Egrets and one Red-throated Diver. This was followed by sightings of a Marsh Harrier and two Tree Pipits near Crail and then a report of C50 Golden Plovers also seen near Crail. The first Great Shearwater of the season was recorded at Fife Ness, along with many other species including: two Arctic Skuas, one Great Skua, 85 Sandwich Terns and C200 Gannets.  A spell of very windy weather from the SW swept across Fife on 9^th but this did not deter observers who recorded one Green Sandpiper at a pool near Gillingshill Reservoir (perhaps the same one seen on 3^rd?) and a Roseate Tern at Pettycur Harbour. Early evening records from Fife Ness included: four Sooty Shearwaters, one Pomarine Skua lingering, one Wheatear on the rocks and two Stonechats. The final report of the day was from East Wemyss and was of 65 Mediterranean Gulls of which 11 were juveniles.  Saturday 10^th was again windy with strong gusts from the SW, however it proved to be a busy day for observers in Fife with several Marsh Harriers seen (times of observations given in case of duplication.) A juvenile Marsh Harrier, one Whimbrel and two Greenshanks were reported from Boarhills (08.55) followed shortly after by a sighting at Kilrenny of a juvenile Marsh Harrier along with an adult (09.10).  A further sighting of a juvenile Marsh Harrier was from St Andrews (12.45) with Marsh Harriers also seen at Letham Pools (13.15, 16.00 and between 19.15 -19.50) and at the Eden Estuary Centre (17.45 -19.45). An Osprey was seen at Newburgh and a Grey Partridge with four juveniles was recorded at Out Head. One Whinchat, one Marsh Harrier (as above), one Snipe and one Curlew were seen at Letham Pools, before 30 Black-tailed Godwits, 50+ Manx Shearwaters, three Shovelers and three Arctic Skuas were reported from Pittenweem. Records from the Eden Estuary Centre included one Osprey, four Greenshanks, 10 Knot, three Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Goosanders, c125 Dunlins, c265 Redshanks, four Swifts, nine Little Egrets and one Marsh Harrier (as above.)  Additional sightings from Letham Pools were: one Marsh Harrier (as above,) 82 Coots, 26 Gadwalls, c45 Mallards, 15 Little Grebes, one Tufted Duck with two young, three Shovelers, one with seven young, and 14 Teal. The final record of the day (apart from Fife Ness totals,) came from Birnie & Gaddon Lochs LNR where a Green Sandpiper was seen. The day totals from Fife Ness included: two Arctic Skuas, 76 Common Scoters, 46 Dunlins, two Great Skuas, three Little Gulls, one Marsh Harrier (as above,) two Red-necked Grebes, 30 Ringed Plovers, one Ruff, one Sooty Shearwater and 62 Swallows.  Sunday 11^th dawned bright and sunny and proved to be a lovely summer’s day. The first sightings were from Ferry Hills where 460 Tree Pipits were recorded, a UK day record on Trektellen (a site for Visible Migration or VisMig,) along with one Black-throated Diver, two Red-throated Divers and one Snipe. An Osprey was reported from Cupar followed by records from Pettycur Harbour of three Arctic Skuas, one Pomarine Skua, a flock of 15 Black Terns, one Red-throated Diver, three Little Terns and 221 Manx Shearwaters.  Seven Mediterranean Gulls were at East Wemyss and an observer at Out Head recorded one Pomarine Skua, five Arctic Skuas, one Black Tern, one Osprey, one Mediterranean Gull, one Little Gull and 11 Manx Shearwaters. The day totals from Fife Ness included: 779 Manx Shearwaters, three Sooty Shearwaters, one Long- tailed Skua, 202 Common Scoters, 21 Puffins, 275 distant Arctic or Common Terns, one Little Gull and two Red-throated Divers. A brief spell of easterly winds marked the beginning of the next week (12^th,) unfortunately they were immediately followed by thunderstorms putting an end to the sunny weather of yesterday. One Roseate Tern, five Arctic Skuas, one Little Gull, 10 Manx Shearwaters, 60+ Fulmars and three Teal were noted at Pettycur Harbour in the morning with 30 Manx Shearwaters and 51 Arctic Terns seen during the evening.  A juvenile Marsh Harrier flying low was recorded from Ferry Hills. Finally, the total day count from many observers at Fife Ness included: one Balearic Shearwater, seven Sooty Shearwaters, 31 Arctic Skuas, one Long-tailed Skua, four Little Gulls, one Roseate Tern, one Pintail and a very noteworthy Caspian Tern. The first report on 13^th was from St Andrews, by the aquarium, where 32 Common Scoters, 36 Canada Geese, 13 Arctic Terns, five Common Terns, 28 Sandwich Terns and about 12 Fulmar chicks still on the cliffs were recorded.  An unusual Carrion/Hooded Crow was seen in Kirkcaldy and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler was heard near Pitlair, quite late in the season to be vocal. Two Water Rails and a huge flock of over 160 Mallards, many in eclipse plumage, were noted at Cullaloe LNR, before c250 Swallows were seen north of Strathmiglo, a sure sign of the impending autumn migration. A report of one Green Sandpiper near Rossie Bog completed the records for the 13^th. The next day (14^th) proved to be warm and sunny with observations beginning with an early morning report of two Whinchats near Kinghorn. An Arctic Skua, two Little Gulls, 60 Common Terns, 55 Sandwich Terns and five Goosanders were then seen at Balcomie Beach, before three Ospreys were noted at Tayport.  A juvenile Cuckoo at Morton Lochs NNR was a reminder that although many adult Cuckoos were by now south of the Sahara, this year’s young still had the long journey to complete on their own – amazing!  An early evening count from East Wemyss included 63 Eiders in various stages of moult and nine Turnstones. An observer at Out Head saw one juvenile Black Tern being chased by two Arctic Skuas, also seen were three Little Gulls, two Whimbrels, one Manx Shearwater and one juvenile Whinchat. Although reported as “generally very quiet,” sightings from Pettycur Harbour included one Little Gull, c30 Kittiwakes, 24 Arctic Terns, three Fulmars, eight Gannets and one Scaup along with good numbers of other species.  Finally, the day count from several observers at Fife Ness included: 291 Manx Shearwaters, 17 Arctic Skuas, 19 Dunlins, and three Golden Plovers.

The third week of the month (15^th) began with rain sweeping across Fife, retribution for yesterday’s lovely weather!? Amongst the sightings by observers at the Eden Estuary Centre were: two Ospreys, eight Little Egrets, one Ruff, 24 Goosanders, one Kingfisher, 14 Black-tailed Godwits, c450 Redshanks and c45 Dunlins.  30 Swifts were seen and heard at Cellardyke with 10 more seen high above Kennoway.  Finally, an early afternoon count from several observers at Fife Ness included: four Arctic Skuas,14 Ringed Plovers and a huge number of some 2000 Gannets.  Friday 16^th began with the sighting of a Black Tern, 56 Manx Shearwaters, 12 Fulmars and two Common Scoters along with many Kittiwakes, Common and Sandwich Terns at Pettycur Harbour.  Unusually, three Kingfishers together were seen at Newmills Bay before a Green Sandpiper was recorded at the lagoons in Tentsmuir NNR. A very bright Chiffchaff was seen briefly in Cellardyke and finally four Ruff, 15 Greenshanks, 15 Little Egrets and 375 Canada Geese were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre. The next day (17^th) a very early morning record from Fife Ness was of the second Great Shearwater seen this month and is included in the abbreviated day count later. A Nuthatch was seen in the cemetery near Dunfermline Football Ground before a report from Pettycur Harbour noted two Arctic Skuas, 22 Manx Shearwaters and four Black-tailed Godwits. The new pool at Kilminning was continuing to attract waders, with one Greenshank seen today, before a Black-tailed Godwit, two Common Sandpipers and 32 Curlews were recorded near Stenhouse Reservoir. A Short-eared Owl and four Whimbrels were seen at Balgove Bay and a Marsh Harrier was observed over a cereal field near Guardbridge. Finally, the day count from Fife Ness included: one Great Shearwater, three Sooty Shearwaters, two Black Guillemots, one Arctic Skua, one Ruff, 54 Ringed Plovers, 92 Dunlins and one Osprey. Strong south-westerly winds returned on Sunday 18^th which may have deterred bird watchers as the only report, other than from Fife Ness, was of a juvenile Black Tern off Pettycur Harbour. The total day count from four observers at Fife Ness included: five Sooty Shearwaters, one Balearic Shearwater, 2859 Gannets, six Arctic Skuas, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua, one Velvet Scoter, one Black Guillemot, nine Whimbrels, 47 Black-tailed Godwits and one Ruff. The first report of the new week (19^th) was from Ferry Hills where, once again, the UK day record for migrating Tree Pipits was broken with a count of 926!  A survey at Loch Gelly revealed one Osprey, three Whooper Swans, one Greenshank, one Water Rail, 17 Canada Geese, 136 Greylag Geese, one lone Wigeon, 67 Pochard, 82 Tufted Ducks, 14 Gadwall, 41 Coots, 85 Little Grebes, 12 Great Crested Grebes (including five juveniles), with a female still on a nest and finally, 53 Mute Swans plus eight juveniles.  A juvenile Cuckoo was seen in a Burntisland garden before two Arctic Skuas, two Whimbrels, and a flock of 87 Fulmars were recorded at Pettycur Harbour. Five Manx Shearwaters were seen by the aquarium at an otherwise quiet St Andrews and the day count from Fife Ness included: one Balearic Shearwater, eight Great Skuas, three Arctic Skuas and four Little Gulls. The next day (20^th) a Green Sandpiper and a Water Rail were seen during a WeBS survey at Lochore Meadows CP and three Whinchats were reported at Boarhills.  Records from the Eden Estuary Centre, before a very high tide, included one Ruff, 12 Little Egrets, four Greenshanks, 32 Black-tailed Godwits and 134 Canada Geese.  A juvenile Long-tailed Skua was seen at Crail and a juvenile Marsh Harrier was reported from the Eden Estuary LNR.  Finally, the day count from Fife Ness included: one Arctic Skua and one Pomarine Skua.  A Hobby was seen chasing Swallows at Kilmany the next day (21^st) and a Cory’s Shearwater was observed from Pettycur Harbour before a Sooty Shearwater and 20 Manx Shearwaters were seen at Pittenweem. Finally, an Arctic Skua and Great Skua were included in the Fife Ness day counts.

The unseasonably wet and very windy weather continued at the start of the third week of the month (22^nd).  32 Swifts were seen over Struthers Farm then an Osprey and 20 Little Egrets were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre. Two juvenile Marsh Harriers at St Andrews and a juvenile Whinchat at Tayport were reported before the day count from Fife Ness included: three Arctic Skuas, one Great Skua and one Storm Petrel. Friday 23^rd began with leaden skies and a strong SW wind, however a Spotted Flycatcher and a Garden Warbler were seen at Kilmany and selected sightings from three observers at Pettycur Harbour included: two Black Terns, one Roseate Tern, one Pomarine Skua, c60 Goosanders, one Red-throated Diver and one White Wagtail. Four Roseate Terns were also recorded at Pittenweem and evening observations from Kingsbarns included: 65 Little Gulls, seven being juveniles, four Great Skuas and three Arctic Skuas, 145 Ringed Plovers and 160 Swifts.  Finally, the day count from Fife Ness included: two Arctic Skuas, three Great Skuas, one Pomarine Skua, two Roseate Terns and one Ruff. The first records from Saturday 24^th were from Ferry Hills and included 251 Tree Pipits, 78 Sand Martins, 16 White Wagtails, three Red-throated Divers and one Little Egret. An Osprey and two perched Buzzards were amongst the species seen in the reserve area at Lochore Meadows CP where the main loch is now the domain of water sports enthusiasts. Two Ruddy Shelducks appeared near Stenhouse Reservoir and a Merlin, five White Wagtails, three Wheatears and three Greenshanks were seen at Fairmont.  Highlights from Fife Ness included: 14 Arctic Skuas, six Sooty Shearwaters and 10 Whimbrels. Three Ruff, one Greenshank and six Whimbrels were reported from Ferry Hills early on 25^th, before two Black-tailed Godwits, still in breeding plumage, were seen at Cullaloe LNR. A Red-throated Diver, 12 Arctic Skuas and two Cory’s Shearwaters were amongst the species seen from Pettycur Harbour before the day totals from Fife Ness included: one Balearic Shearwater, seven Sooty Shearwaters and one Arctic Skua. Monday 26^th began with a sighting from Ferry Hills of a juvenile Marsh Harrier high to the west with another juvenile seen later at Dunino. Four Wheatears were on the rocks at Fife Ness, five were seen at Struthers Farm with two Whinchats, and four more were recorded at Out Head along with a Short-eared Owl.  A further two Whinchats were seen at Letham Pools before a Balearic Shearwater and 10+ Black Terns were seen at Pettycur Harbour. 50 Mediterranean Gulls were recorded at the Back Dykes roost, East Wemyss and finally, sightings from Fife Ness included: one Balearic Shearwater and one Sooty Shearwater. Wet and windy weather returned on 27^th but relented to give a sunny evening. A single Cory’s Shearwater was seen at Dysart and observers at Pettycur Harbour recorded one Balearic Shearwater, three Long-tailed Skuas, one Roseate Tern and a juvenile Peregrine amongst other species. A Grey Phalarope and Short-eared Owl were spotted at Balgove Bay and a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was seen at Tentsmuir NNR. Highlights from over 12 hours of sea-watching by six observers at Fife Ness included: one Sooty Shearwater and one Pomarine Skua. 24 Little Egrets and four Ospreys were noted at the Eden Estuary Centre on 28^th and a Cory’s Shearwater was off Pettycur Harbour. A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was seen at Out Head and records from two separate observers at Ferry Hills included: one Yellow Wagtail, one Goshawk and large flocks of hirundines heading south. A Pale-bellied Brent Goose was seen at Carlingnose Point early on 29^th and two Ruddy Shelducks were reported from Torry Bay, perhaps having flown over from the Netherlands, before sightings from the Eden Estuary Centre included five Ospreys, 27 Little Egrets, three early Pink- footed Geese and around 350 Redshanks. Sunshine on Friday 30^th heralded the start of some settled weather and the promise of an easterly wind. Two Long-tailed Skuas and five Arctic Skuas were recorded at Ferry Hills. Two Long-tailed Skuas seen from Ferry Hills were also the first records of the next day (31^st) before one Green Sandpiper and one Curlew Sandpiper were recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre.  A Roseate Tern and two Black Terns flew past Pettycur Harbour and two Whinchats appeared at Stenhouse Reservoir. Finally for the day and the month, the day count from Fife Ness included: one immature White-billed Diver, 10 Arctic Skuas and two Sooty Shearwaters.

After a sunny, but unusually cold, windy June and the disappointment of Scotland making an early exit from the Euros, the first report in July was of six Mediterranean Gulls in the East Wemyss area (1^st). Sightings from the Eden Estuary followed where one Little Egret, one Common Sandpiper, three Ospreys, 13 Goosanders, C120 Shelducks and an early migration of 23 Black-tailed Godwits was reported (2^nd). The unsettled, cold and windy weather continued on 3^rd with an early morning report from Fife Ness giving one Roseate Tern N, 36 Manx Shearwaters N and one Red-throated Diver S, this was followed by four Mediterranean Gulls in the East Wemyss area, then five Manx Shearwaters W and two Puffins at Dalgety Bay.  Also on 3^rd, the highlight of the month (to that point) was a Turtle Dove seen and photographed around Burnturk village. This is a species that has seen a dramatic decline over recent years, but a recent ban on it being hunted during part of its western passage has seen a gradual increase in numbers. The bird remained in the area until 7^th. Sea-watchers at Fife Ness on 4^th recorded one Arctic Skua, one Whimbrel, 16 Manx Shearwaters N, eight Sandwich Terns and one Common and one Arctic Tern. An early VisMig visit to Ferry Hills (5^th) was rewarded with an unusual sighting of one Honey-buzzard and hearing a Nuthatch calling, with signs of early migration continuing when a Whimbrel was seen at Culross. One Manx Shearwater N was recorded at St Andrews and six Mediterranean Gulls and 55+ Manx Shearwaters were seen at East Wemyss. The final record of the day was of four Swifts feeding over Ladybank. The unsettled weather continued on Saturday 6^th which began with 10 Tree Pipits seen at Ferry Hills, the first of this year’s ‘autumn’ migration!  37 Manx Shearwaters NE, one Arctic Skua NE and 15 Common Scoters NE were seen at Kilminning. 80 Manx Shearwaters N in 15 minutes were spotted at Fife Ness followed by a further 119 N, one Greenshank N, one Arctic Skua N, two Red-throated Divers N and eight Common Scoters N. A later visit to Fife Ness that day saw one summer plumage Great Northern Diver S and a further 350+ Manx Shearwaters N. Once again, the first record on Sunday 7^th came from Ferry Hills where a female Quail was disturbed in the early morning. Eight Great Northern Divers, 13 Black-throated Divers and 27 Red-throated Divers were spotted on the water at St Andrews Bay, along with one Black-throated Diver N, 14 Little Gulls S, one Arctic Skua and 17 Manx Shearwaters moving around.

The second week of the month (8^th) began with separate reports of five Quail heard in the Crail, Arncroach and Boarhills areas, with a Short-eared Owl flushed from a field west of Crail where a Cuckoo was also reported. Five Mediterranean Gulls with complete black heads were seen at East Wemyss and three more Mediterranean Gulls were spotted in St Andrews Bay along with one Black-throated Diver, 32 Red-throated Divers, three Little Gulls, one Manx Shearwater and one Whimbrel. Reports for the day ended with 11 Mediterranean Gulls at the Back Dykes roost at East Wemyss which included the return of yellow ASTV. ‘Here comes the sun’ sang the Beatles in 1969 and Tuesday 9^th dawned bright and sunny with clear blue skies over Fife and a Cuckoo seen at Rossie Bog. Counts from Fife Ness included 17 Manx Shearwaters N, eight Common Scoters N, one Red-throated Diver N, one Arctic Skua S and two Sandwich Terns S. 40+ Manx Shearwaters, four Common Scoters and one Red-throated Diver along with an increase in Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and young auks was reported from Kinghorn. Alas, summer only lasted for one day and autumn returned with a vengeance on Wednesday 10^th, bringing back cold, wet, windy weather and one Arctic Skua E at Kinghorn. This was followed by nine Manx Shearwaters N, 31 Common Scoters N and four S, one Teal S and one Arctic Skua N seen at Fife Ness. Three Common Sandpipers visited Seafield and 54 Pochards, three Whooper Swans and two more Common Sandpipers were reported from Loch Gelly, with the last sightings of the day being of 10 Mediterranean Gulls, two Red-throated Divers, about 40 Common Scoters and two Swifts seen at East Wemyss and one Great Skua N with two Arctic Skuas loitering at Fife Ness. The celebrations of England reaching the final of the Euros had hardly subsided when a Mediterranean Gull was reported at Anstruther (11^th), followed by a Spotted Flycatcher at Kilmany, a rare bird in Fife these days. Sea-watchers at Fife Ness recorded one Red-throated Diver N, two Goosanders N, 25 Common Scoters N, 18 Manx Shearwaters N, five Arctic Skuas N and one S, two Common Terns, six Sandwich Terns, one Whimbrel and 145 Kittiwakes. There were no reports from Friday 12^th, but the next day (13^th), a total of six Mediterranean Gulls were seen at East Wemyss, two E, one W with the others on the beach and another Mediterranean Gull was recorded at Anstruther. However, the highlight of the week was when three Spoonbills were spotted off Newburgh mid-morning and reported again at lunchtime. Sunday 14^th began with sightings of one Arctic Skua E, one Manx Shearwater E and two Red-throated Divers at Kinghorn. Balcomie shore saw C30 Golden Plovers, one Dunlin, eight Turnstones and 12 Ringed Plovers, with Fife Ness recording 16 Manx Shearwaters N, one Arctic Skua N, and one Arctic Tern N. 12 Mediterranean Gulls were seen at East Wemyss and one at Anstruther.

The third week of July (15^th) began with an early morning report from St Andrews of two Tree Pipits S, and later by sightings of nine Manx Shearwaters N, nine Arctic Terns N, five Sandwich Terns S at Fife Ness and of five Common Sandpipers at Kilminning. The next reports came on 17^th when 58 Sandwich Terns, including 16 juveniles, were reported from Torry Bay, along with a Hooded Crow cross and one early Wigeon. A report from Letham Pools later that day indicated a good breeding season with 64 Coots including 18 young, one Tufted Duck with four small young, one Shoveler with one large young and one Gadwall with eight large young seen, along with one Water Rail.  At last, the weather was improving and beginning to warm up, although not at Royal Troon for the Open Golf, perhaps autumn hadn’t given up yet! One Mediterranean Gull, 55 Sandwich Terns, one Osprey, three Whimbrels, four Greenshanks and one Common Sandpiper were seen at Tayport (18^th) and an interesting afternoon count from the Eden Estuary Centre gave one Osprey, one Kestrel, eight Little Egrets, about 275 Redshanks, one Dunlin, two Common Sandpipers, nine Black-tailed Godwits, 20 Goosanders, about 45 Shelducks, 35 Curlews and about 40 Eiders. The final report of the day was from the Back Dykes roost, East Wemyss where 12 Mediterranean Gulls were seen. The first report on Friday 19^th was also of a Mediterranean Gull seen at Leven. This was followed by the exciting report of two Long-tailed Skuas W viewed from Ferry Hills and then two Whimbrels and nine Little Egrets recorded at the Eden Estuary Centre. One Merlin was spotted near Kilrenny before flying off E and the last report of the day was the sighting of a Little Tern seen at Out Head. Gloriously sunny weather was roasting the south on 20^th, with temperatures up to 31° felt. However in Fife, although it was warmer, cloudy and clammy weather prevailed. One Common Sandpiper and one Golden Plover were seen at Kilrenny Mill before four Little Gulls and then three (possibly four) Curlew Sandpipers were recorded at Tayport, with the final report of the day being of 21 Greenshanks seen at Guardbridge. An early morning survey at Loch Gelly (21^st) recorded a remarkable 105 Pochards, one Goldeneye, three Whooper Swans, 46 Tufted Ducks, 36 Little Grebes, and 32 Coots. Two Ospreys, one Little Egret, nine Little Gulls, five Goldeneyes and one Great Crested Grebe were then recorded at Out Head, followed by one Hobby at Kilmany. The final report of the day was from East Wemyss where 26 Mediterranean Gulls, one Kittiwake, 48 Sandwich Terns, one Red-throated Diver, one Common Sandpiper and seven Swifts were seen.

The third week of the month (22^nd) began with a further report from East Wemyss where eight Mediterranean Gulls and 163 Sandwich Terns, including 62 juveniles, were recorded. Five Common Sandpipers, two Turnstones and three Ringed Plovers were seen between Kilminning and Sauchope, followed by a sea-watching report from Fife Ness of 16 Manx Shearwaters N, 60 Sandwich Terns N with many juveniles, seven Arctic Terns N with juveniles and one Common Sandpiper. The final sighting from a mostly sunny day, was of one Whimbrel W at Kilmany. An uncommon sighting of a Red Kite over Blebocraigs on the morning of 23^rd was followed later by a report from Fife Ness of 16 Little Gulls, four Arctic Skuas S, and 29 Manx Shearwaters N. A new contender for ‘bird of the month’ appeared in St Andrews the next day (24^th), when a rare (to Britain) Lesser Yellowlegs from North America was spotted on the shore near the Cathedral. Occasionally, the bird was joined by a Common Sandpiper and was still present at the end of the month; perhaps it had booked a package holiday? Two Arctic Skuas were seen over St Andrews Bay (27^th) accompanied by an increasing number of terns and auks with Fulmar chicks panting in the heat! On 28^th, an Osprey was spotted at Loch Fitty and reports of three Little Gulls and an Arctic Skua were received from Fife Ness. That evening, two further Arctic Skuas S and SE were seen off St Andrews. A Black Tern W was seen off Anstruther (30^th), then 44 Mediterranean Gulls, 41 Swifts and one Whimbrel were reported from the Back Dykes roost, East Wemyss. Summer seemed to have arrived at last and the final day of July brought a series of reports. An unusual number of 18 Little Egrets, along with one Whimbrel and one Greenshank were seen at Guardbridge, followed by one Whimbrel and one Long-tailed Duck reported from St Andrews. At least two Black-tailed Godwits were noted flying by Dalgety Bay and two Lapwings were seen at Kilminning. Observations from Out Head late in the day produced one Great Skua, four Arctic Skuas, 380 Arctic and Common Terns with a large number of Sandwich Terns, one Black-tailed Godwit NW, two Whimbrel, one Greenshank NW, five Knot S, six Sanderlings and four Dunlins, with the final report of the month being the day-count from Fife Ness of 327 Manx Shearwaters N, one Sooty Shearwater N, 200 Fulmars N, one Arctic Skua N, 101 Sandwich Terns, 13 Common Terns, eight Arctic Terns, two Roseate Terns, 35 Common Scoters N, one Little Gull N and one Whimbrel. 

In early June a Quail was heard calling near Spalefield (5th) and this was the first of quite a few reports of this species this month. A Greenshank was an unusual visitor to Luthrie (6th).

A drake Lesser Scaup was a fine find at Loch Gelly (8th), with 31 Pochards, four Goldeneyes, 29 Tufted Ducks and three Whooper Swans also present alongside the Lesser Scaup the next day. Seen in St Andrews Bay (9th) were two Great Northern Divers, five Red-throated Divers, two Velvet Scoters, 85 Common Scoters and one Ringed Plover, 14 Manx Shearwaters N and one Arctic Skua N were seen passing Fife Ness (11th) and a Cuckoo was seen at lower Kilminning. The drake Lesser Scaup was last reported from Loch Gelly on (12th). A Quail was also heard calling at Bonnytown. Seen off Fife Ness (13th) were three Manx Shearwaters, 24 Common Scoters, one Red-throated Diver, one Arctic Skua and six Sandwich Terns, with a summer-plumaged Black Guillemot seen from that site the next day.

An unseasonable adult Whooper Swan was on the mud flats at the Eden Estuary LNR (15th), with the three Whooper Swans still present at Loch Gelly, where a female Mandarin Duck was also present. A scarce Little Tern was seen passing Fife Ness (16th), with 11 Manx Shearwaters and three Arctic Skuas also noted, a Kingfisher was seen in Glenrothes Town Park (17th) and a Barn Owl was heard calling in a Kilmany garden, the first there in a few years. A Quail was heard from the track up to Harperleas Reservoir in the Lomond Hills (18th) and a pair of Cuckoos were watched feeding on caterpillars at Rossie Bog. Another Quail was also heard at Kingsbarns. Passing Fife Ness (20th) were 18 Manx Shearwaters N, 19 Fulmars N, 52 Common Scoters N, 17 Sandwich Terns S, six Red-throated Divers 3N, 3S.

 A Wheatear was an unusual visitor to Kilmany (22nd) for the time of year, single Ospreys were seen from Out Head and Kingsbarns, two Quail were heard in the Boarhills area (23rd) and a Whooper Swan was an out-of-season visitor to Balcomie (24th). A Common Sandpiper was a very welcome visitor to the Kilminning Pond (25th) and a Red Kite drifted over the A91 E of Auchtermuchty and another Quail was heard near Stenhouse Reservoir. A scarce bird this year, a Green Sandpiper was seen near Rossie Bog and seen from Kinghorn were 38 Manx Shearwaters E, c80 Puffins E, seven Gannets E, c60 Common Terns E, 12 Kittiwakes E, four Common Scoters W and four Fulmars E. Two dark morph Arctic Skuas were seen over fields near Boarhills (26th). One Cuckoo was still present at Rossie Bog (27th), a Red Kite drifted NW over Kirkcaldy and seen passing Fife Ness were two Common Scoters N, one Red-throated Diver N, 36 Manx Shearwaters N, 15 Sandwich Terns, c5 Puffins and c6 Swifts. Two, possibly three Quail were heard near Balmonth (29th), with another heard near Anstruther the next day. An out-of-season Long-tailed Duck was off Ruddons Point (30th), with three Velvet Scoters, eight Manx Shearwaters and a Whimbrel also seen. A passage Little Ringed Plover was near Leuchars, nine Common Sandpipers and 20 Black-tailed Godwits were at Guardbridge and finally, seen from Fife Ness were 427 Manx Shearwaters N, one 2nd calendar year Mediterranean Gull W, one 2nd calendar year Little Gull feeding offshore and three Arctic Skuas.

The first few days of May brought reports of some of the commoner summer visitors, as well as scarcer visitors. Two Grasshopper Warblers were at Seafield (1st), with two Ravens, three Crossbills and three House Martins seen at Redmyre and noted in Dunfermline were two Wheatears, two Whitethroats, three Willow Warblers and two Chiffchaffs. Sedge Warblers were quite widely reported, with Grasshopper Warblers noted at several other sites, such as Westfield Opencast, Out Head, Kilmany and Letham Pools. Seen from Fife Ness were one Whimbrel S, one Black Guillemot N, four Sandwich Terns N, seven Puffins N, one Red throated Diver N, 1S and 35 Common Scoters S. 14 Willow Warblers, three Chiffchaffs, one Garden Warbler, and c100 Sand Martins were reported from Westfield Opencast, a Lesser Whitethroat was at Out Head, 15 Sandwich Terns were seen off Buckhaven Harbour and the annual singing Garden Warblers at Birnie and Gaddon Lochs LNR were joined by a scarce (for this site) Jay. A female-type Ruff was a good find at Guardbridge (2nd), three Redwings at Falkland Estate were unusual, eight House Martins were seen in Crail and the excitement levels rose considerably when a female-type Red-breasted Flycatcher was a great find at lower Kilminning (3rd). Also seen in the area were a Black Redstart, two Lesser Whitethroats, a female Redstart, a Spotted Flycatcher and a White Wagtail. A Grasshopper Warbler was seen at Kinghorn, with another at Markinch. The Red-breasted Flycatcher was still present the next day, along with a Brambling, a Redstart, a male Pied Flycatcher and two Lesser Whitethroats. Two Grasshopper Warblers and two Lesser Whitethroats were seen at Kinghorn, with the Grasshopper Warbler seen again at Letham Pools. Five Whimbrels were on rocks by the Stinky Pool at Fife Ness, with a further nine seen passing Fife Ness, along with a Red-throated Diver S and three Puffins N, a male Pied Flycatcher was a good find in Denburn Wood. At Kilminning (5th) were the Red-breasted Flycatcher and a male Redstart, a Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail was a good find at Luthrie and seen coming in off the sea at Crail was a Short-eared Owl. Seen from Lower Largo were three Black-throated Divers, one Great Northern Diver, 50 Red-throated Divers, 1500 Common Scoters, 419 Velvet Scoters, 60 Long-tailed Ducks, 178 Red-breasted Mergansers and nine Whimbrels, a Black-throated Diver passed Anstruther E and seen off Out Head were 22 Long-tailed Ducks. Seven Crossbills and one Raven were seen in Tentsmuir and at Cameron Reservoir one Osprey, one Whimbrel, one Grasshopper Warbler, two Sedge Warblers and two Crossbills were seen. A Cuckoo was seen at Tayport Heath (6th), with eight Whimbrels also seen heading over NW, a Tree Pipit in-off the sea, 20 Whimbrels N, 412 Common Scoters N, one Manx Shearwater N, c80 Barnacle Geese N, 44 Pink-footed Geese N, four Red-throated Divers N and one Wheatear was on the rocks at Fife Ness (7th). Nearby at Kilminning were a male Whinchat and one Lesser Whitethroat, also the Red-breasted Flycatcher showed very briefly. A Grasshopper Warbler was at Cullaloe NR and at Letham Pools were one pair Great Crested Grebes, three pairs of Shovelers, three pairs of Gadwall, two Sedge Warblers, two Little Grebes and one Pink-footed Goose. A Wood Sandpiper was at Luthrie, a Short-eared Owl, two Whimbrels, five Long-tailed Ducks, 476 Common Scoters, 137 Sanderlings, 14 Dunlins, 21 Sandwich Terns, one Wheatear, two pairs of Stonechats and four Red-throated Divers were all seen at Ruddons Point.

The Red-breasted Flycatcher was still present at Kilminning (8th), three Wheatears were seen from the car park at Kingsbarns, a single Swift was seen in St Andrews and a Quail was heard in Balmullo and also the next day. A Cuckoo was heard on the Falkland Estate (9th), a summer plumage Curlew Sandpiper was with a few Dunlin at Guardbridge, a Short-eared Owl was seen hunting along the Coastal Path near Crail, with one seen near Auchtermuchty too. A male Hen Harrier was seen near Little Ballo, two 2nd calendar year Little Gulls were on the mudflats at Tayport (11th) and two Wood Sandpipers were together at Luthrie. An immature Glaucous Gull was on the sea at Kincraig Point and off Fife Ness were, a scarce spring, Pomarine Skua N and four Manx Shearwaters N. The next day there were two Arctic Skuas N and two Manx Shearwaters S and seen from Kinghorn were Arctic Terns, c50 Common Terns, c30 Gannets, five Puffins, c4 Kittiwakes, one Red-throated Diver, three Common Scoters, c12 Sandwich Terns and one Swallow. A drake Garganey was a welcome visitor to Letham Pools (12th), with two Ravens and two Swifts also seen there. Three Whooper Swans were at Loch Gelly and between Kilmany and Logie (13th) a Quail was heard, with a second bird heard nearby at Forret Mill. A Great White Egret graced Morton Lochs NNR, a Whimbrel was on the Stinky Pool, Fife Ness (15th), two Red Kites roamed over Anstruther, the drake Garganey was still at Letham Pools (16th), three Whinchats were seen up Glen Vale and another Quail was heard at Dunino (17th). A male Red-backed Shrike and a brief Yellow Wagtail at Kilminning heralded the start of a run of scarce migrant birds around the East Neuk, with another female-type Red-breasted Flycatcher seen in The Patch at Fife Ness. A Red Kite was seen over Pitmedden Forest, a male Red-backed Shrike was found at Balcomie, a female Red-backed Shrike was found at Boarhills (18th), with a male Red-backed Shrike, a male Pied Flycatcher and a male and female Whinchat at lower Kilminning. Up in the Lomond Hills a Ring Ouzel and a Cuckoo were seen on West Lomond, two Barnacle Geese were seen from Out Head. Seen in The Patch, Fife Ness were one Spotted Flycatcher, one Garden Warbler and a few Willow Warblers, (19^th) a female Red-backed Shrike was at upper Kilminning, with the female Red-backed Shrike now on the edge of the village at Boarhills, a Cuckoo was heard at Stenhouse Reservoir and at Wormiston a Quail was flushed, with a female Red-backed Shrike seen at Wormiston, with a fine male seen near the Spinney there also. A Whooper Swan was on the rock pools at Wormiston. Ospreys were seen at Rosyth and Out Head (20th).

A Bonxie W and four Manx Shearwaters W were seen from Kinghorn (22nd), a probable Black Kite was seen crossing the Forth N, being mobbed by gulls, also a Hobby went N and a Bonxie went W up the Forth. After last year’s Stone-curlew at Anstruther, no doubt many Fife birders thought “well that’ll be that for another 50 years”, not so, with another bird excellently found at lower Kilminning (24th). This bird was difficult to find once it sat down in the short crop, but with patience, most birders eventually got good views when it stretched its legs for a wander. A male Pied Flycatcher, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Short-eared Owl were also in the vicinity. Seen near Kingsbarns (24th) was a female-type Bluethroat, a very scarce bird on the Fife mainland these days, two Little Gulls were on rocks by the Spinney Pond, Dalgety Bay. A Garden Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat were ringed in The Patch, Fife Ness (25th), unfortunately there was no sign of the Stone-curlew first thing, a Short-eared Owl was seen flying over fields near Boarhills Pond, then a Nightjar was flushed from the path near the beach there. This superb bird was then watched as it perched on the dykes around the fields near the pond, allowing plenty of birders to catch up with this very rare visitor. As if the two superb birds seen over the last two days weren’t enough, news of a Great Reed Warbler which had been trapped in The Patch at Fife Ness just added to the excitement. Whilst ringing this bird and discovering it was a male, it was hoped that once released it may well settle down and start singing, alas, no such luck for those that weren’t present when the bird was ringed and released. Almost mundane in comparison a female Pied Flycatcher was seen at Balcomie, with a female Pied Flycatcher, Grasshopper Warbler and a Blackcap seen at Boarhills Pond (26th). The excitement continued with four Spoonbills seen on the Eden Estuary LNR (27th), along with five Little Egrets. These Spoonbills were seen flying off SE late in the afternoon. A Barnacle Goose was seen distantly from the Sailing Club at Dalgety Bay, with a Long-tailed Duck on the rocks, both of these were highly unusual for this site at this time of year. At Kilminning (29th) were a Spotted Flycatcher and a Lesser Whitethroat. The sightings of scarce birds continued this spring with a Crane seen low over Kilrenny Common (30th) and two Gadwall at Dalgety Bay can be added to the unusual birds list for that site at this time of the year. Also one for the unusual bird list was a summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver in the tidal pool at St Monans and finally another scarce spring bird, an Arctic Skua, was seen passing Boarhills S (31st).