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 (1st). 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 (2nd). The unsettled, cold and windy weather continued on 3rd 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 3rd, 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 7th. Sea-watchers at Fife Ness on 4th 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 (5th) 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 6th 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 7th 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 (8th) 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 9th 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 10th, 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 (11th), 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 12th, but the next day (13th), 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 14th 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 (15th) 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 17th 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 (18th) 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 19th 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 20th, 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 (21st) 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 (22nd) 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 23rd 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 (24th), 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 (27th) accompanied by an increasing number of terns and auks with Fulmar chicks panting in the heat! On 28th, 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 (30th), 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.