September started with four Ruff, one Green Sandpiper, one Greenshank, one Common Sandpiper and a Snipe at Stenhouse Reservoir (1st), two Black Terns, two Arctic Skuas and 37 Manx Shearwaters were seen off Kinghorn (1st) and a Short-eared Owl and a Merlin were seen at Lower Kilminning (1st). So far this autumn there appears to have been a good influx of Long-tailed Skuas, with a dark juvenile seen at Ferry Hills, along with an Arctic Skua, three Red-throated Divers W, 35 Common Terns and 39 Sandwich Terns (1st). A Hobby was noted at Foodie Ash (1st) and at The Wilderness, one Green Sandpiper, 15 Greenshanks, two Black-tailed Godwits, three Snipe, two Oystercatchers, c295 Lapwings and a female Mandarin Duck were seen (1st) and a Marsh Harrier was watched at Kilconquhar (1st). The Fife Ness seawatching season continues apace with 188 Manx Shearwaters N, 2S, two Balearic Shearwaters N, 20 Sooty Shearwaters N, 215 Little Gulls N, 10S, six Arctic Skuas N, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua N, one adult Pomarine Skua N, six Bonxies N, 121 Sandwich Terns N, 62 Common Terns N, eight Arctic Terns N, 44 Common Scoters N, 2S, 26 Wigeon S, five Red-throated Divers N, 3S, six Whimbrels S, one Greenshank S, two Ruff S, two Knot N and eight Teal S (1st ). Seen at Out Head were one Little Stint, one Ruff, two Whimbrels, two Greenshanks, one Common Sandpiper, four Bar-tailed Godwits, six Little Gulls, one Barn Owl, one Osprey, 12 Arctic Terns W and 135 Canada Geese (1st). Off Fife Ness were two Sooty Shearwaters N, five Arctic Skuas N, two Red-throated Divers N, 1S, 16 Manx Shearwaters N, eight Canada Geese N, one Shelduck N, 35 Common Scoters, 76 Common Terns N, seven Sandwich Terns and one Little Gull N (2nd) and off Kinghorn a Balearic Shearwater headed W and this is another species having a bumper year in Fife, also one Manx Shearwater and one Arctic Skua were noted (2nd). A Pallid Harrier came north from the Isle of May direction and was watched heading NNW over the East Neuk (2nd), if accepted it will be only the second Fife record for this species, one which is being seen much more regularly in Scotland now. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, a Blyth’s Reed Warbler was trapped and ringed in The Patch, Fife Ness, also a Short-eared Owl was present there (2nd). A couple of observers were looking for the Pallid Harrier further north and noted 15 Ravens and four Buzzards east of Strathkinness, with the Raven count particularly notable for this area (2nd), along at Ferry Hills it was a raptor kind of morning with one White-tailed Eagle, one Osprey SW and two juvenile Buzzards SW across the Forth (2nd). At The Wilderness were one Green Sandpiper, seven Greenshanks and one Black-tailed Godwit, a Balearic Shearwater passed Fife Ness N (3rd) and one sharp observer saw a Turtle Dove fly over Kilconquhar Loch, where they also saw a Guillemot, an extremely rare bird on fresh water, in fact this was the observer’s first ever sighting of this particular seabird species at Kilconquhar Loch in many, many years of watching this site. At Guardbridge three juvenile Ruff and 27 Little Egrets were noted (3rd), with the Little Egret count being a new record count for Fife. A Water Rail was seen at Cullaloe LNR (3rd), an adult Roseate Tern NW, 280 Little Gulls and one Red-throated Divers were seen from St Andrews Pier (3rd) and at Ferry Hills, a Short-eared Owl high SW, two Arctic Skuas and two Bonxies W inland were noted (4th). Tayport had a Little Stint, one Black-tailed Godwit, three Ruff, one Greenshank, one Little Egret and, unusually, two Tree Pipits (4th). Little Stints along with Curlew Sandpipers seem to be in good numbers in Fife this year too. A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, five Ruff and an Arctic Tern were seen at Guardbridge (4th), a Marsh Harrier, seven Black-tailed Godwits, six Greenshanks, seven Snipe and a female Mandarin Duck were noted at The Wilderness (4th), with six Ruff, three Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank seen at Stenhouse Reservoir (4th). An extremely rare Brown Booby was seen from Kinghorn (5th), a great find, with this bird also being seen well from the Lothian side of the Forth. Also from Kinghorn were a Balearic Shearwater which passed E with 12 Manx Shearwaters, later c20 Manx Shearwaters, four Arctic Skuas, one Bonxie and one Black Tern were seen there. Three juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, five Ruff, 26 Little Egrets and a Great Crested Grebe were seen at the Eden Estuary (5th), at Stenhouse Reservoir, wader numbers had dropped a bit with one Green Sandpiper, one Greenshank and two Ruff noted (5th). The seawatching day count at Fife Ness (5th) was 40 Manx Shearwaters N, three Sooty Shearwaters N, one immature Brown Booby N, 165 Little Gulls, five Arctic Skuas N, 1S, one Bonxie S, 22 Common Scoters N, 18S, two Velvet Scoter S, two Red-throated Divers N, 8S, 75 Pink-feet S, three Greenshanks, one Ruff, two Sooty Shearwaters N, 32 Manx Shearwaters N, three Red-breasted Mergansers N, 12 Knot S and four Golden Plovers N, six Black-tailed Godwits were seen at Luthrie (5th) and from Crail (5th), one Black-throated Diver, four Red-throated Divers, one Arctic Skua E, two Whimbrels and 135 Golden Plovers were counted. Further along the coast at Elie, two Black-throated Divers, nine Red-throated Divers, one Greenshank, one Whimbrel and 16 Knot were seen (5th) and off Out Head nine Red-throated Divers, two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas, eight Arctic Skuas and nine Little Gulls were watched (6th). A Yellow Wagtail, a very scarce bird in west Fife, was seen at Burntisland (6th) and nearby at Kinghorn (6th) one juvenile Long-tailed Skua W, two Pomarine Skuas, one Balearic Shearwater, 44 Manx Shearwaters, c12 Arctic Skuas, four Bonxies, two Red-throated Divers, eight Common Scoters, one Little Gull, one Greenshank and one Whimbrel were noted. Still present at the Eden Estuary were two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and two juvenile Ruff, with four juvenile Little Gulls and 146 Pink-feet also present (6th). One Storm Petrel, 50 Manx Shearwaters N, eight Sooty Shearwaters N, c303 Little Gulls, an adult Sabine’s Gull N, two Arctic Skuas N, 1S, six Bonxies N, 32 Common Scoters N, 25S, six Red-throated Divers S, four Teal N, 45S, 13 Wigeon N, two Red-breasted Mergansers N, one Whimbrel and one Greenshank were all counted from Fife Ness (7th) and at Fairmount, south of St Andrews, two Whitethroats, two Greenshanks, 16 Teal and two Pink-footed Geese W, were seen (7th). Further west, at Newmills, a Little Egret was seen, another species very scarce in the west of Fife (7th). Single Green Sandpiper and Ruff were still at Stenhouse Reservoir (7th).
Three Pale-bellied Brent Geese, three Pintail, two juvenile Little Gulls and five Greenshanks were at Tayport (8th) and not too far away at Out Head (8th) were one juvenile Sabine’s Gull on the water, one juvenile Pomarine Skua, seven Arctic Skuas, one Bonxie, 37 Little Gulls and 122 Velvet Scoters. Birds counted passing at Fife Ness (8th) included seven Manx Shearwaters N, six Sooty Shearwaters N, 4S, five Arctic Skuas, one Bonxie, five Little Gulls, one juvenile Sabine’s Gull S, 26 Sandwich Terns N and 18 Common Scoters. Two Marsh Harriers were seen from Newburgh (8th), at Carlingnose Point, two Long-tailed Skuas headed inland together, one juvenile Pomarine Skua and six Arctic Skuas were also noted (8th). From Elie (8th) one Sooty Shearwater W, 23 Manx Shearwaters E, 22 Common Scoters E and six Little Gulls E were counted and from St Andrews, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua NW, one adult Mediterranean Gull NW, two Bonxies, four Arctic Skuas, three Manx Shearwaters and 79 Little Gulls were noted (8th). Seen from the Eden Estuary Centre (9th) were three Curlew Sandpipers, a Ruff was at Balcomie (9th) and at Tayport, the Spotted Redshank was still present (9th). Highlights from a visible migration watch at Ferry Hills were 726 Meadow Pipits, 466 Siskins and 129 Lesser Redpolls all noted, also a Nuthatch was heard calling from woodland (9th). Seen at Lindores Loch (9th) were eight drake Pochard, a species in real decline in Fife and the day count from Fife Ness (9th) was one Pomarine Skua N, two Arctic Skuas N, four Bonxies N, seven Manx Shearwaters N, 180 Little Gulls, seven Knot on the rocks, also 12N, 9S, one Golden Plover N, 2S, one Red-throated Diver N, 2S, 13 Common Scoters N, 10S, one Goosander S and two Red-breasted Mergansers S. At Angle Park GP (10th) were six Green Sandpipers and 19 Snipe at Ferry Hills three Arctic Skuas headed inland, five Black-tailed Godwits, three Bar-tailed Godwits, 27 Knot, one Spotted Flycatcher, 652 Meadow Pipits and 386 Siskins were logged (10th). Two Curlew Sandpipers were still present at the Eden Estuary, also one Osprey (10th), at Stenhouse Reservoir (10th) were two Green Sandpipers, two Ruff and two Snipe. Down at Kinghorn one juvenile Long-tailed Skua was on the water, two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas passed slowly W together, four Arctic Skuas, c8 Manx Shearwaters, three Fulmars, c150 Gannets and 20 Knot W were seen (10th). Noted at Out Head (10th) were two Wheatears, one Osprey and one Arctic Skua, two Little Egrets were seen at Newburgh (11th), a scarce bird for this site and across at the Eden Estuary, two Little Stints, one Curlew Sandpiper and three Ruff were present (11th). An adult Roseate Tern was in St Andrews Bay (11th), single Spotted Redshanks were seen at Tayport and The Wilderness (11th), the first autumn skein of Pink-footed Geese over Dunfermline were seen (11th) and still present at Angle Park GP were three Green Sandpipers and c20 Snipe (12th). One juvenile Pomarine Skua E and five Arctic Skuas W was the count from Kinghorn (12th), a single Green Sandpiper was at Cullaloe LNR (12th) and the seawatching day count from Fife Ness (12th) was 383 Manx Shearwaters N, 2S, 117 Sooty Shearwaters N, one Balearic Shearwater N, 239 Little Gulls, one dark juvenile Long-tailed Skua N, one Pomarine Skua N, one Bonxie N, 13 Arctic Skuas N, 2S, three Great Northern Divers S, five Red-throated Divers N, 12S, one Wigeon S, one Golden Plover N, 55S, three Knot N, 20S, 22 Pale-bellied Brent Geese N, 43S, 34 Common Scoters N, 5S, 14 Sandwich Terns, 17 Common Terns and six Puffins N. Seen from Ferry Hills (13th) were one juvenile Pomarine Skua, one Arctic Skua, one Bonxie and 11 Red-throated Divers and from Inchcolm, one Little Egret, one Arctic Skua and two Bonxies were seen (13th). Two Pomarine Skuas, c12 Arctic Skuas, six Bonxies, three Brent Geese W, four Little Gulls, four Pintail, one Shoveler, three Wigeon, c25 Teal and c25 Golden Plovers were seen passing Kinghorn (13th), one adult and two juvenile Roseate Terns W, one Arctic Skua NW and 23 Little Gulls were seen north of the Castle Golf Course, St Andrews (13th). Noted at the Cocklemill Burn were three Brent Geese, 61 Red-breasted Mergansers, three Teal, one Wheatear and one Merlin (13th) and logged passing Fife Ness (14th) were four Manx Shearwaters N, two Sooty Shearwater S, seven Bonxies N, two Arctic Skuas N, two Red-throated Divers N, 18S, one Great Northern Diver N, three Canada Geese S, one Greylag Goose S, 30 Pink-feet S, five Brent Geese S, nine Common Scoters N, 18S, 21 Teal, three Knot S, one Bar-tailed Godwit N, two Common Terns and three Sandwich Terns S. 10 adult Mediterranean Gulls and three 2nd calendar year Mediterranean Gulls were counted at Dysart (14th), 19 Greenshanks, 26 Black-tailed Godwits, one Ruff and 23 Pink-footed Geese were at The Wilderness (14th) and seen from Carlingnose Point (14th) were two juvenile Pomarine Skuas, four Arctic Skuas, one Bonxie, one Little Egret and c70 Common Terns. Three Green Sandpipers were still present at Angle Park GP (14th), five Brent Geese W, 214 Little Gulls, one Arctic Skua, two Whimbrels W, one Greenshank, two Knot, 16 Wigeon NW and 57 Common Terns were seen in St Andrews Bay (14th) and counted at Kinghorn (14th) were one juvenile Sabine’s Gull, one Black Tern, three Little Gulls, two Pomarine Skuas, three Arctic Skuas, one Bonxie, 24 Red-throated Divers W, 820 Meadow Pipits S and one Common Sandpiper.
Seen from Lundin Links (15th) was one Black Guillemot, with another bird seen from Lower Largo the same day. The day count from seawatching at Fife Ness (15th) was two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas, two Arctic Skuas N, 4S, one Black Guillemot N, one Sooty Shearwater N, 26 Manx Shearwaters N, 53 Red-throated Divers, 97 Little Gulls, 25 Common Scoters N, 7S, 230 Pink-footed Geese S, three Whimbrel S, one Greenshank S, two Wheatears and one Grey Wagtail and the count from there (16th) was two juvenile Sabine’s Gulls 1N, 1S, 33 Manx Shearwaters N, 10 Sooty Shearwaters N, two Arctic Skuas N, 12S, one juvenile Pomarine Skua N, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua S, one Bonxie N, five Red-throated Divers N, 5S, 52 Wigeon N, one Pintail N, 101 Common Scoters N, 63S, 29 Teal N, 4S, 49 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 13 Eiders N, nine Little Gulls N, 16 Common Terns N, 26S and 16 Sandwich Terns N, 10S. One Green Sandpiper, 17 Greenshanks and two Black-tailed Godwits were seen at The Wilderness (16th), a Sooty Shearwater, two Arctic Skuas and 16 Red-throated Divers were seen from Elie Ness (16th). Seen from Kinghorn (16th) were an adult and juvenile Pomarine Skua, three Arctic Skuas, three Little Gulls, 12 Manx Shearwaters, 21 Common Scoters, 59 Teal W, seven Wigeon W and one Shoveler W. A juvenile Sabine’s Gull flew E at Dalgety Bay (16th), also a juvenile Long-tailed Skua was seen from there heading inland, though quite high. Close by at Carlingnose Point, two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas, one juvenile Pomarine Skua, one Arctic Skua, one Black Tern, five Little Gulls, one Manx Shearwater, 30 Teal and two Pintail were counted (16th) and seen from West Sands, St Andrews were five Arctic Skuas, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua, one 2nd calendar year Mediterranean Gull, 85 Little Gulls, 63 Common Terns, seven Red-throated Divers and 12 Teal W. Back at Carlingnose Point (17th) one Black Tern, one Pomarine Skua, 15 Arctic Skuas, two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas W, one Manx Shearwater, two Roseate Terns, 35 Common Terns W, one Arctic Tern W and one Whimbrel W were noted. Logged passing Fife Ness (17th) were 67 Sooty Shearwaters N, one Balearic Shearwater N, 367 Manx Shearwaters N, 7S, one Cory’s Shearwater N, one Leach’s Petrel N, one Storm Petrel N, 1S, one adult Sabine’s Gull S, one dark juvenile Long-tailed Skua, 33 Arctic Skuas N, 5S, three Bonxies S, 10 Fulmars N, 19 Red-throated Divers N, 59S, 33 Little Gulls, 18 Pale-bellied Brent Geese N, 40S, one Red-breasted Merganser N, one Goosander N, c242 Common Scoters, one Velvet Scoter S, nine Sandwich Terns N, five Puffins N, two Grey Herons, 11 Wigeon N, 20 Teal N, 150 Golden Plovers N, one Dunlin N and a Peregrine. Nearby at upper Kilminning, a Barred Warbler was heard calling and a Lesser Whitethroat was seen in The Patch at Fife Ness (17th). Further west up the Forth at Dalgety Bay, one Black Tern, one Pomarine Skua E, two Bonxies, c10 Arctic Skuas, nine Sandwich Terns, c45 Common Terns, one Arctic Tern, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua W, three Little Gulls, one Red-throated Diver E, c12 Kittiwakes and c50 Gannets were seen (17th). three Curlew Sandpipers, two Ruff, one Greenshank, one Osprey, one Peregrine, 13 Little Egrets and one Arctic Skua were seen at Guardbridge (17th) and an adult Mediterranean Gull was seen at West Wemyss (18th). One juvenile Long-tailed Skua W, eight Arctic Skuas W, three Red-throated Divers W, 65 Common Terns, two Greenshanks and four Little Egrets were seen at Tayport (18th) and noted at Fife Ness were four Little Gulls N, four Arctic Skuas N, 21 Sandwich Terns, one Red-throated Diver N, 7S, eight Brent Geese S and 17 Common Scoters S (18th). In St Andrews, at Bogward Road (19th) a Redstart and four Redpolls S were seen, a Green Sandpiper was still present at Angle Park GP (19th), one Little Stint, two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, one Ruff and three Greenshanks were at Guardbridge (19th) and at Out Head (19th) were a Spotted Redshank and five Slavonian Grebes, with the Spotted Redshank particularly noteworthy at this site. An adult Sabine’s Gull passed W at Kinghorn (20th), with c80 Little Gulls, 12 Arctic Skuas and two Manx Shearwaters seen not far from there at Hawkcraig Point, Aberdour (20th). Two Little Stints and three Greenshanks were seen at Guardbridge (20th), one juvenile Pomarine Skua, six Arctic Skuas, one Little Gull, one Black Tern, 150 Common Terns, 15 Sandwich Terns, 10 Arctic Terns and 12 Kittiwakes were counted at Carlingnose Point (20th). Noted passing through Ferry Hills (21st) were 64 Red-throated Divers W and 1600 Meadow Pipits. A single juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was at Guardbridge (21st), a Little Egret and 22 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were seen at the Kenly Burn, Boarhills (21st) and from Dalgety Bay one Black Tern, two juvenile Little Gulls, two Pomarine Skuas, five Arctic Skuas and six Manx Shearwaters were seen (21st). A Black Tern, three Ruff, one Whimbrel and a Peregrine hunting Teal were seen at Stenhouse Reservoir (21st) and seen at Guardbridge (21st) were five Curlew Sandpipers, two Little Stints, one Ruff and an Osprey.
A Merlin, one Spotted Flycatcher and seven Crossbills were seen at Ferry Hills (22nd), three Curlew Sandpipers were still at the Eden Estuary LNR (22nd), an adult Little Gull was seen at St Margaret’s Marsh, Rosyth (22nd), c20 Crossbills and a late Swift were noted at Cameron Reservoir (22nd) and the seawatching day count at Fife Ness (23rd) was one Grey Phalarope S, one Black Guillemot N, three Sooty Shearwaters N, 38 Manx Shearwaters N, two Arctic Skuas N, 28 Little Gulls, 1645 Pink-footed Geese S, 34 Barnacle Geese S, seven Sandwich Tern, S, two Common Terns, 62 Common Scoters, three Velvet Scoters, 56 Red-throated Divers, four Teal, five Goosanders and 131 Swallows S. A Curlew Sandpiper, one Ruff and six Greenshanks were at Tayport (23rd), two Curlew Sandpipers and four Greenshanks were at Guardbridge (23rd) and the highlights from Ferry Hills (23rd) were 35 Barnacle Geese, 1200 Pink-feet, 20 Red-Throated Divers, two Arctic Skuas and 190 Lesser Redpolls. A Barred Warbler was trapped and ringed in The Patch, Fife Ness (23rd), three Manx Shearwaters, one Bonxie, four Arctic Skuas, two Arctic Terns, nine Common Terns, c12 Sandwich Terns, c35 Barnacle Geese and 57 Pink-feet were seen from Dalgety Bay (23rd) and one juvenile Rednecked Grebe, eight Slavonian Grebes, one juvenile Little Stint, one juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and c5 Arctic Skuas were seen from Out Head (23rd). At the Kenly Burn, Boarhills, c240 Canada Geese, nine Pale-bellied Brent Geese, one Barnacle Goose, one Greylag and two Pink-feet were noted, a lone Whooper Swan was seen flying in from the E at Craighead Farm, Fife Ness (23rd), a single Crossbill was at Clatto Reservoir (23rd) and from Out Head (24th) one juvenile Red-necked Grebe, four Slavonian Grebes, one juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, seven Pale-bellied Brent Geese and 12 Barnacle Geese were seen. Five juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, five Ruff, one Greenshank, three Black-tailed Godwits and an adult Mediterranean Gull were at Guardbridge (24th) and seen from Fife Ness (24th) were two juvenile Black Terns, 15 Little Gulls, six Manx Shearwaters, one Arctic Skua S, one Little Egret, one Bar-tailed Godwit and 31 Barnacle Geese S. c60 Golden Plovers were seen from the Eden Estuary Centre (24th), with a White-tailed Eagle seen on one of the posts off Out Head (24th). 20 Barnacle Geese passed Kincraig Point S (24th), a juvenile Long-tailed Skua, seven Arctic Skuas and 17 Barnacle Geese SW were seen from Tentsmuir Point NNR (24th) and along from there at Tayport a Little Stint, one Whimbrel, five Grey Plovers, two Common Terns and a Kingfisher were seen (24th). From Kingsbarns south to the Kenly Burn, c350 Barnacle Geese S, eight Snipe, 35 Corn Buntings c300 Canada Geese, three Pink-footed Geese, one Whitethroat, four Wheatears and a Peregrine were seen (24th), two Wheatears were noted at Preston Island, Culross (24th) and six Curlew Sandpipers along with six Ruff were seen from the Eden Estuary Centre (25th). Seen from Kinghorn (25th) were one Bonxie W, three Arctic Skuas, c10 Manx Shearwaters, c150 Little Gulls, c150 Meadow Pipits and 50 Swallows, a juvenile Little Stint and a juvenile Ruff were at Tayport (25th) and seen at Bogward Road, St Andrews was a Spotted Flycatcher, with a Black Tern seen offshore at St Andrews also (26th). A Great Shearwater was reported flying past Kinghorn (26th), five Curlew Sandpipers were seen at Guardbridge (26th) and seen at Loch Fitty (26th) were five Crossbills, four Mistle Thrushes, one Kestrel, one Great Spotted Woodpecker, 12 Great Crested Grebes, two Little Grebes, seven Tufted Ducks, five Mute Swans and three Swallows. Around Kittock’s Den, Boarhills a female Goshawk, one Lesser Whitethroat, one Whitethroat, two Chiffchaffs, one Stonechat, 564 Swallows SW and 127 Pied Wagtails W (26th). Seen from Hawkcraig Point, Aberdour (27th) were two Black Terns E, one Little Gull, three Manx Shearwaters, c10 Arctic Skuas, two Bonxies and c6 Red-throated Divers, three Curlew Sandpipers and two Arctic Skuas were noted at Out Head (27th) and a Hooded Crow was seen at East Wemyss (27th). The seawatching day count at Fife Ness (28th) was one juvenile Pomarine Skua N, five Arctic Skuas N, 43 Purple Sandpipers S, 84 Barnacle Geese S, 12 Wigeon S, eight Teal S and 11 Common Scoters, three juvenile Black Terns were seen off Coble Shore (28th) with an Arctic Skua and a Kingfisher seen from Edenside (28th). A Red Kite SE, 235 Barnacle Geese, one Chiffchaff and a Blackcap were seen around South Fairmont, St Andrews (28th), c150 Golden Plovers, two Red-throated Divers, c60 Knot, one Whimbrel, three Common Gulls, c5 Goldcrests c5 Treecreepers and a Wheatear were seen around the Ruddons Point/Cocklemill Burn area (28th). A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper S and a Red-necked Grebe N, were seen passing Fife Ness (28th). The Mediterranean Gull count rose to 81 at East Wemyss (28th), 47 Barnacle Geese, 14 Little Egrets, one Pintail, one Scaup, 50 Knot, two Greenshanks, four Ruff, four Curlew Sandpipers, 10 Ringed Plovers and two Red-throated Divers were seen from the Eden Estuary Centre (28th).
Angle Park GP still had two Green Sandpipers and 33 Snipe present (30th). Seen at the Kenly Burn, Boarhills (30th) were c260 Canada Geese, 21 Barnacle Geese and three Pale-bellied Brent Geese, a single Barnacle Goose passed over Kinghorn (30th), the Mediterranean Gull count at East Wemyss had dropped to c36 by (30th) and another Honey-buzzard passed over Ferry Hills (30th), this time a juvenile. A remarkable run of sightings at this site this year. Seen at Fife Ness was a ringtail Hen Harrier S, 15 Common Terns, three Sandwich Terns, c300 Pink-footed Geese and a Little Egret (30th), with four Chiffchaffs seen in The Patch, Fife Ness that day also. Along at lower Kilminning, one Whinchat, seven Stonechats and 300 Pink-footed Geese S (30th) and at Loch Gelly, one Barnacle Goose, c600 Greylag Geese, c50 Pink-footed Geese and 64 Pochard were counted (30th). A single Barnacle Goose was seen over St Monans (30th) and noted at Cameron Reservoir were a Short-eared Owl W, a juvenile Marsh Harrier S, a juvenile Green Woodpecker and c20 Crossbills (30th). A Red Kite was seen to the W of Leslie (30th) and the last seawatching day count of September from Fife Ness produced 23 Red-throated Divers S, 17 Common Scoters S, one Common Tern N, two Red-breasted Mergansers S, one Bonxie S, one Shelduck S and five Sandwich Terns N.
Monthly sighting summaries are based on information submitted to the Fife Bird News WhatsApp group. A full list of contributors is published in Scope. Thank you.