Mipits and fog

Spent a short while freezing my tail off at Inverkeithing in the easterly wind this morning. A 2cy Kittiwake was about it for birds driven in by the wind, while passage Mipit numbers continue to rise. Took a look at the inner harbour area to see if I could pick up a scarce passage migrant./winter visitor in the shape of a Moorhen, but no luck. Also scanned the demolished mill area for plovers but again no luck

Goosander

A nice addition to the list this morning with a couple of female Goosander at round about the normal time. Weather appeared nice but a blustery easterly was cold and noisy, and didn't seem to (as yet) produce anything interesting birdwise. A few loitering Blak-headed Gulls didn't even pretend to be Med Gulls. I'll be seeing hundreds of them soon, but I still wouldn't mind one for Inverkeithing. Redshank and Dunlin are still around too, and one Goldeneye was still in the harbour yesterday.

Collared Dove

On a quiet but pleasant morning at the Divit not much was happening in mild SE winds. It occurred to me that I hadn't recorded Collared Dove. I went looking for one in the harbour area and lo-and-behold there's one displaying over the harbour. Splendid.On the other hand I have only recorded 56 spp in March, and am ten down on the year. I'll need to investgate what's been missed but that's a long way behind for March! I know at least last year I fluked into Tree Sparrows and Redpolls early on, and maybe also Reed Bunting. I'm not overly concerned about that type of stuff because I will get it no problem later. Still a few days left to snag a Grey Phal...

On a review of March records there's nothing of any concern missing. Sand Martin might arrive in March, still time for a "different" grebe, and many other species which I am pretty certain of. No worries.

I also found some nice Red Dead-nettles beside the path, and a White-legged Snake Millipede crossing it.

Divit mega! Pheasant!!

Biggest bird of the day on a beautiful sunny morning with moderate easterlies was a Pheasant calling from the hill/farmland. Since I dipped on it (!) last year it's worth having on the list. Not much by way of movement although a handful of Linnets may or may not hang around - some eventually will if not these. Linnet also quietly sneaked onto the Cullaloe year list on Saturday.

Shy Chaffinch

Aerial battle

Gulls love this "courting platform"

Cuckoo movements

Probably everybody except me ha seen this but it's really cool anyway - tracking of Cuckoos from UK back to Africa and shortly back to UK again: link

Cullaloe +Little Grebe +Water Rail

Takes Cullaloe to 60 species, slightly ahead of last year, when March finished on 59. Still not recorded any species that were not recorded last year though, so no real gain and I'm missing Merlin and Dipper. (edit: this isn't the case as I have recorded KESTREL!)

Mipit trickle

The Mipit trickle continued at Inverkeithing this morning, with four overhead in c.30 minutes. Also a Pied Wag going north. At lunchtime at Cullaloe a Grey Wag flew north, but was it a genuine migrant? Right time of year, so you never know. At Merlin Drive Skylark was singing away but the only sign of species that might be on the move was 17 LBB Gulls loafing on the pond

Nearly that time again

Six weeks until the mig-fest from the coast of the Aegean to the coast of the Black Sea. Yahoo!

Red-footed Falcon in Canakkale province

Chiff Chaff Chiff Chiff Chaff Chiff ...

My earliest ever Chiffchaff in Inverkeithing this morning singing from the quarry rim. A brief view of it when I scanned the tree tops but then it dropped out of sight before I could get even a dodgy picture of it. Spring is officially here though! Dunnocks are everywhere right now, singing and chasing each other. Stock Doves in the quarry, and a brief moment of excitement as four swans flew towards me over the harbour, only to reveal themselves as boring Mute Swans. A few Dunlin still around and Teal still in the harbour but they won't last long.

Forgottn pics from this morning!

How could I have forgotten - 4 pairs of Great Crested Grebe on the river displaying on flat water - a great sight and not one I'm used to here.

This Robin is pretty bright, and a territorial dispute broke out between singing Song Thrush too.

Movement!

Some geese around this morning - Greylags were moving. Pinkies were going north, dragging the spring behind them, and the first overhead Mipit of the year passed by. A few other bits and pieces with Pied and Grey Wagtails over and Goldfinches apparently passing through too - although they always like to loiter around to confuse things.

Cullaloe spring surge

A Cormorant yesterday plus Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Lesser Black-backed Gull takes Cullaloe to 55 species and 61% of target

Chilly willy wagtail

Car thermometer read 5 degrees this morning but the wind made it feel much colder. Added a couple of routine species to the fledgling month list but nothing else. This little guy was walking around and singing in the area of the quarry, where there were 6 Stock Dove in 3 pairs.

Herb Robert, Goldcrest

Nice start to March this morning - my first trip this month anyway. A couple of Grey Wags flew past separately, probably off to breeding territory, and some Wigeon still loitered in the harbour. A few waders around that won't be here much longer.

On a botanical note I saw my first Herb Robert flower of the year there too.

Just looked on Birdtrack to find that the Goldcrest I saw this morning was also the first of the year. Seems like I must have seen one before now, but it's on now at least. Further to that, Wigeon, Goldcrest and Grey Wag were all additions to the site's March species list, lifting it to 77.