Nine Magpies means what?

In one tree this morning nine magpies. Also Blackcaps continue to enthusiastically announce their arrival. didn't catch much else of interest about though.

Blackcap, Swallow and mystery bird

Dropped into the Divit for a wee half hour this morning and had a couple of Swallows over. Two Blackcaps were also singing, one either side of the harbour mouth. Both managed to evade the lens, the one from speed and the other from hiding.

Worst 'one that got away' was a passerine which called from the shoreline a bit away from me and then as i approached the source of the sound I heard it calling twice as it passed me. I never set eyes on it. I wondered if it was perhaps a Wheatear, but the call wasn't really there and a flypast Wheatear is usually pretty hard to miss because of th white rump area.

Oystercatcher also added to Cullaloe's list this morning

Swallow darts behind a tree - honest!

Primrose

Hoist

Ringed Plover and Yellowhammer added over the last few days at the Divit, but nothing very exciting

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.