Fife - August 2024
A family holiday on the Fife coast in mid-August allowed for some birding along the nearby beach in Kingsbarns and the area near the holiday home where we stayed. It was nice to be able to explore a different habitat to that from home and see what I could find. It is not a bad time to visit given a lot of seabirds and waders are on the move and checks of the recent sightings suggested some movement of large shearwaters off the Fife coast was taking place, albeit only small numbers. There is a hide at Fife Ness which is a good sea watching spot along this coast, but a key is required so my sea watching was done as part of my daily walks along Kingsbarns beach in the hope I would get lucky and pick something up off shore. Fulmars were present in good numbers and up to 30 chicks were visible on the cliff edge in nearby St Andrews. Gannets were constantly on view as the area is only a short distance from Bass Rock where hopefully their breeding population is now recovering. The only shearw