York Bird Club weekend trip to Fife, Day 2

We started the day with a look out over Largo Bay from behind the Hotel before heading round to Ruddens Point for a more complete view, the recent mild weather meant there wasn’t masses of wintering stuff in the bay but there was still a good number, particularly of Velvet Scoter and Long Tailed Ducks with several Slavonian Grebes, a Red Necked Grebe and best of all a drake Surf Scoter, the only Divers though were Red Throated, most stuff was fairly distant but the flat calm sea and superb light made for excellent viewing just not good for photography, just inland from the point a field hosted a large flock of Grey Geese and a scan through them revealed a good mix of Eurasion White Fronted, Pink Footed and Tundra Bean amongst the Greylags, they were also accompanied by two Whooper and two Bewick's Swans. We then headed off to St Andrews calling off at the small Loch Kilconqhar and the much larger Loch Cameron en route, both Lochs held good numbers of Diving Ducks and to be expected several Buzzards were in the vicinity but there was nothing out of the ordinary, at St Andrews we had a look out to sea but only added a few Fulmars to the list apart from some of the group who managed to get on to a Pomarine Skua, not me though, we ended the day at the nearby Eden Estuary where there were masses of Waders particularly Sanderling and Grey Plovers as well as several Long Tailed Ducks and at least seven Slavonian Grebes on the river, a small flock of Pale Bellied Brent Geese flew in just before dusk and as we walked back to the cars hundreds of Pinkfeet made quite a spectacle as they flew in to roost, a most enjoyable day had by all.

sunrise over Largo Bay

only the Eiders came anywhere near close enough

distant Red Throated Diver

Long Tailed Ducks and Velvet Scoters were even further away

a couple of record shots of the Surf Scoter

this drake Merganser came a bit closer

cutting a lonesome figure as he scans through the Scoter flock

a couple of views of Largo Bay from Ruddens Point

a couple of scenics from Loch Cameron

St Andrews

Sunset over the Eden Estuary