Weekly Update: A Coastal Walk and Loch Kinghorn

 It's been an interesting week, we have been limited to where we can go because of the treachorous paths, with the snow going slushy then freezing overnight, turning our local paths into ice rinks! So to get some safe exercise and not burden the NHS further with broken limbs, we headed down to the coast, only a few miles, where it was warmer and not so icy as up in Kelty.

We did slide down to our local patch at Lochore Meadows, but it was pretty quiet as it was so cold,

There were plenty of Greylag Geese about, Goldeneye both on the Loch and the nature reserve pools and Tufted Duck on the Loch.

On another day we popped down to Burntisland Harbour, where we had seen a Razorbill and a Great Northern Diver previously, but not this time. We did see a nice male Eider in all his finery by the sea wall though:

Prior to the harbour we had popped to Kinghorn Loch for a walk and the hope of seeing the Ring-necked Duck, but we had left it too late again and the suns glare on the loch made it impossible to check for it amongst the Tufted Duck.

A couple of photos from the Loch:

A female Goldeneye

and a fly by by a Black-headed Gull.

Another day saw us go for a longer walk along the coast from Seafield towards Kinghorn. The birding was so good it took us ages to get anywhere!

One of the highlights was a 'Sea' Kingfisher:

Another highlight was Tina's favourite Duck, a Long-tailed. Sorry I don't have any photos as they were a way off shore, but we had great views through the scope! It was worth lugging it around.

So here are a few other shots from the walk:

Redshank,

Song Thrush,

Oystercatcher,

Bar-tailed Godwit,

Godwit and Turnstone,

"Tailless" Wren!

Ringed Plover,

Curlew,

Purple Sandpiper,

Stonechat,

Stonechat having lunch!

Stonechat with a full stomach!

Seal,

another Curlew

the view to Inchkeith island

and a solitary Brent Goose.

This walk is definitely going to be a regular thing and for those of you 'booked' in when this damned pandemic is done with, it will be on the list to take you to.

Keeping Local!

Well as we stare into a continuing lock down, we have managed to get out a little bit, visiting Blairadam Woods, Loch Leven, Lochore Meadows, Burntisland and Loch Kinghorn all within a short drive or walk! The Harbour area at Burntisland proved the most interesting bird wise with a Great Northern Diver in the inner harbour;

Being kept company by two or three seals;

In the outer harbour a Razorbill confused us for a moment and wouldn't stay on the surface long enough to get a decent photo or just turned its back on us!

Just outside the sea wall on the Firth a Shag came and said hello!

A visit to Burleigh Beach at Loch Leven produced Grey and Pied Wagtail as well as the usual Gulls and ducks;

Blairadam was very quiet, with very few birds seen, the Burn looks like it should be good for Dipper, it's a beautiful place though!

We only stopped for a few minutes at Loch Kinghorn when driving past, the sun was in the wrong position with a terrible glare on the water, so trying to find a Ring-necked duck amongst a 100 or so Tufted Duck was impossible!

So that's our latest update, I'll post again next week sometime unless something unusual turns up!

Here's a few more bits of scenery though from my phone!

Out and About Around Our New Home

 We are spoilt for choice of places to go birding near our new home, but we are conscious that we need to keep as local as possible, so we are trying to keep it within five miles and also trying to find places to walk where the paths aren't an ice rink! With continual sub zero temperatures that is proving difficult.

But we have manged walks at Loch Leven and Lochore Meadows and a bit of driving around to familiarise ourselves with our new surroundings.

So with just doing that we are up to 43 species so far for 2021, not too bad. But with the current restrictions, I don't see that number increasing much in the near future.

Here's just a few pics from our travels: