A Lochore Meadows Walk

 We took a stroll around our Loch on Wednesday, so we were out a while, with a stop at the visitor centre for a coffee and to buy a butty as we hadn't planned to be out as long as we were!

It was a dullish day at first and a bit rainy so we stopped at the hide to let the drizzle clear a bit and see what was about. Sadly the first thing we saw was that some scumbags had made a fire on the bench and burnt through the wooden seating, there was just enough space for the two of us at either end.

The reeds on the pools are still quite high, so visibility across to the scrape is limited, but there were lots of Teal and Mallard, but not much else could be seen. After we left the hide a load of Redwing were seen along the pathway to the Loch, but very flighty, sadly not staying put for a photo.

Unlike the Mute Swans at the Loch itself:

Some Pink-footed Geese in the fields,

along with Greylag Geese.

Always plenty of Black-headed Gulls by the visitor centre

as well as Pied Wagtails

and Jackdaw.

Away from the visitor centre on our way back a couple of Wren were zooming around the Loch edge.

The local rowing team were out, the cox wanting them to get on with it by the look of it!

Then in the large pool at the Kelty end of the Loch a couple of Whooper Swans were found

along with some Wigeon. Another lovely walk with loads to see, just a few minutes from our front door! 

Lochore Meadows - Surprise Osprey

 On Monday we went for a quick walk down "The Meadies" just to stretch our legs really, we popped into the hide but the pond is so overgrown at the moment there is not much to be seen apart from some Mallard.

However towards the end of our walk while sitting on a bench having our obligatory coffee, an Osprey decided to pay a visit, it didn't get too close, but give us a good ten minutes display making 6 attempts to catch a fish, finally being successful on the last!

Not much else seen otherwise,  a family of wrens were nice to see, at least 4 youngsters and a an adult.

Latest Walk at Seafield

 On Wednesday after running a few errands in and around Kircaldy we went for a walk along the coast at Seafield. Bit different to running errands in Blackheath!

Birding wise though it was quite quiet, with a distinct lack of waders. Normally we see tons of Redshank, but not one this time, even the Oystercatcher numbers were low, we only saw four or five.

At our first coffee spot just passed the old sea wall, we scanned the rocks and sea, but the only things to see were the usual Gulls, Cormorant, a few Shag and Eider. Having said that a Wren popped up in exactly the same bush as our last visit:

Behind us there were plenty of House Sparrow, Pigeons, Crow and Starling. A couple of Starlings popped down to the beach for a bath:

The Gannet numbers fishing off shore have increased, it was great to watch, and as we got higher along the path past the tower the views were even better. We could also see Auks out on the water at some distance, but without the scope we couldn't identify for certain, but I'm sure there were a mix of Guillemot, Razorbill and even Puffins.

A few Sandwich Terns flew by, close enough to get good views through the bins. So far we had been very lucky with the weather, the rain was sweeping along the Forth and dumping on the Lothian Coast, but it was missing us out, so not wanting to push our luck we headed back and were lucky enough to spot a Whimbrel just by the tower:

This was our first for the year and takes us to 106 species so far. We are heading to the North Coast of Scotland this weekend for a week, for a three times postponed, due to Covid, holiday, so hopefully we will add to our tally. With Puffin, Skuas, Terns and many more besides.

So that will do for now. I will post something again when we get back.

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.