May 13th

The sea was fantastically calm and flat this morning after the heavy rain overnight. There was occasional haar coming in on the feeble easterlies, but between the banks it was crystal clear without any heat haze. Perfect for watching seabirds come past. And suddenly lots of puffins were visible – the first of the year for me – although they have been at the May Island for several weeks now. There were Arctic terns still passing, probably thousands over the course of the day: in the afternoon there was a flock of over 100 feeding while I sat at Fife Ness. I also saw my first manx shearwaters of the year and a great skua. As I sea watched I heard a common sandpiper calling from the rocky shore. There are almost no waders on the shore now apart from late migrants like these. Inland it was much as yesterday – the marsh warbler was only heard briefly today at the Patch, but the willow warblers and whitethroats made up for it with another day of intense singing. I think there are a lot whitethroats about this year now – more territories than ever. Whitethroat numbers have been increasing (after declining hugely last century) and it does seem that there is a whitethroat in almost every hedge and bush around Crail.

One of the many singing common whitethroats around Crail at the moment