October 15th

I have been checked Kilminning, the Patch at Fife Ness and Denburn Wood today and yesterday in case the easterlies and rain have delivered. There are a lot of common migrants coming in steadily but nothing exceptional. The most unusual was a Siberian chiffchaff calling yesterday from the top of Kilminning, a perfect example of its characteristic sad call, repeated for about a minute but I couldn’t get a good look at it. That makes a perfect call and a perfect sighting, but sadly not simultaneously: anyway I’m happy that there is/was a Siberian chiffchaff at upper Kilminning, present on the 10^th and the 14^th, in the same group of trees, so I would think the same bird. In terms of common migrants, the thrushes are still coming in. Blackbirds, redwings, fieldfares, song thrushes and mistle thrushes. Not in spectacular numbers and surprisingly no ring ouzels to make the set. Warbler wise, some chiffchaffs, blackcaps and lots of goldcrests. There were a few brambling this morning. There were several great spotted woodpeckers at the Patch and Kilminning suggesting that they are coming in as migrants too: some without rings have been caught at Fife Ness this week. The few resident great spotted woodpeckers were caught a long time ago and already have rings on their legs. A jay was reported from Kilminning this afternoon. Another likely migrant coming in from Scandinavia because jays are rarer out at Fife Ness than red-breasted flycatchers. Despite not finding anything yet I still feel confident that there is something out there to find. I hope with a bit of time spent looking this weekend and some more birders coming down to help, we might still find another very good bird this autumn.

Great spotted woodpecker – there are more about Crail at the moment as migrants arrive from Europe (JA)