Migration season is fickle. As other parts of the east coast had migrants trickling in today on the light easterlies and rain showers, Fife Ness stayed stubbornly quiet. I was out in the rain showers in the morning with fairly high hopes of a pied flycatcher, but only had a willow warbler in Upper Kilminning, and a tree pipit flying over – both of these can occur regardless of the weather at this time of year. Lower Kilminning was migrant free apart from barn swallows. Balcomie Beach had lost, rather than gained waders: I only had about 40 dunlin, 15 ringed plover and a couple each of turnstone and sanderling. Sea watching at Fife Ness and Balcomie beach turned up a few Arctic skuas and a steady passage of red-throated divers (about 15 an hour), but only two manx shearwaters. The little gulls are accumulating. Maybe 60 were out in a loose flock, milling around over the sea at the horizon. My highlights were the brent geese that were passing all day in small flocks (2 to 25) going both up and down the coast.
Wild Crail 
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