I have spent quite a lot of time seawatching at Fife Ness over the last couple of years and thought information on access, best viewing conditions, etc. may be helpful for any birders thinking about visiting.
The seawatching site is right on the end of Fife Ness itself, just below the navigation light and right by the coastal path. Fife Bird Club has a hide here which can be accessed by members (see here for info on how to join). The hide offers shelter from the wind, rain and (occasionally) sun, and comfortably accommodates up to 6 people. However, for non Fife Bird Club members, seating is also available immediately in-front of the hide and also by the World War II gun emplacement immediately to the north of the hide.
Parking is at the golf club visitors carpark by the mini roundabout just before the main golf club carpark. There is very limited parking on the grass verge opposite the small group of caravans by the Ness itself, or just before the cottage to the north of the caravans (again on the grass verge on the seaward side of the road). Please do not park in the passing places or along the access road, and cars are not permitted beyond the caravans. There is a bus service between St Andrews and Crail, and it is about a 3km walk from Crail to Fife Ness.
The location of Fife Ness, the Fife Bird Club hide, access routes and parking options are illustrated on the map below.
Birds can pass by Fife Ness at all distances, meaning that generally a ‘scope is required to pick up and identify a high proportion of birds. However, there are times of the year or particular weather conditions when birds pass close inshore, providing good binocular views and opportunities for photography. The conditions that provide closest views are periods of strong northerly winds or winds with an easterly component, or immediately following such conditions when large numbers of birds exiting the Firth of Forth and heading north can pass close by. Great Shearwater, Sabine’s Gull, Little Auk and Grey Phalarope have all been seen passing just off the Fife Ness rocks, immediately in-front of the hide.
It is also worth bearing in mind that birds sometimes fly directly over or even behind the hide. This is particularly the case during autumn diver and wildfowl passage when it is not uncommon for birds to cut across the Ness itself. There have been records of White-billed Diver passing overhead. For these birds, using the hide is a disadvantage as they are hidden from view.
Viewing Conditions
On clear or sunny mornings from March – October the light can be poor for seawatching at Fife Ness, which faces east, due to the sun glare off the sea and silhouetting of birds. Mornings with complete cloud cover provide much better viewing conditions. The light in the afternoons tend to be the best and can often be superb, the sun being behind the observer. During November-February, the sun rises further to the south and glare and silhouetting tend to be less of a problem in the mornings than during the rest of the year.
Days with reduced visibility i.e. when the Lothian and Angus coasts are not visible, can increase the number of birds passing closer to Fife Ness. Rain showers or patches of mist can result in birds approaching closer to shore during these periods of reduced visibility, becoming visible to the observer during breaks in the weather.
The vantage points at Fife Ness are only a few meters above sea level, and this limited elevation can negatively impact the birding. Days with even light swell can result in birds being hidden behind waves, reducing the chances of picking them up or successfully tracking them as they pass by. This may, in part at least, explain the relatively few records of European and Leach’s Storm Petrels and Grey Phalarope at Fife Ness. When the sea swell is heavy, seawatching can be extremely challenging indeed, and are further exacerbated at high tide when the vantage point effectively loses up to 4 metres of elevation. Very strong winds can also result in sea spray that can greatly reduce (or totally eliminate) visibility. Seawatching during stormy weather can therefore sometimes be extremely frustrating and unproductive, and it may be a better strategy to wait until extreme weather has started to abate, and viewing conditions have improved. The period immediately following stormy weather is often when birds are re-orientating themselves and they pass close by Fife Ness.
For the majority of the year, passage birds tend to be moving in a northerly direction. The main exceptions to this are autumn passage of divers and wildfowl, winter movements of seaduck into the Forth, and during the summer when breeding birds are commuting to nest sites in the Forth. This means that it tends to be beneficial to watch a little to the south of the the Fife Ness rocks, so that you maximise the amount of time birds are viewable. However, watching too far south may mean that you miss birds cutting across to Fife Ness from the direction of St Abb’s Head to the south, or that there is only a narrow window for picking up or watching birds heading south.
A challenge during seawatching can be directing or being directed onto a bird that is flying past, due to the lack of fixed points at sea to use as reference points. At Fife Ness, there have historically been very few landmarks to use for directions, unless vessels happen to be passing by. However, with the construction of the Neart na Gaoithe wind farm during 2022 and 2023 a range of structures have appeared that help with directions for getting onto passing birds.
What to expect and when
Winter (December – February)
Divers and seaduck are regularly seen moving between the Firth of Forth and areas to the north, with Common Scoter, Eider, Long-tailed Duck, and Red-throated Diver the most commonly observed species. There tend to be a few Red-throated Diver, Eider and Razorbill feeding off the Ness through the winter, though their number (and visibility) are dependent upon sea conditions. Passage numbers of Razorbill and Guillemot are greatest following northerly or easterly winds, which can also produce good numbers of Little Auk. There can be small numbers of Little Auk present offshore throughout the winter, the best chance of seeing one being when they fly short distances to, presumably, reposition themselves. The rocks just in front of the hide hold Turnstone and Redshank, and a flock of up to 25 Purple Sandpiper are regularly seen. There are regular records of Black Guillemot and occasional records of Manx Shearwater passing by during the winter, and small numbers of Gannet linger, with numbers of the latter starting to increase during February. There has been relatively little seawatching effort during the winter, and it seems likely that the winter status of some species off Fife Ness has been understated.
Spring (March-April)
Spring is probably the least well understood seawatching season at Fife Ness and there is still no doubt a lot that we have to learn. The majority of the locally breeding seabirds have returned by the end of April (the terns and Puffin being the latest arrivals) and can be seen passing by Fife Ness or feeding offshore. Spring seaduck passage is well underway, and Common Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, and Velvet Scoter are frequently observed, though numbers reduce sharply after April. The chances of seeing Black Guillemot and both Great Northern and Black-throated Divers decline after March. The first Arctic and Great Skua appear during April, during which month the number of Manx Shearwater also increases.
Summer(May-July)
The seabird breeding season is underway, and truly impressive numbers of adult birds commuting to and from colonies on the Isle of May, Bass Rock and other Forth islands can be seen passing Fife Ness. The most commonly seen species are Gannet, Kittiwake, Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Shag, and Arctic Tern. Birds can pass very close inshore, particularly during periods of onshore winds. The numbers of Manx Shearwater (presumably involving birds breeding on the west coast of Scotland, but also perhaps non-breeding or immature birds) build up, with 100+ in a day not uncommon. During July the first returning waders begin to pass south, mostly adults and still in breeding plumage, and late July is also when the first Sooty Shearwater appear.
Autumn (Aug-Nov)
Unsurprisingly, autumn is the most exciting period for seawatching at Fife Ness, with dispersing local birds being joined by wanderers from much further afield. The numbers of Gannet commuting between the Bass Rock and feeding areas peaks during August, with the first fledged juveniles appearing in September. The numbers of Arctic, Common and Sandwich Tern peak during August and September, with birds from the local area being joined by post breeding birds from the south and the north. August and September are best times to look out for Roseate, Little and Black Terns which occur in small numbers in most years. The abundance of terns decline from mid-late September, and they have largely disappeared by mid-October.
Passage skua numbers increase through August, when Arctic, Great and small numbers of Long-tailed can all occur. As with waders, the first birds to appear are adults with juvenile birds appearing a few weeks later. Pomarine Skua tend to be later in the autumn, but can be seen from August onwards. The first Little Gull appear during August, peaking during late September and October. Red-throated Diver begin to return during August, and smaller numbers of Great Northern Diver and Black-throated Diver from mid-September. Numbers of Red-throated Diver peak during September, but during October and November for Great Northern Diver. October and November are also the peak months for the much, much rarer White-billed Diver.
Large numbers of Manx Shearwater can be seen passing by during August and September, and this can be a good time to see birds close inshore as they exit the Firth of Forth on their way north. Sooty Shearwater become more frequent during August with numbers increasing through to mid-September before declining through October, with small numbers occurring into November. Very small numbers of Balearic Shearwater are seen each autumn, generally during the latter part of September and into October. Fulmar move away from the area during late Sept/ Oct following breeding, slowly reappearing during the latter part of the winter.
The first returning geese to appear are pale-bellied Brent Goose at the end of August/ beginning of September, with Pink-footed Goose appearing from mid-September and Barnacle Goose from early October. It is always worth looking (and listening) out for Bean Goose or White-fronted Goose, both of which have been observed passing Fife Ness. The majority of geese arriving in the autumn are heading west up the Forth, and during strong westerlies can pass very close inshore and low to the water, providing superb views.
Migrant passerines can be seen arriving from Scandinavia from September, but the most impressive arrivals occur in the second half of October when the largest arrivals of thrushes occur. At this time of year it is also possible to see Woodcock and the ‘eared’ owls arriving in-off the sea, or Sparrowhawk and Merlin hunting down (either offshore or over land) the arriving smaller migrants. Occasionally you can also occasionally watch Arctic Skua pursuing migrating passerines as they approach landfall from the east.
The graphs below are based on my Fife Ness counts from 2020 (the point when I started putting in meaningful seawatching effort throughout the year) to the end of 2023 and indicate the average number of birds seen each hour of observation for a selection of species. They provide an indication of the seasonality of some species, and which time of year might be best to visit Fife Ness for particular species. The final graph indicates the hours of seawatching I’ve undertaken each week during this period, illustrating the focus of effort in late summer / autumn.
Optimal Weather Conditions
The quality of seawatching at Fife Ness can be very dependent upon weather conditions both locally and further afield. At a local scale, winds with an easterly component can move birds closer inshore. However, far more important are the weather conditions at the larger scale, with the optimal conditions being strong south westerlies to the west of the U.K., followed by northerly winds that originate from north of Scotland and push birds from the northern North Atlantic into the North Sea. These birds pass by Fife Ness as they re-orientate themselves north and back towards the Atlantic. This phenomenon can occur at any time of year, though the species involved are of course season-specific.
It is also worthwhile keeping an eye out for reports from seawatching sites in north-east England such as Whitburn, particularly during late summer and autumn, as this can provide advance warning of likely passage of e.g. shearwaters and skuas north past Fife Ness. The seabird speed and timing calculations produced by Ross Ahmed to help track individual rare seabirds past headlands in the north east of England raises the possibility of similar approaches for the east coast of Scotland. The far lower observer coverage in Scotland makes this challenging but it has been possible, for example the quick release of news of the Fea’s-type petrel past Fife Ness on 30/08/21 enabled observers at three locations to the north to pick up the bird later that afternoon. It is perhaps worth flagging that the flight speeds of what were assumed to be the same individual Fea’s-type petrel and Great Shearwaters at Scottish east coast sites were approximately 20% greater than those estimated for north east England. The reasons for this are unclear but may be related to differences in behaviour or wind speed, resulting in increased speed of travel.
To illustrate some of the weather conditions that might result in notable seabird passage past Fife Ness, a few examples from the past few years are presented below.
A prolonged period of strong northerly winds resulted in the Fife Ness record count of 50 European Storm Petrel being seen on 24/07/2011, which were thought to have been driven south from their breeding and foraging areas around the Northern Isles and Norway. Map from www.Ventusky.com
Late summer and early autumn 2021 saw unprecedented numbers of Fea’s-type Petrel in the North Sea, particularly NE England and Orkney. The period was dominated by unusually protracted periods of N or NW winds that had followed a series of weather systems moving in from SW of Ireland. The Fea’s-type Petrel at Fife Ness on 30/08/2021 was seen in just such conditions, on which date 17 Sooty Shearwater, 18 Manx Shearwater, 101 Little Gull, 8 Great Skua, and 5 Arctic Skua were also observed. Map from www.Ventusky.com
The record count of 376 Sooty Shearwater at Fife Ness on 26/09/2020 was preceded by periods of strong NNW and N winds that extended from north of Norway and Iceland. Perhaps surprisingly only 7 Manx Shearwater were observed on the same date, alongside 285 Little Gull, 26 Great Skua and 7 Arctic Skua. Map from Ventusky.com
Sabine’s Gull at Fife Ness is most often associated with periods of strong NW winds from the Arctic circle, with easterly winds then increasing the chance of birds being moved closer to the Fife coast. On 29/09/2022, three juvenile Sabine’s Gulls were observed from Fife Ness, the maximum day count for the site. On the same day 1 Great Shearwater, 68 Sooty Shearwater, 885 Manx Shearwater, and 3 Long-tailed Skua were also observed at Fife Ness. Map from Ventusky.com
Wind conditions the day of the Fife Ness record Little Auk count of 2,473 in two hours on 11/11/1995. Strong northerlies from east of Iceland the preceding days pushed birds into the North Sea with the subsequent strong easterlies across the northern North Sea pushing birds close inshore. Map from Ventusky.com
The only record of Brunnich’s Guillemot from Fife Ness (and only the 2nd ever in Fife) was seen and photographed flying north on 01/12/2021 during a period of very strong northerly winds that originated from the Arctic. The same day 35 Little Auk, 1 Black Guillemot, and several Common Guillemot that appeared to be of the northern subspecies hyperborea were also observed. During the same period, several Brunnich’s Guillemots were also seen from seawatching points in NE England. Map from Ventusky.com
Originally posted January 14 2023, updated with 2023 data on January 01 2024.
Chatterstanes 