Back in the middle of April (which somehow seems a long time ago) we took our first trip out in the motorhome for the 2024 season. Being our first trip for over 4 months we decided to go to somewhere we were familiar with, to Silverdykes Caravan Park near Cellardyke.
It was the ideal location for a first trip, not too far away and with plenty of places to visit in walking distance. We were also lucky enough to have friends in the area that we could visit or they could come to the van and visit us.
After getting the van all set up and having a spot of lunch we headed out of the caravan park towards the lovely village of Cellardyke. The weather was good and the views from the high ground (which the caravan park sits on) were tremendous:
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| View over Cellardyke |
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| Looking out to the Isle of May |
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| View towards Caiplie |
We carried on down the hill to the village and headed along the East End until we reached Cellardyke Harbour, known locally as Skinfast Haven:
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| The Harbour at Cellardyke |
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| Skinfast Haven |
We carried on along the East End road and into George Street with it's tightly packed houses and little lanes leading down to the waterside. We nipped down one of these lanes (Urquhart Wynd) to enjoy the sea views:
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| View from Urquhart Wynd |
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| Cellardyke Harbour Wall |
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| Man on the rocks |
It really was a glorious day, a little bit chilly but still very pleasant in the afternoon sunshine. We carried on heading West along John Street until it met Tollbooth Wynd, once again there was a lane down to the sea. This time we had a slightly different outlook including a view across the Forth Estuary towards East Lothian:
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| Isle of May from Tollbooth Wynd |
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| East Lothian Coast from Cellardyke |
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| Towards North Berwick and The Bass Rock |
Just stunning!
We crossed over on to James Street and continued our journey towards Anstruther.
As we turned the corner at the East Shore of Anstruther we were greeted by the sight of a large, brand-spanking-new lifeboat sitting outside the RLNI Station. It was impressive and the tractor thingy it was sitting on was equally impressive:
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| Anstruther's New Lifeboat |
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| Impressive Lifeboat Tractor |
We walked around to the front of the lifeboat station and were a bit surprised to see that the old lifeboat was still in the hanger (or whatever a lifeboat garage is called). It was pretty obvious that the new boat would be unlikely to fit in the current building and this was confirmed when we spoke to one of the lifeboat crew:
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| Old Lifeboat and Crew Member (not that old) |
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| Moira with Two Anstruther Lifeboats |
The crew member was able to tell us that both lifeboats would be with them for several weeks until all the crew had been trained on the new, more technical advanced lifeboat. She also advised that they would have to build a bigger garage to put it in.
We continued our walk with a stroll around Anstruther Harbour, enjoying the wide variety of boats on view:
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| The Reaper a 'Fifie' fishing boat built in 1903 |
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| Boats in Anstruther Harbour |
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| The Harbour at Ainster |
We also enjoyed the views from the harbour wall:
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| View from Anstruther Harbour |
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| Looking towards Castle Street, Anstruther |
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| Looking towards Shore Street, Anstruther |
It was starting to get a bit colder and we were feeling a bit peckish so we decided to head to the famous Anstruther Fish Bar for something to eat:
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| Cold and Peckish in Ainster |
Moira had Haddock in Breadcrumbs with chips and I had Smoked Haddock and chips. It was nice but we have had better fish n chips at this Fish Bar.
After our fish tea we headed back towards Cellardyke, stopping briefly at East Shore to admire a sculpture that we missed on the way in as we were distracted by a large lifeboat. The sculpture was a fishing boat with fish in its net, the boat looked particularly good against the white paint of an adjacent building:
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| Fishing Boat Sculpture |
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| White Fishing Boat |
I do love a sculpture!
East Shore is also a nice place to enjoy the seascape, so here is a little photo and a panoramic video for you to enjoy:
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| Anstruther Harbour Wall from East Shore |
We continued on towards Silverdykes............ our next distraction being a Drake Eider having a swim in the water at Skinfast Haven:
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| Drake Eider |
Here's a video of the Eider as well:
With the low evening sun the view down the harbour towards the opening look particularly dramatic, you could even see North Berwick Law in the distance:
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| Skinfast Haven at Dusk |
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| North Berwick Law through the harbour opening |
If you look closely at the last photo you can even see a Drake Eider displaying.
We finally made it back to the motorhome at Silverdykes before sunset (just) and what a lovely sunset it was:
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| Sunset at Silverdykes |
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| Dramatic Skies |
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| Strangely like a painting |
Next morning we weren't up too early and milled around the campsite doing all the usual chores before stopping for a spot of lunch. In the afternoon we had a couple of visitors; my friend Ewan and his wife Alison popped in to see us.
We some tea and biscuits (and a good natter) before heading out for a walk along the coastal path. It was still a bit breezy but not quite so cold as we walked along the shoreline looking at the birds:
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| Oystercatcher on the rocks |
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| Eider Duck |
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| Greater Black-backed Gulls |
We also enjoyed the views from the Kilrenny Mill shoreline:
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| Kilrenny Mill Seascape |
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| Enjoying the views |
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| Kayak going past |
As there weren't too many birds about at this point I ended up with a video of a kayaker:
Rather than continue further along the shoreline I suggested that we head uphill through the caravan park and towards Kilrenny. Moira and Alison were happy with this suggestion and Ewan was biting his nails with excitement:
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| Alison and Moira near Kilrenny Mill caravan park |
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| Ewan at Kilrenny Mill pumping station |
As we headed up the hill the wind seemed to drop and the sun felt a bit warmer, maybe it was just the effort of walking uphill!
After passing through the caravan park we stopped at a small clump of trees where we spotted a few birds, firstly there was a Goldfinch:
Secondly there was a Blue Tit going in and out of a hole in a nearby tree trunk. Initially I thought it was taking nesting material into the hole, however when I looked back at the video it was evident that it was taking what looked like soft wood out of the hole?
We carried on up the hill to the mill pond area; this is where the water from the Kilrenny burn would have been diverted and stored for powering the mill in days of old. Now it is just a wet area that is good for the vegetation and the wildlife:
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| Mill Pond Area |
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| Trees near Mill Pond |
Last time I was here there were Herons nesting in one of the trees near the mill pond, now it seems to be taken over by some Magpies:
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| Magpie near Mill Pond Area |
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| Magpie at old Heron Nest |
We continued up the track towards Kilrenny:
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| The track to Kilrenny |
Here we spotted a few common birds such as Blue Tits and Chaffinches, ever hopeful that we might spot a Corn Bunting (which I have previously seen in this area), but not this time. So here is a Blue Tit and some spring Daffodils instead:
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| Blue Tit near Kilrenny |
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| Spring Daffs |
We did hear a Chiffchaff calling several times along the track, but it wasn't until we reached the main road at Kilrenny that we got a good view of it. I also thought that I got a good video of it, unfortunately I was focussed on the wrong branch and got a great video of some 'old man's beard' lichen..
We then had a stroll through the little village of Kilrenny, which was interesting and very enjoyable in the afternoon sunshine. We didn't see any further wildlife worth photographing, so I kept my camera in my pocket.
When we got back to the caravan park it was time for Ewan and Alison to head home; thanks for visiting us.
We returned to the motorhome for a quiet night and in the next morning we got up bright and early-ish and caught the bus to St Andrews to do some shopping (my favourite). It was clothes shopping so not quite as bad as grocery shopping.
First stop was an essential visit to Bibi's cafe for a spot of brunch; I had the Stornoway Stack and Moira had here favourite Blueberry Pancakes with Bacon. Set us up for some serious shopping. I didn't take any photographs of the food or the shops, nor did I take any of the historic buildings or sea views, so let's just skip forward to evening time.
Despite a showery sort of day it turned out to be a lovely evening so I took myself for a little walk along the lane that runs from Silverdykes to Kilrenny Mill.
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| The high lane from Silverdykes to Kilrenny Mill |
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| View from High Lane |
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| View towards Isle of May |
It was such a lovely evening, the moon was out and the birds were singing (some of them anyway)
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| The Moon was out! |
As I looked out to sea I tracked a Gannet flying towards Cellardyke in the hope that it might plunge dive into the water for some fish (a great spectacle even at this distance):
It's a pity that the rooftops obscured the final entry, but that's life.
As I walked along the high lane I kept an eye on the telephone lines, also worth checking for Corn Bunting, once again no such luck. Did get Carrion Crow and Greenfinch though:
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Greenfinch |
Greenfinch stayed long enough for me to get a video:
I walked as far as the Mill Pond before turning back, here are some photos of what I seen:
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| View over Kilrenny Mill |
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| Kilrenny Mill Pond |
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| Road towards Kilrenny |
On the way back the sun was low in the sky and the combination of light and shade was quite dramatic:
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| Blackbird taking a bath |
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| Puddleduck? |
It was fun to watch the Blackbird having its evening bath:
I then heard the plaintive song of a Yellowhammer coming from the hedge:
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| Yellowhammer in the hedge |
Luckily it stayed there long enough for me to tip-toe along the side of the hedge for a better view:
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| Yellowhammer near Cellardyke |
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| Lovely Male Yellowhammer |
It even sung for me! but not when I got closer:
The low sun of the evening shed also some light on some of the islands and other distant features visible from this high path above Cellardyke:
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| Isle of May |
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| Bass Rock |
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| North Berwick Law |
................. and at the end of my evening stroll, I was treated to a flypast:
Sorry for the wobbly camera but it was hard to keep it in focus as it circled around me.
The next morning the weather wasn't great so we chilled in the motorhome. We did brave the weather in the afternoon for a stroll along the shoreline at Cellardyke. Most of the birds were hunkered down because of the wind, but I did see this lovely Pied/White Wagtail:
I will leave it up to the experts to decide whether it was 'Pied' or 'White' either way it was a nice bird to see.
The light was a bit grey and gloomy making it difficult to pick out the birds along the shoreline, for instance how many Curlew can you see in these photos:
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| Curlews on the shoreline |
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| Spot the Curlews in the rocks |
The video might help:
I made it at least five birds, maybe six.
We carried on along the coastal path, enjoying the dramatic views on this overcast day:
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| Looking towards Cellardyke |
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| East Lothian coastline in the distance |
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| Towards the Isle of May |
A little further along we came across a rocky cove where there were plenty of birds sheltering from the weather. Even using binoculars you still had to 'get your eye in' to see what was there:
I spotted Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Eider, Redshank and Turnstone, but there may have been others?
Moira spotted a Heron behind the gulls, but I didn't see it until I changed my angle of view:
After this we headed back towards Cellardyke and the comfort of the motorhome, here are a few birds we spotted on the way back:
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| Birds on the shoreline near Cellardyke |
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| Eiders and Gulls |
This was our last full day at Silverdyke and in the evening we were invited to join our friends Ken & Amanda (who live nearby) for a meal and drinks in their house. It was a lovely meal and we had a few drinks and a lot of chatting, making a nice end to our visit to the East Neuk. Thanks Ken and Amanda, next time you must to come to our house.
So that's it folks, until next time.
Take care,
Teddyedward
