Scozmo's Photery

Well, I told you we went back! This time it was just the two of us and we found a lovely wee apartment for September 28th in Cellardyke itself with a view out over the harbour. On our first and visit we had stayed within Cellardyke but right at the other end near Anstruther, the two towns now joined. Cellardyke harbour alone is fascinating and has a long history behind it.

A history of Cellardyke Harbour and all its names – The Changing Names of Cellardyke and Skinfast Haven

The actual rocks used in building the harbour are beautiful and multi-coloured.

When you look at the history of the harbour you see the different builds that extended these walls and that can be seen just by looking at them.

That view from our apartment window shows the different stages of the outer harbour wall and the view across the Firth of Forth.

There are a lot of images of the harbour in one of our first visits …. East Neuk of Fife – Day 2

I just happened to be hanging out of the window, watching the sea and caught this ….. almost moment.

We had actually arrived on Sept. 27th but it was to the 28th before I set out on one of my morning coast walks.

One bird that is plentiful around our shores are Cormorants and Shags.

They look very similar but the Shag is slightly smaller and has a head tuft of feathers.

Another bird I have come to love photographing is the Stonechat, you may have seen my Stonechat encounters back on the patch, they can be great to photograph, sitting high on anything they can, these birds weren’t that obliging … yet 🙂

I think the sand flies attract any bug eating birds to this shore, that and the open fields right alongside the track and I was seeing young birds at this time of year.

There’s a good variety of birds here and that always keeps these walks interesting.

The bird I was hoping to see and get good shots of were the Corn Buntings, we don’t see them at home and they are plentiful in this area, as I found out by accident on my previous visit 🙂

And there they were, all over this patch of Brambles and weeds and, reasonably steady when I stood for a while. The other bird we don’t see often on the patch is the Wheatear, I have seen them passing through for a day or two then gone, away up the glens.

Gorgeous wee birds and not as wee as the buntings, I found a nest site last year, not far from the house up one of the glen roads so I must get back there.

The coast here is walked by folks from all over the world, the Fife Coastal Path running for 183 Kms from Kincardine to Newburgh – Fife Coastal Path A lot of the people I meet walk from North Queensferry to Newport on Tay or St. Andrews.

The section I walk is from Cellardyke to Crail but I usually turn back about 1.5 miles in, by that clump of trees on the headland, usually so we can head out together for the day but today we were going to Crail.

There’s a group of houses in those trees and one has a couple of fields with sheep and / or Highland cattle.

I have no idea what that huge, tall cow is but it towers over those young Highlanders!

There are apparently ancient caves on the route, Caiplie Caves with evidence of occupation from around 170 CE!

These shots as we approached from Cellardyke.

I found them fascinating, the colours in the rock alone!

AND a great place to stop for a picnic 🙂 It’s only around 1.5 miles to Crail from here.

The walk itself isn’t difficult although there is pretty rocky and sometimes rugged ground to cover and a few old stone stiles to clamber over.

Of course, I had walked this route before and covered it in my A Coast Walk in Fife

So we had a coffee and butty in the harbour cafe before jumping on the bus back to Anstruther and a walk back to the flat.

Where we just relaxed, I hung out the window a bit 🙂 and grabbed more shots.

Really must book a trip over to the Isle of May next time, the trips are seasonal and numbers are limited as it is a seabird sanctuary.

As evening drew in I set up a camera to get some long exposures of the harbour and sea beyond. I left a camera set up taking time lapse shots all night so I could put together a video clip the next time at the Mac.

That shot was around 1 am and if you look closely, there was a Grey Heron wandering around the harbour at low tide 🙂 (low right).

You can view the entire clip here —> Nighttime over Cellardyke Harbour

And that was day one of our Autumn break on the Fife coast, a great day for our walk and i managed to geta few shots in, there’s always tomorrow 😉

wanderings