what are the chances? (1 Viewer)

Hey people,

at the end of august i'll be going to scotland. We'll travel by boat to Newcastle and then by train to Edinburgh. We'll stay somewhere around there. I made myself a list which birds i might see. Could anyone tell me if this list is realistic and which birds i might or might not see? Any additions would be great!

Black Throated Diver
Red Throated Diver
Slavonian Grebe
Manx Shearwater
Little Shearwater
Fulmar Petrel
Cape Pigeon
Gannet
Shag
Red Breasted Merganser
Goosander
Golden Eagle
Osprey
Peregrine Falcon
Merlin
Willow Grouse
Red Grouse
Ptarmigan
Black Grouse
Capercaillie
Spotted Crake
Ringed Plover
Golden Plover
Dotterel
Lesser Blackbacked Gull
Razorbill
Guillemot
Puffin
Raven
Hooded Crow
Tree Creeper
Dipper
Ring Ouzel
Pied Flycatcher
Water Pipit
Yellow Wagtail
Twite
Mealy Redpoll
Crossbill
Snow Bunting

I left out the birds i've already seen (except for gannet, hooded crow, raven, shag, golden eagle, goosander, peregrine falcon and pied flycatcher) so dont start telling me i have a chance of seeing magpies and so on

I just checked all the maps in my book to see whether they exist in scotland. Any help would be great! :t:

They're all distinctly possible with the exception of :
Little Shearwater - a very rare vagrant in British waters
Cape Pigeon - I wish! It's not on the British list.
Willow Grouse - Not on the British List (and not likely to be), Red Grouse is the British version.
Most of the others should be fairly straightforward, but you might need specific sites for some of them.

It will be interesting to see how yoru real list matches up to your wish list!

I've got a book which I'll try to take time to look at... see if I can give you any pointers!

Good Luck :t:

Spotted Crake.....Unlikely. Need to go to specific site when singing in spring/early summer.

Yellow wagtail and Water Pipit...occur as scarce migrants often on the east coast, usually in spring.

I recommend taking one of the ferries out around the small isles (Rum Eigg Muck) at this time of year. Or even the ferry from Mallaig to Stornoway. Excellent time for seabirds, you should get Sooty Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Arctic, Great and possibly Pomarine Skua with a good chance of one of the larger Shearwaters.
You didn't mention Black Guillemot? Common on the West coast too.

JP.

Hi Erik,

Do you know yet where you will be going in Scotland? Will it only be close to Edinburgh, or any chances of getting up into the highlands?

I'll try to annotate your list and add any more too:

Black Throated Diver - NW Scotland only
Red Throated Diver - Best chance from the boat Ams-Ncl
Slavonian Grebe - Best chance on the Firth of Forth off Musselburgh Lagoons
Red-necked Grebe ADDED - As Slav Grebe
Manx Shearwater - Best chance from the ship Ams-Ncl
Little Shearwater - No
Sooty Shearwater ADDED - Good chance from the ship in the last hour in to Newcastle (& first hour out on return), particularly if there is an NNW to NE wind blowing
Fulmar - Very easy from the boat. Commonest bird in the middle of the North Sea
Cape Pigeon - No!!!
Storm Petrel, Leach's Petrel ADDED - Very low possibility, but you could get lucky from the ship, IF there are strong N winds, in the region 5-20km out from the England coast
Gannet - Very easy from the boat
Shag - Anywhere on the Scottish coast
Red Breasted Merganser - Anywhere on the Scottish coast
Goosander - On larger rivers and lakes. Females & juveniles only - the males all go to North Norway to moult this time of year
Golden Eagle - Highlands only
Osprey - Small chance just about any large area of water (inc coast)
Peregrine Falcon - Mainly coasts & mountains
Merlin - Mainly coasts & mountains.
Willow Grouse - No!!!
Red Grouse - common on Calluna vulgaris moorland
Ptarmigan - high mountains only
Black Grouse - very hard to find this time of year!
Capercaillie - very difficult; central Scotland only
Spotted Crake - very difficult.
Ringed Plover - common on the coast
Golden Plover - common on coastal mudflats
Dotterel - No (already migrated away by then)
Arctic Skua ADDED Fairly easy from the ship, best chances in the last hour of sailing into Newcastle (and the first hour out on the way back!), probably also just off the Dutch coast too
Long-tailed & Pomarine Skuas ADDED Possible, but not reliable, from the ship, close to the Newcastle end
Great Skua ADDED Fairly easy from the ship, just about anywhere
Lesser Blackbacked Gull - very common
Kittiwake ADDED - very common from the ship. By far the commonest gull more than 30km offshore
Roseate Tern ADDED Look for them as the ship enters & leaves the Tyne, along with Sandwich, Common & Arctic Terns, though not too easy to identify from a fast-moving ship!
Razorbill - good chance from the boat in the 2 hours sailing closest to Newcastle (both out & back!)
Guillemot - very easy from the boat in the 2 hours sailing closest to Newcastle
Puffin - good chance from the boat in the 2 hours sailing closest to Newcastle
Raven - highlands
Hooded Crow - NW Sctoland only
Tree Creeper - fairly common in most woodlands
Dipper - any fast-flowing stream or river
Ring Ouzel - highlands only (above about 300m altitude, on rocky slopes
Pied Flycatcher - No, unless there's east winds & rain drops migrating birds in bushes on the coast
Water Pipit - No
Yellow Wagtail - If you have a few hours in/near Newcastle, I could find you some, but none in Scotland
Twite - NW Scotland only
Mealy Redpoll - No
Crossbill - Very few about this summer due to bad cone crop
Snow Bunting - Only above 1000m in mountains!

Tip: if you can stand the smell (8-P), bring a big bag of fish scraps to throw out from the back of the ship. This will attract Fulmar, Gannet, Great Skua, LBB Gull, GBB Gull, Herring Gull, Kittiwake right up to the ship, and maybe also Sooty Shearwater and the other skuas. Best area will be the last hour or two before reaching the Tyne.

Tip: spend ALL the daylight hours (particularly at dawn & dusk!) on the ship on deck, scanning the sea in front of or behind the ship

Also look out for from the ship: White-beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), and if you're very, very lucky, Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). The dolphins will sometimes bow-ride in the wave thrown up at the front of the ship. Also Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) close to the England coast.

A good site near Edinburgh: Mussleburgh Lagoons, 10km east of Edinburgh centre, easily accessible by bus
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?grid2map?X=334550&Y=673550&arrow=Y&zoom=4
Excellent for waders at low tide, and sea duck & grebes on the sea (RT Diver, Slav & RN Grebes, Common & Velvet Scoter, RB Merganser).

Do let me know when you are due to arrive, I could meet you either off the ship at Tyne Commission Quay:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetma...=566500&zoom=4&isp=200&ism=1000&arrow=y?73,68
and/or at Newcastle station:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetma...563500&zoom=4&isp=200&ism=1000&arrow=y?119,34
if you like.

If you have any time to spare in Newcastle, maybe also get to one or two local birding site like St Mary's Island (10km north of where the boat lands):
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetma...575500&zoom=4&isp=200&ism=1000&arrow=y?76,130
Excellent for seabirds (Roseate Tern guaranteed in late August!), waders, and passage migrants. Also a good 'tourist spot' for the others you're coming with, a lighthouse to climb, rock pools, etc - or if they all want to visit the world-famous fleshpots of Newcastle for a few hours

Any other queries, do ask!

Michael

PS your new avatar is a bit dark!!

Come to think of it, a big bag of soggy, greasy potato chips ('french fries') is nearly as good as fish scraps. Not so good for attracting petrels, but they're not easy anyway. Also available on the boat so you can re-stock when you run out, and a lot less niffy :-O

Michael

Thanks a lot Michael for this good list, i cant hardly wait to go!!! We will be travelling on rightaway, when arriving in Newcastle, so no chance of staying around there. The chips are an idea. Is it allowed to feed birds on a ferry? The dutch ferries dont allow this because of the digestive functions of the birds

about the avatar, i still need a good drawing program on my comp so i can lighten it, i'll try to better it

Hi Erik,

Sorry, I really don't know if DFDS (Scandinavian Seaways) allow it or not - last time I went on one of their ships, they used to throw food scraps out of the galley (kitchens), but I guess regulations have changed since then! I guess they don't want gulls crapping on the passengers?

The only ferries I've been on recently are the Cal-Mac ferries in western Scotland, they certainly don't mind people feeding the gulls there. Maybe ask DFDS? - explain why you want to do it, and that you'd throw the food well out so they don't come on deck

Another tip: on the train Newcastle-Edinburgh, make sure you get a window seat on the right-hand side (the side opposite where you get on in Newcastle) for some spectacular sea cliff scenery between 45-60 minutes out from Newcastle (last two times I travelled that way, saw Peregrine from the train there too)

Michael

Michael,

I know this is too late for the trip Erik is making but I think that your list needs a few corrections.

Raven is relatively easy to see near Edinburgh in the Pentland Hills.

Ring Ouzel also breeds in the same areas.

Yellow Wagtail breeds in the Tweed Valley and along the East Lothian North Sea coast.

Did Erik ever let us know how he got on?

David Kelly
Tranent
East Lothian

thanks david for your addition, i was a little suprised at your name...you must have had more reactions...

I did make a report in vacational reports, named my scotland trip. It wasn't that special however...

Well David is a common christian name and Kelly is the second most common Irish name in the world. So there are quite a few David Kellys kicking around (an actor and an ex footballer spring to mind immediately).

David Kelly