Well, after reading this thread I thought I'd try out a few of the places mentioned, and as a result I have spotted a fair few "firsts" over the past couple of weeks. Some of them I have seen before, however it's about twelve years since I last did any birdwatching, so upon my return to the hobby this year I've decided to start my list from scratch.
Firstly, visited Bavelaw, and was delighted to see my first confirmed
Goosander (female) on the river side of the bridge, promptly followed by the male flying overhead. Two
Whooper Swans were a welcome addition to the list. Also had astonishing views of a
Great-Spotted Woodpecker from the hide as it fed, along with a flock of 30+
Bullfinch seemingly following me from the car park to the bridge.
Decided to have a day out along the coast on Wednesday, and racked up six firsts. I initially stopped at one of the car parks which are along the coast as you head east from Musselburgh (Car Park No. 2, cannot recall the name though), where I saw my first confirmed
Black-Tailed Godwit. Best prize though was almost stepping on a bird drinking from one of the car park puddles... it promptly flew across the road to the adjacent Scots Pines, revealing itself to be a male
Crossbill! The female then made her presence known, and I sat watching them for a good ten minutes. Was absolutely delighted, been after one for a while
I then visited Waterston House to get some advice as to where to visit, and was told to go just round the corner to Aberlady. I parked in the Golf Course overflow car park, where I was met by a flock of 30+
Tree Sparrows - only ever seen a solitary one before at Almondell Country Park, so was delighted to see so many within six feet of my car. Was also briefly visited by a handful of my first
Twite, and the usual
Goldfinch flock and a seemingly solitary female
Stonechat.
Looking out over the Estuary I had great views of my first
Grey Plover and
Red-Breasted Merganser (three females), along with previous sightings of
Shellduck,
Curlew,
Redshank,
Wigeon and the ever-impressive
Pink-Footed Geese flock (which I was told by the lady at Waterston House numbered at 30,000 birds).
Decided to come back along the coast and visited Musselburgh Lagoons, where I notched-up my first
Knot, a flock of which were tormented by a
Peregrine doing its thing, before being mobbed by a flock of birds containing said Knot and
Lapwing. Also saw a small flock of Teal on the lagoons, and plenty of
Turnstone along the wall front.
All-in-all it's been a good couple of weeks for me, next plan is to increase my wader count and hopefully spot the remaining sea ducks on my list - anyone have any good recommendations as to where else I can visit?
P.S. On a side note, last week I parked my car in the drive at my home in Whitburn, and got out only to feel what I initially thought was a black bag churned up by the heavy wind whizzing past me and skimming my head - I turned around to see a female
Sparrowhawk smashing a
Collared Dove into the wall of my house, before dragging it to the ground! It then noticed my girlfriend and I staring at it in disbelief as it sat there, less than ten feet away from us with a Dove in its talons, and after a few seconds of staring back at us, it took to the air, only to double back on itself and whizz after the Dove which had made a last-gasp dash for its life. Astonishing!
