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Cramond first trip (1 Viewer)

LittleBitOfBreadNoCheese

Well-known member
Scotland
I decided to give Musselburgh a miss this time and try Cramond instead. The tide was already coming in by the time I got to Haymarket so I opted to use a taxi (£13) for speed and got there just before 9am. The safe passage window had closed at 8am and the causeway was already partially submerged. It had also just finished raining on top of a frost so the central paved area was like a skating rink! The numbers of dog walkers began to rise rapidly, seemingly with a high proportion of highly strung breeds plus someone was playing with a beach buggy which didn't help.

The mud was still quite well exposed at first and had decent flocks of mostly Redshank and Curlew, I found a few Dunlin later when I looked at my pictures. There was a single Bar-tailed Godwit giving quite good views especially from the cafe tables :) The highlight was a tame Kingfisher that hovered right next to me so close you could hear the whirr of its wings.

I didn't have a scope (saw one hardy birder with one) and the only distant birds I could make out turned out to be Wigeon so a bit disappointing in terms of sea ducks. Possibly according to the SOC app I could have seen more if I'd persevered walking east.

I gave up around 12, there was a path marked Haymarket 6 miles (?) but the number of dogs were offputting so I got the no. 41 bus back into town.
 
I'd quite fancy a walk out to Cramond too.

It's a shame there were so many dogs around - I don't think many owners realise how many people's days can be ruined or disrupted because of them.
Having had the misfortune to have had to interact with 100s of dog owners while birding I think in my experience the majority just do not care about anyone else's day/experience.
 
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