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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Lothian Birding (1 Viewer)

Hoveringham Birder said:
Hi All

The YL Gull I had at Seton Burn was probably about 5 years ago now (belive it or not Cal)......I never submitted it because at the time as a visiting Notts birder I didn't realise the significance and didn't take any notes.....oops.

Managed a few hours out this morning - BN Grebe off Ferny Ness first thing, nothing much doing at Aberlady or Gullane, but did manage crap views of Tony's Tystie off the east side of Fidra (also two Raven on the beach at Yellowcraigs).

Mike

P.S. I wonder whether I should try to drop my psuedonym and put my name on here, or go by Cal's favourite acronym MSLAF.....if any of you can work that one out you are doing well, and showing your age ;-)
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Yep time goes fast mate!

Interesting that you had a couple of Raven as we suspected that they bred in this general area last year.

I think MSLAF might be a good one, you could also get the real Mike as your avatar:t:
Don't know who the fairy god mother might be though
 
G Anderson said:
Yes, that is a distinctive looking gull, don't know if all Caspians are as clear-cut as this though! I suppose these days you need good photos (like this) of tricky gulls.
A good day too for a certain team, no? Flats nah, never!;)
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Hi G,

Yes it was a very distinctive Gull, these come a close second favourite of mine to my all time favourite Gull, Great Black Headed Gull

Yep as Mark said a great day to be a Hibby

Yes your right Tyncastle wont be flats, but then again I doubt it will become a 50 million pound Hotel either;)

Finally found the pic of the presumed Common/BH Gull hybrid

Although size and general shape was BH Gull, Common Gull features included a similar mantle shade to Common, with broad white moons set just above the tertials again like CG.
The leg colour was also similar to that species, all these features ruling out Med Gull.
 
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Andrew Whitehouse said:
Hmm, I'm not sure about 'G' either. And just when areaman was beginning to get a good post count. Then again maybe he got banned ;).
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Did actually get banned! (some wrong posts...) Reformed character now! Whats wrong with 'G?' ;)

Thanks, Birdspotter for posting the BH/Common hybrid photo, think you are right. I had not realised that these species can inter-breed! What are you trying to do, put me off small gulls now!;)
 
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Waxwings..

Hi, just to say there were 6 or so waxwings on edenhall rd this morning, just off pinkie rd,musselburgh.And 1 tree creeper in edenhall hospital grounds.
Also 28 goldeneye,6 long tailed ducks,2 red necked grebes,and 16 ringed plover all in between the ash plant before prestonpans to port seton.
Can l just add that this is a very interesting site...
 
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markgrubb said:
Stuarty-my brother saw 200+ waxwings for the second day running today behind the Shell garage in Dalry Road-it is in the dark side of town near Tynecastle-and that's nowhere near Easter Road where I spent today seeing Edinburgh's solvent side humiliating the lesser greens 2-0|=)|
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Wish I'd seen that post last night, just back from Edinburgh! Thanks for continuing to keep me updated on sightings though folks :t:
 
Eskmouth news!
Down there again for a wee while, 2 adult Meds today! Both unringed, one has dark legs and the other has red. Both have similar head markings. Also, Stuarty, did notice one or two BH Gulls with near complete hoods, just a few specKs of white. Didn't see any LBB Gulls (adults anyway) here again - looks like they've all (the usual wintering few)gone up to Barnbougle ?
Gulls are coming in a bit late for good light but a constant stream flying down the Esk from inland numbering ca.100 per minute. Probably ca. 5000 gulls at Eskmouth alone, not including Portobello bay.
P1010867.jpg

P1010868.jpg More classic shots from the camera of G Anderson! I like the white smudge (Med Gull) flight shot, the only bird not in focus - looks like a giant albino Kingfisher!
Cheers G
 
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G Anderson said:
Gulls are coming in a bit late for good light but a constant stream flying down the Esk from inland numbering ca.100 per minute. Probably ca. 5000 gulls at Eskmouth alone, not including Portobello bay.


Hi All,

If anyone is interested in seeing a huge morning Gull movement, then might I suggest you stand at first light at Straiton, just around the McDonalds/Wimpy bar just out side of Loanhead.
A pretty awesome sight with tens of thousands of Gulls on the move, of mainly Common and Black-headed Gulls.
A look at the map suggests from the reverse flight direction that they originate from the Portobello area, and I think also that the eastern flank of the Pentlands might help also to channel them before they can disperse out into the wider countryside to feed.
Weather also seems to dictate what height they are, as at times on windy days they are just above the road and more tightly packed.

An extract from my notebook for 24th January 2008 reads " A huge constant stream of Gulls moving in a southerly direction, presumably from the Portobello area roost.
First sighted as dawn began to break at around 7.55am, this swarm was still going strong at 8.15am, but had began to slow down considerably by 8.20am"

I have always been meaning to get a count of this, but never seem to manage, perhaps someone else might like to take up the challenge.
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Waxwings

As Mark said earlier I had very nice views of the waxwings on Dalry Road, they were flying down from the tall trees lining Dundee Terrace all the way over, and doubtless feeding on the rowans at Dundee Terrace too. They did seem to be moving on, mostly west, later yesterday afternoon. I've attached some photos for Stuarty's benefit ;-)

Neil
 

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Re the gull passage over Staiton, I live about half a mile south of where BS noted and see this most days (and also hundreds of Corvids probably from the Duddingston roost). The same thing happens at dusk, but the return passage is less concentrated as it takes place over the last couple of hours of daylight. Once over Straiton they seem to follow the line of the A701/703, although the area around Mount Lothian holds a lot of Common and Herring Gulls. The dump at Oatslie (which can be very inconsistent in the number of gulls it holds) is almost 100% Herring Gull.

What would be good to know is how far they penetrate inland and where the nearest inland gull roost is south (and west) of Lothian. On calm evenings, sometimes the gulls are at a good height and flying in a tight V formation indicating, I presume, that they have flown a long distance.

The note made about the influence of the Pentlands also holds good for Hurindines, larks and thrushes in autumn as a steady passage can be witnessed over Straiton on favourable days
 
Stuarty said:
G Anderson said:
Also, Stuarty, did notice one or two BH Gulls with near complete hoods, just a few specKs of white.
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Glad someone else can confirm this, thought I was seeing stuff!
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Yes, there's often a few around even in mid-winter. There was one at Seton Sunday with just a small white patch remaining above bill, amongst 3500, a few others beginning moult. From my notes, one here with full hood 16/12/07 and the previous winter 2 regular birds, attached pic is from 5/1/07. These were more interesting as I first saw a bird with mainly dark hood 3/9/06, then two with pretty complete hoods mid-Nov. After 5/1/07 this particular bird was very faithful to Wrecked Craigs off Port Seton prom, occasionally the only BHG there.

The Olsen & Larsson guide (again!) has a fair bit of info on this. "Small minority retain summer head to early Oct, exceptionally into winter (see Aberrants)" ... "Following very mild winters, some start head moult late Dec." and under Aberrants, "Adult with autumn hood in midwinter rare but regular. Several birds showed traces of darker ear spot, others had fresh hood Nov-Dec, indicating that hood atypically may have been developed during autumn moult or as very early moult into summer; although mostly incomplete into mid-Jan. This has proven to be the case following series of very mild autumns and winters"...

Well, rather convoluted, but the point I'm trying to make with reference to the above example (attached pic) is this was not just a very early moult to breeding but falls more into the "aberrants" class as (if it was the same bird throo-out) it had a nearly full hood throughout, and its complete hood was immaculate by 5/1 (actually 23/12).

I shall save comments on leucistic BHG's at Seton for another occasion!

Great pics Neil, no need for me to have taken any photos clearly as I could never have matched these! I heard 2nd hand that "several colour-ringed birds" were amongst the 200+ near schools in Queensferry Road last wk - certainly worth keeping an eye out for with most of the Aberdeen birds dispersed and presumably many of them around here.
 

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AC Lig said:
Re the gull passage over Staiton, I live about half a mile south of where BS noted and see this most days /QUOTE]

Excellent news Norman, you can count them from your bed then, as this will save me getting up in the wee small hours to stand about in the freezing cold;)
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On Gull duty at Eskmouth briefly this afternoon - really freezing wind!
P1010897.jpg

P1010904.jpg

Thats the only Med seen today in the second pic, an unringed, reddish legged bird. The first pic is a bit 'johnathan livingstone seagull' I'm afraid. Shows the boys coming in with 'impossible to identify' light!;)

Thanks S Welch for the BH Gull hood details (again a couple of full hoods today). I haven't got the 'Gulls' book! Should I wait for new (3rd?) Edition?
Got the double Bird Images 'Gulls' video, which is great fun!

Cheers G

Smart Waxwing photos Neil! :t:
 
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Neil Grubb said:
As Mark said earlier I had very nice views of the waxwings on Dalry Road, they were flying down from the tall trees lining Dundee Terrace all the way over, and doubtless feeding on the rowans at Dundee Terrace too. They did seem to be moving on, mostly west, later yesterday afternoon. I've attached some photos for Stuarty's benefit ;-)

Neil
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Fantastic pictures. Really makes me wonder how I could've missed them seeing them sitting in numbers like that!

WelchS said:
Yes, there's often a few around even in mid-winter. There was one at Seton Sunday with just a small white patch remaining above bill, amongst 3500, a few others beginning moult. From my notes, one here with full hood 16/12/07 and the previous winter 2 regular birds, attached pic is from 5/1/07. These were more interesting as I first saw a bird with mainly dark hood 3/9/06, then two with pretty complete hoods mid-Nov. After 5/1/07 this particular bird was very faithful to Wrecked Craigs off Port Seton prom, occasionally the only BHG there.

The Olsen & Larsson guide (again!) has a fair bit of info on this. "Small minority retain summer head to early Oct, exceptionally into winter (see Aberrants)" ... "Following very mild winters, some start head moult late Dec." and under Aberrants, "Adult with autumn hood in midwinter rare but regular. Several birds showed traces of darker ear spot, others had fresh hood Nov-Dec, indicating that hood atypically may have been developed during autumn moult or as very early moult into summer; although mostly incomplete into mid-Jan. This has proven to be the case following series of very mild autumns and winters"...

Well, rather convoluted, but the point I'm trying to make with reference to the above example (attached pic) is this was not just a very early moult to breeding but falls more into the "aberrants" class as (if it was the same bird throo-out) it had a nearly full hood throughout, and its complete hood was immaculate by 5/1 (actually 23/12).

I shall save comments on leucistic BHG's at Seton for another occasion!

Great pics Neil, no need for me to have taken any photos clearly as I could never have matched these! I heard 2nd hand that "several colour-ringed birds" were amongst the 200+ near schools in Queensferry Road last wk - certainly worth keeping an eye out for with most of the Aberdeen birds dispersed and presumably many of them around here.
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Thanks for the info :t:
 
G Anderson said:
Thats the only Med seen today in the second pic, an unringed, reddish legged bird. The first pic is a bit 'johnathan livingstone seagull' I'm afraid. Shows the boys coming in with 'impossible to identify' light!;)
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Thanks for update. Distinctive mask on that one, photo documentation should certainly be of assistance with guessing how many there are around.

G Anderson said:
Thanks S Welch for the BH Gull hood details (again a couple of full hoods today). I haven't got the 'Gulls' book! Should I wait for new (3rd?) Edition?
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A solid book, but pricey (£45). I have two, the original, which was error-beridden and "recalled" and the 2nd edn which was issued as a free replacement on return of the title page. Sometimes I muddle them up which could explain a few things, though in pratice the original is perfectly useable with the errors marked. Anyway, I've not heard of a 3rd edn but it should be noted that a number of errors persist in the 2nd edn. Gull expert Rauste posted a list of them to EBN back in 2004, you can google it. The wikipedia page lists some others. Definitely worth having though - these residual errors are a tiny fraction of the vast amount of valuable content.

Speaking of new edns, worth staying alert for the Collins guide replacement. There's a forum thread on it here, key info is in post #59 saying it is due 2/3/09. Meanwhile the original is now nearly half price on amazon, quite tempting (I've lost my first, out in the field somewhere - let me know if you find one)...
 
WelchS said:
Thanks for update. Distinctive mask on that one, photo documentation should certainly be of assistance with guessing how many there are around.



A solid book, but pricey (£45). I have two, the original, which was error-beridden and "recalled" and the 2nd edn which was issued as a free replacement on return of the title page. Sometimes I muddle them up which could explain a few things, though in pratice the original is perfectly useable with the errors marked. Anyway, I've not heard of a 3rd edn but it should be noted that a number of errors persist in the 2nd edn. Gull expert Rauste posted a list of them to EBN back in 2004, you can google it. The wikipedia page lists some others. Definitely worth having though - these residual errors are a tiny fraction of the vast amount of valuable content.

Speaking of new edns, worth staying alert for the Collins guide replacement. There's a forum thread on it here, key info is in post #59 saying it is due 2/3/09. Meanwhile the original is now nearly half price on amazon, quite tempting (I've lost my first, out in the field somewhere - let me know if you find one)...
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Thanks again Stephen,
I knew that there had been some problems with this book. I have not heard of any new editions either so looks like I,ll have to get it!

Didn't know about the new Collins - should be good. (I still think the best European bird book of the last twenty years is Lars Jonsson 'Birds of Europe'. Maybe old-fashioned names, and lumps not splits, but I like it the best. The two 'Macmillan' guides are great too.)

Think I do remember somebody finding a Collins at Musselburgh!;)

Went for a look up the Lammermuirs for two hours today and was struck by the lack of birds - who'd have thought -not much happening in the hills in winter! Two or three distant Ravens was all - still not used to seeing these in East Lothian!

Cheers G
 
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G Anderson said:
Think I do remember somebody finding a Collins at Musselburgh!;)
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Interesting, I don't get there often and was last at scrapes on 2/8; could well have lost it being distracted by the kids.

I also lost my scope at Longniddry c/p 2 later in August; again was grappling with the kids and did not put it in the car, had obviously vanished when I went back later. It was a Kowa TSN2 and over 20 yrs old, only of sentimental value as it was in very rough condition all round and misted up in cold weather. My only consolation is it had my name and address scratched onto the body, so whoever swiped may not be able to profit from it, and will hopefully be feeling guilty whenever they look at it!

Just one Waxy over Longniddry on the school run this morning - had mixed feelings about even reporting just one but I know there were still folks looking for Waxwings in Longniddry last wk...

Stephen
 
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