Staying at Seton Sands Hol Village in a couple of weeks for a long weekend, any tips as to where to sneak in a bit of birding
Hi Chris - welcome to Lothian birding, nice choice, this is my local patch though I live in Longniddry - though don't expect anything very exciting! Right opposite the park entrance you have Seton Sands and the Seton Burn which may draw in a few terns and waders even in mid-summer, certainly Sandwich Tern, Barwits, Knot, etc are still present in some numbers and you can get decent views there and at Port Seton prom half a mile or so west. Scanning the Forth you ought to get a few scoter, bit early for returning grebes though - these usually build up in late summer. Many auks use the Forth, commuting to feed from colonies off North Berwick, Puffins are regular and you can see them heading back east with fish, Gannets a-plenty often quite close in and if there's any wind chance of Manx Shearwater, Fulmars, etc.
Inland, the park have just eliminated most of a fantastic patch of rough pasture which last year had several terrs Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting etc, plus calling Quail, to build the new golf course! On nocturnal visits last week only got one Grasshopper reeling there and owls in short supply though they are around in the wider area. Seton Chapel is in walking distance - I found Spotted Flycatcher there last week, pretty rare locally these days - Seton and Longniddry Dean are also worth a look, Bullfinch, Stock Dove, Grey Partridge etc can be expected. We also had a report of a probable pair of Turtle Doves a couple of weeks ago but sadly seem to have departed immediately after initial sighting - Longniddry itself is a former breeding area though they are long gone from here now.
Would welcome any of your sightings - we are still running a
local atlas here so are looking for breeding evidence at tetrad level if you note anything like that - you are in tetrad NT47C there for which e.g.
Pied Wagtail is still lacking breeding confirmation.
All the best!
Stephen