Lothian Birding (1 Viewer)

[markgrubb]

Are the SEO's still at Aberlady Bay Reserve? We visited Aberlady two years ago and had good views of the Owls hunting over the golf course.

Richard

Yes, they have been seen fairly regularly in the region of the golf course particularly late afternoon

 

[G Anderson]

Looks like there has been a few good migrants seen in Lothian today - not too many by me though! Had a few hours looking around Scoughall and Pefferside, on the coast south of North Berwick. Really good conditions, much better than yesterday. Again a few crests got me going and,again nothing in amoungst them. Rather frustruating!

Had a flock of 25 then 4 Snow Bunts over NW and 4 Whoopers in off the Sea. Didn't get any Waxwing but a few around today.

Stopped off a Esk mouth, a quick look for this morning's Grey Phal. No sign.

Weather looks good for a few days, hopefully we'll get some late migration. G

 

[david kelly]

Very quiet at Musselburgh this pm, my first Long-tailed Ducks of the Autumn but speed boats were comin in close and moving all the birds out. The only other sighting of any note was a first winter Stonechat.

David

 

[Neil Grubb]

Brambling Mt Lothian

Today I saw my first brambling of the winter. I have been keeping an eye on the finch flocks at Mount Lothian. Increasing numbers of finches have been present between Mt Lothian and Cockmuir. Among c 300 finches were c20 brambling and 40 linnet, the remainder chaffinches. Feeding in fields adjacent to road, but good views of the brambling in the trees and bushes along the road. Also c60-70 fieldfare seen, 2 x stonechat.

See http://www.roslinnature.com/MLBrambling2008.html for photos.

It's easy to get a good view, just park up near one of the trees at the roadside where the power lines pass overhead and wait.

Neil

 

[G Anderson]

Managed to see a few of the 'Waxwing' yesterday, on Joppa Road,maybe ten birds? Got some photos, here's one - You have to love the Waxwing, he's great!

Later on saw an unringed ad med in the first lagoon. Nowt at Eskmouth this morning, mind. G

 

[markgrubb]

Managed to see a few of the 'Waxwing' yesterday, on Joppa Road,maybe ten birds? Got some photos, here's one - View attachment 166828 You have to love the Waxwing, he's great!

Later on saw an unringed ad med in the first lagoon. Nowt at Eskmouth this morning, mind. G

An 8/8 blue sky today with no wind and great visibility-just wonderful. One of the best things about living in the East of Edinburgh is the more or less guaranteed sightings of waxwings in late autumn

So it was a real thrill to see 2 groups of 15 and 8 today at Portobello Cemetery and on the Milton Road. Lit up by the low sun high in the trees, trilling away-a sight I'm sure I'll never tire of

 

[Stuarty]

I'll be popping through on Wednesday all going well, do you reckon they will still be in the area then? I know they have a habit of not sticking around for too long.

 

[G Anderson]

I'll be popping through on Wednesday all going well, do you reckon they will still be in the area then? I know they have a habit of not sticking around for too long.

Who knows? I think if they are starting to come in good numbers (32 rptd Joppa today) this early, it may be difficult to miss em soon?:t:
Oh yes, forgot to add - excellent Brambling pics from Neil Grubb - Mark's brother ? Of course! Gordon

 

[G Anderson]

Been down the coast the last couple of days - yesterday birding, today twitching! Weather was 'real nice' yesterday, sunny and all. Scoured the bushes at Barns Ness and general area. A couple of Crossbill and a few crests. Saw a tern on flying past which looked like a Common but was seen better by others later a Skateraw and id as an Arctic. Well, that's my excuse anyway
At Musselburgh yesterday one Waxwing flying by the window and ad med unringed on the first lagoon.

Today, heard about the Pallas Warbler 'showing well' at Torness visitors carpark, found by an ace local birder. Got there and nothing doing but after about half an hours searching was refound, again by the car park. Great views and a Lothian tick for me! Missed a few before.. Dreadful photo I know, can you find the bird?

 

[Stuarty]

Visited Musselburgh today, and spotted a couple of "curiosities"...

Firstly, walking along the seafront wall behind the lagoons, I saw what I initially thought was a floating Cormorant, although when I saw it compared to a REAL Cormornat I noticed that it was almost twice the size! 99% sure it was a juvenile Gannet, but is it common for them to come so close to the type of land surrounding the area? It was only 100 yards or so out from the wall, and I watched it float out to sea until it was out of sight.

Secondly, I saw a Black-Headed Gull with a black head! Is it common for them to retain their summer plumage over winter?

 

[G Anderson]

Visited Musselburgh today, and spotted a couple of "curiosities"...

Firstly, walking along the seafront wall behind the lagoons, I saw what I initially thought was a floating Cormorant, although when I saw it compared to a REAL Cormornat I noticed that it was almost twice the size! 99% sure it was a juvenile Gannet, but is it common for them to come so close to the type of land surrounding the area? It was only 100 yards or so out from the wall, and I watched it float out to sea until it was out of sight.

Secondly, I saw a Black-Headed Gull with a black head! Is it common for them to retain their summer plumage over winter?

Hi Stuarty,

Think that sounds like a (knackered!) juv Gannet, your right. I guess the young ones suffer from bad weather and unfortunately most don't make it past their first winter.

Haven't seen any Black-headed Gulls with full hoods recently. That Med Gull seen recently has quite a lot of black on the head. There is quite a bit of variation amoung gulls...

Hope this helps. Cheers G

 

[Stuarty]

Hi Stuarty,

Think that sounds like a (knackered!) juv Gannet, your right. I guess the young ones suffer from bad weather and unfortunately most don't make it past their first winter.

Haven't seen any Black-headed Gulls with full hoods recently. That Med Gull seen recently has quite a lot of black on the head. There is quite a bit of variation amoung gulls...

Hope this helps. Cheers G

Very helpful, thanks mate.

The gull was identical to the other Black-Heads in the flock (including black wing tips) except for the head... I was rather bemused!


With regards to other birds today, saw my first Long-Tailed Ducks (from Longniddry Bents Car Park 3) and Velvet Scoters (from a car park in Musselburgh) of the year today. Also saw small grebes on two separate occasions, but due to a combination of poor visibility and the distance they were out into the sea I was unable to make a positive identification, I would presume with the past reports of them in the area they would have been Slavonians?

 

[G Anderson]

Hi folks,
Since it,s been just over a year since Mark Grubb had the good plan, (I think),of introducing a Lothian bird thead on BF, with the ongoing LBN on yahoo, I think its been quite a good start. BF is better for 'chat' and also its' not sent directly to your inbox, which means you have the choice to look at it or not.
Birdspotter has mentioned the lack of other birders input on this thread, so if you are reading this and are a regular birder in Lothian - why not contribute?

Regards Gordon Anderson

 

[Stuarty]

I will certainly continue to contribute to this thread. Having only just gotten back into this hobby after a ten year exodus (my initial interest in birdwatching ended when I was 14!), I've pretty much had a to relearn everything I once knew and effectively start afresh. Due to this, I probably get excited over birds which a lot of the more seasoned birders see regularly; when you are new to this hobby, pretty much EVERY bird you see is a lifer, hence worth making an effort to see, regardless of how "common" it may be to some.

Hopefully my posting of all the birds I see everytime I'm out and about, regardless of their status, will inspire similar "newbies" to go out and find the birds that are top of their list. I know that by reading this thread I have done the same with many birds I hadn't seen before :t:

 

[markgrubb]

A couple of hours off so headed off down to Dunbar where a Pallas's warbler had been seen-it would be a lifer for me. It was raining on arrival and there was just one other birder-we exchanged phone numbers and split up to look.I got to the bottom of the slope seeing a number of goldcrests on the way. When I reached the bottom of the bank there it was 10 metres in front of me- a lovely wee bird with large bright yellow suoercilium and large yellow rump patch. I watched for 20 seconds or so and then phoned the other birder. And frustratingly that proved to be my only sighting in an hour. I bumped into Gordon and Dave Allan and they saw the bird further along the bank.

I had a look at Torness. A few migrants-10 redwing, 2 or 3 goldcrests and good numbers of song thrushes and blackbirds. I looked in the conifers at Barns Ness and again there were a few birds but they were only goldcrests. I almost stood on one knackered bird and watched it from barely 2 feet away-I could clearly see the orange at the back of the crown stripe with the naked eye

 

[markgrubb]

Hopefully my posting of all the birds I see everytime I'm out and about, regardless of their status, will inspire similar "newbies" to go out and find the birds that are top of their list. I know that by reading this thread I have done the same with many birds I hadn't seen before :t:

Keep posting, Stuart-I've only been birding since the summer of 04 and have learnt loads from BF, from the friends I've made here and from some of the trips I've been on.

And the grebes you will have seen at M'burgh will almost certainly have been slavonian. I counted 11 the day before you went. Ther are usually plenty of great crested as well and the occasional red necked

 

[Stuarty]

Keep posting, Stuart-I've only been birding since the summer of 04 and have learnt loads from BF, from the friends I've made here and from some of the trips I've been on.

And the grebes you will have seen at M'burgh will almost certainly have been slavonian. I counted 11 the day before you went. Ther are usually plenty of great crested as well and the occasional red necked

Thanks Mark, their silhouette size (in comparison to the Long-Tailed Ducks they were floating next to) and shape certainly matched that of Slavonians.

 

[G Anderson]

Like buses, those little Pallas's Warblers! Haven't seen one in Lothian before, now seen two this week! I went to Dunbar this morning after having a look round Barns Ness single Waxwing, Brambling, Blackcap and a few crests. Got to the retirement home car park. Since it was still raining I sat there with the window open and out he jumps! A brighter (different) bird to the Torness bird. Tryed a few pics but he was too fast for me - only a few feet away though. Seen again a couple of times showing the rump in flight.

Then I went to check Dunglass, on the Lothian border, about 10 crests and too much cover. Single newly arrived, bold, Waxwing at Thorntonloch was a good thing to end on.:t:

 

[Neil Grubb]

Dunbar 8th November

I took a run down to Barns Ness to see if anything interesting had come in overnight but all was very quiet. I decided to see if the Pallas' warbler reported at East Links Road (Dunbar) was still around. A few birders were on site when I arrived, and had seen the bird ten minutes previously. Over the space of an hour or so I had three or four reasonable views of this bird - a very attractive little warbler and one I haven't seen before. The binocular views were really good!

One of the birders there received a call to say that a flock of waxwings had come in at the Belhaven Smokehouse, a couple of miles away so I decided to take a look. There were around 65 waxwings trilling in the treetops and feeding - they didn't come terribly close but were nice to see

Pics attached. Neil.

 

[Neil Grubb]

And a couple more zoomed out shots of the waxwing flock.

Neil