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Lothian Birding (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter markgrubb
- Start date
sarahlouise84
Well-known member
A trip to musselburgh today produced:
Surf scoter, both black throated and great northern divers, slavonian grebe, long tailed ducks, velvet scoter, great crested grebe, red breasted merganser, goldeneye, grey plover, ringed plover, turnstone, eider, oyks, curlew, gulls etc.
Surf scoter, both black throated and great northern divers, slavonian grebe, long tailed ducks, velvet scoter, great crested grebe, red breasted merganser, goldeneye, grey plover, ringed plover, turnstone, eider, oyks, curlew, gulls etc.
david kelly
Getting grizzlier.
A good few days in the area since Christmas have seen Lothian produce the following:
2 male Surf Scoters (1 at Musselburgh/Eastfield and 1 at Port Seton)
2 female King Eiders in the Gullane/North Berwick stretch of coast
an adult Caspian Gull at John Muir CP
a Water Pipit at Gullane Point
a Grey Phalarope at Skateraw
with a supporting cast of Waxwings, Mediterranean Gulls, Snow Bunting, Twite, Grebes and Divers.
David
2 male Surf Scoters (1 at Musselburgh/Eastfield and 1 at Port Seton)
2 female King Eiders in the Gullane/North Berwick stretch of coast
an adult Caspian Gull at John Muir CP
a Water Pipit at Gullane Point
a Grey Phalarope at Skateraw
with a supporting cast of Waxwings, Mediterranean Gulls, Snow Bunting, Twite, Grebes and Divers.
David
Esk Watcher
Member
Lots of good birds around in the Lothians at the moment (surf scoter, Iceland gull, osprey, crane) but odd that this site lies dormant. Has it simply run its course while other sites flourish? A pity as most sites don't go beyond a species list and have limited commentary. Guess we're all guilty.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Can you give some idea of how far out the Surf Scoter typically loiters? I had some cracking views of velvet near Musselburgh a year or so ago and would jump at a similarly close Surfer.
John
Mike swims like a fish
Mike Hodgkin
Typically scope views John, so I wouldn't come rushing up for it unless you were planning on doing so anyway. Unless it does something out of character you would most likely be slightly disappointed
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Thank you, that's helpful. I had a crack at the "showing well" North Wales SS earlier this year and needed a radio telescope to detect them!
Maybe have a butchers on the way back then if there's time.
Edit: as a perspective here's a Surfer from 2011 at the White-winged Scoter at Black Rock. I'm looking for an improvement on that view.
Cheers
John
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david kelly
Getting grizzlier.
Hi
I think you are right. There is an e mail group, Lothian Bird News, a twitter feed @LTNBirdNews, a Facebook page and the website Birding Lothian all covering birding in this area and all quite active.
David
Esk Watcher
Member
Agree with Mike. Ours is a bit of a long distance long stayer. It can get a bit closer at high tide but your 2011 shot would probably be hard to beat.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
A Great Grey Shrike today near Waughton, sadly killed by a car! http://www.birdinglothian.co.uk/#/recent-sightings/4537581602
Kris
Kris
markgrubb
Leading a life of quiet desperation
The easterly winds and overnight rain suggested that birding in East Lothian might be promising so I headed down the A1 with a friend. The wind had switched to the SE and it was quite mild with the sun trying to break through. First stop was Barns Ness and there were a few migrants about. The trees had 5 willow warblers and 5 chiffchaffs and a male crossbill. There were 2 wheatears and 5 white wagtails on the beach. A whimbrel flew past calling. On to Dunbar quarry where there were 2 drake shovelers. We decided to head for Torness where we knew there was a yellow browed warbler in the shelter belt by the car park. Straight away it was obvious that there were birds about. As well as the YBW there was a tree pipit, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat and various willow/chiffs. Encouraged by this we moved on to the lower car park and then down towards the sea wall. As we headed down we saw a medium sized bird come down off a high fence to the base. From a distance I thought mistle thrush, maybe cuckoo. We walked closer and the bird popped up-Hoopoe! Views were brief and the bird headed up towards the car park giving a couple more looks. All too soon it was lost to sight but a few more people connected with it later before it disappeared
2slo
Well-known member
St Abbs head, Eyemouth
My first time in this part of the forum so I hope I've got the right section!
Visited St Abbs Head near Eyemouth yesterday. Very active bird colonies on the cliffs, inc Razorbills (1st 2 pics below) Guillimots, regular fly pasts of Gannet groups (didn't see any fishing or perched) Kittiwakes and Gulls. Also as we were leaving, a Rock Pipit near the car park next to the lighthouse (3rd pic below)
A good day, will be revisiting again.
My first time in this part of the forum so I hope I've got the right section!
Visited St Abbs Head near Eyemouth yesterday. Very active bird colonies on the cliffs, inc Razorbills (1st 2 pics below) Guillimots, regular fly pasts of Gannet groups (didn't see any fishing or perched) Kittiwakes and Gulls. Also as we were leaving, a Rock Pipit near the car park next to the lighthouse (3rd pic below)
A good day, will be revisiting again.
alanp
Well-known member
Musselburgh
Hi,
I will be travelling back from Aviemore next Sunday on my way to Durham and my journey takes me very close to Musselburgh. I see a King Eider is being reported at the Esk Estuary and would like to try and see it if it is still around. I wont have a lot of time to spend so can any one give me some advice on the best place to view the estuary and where the best place to park is to save some time searching for it as I do not know the area at all.
Hi,
I will be travelling back from Aviemore next Sunday on my way to Durham and my journey takes me very close to Musselburgh. I see a King Eider is being reported at the Esk Estuary and would like to try and see it if it is still around. I wont have a lot of time to spend so can any one give me some advice on the best place to view the estuary and where the best place to park is to save some time searching for it as I do not know the area at all.
You can drive to and park right at the mouth of the river Esk, Goosegreen Crescent / Goosegreen Place is the street you want, https://maps.google.co.uk .
alanp
Well-known member
Hi Stuart,
Many thanks for the directions, its a shame its not a male King Eider a bird I have never seen before. I have looked at photos of a female King Eider to see how it differs from the female Eider.
So a Greenish Warbler in Lothian today...
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