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11th August Musselburgh and Port Seton Our run of dull Sundays continued this week, but with added wind and rain. We just went for for it, expecting to get wet whichever way we went, choosing Musselburgh, since birds were reported there (Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Garganey, Greenshank). So with raincoats at the ready we sped east, popping into Dalkeith Morrisons for a couple of breakfasts (9/10: VG but bacon a tad cool) before parking at the Scrapes. The rain hadn’t quite got going when we first arrived so we made the most of it, searching (unsuccessfully) for the Spotted Redshank. A big Curlew was grazing in front of the hide but apart from a Black-headed Gull and a few Oystercatchers nothing else was very close. There were masses of birds at the middle back hide but most of those were roosting. A few arriving Sandwich Terns livened them up slightly, as did a passing Fox (see Pictures of the Week“, below), that prowled behind the Scrapes but didn’t attempt to take any birds.
A Common Sandpiper flitted onto the concrete ring in front of the middle hide. A couple of tardy Mallards looked on. We moved to the north hide where lots of birders were seeking the Spotted Redshank (unsuccessfully). John pointed out a young Grey Heron far to the right, and soon after a Ruff flew in briefly before disappearing to the left. At that point the rain came on in earnest, and it only got heavier for the remainder of the visit.
We relocated to the River Esk near the Millhill car park where it was more sheltered from the stiffening wind. I noticed some nice wild flowers as I got out of the car. Green Alkanet , whose leaves stay green throughout the year, was growing close to a wall alongside some less pretty, but edible (apparently) Smooth Sow Thistle. Hidden behind those was a patch of Herb Robert , it’s flowers dotted with raindrops. It has a range of traditional medicinal uses which are largely untested by modern science. As we set off along the river I photographed a Yarrow plant growing by a tree. Yarrow is also known as Carpenter's Weed as they sometimes use it to stop the bleeding from inevitable wounds suffered as part of their work.
A few Canada Geese were on the riverbank nibbling grass and Feral Pigeons were moving amongst them picking up whatever they could eat. On the river a few Greylags were wading in shallows around the island, where a Moorhen was munching Willowherb.
Jackdaws were patrolling the area looking for any opportunity of acquiring food. A hybrid duck (possibly Mallard X Duclair) paddled into view. As I photographed the duck, a handsome piebald Feral Pigeon flew onto the fence. We moved further upstream searching for a Dipper. I spotted one under the far arch of the Rennie Bridge and immediately crossed the bridge to try to get a better picture. Taking care not to spook the bird I managed a reasonable shot (see Pictures of the Week“, below). With the rain getting heavier we decided to move to Port Seton for a quick look before heading home. As we passed the footbridge on our way to the car we came across a hybrid goose, a Canada Goose and Greylag cross.
After a short drive east to Port Seton the rain was now persistent and the wind strong. Nevertheless, we had a short spell scanning the shore and Harbour for anything interesting. A Black-tailed Godwit was using its dagger-like beak to probe the sands for invertebrates with a few Ringed Plovers scurrying around. The tide was disappointingly low meaning most birds were too far away for decent shots. Clinging to the rocks 100m out there was a large flock of Sandwich Terns. We saw a few more near the harbour so we decided to investigate. On our walk there I snapped a ubiquitous Pied Wagtail moving on the shore just below the promenade.
View of Port Seton Harbour taken from the harbour mouth:
At the very blustery and wet harbour mouth a Grey Seal gave us the once over before diving and reappearing briefly offshore. It was probably waiting for the return of a fishing boat, hoping for some scraps from the fishermen. A Shag flew past, close in from the west (see Pictures of the Week“, below). As a fishing boat boat approached the harbour, a Goosander paddled furiously to get out of its way. And with that we had had enough of the weather so we retired to the car, our coats beginning to saturate with water.
As we sipped our tea and devoured our cream jam scones in the comfort of the warm car, we both agreed that we’d done well to accumulate some good photos on such a dreich day. OK, we dipped on a few birds - but so did the other birders we met. Surely though, after a month of inclement Sundays, by the law of averages at least, we must get decent weather next week? Pictures of the Week:
4th August. Maidens and Turnberry Lighthouse Well it happened again. A week of good weather then Sunday’s weather was to have been dull and damp. On checking my weather app I saw that there was a chance of brighter weather in south-east Ayrshire, as the front moved east. We headed for Maidens and Turnberry, places we hadn’t visited since the middle of last year. We had breakfast at Stewartfield Morrisons, East Kilbride (9.5/10: excellent) and made the long drive down the M77 and A77 (made longer because of a diversion at Kilmarnock) to Maidens, a former fishing village just south of Culzean Castle. The tide was fairly low when we arrived and a few birds were foraging on the exposed harbour bed including Dunlin, a Common Gull and a Herring Gull. We walked out along the north side of the harbour and could see more Dunlin and a great number of gulls on the south end of the extensive beach. A juvenile Pied Wagtail flitted across our path, although it took a bit of spotting as the light was very poor due to the overcast sky.
A Ringed Plover was standing to attention, anxiously minding its pair of young, who were inexperienced enough to hang about watching our approach (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below). We gave them a wide berth so as not to disturb them too much. A small group of Dunlin flew past in a flash on their way from the beach to the harbour. I snapped a shot of a distant Curlew picking its way along a temporary stream in the middle of the sands.
A view of Maidens Harbour from the beach:
A noisy Oystercatcher skimmed the water as it sped past. A dozy Dunlin paid it little notice. As we sat scanning the beach I took a picture of a lonely Dog Whelk stuck on top of a large boulder. These live in the zone between low and high tides (unlike the larger Common Whelk, which doesn’t live in the inter-tidal zone). I managed to grab a shot of an elusive Rock Pipit as it scurried around the rocks.
As we made our way back to the car the light improved a bit. This seemed to encourage the insect world into action. We could see bees on the Perennial Sow Thistles and a few Painted Lady butterflies skirting the taller vegetation of the foreshore. We watched a pair of Large White butterflies as they got frisky on some Sea Radish. Our final capture at Maidens was of a solitary male Pied Wagtail chasing flies on the deserted football pitch. I tried to edge closer to it for a better shot, but each time I nudged closer it fluttered further away.
With the sun breaking through, we decided to try our luck about a mile to the south at Turnberry Lighthouse. The site is part of Trump Turnberry golf course. We parked in a small recently-built car park and set off on a 600m walk along a tarred road across the golf course to the lighthouse. The roadside is lined with bushes and rough grassland, as well as, as you would expect, manicured golf course grasses. We have found the road fairly productive in the past, and Sunday was to prove no different. Our first sighting was of a huge queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee on Heather (Ling, Calluna Vulgaris ) (see “Pictures of the Week”, below). Further on John drew my attention to a pair of Carrion Crows on a putting green. I started snapping straight away since I noticed that it was a parent Crow with its offspring, which was demanding food. The adult dutifully obliged with a small worm. Midway along the route John found our top spot of the visit, a Spotted Flycatcher perched on a way marker. We have a lot in common with these bird as we both were looking for moths, butterflies and damselflies. But we only want to take their pictures rather than eat them. We passed lots of wildflowers of interest but the rain was coming on and the light had dimmed dramatically so I hoped the light level would have improved on the way back. Eventually we reached the lighthouse and, ignoring the rainy squall, we moved round it to take up position on the rocks that overlook the sea and sat out the brief. Immediately I got a dim shot of a Rock Pipit and soon after that, a juvenile Black-headed Gull glided past.
As the light improved slightly I got some reasonable shots of a passing Shag and then a gaping Cormorant. The next bird to pass is one of our favourites, the Gannet. It came fairly close in nice light so I got a fairly good photograph. Like a beginner, as I examined my efforts on my camera viewfinder, the Gannet did a u-turn and dived into the water before I had time to raise the camera. As we started back, I got a nice shot of an Oystercatcher posing on top of a rock.
Looking over the ruin of Turnberry Castle I could see just north of there, a small, rocky island where the Shags and Cormorants had probably been coming from. I found out later it was called Yellow Craig. From a distance it looked as though the birds may have been nesting there. There was a steady stream of golfers teeing off on the 7th hole, “Roon’ the Bend”, that overlooks the Bay. Most of the golfers I passed seemed to have transatlantic accents. I photographed lovely Field Bindweed that is common on the grassy banks around that part of the coast. I was pleased to see a newbie too, a Pied Hoverfly feeding on a purple Knapweed flower. Like the Painted Lady it is a migrant from Europe and North Africa.
We retraced our steps in bright sunshine, back towards the car park. A monument on raised ground to the north dominated the view. A tall grey cross inscribed to the memory of airmen who had flown from the WW2 Turnberry Airfield, erected by people of the area. Traces of the runways still remain. As we paused to let golfers tee off I spied a bedraggled Green-veined White butterfly as it paused on a Cats Ear flower. Next I captured my favourite shot of the day, a Small Copper on Crooked Thistle (see also “Pictures of the Week”, below). And, to complete a trio of butterfly finds, I managed a fairly decent photo of a butterfly that had given me the runaround for the whole day, a Meadow Brown, feeding on a Bramble flower.
In an uncultivated area of the golf course there were lots of Harebell flowers nodding in the gentle breeze. By the next golf hole we passed there was a timid, and puzzled juvenile Starling. A golf ball had just landed on the green, and I think it didn’t know what to make of it. A juvenile Pied Wagtail was our penultimate capture. It was aware of our presence but continued foraging, moving to keep a steady safe distance between us. With my car it sight, we were ambling to the end of our walk when we were nearly caught out by a male Yellowhammer that seemed to come from nowhere to land in front of us on top of a tall roadside bush. It gave us a wee song before flying off.
So despite the poor light and occasional light rain we had a very enjoyable time at each of the sites we visited. The Yellowhammer was the icing on the cake, but the find of the day has to be the Spotted Flycatcher. Talking of cakes, we consumed delightfully moist lemon cream muffins with our tea before tackling the long drive home. Here’s hoping our run of dull Sundays doesn’t continue next week. Pictures of the Week:
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