| What
is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. Leisure By WH Davies |
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15th April: As we began our walk along what
I’ll call the “sea promenade” east of the mouth of River Esk at
Musselburgh (although it is not really pedestrian-friendly as it is
muddy, pitted and very often flooded), the sun was making frequent
appearances, colouring what had, for most of the last month, been
various shades of grey. An encouraging first picture was of a Peacock
butterfly taking in the heat of the sun from within the shelter of
tufts of grass. Also resting, just below the seawall, were a pair of
Mallards. The mouth of the Esk was disappointingly free of birds apart
from a lone Mute Swan. The tide was high and feeding time was over for
some species. We nearly missed very well-camouflaged Turnstones
nestling on low rocks below us.
Flocks of Oystercatchers passed,
probably heading for roosting areas such as the Scrapes, where we were
also headed. As we walked further east, quite a few male and female
Goldeneye and Eider were bobbing about on the waves some 50m out. There
were a few very distant Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, but they
were too far out for decent pictures. The odd passing Curlew also drew
our attention as they too flew in the direction of the Scrapes.
At the Scrapes we found what we expected, lots of Redshanks, a few Teal, tens of Oystercatchers and a few Wigeon.
Half a dozen Wood Pigeons were
quite active between the Scrapes. They may have been indulging in
courting behaviour. A male and female Teal pair dabbled their way past
the hide allowing some well-lit photo opportunities. The biggest
photo-opportunities, however, presented themselves when four of nine
Shelduck, that had been in the furthest Scrape, flew into the Scrape in
front of our hide.
Another two, a male and a female
followed a minute or two later. Eventually all nine were in front of
us. We were treated to a show of Shelduck courting procedures as the
males jostled for position near the females, occasionally calling with
pleading and rather plaintive sounds.
Once we’d had our fill of the
Scrapes we left and made our way back to the car. We had only reached
the Boating Pond when I saw a pair of Willow Warblers that,
conveniently, sang their very familiar song of descending tones,
allowing me to determine that they were Willow Warblers and definitely
not Chiffchaffs. In the grassy areas surrounding the Pond I found
patches of the early flowering Germander Speedwell and also lots of
Coltsfoot. There wasn’t much to add to our haul of pictures after that,
just a close flypast of a Cormorant in its mating plumage.
Back in the car we decided to
drive the short distance east to Port Seaton to see if we could catch
the last stage of the incoming tide as it finally covered the rocks
there and drove the birds near to the shore. We were too late though.
There was nothing to see but the sea. That didn’t stop us enjoying our
tea and Danish pastries, after all, we had had a successful day in
relatively lovely weather - what’s not to like about that! Pictures of the week:
8th April: Brighter weather was predicted for
the Dunbar area than any other part of the Central Belt so that is
where we headed for - specifically Skateraw as there had been sightings
of a male and female pair of Black Redstarts there. So after our
customary Dalkeith Morrisons breakfasts (8.5/10) we were soon at the
Skateraw car park, which was nearly full, such was the interest in the
Redstarts. We clambered east along the rocky shore past the old
limekiln towards Torness power station. Our first sightings were of a
quite distant Pied Wagtail and beside it a singing Wren. Fellow
birders already on the site described how we’d just missed the
Redstarts but we hung about for a bit to see if they’d reappear, but to
no avail. While we waited, a female House Sparrow paid us a visit and I
captured some images of some recently flowered Common Scurvygrass.
Scurvygrass got its name from the observation that it cured scurvy, and it was taken on
board ships in dried bundles and included in sailors diets. When I examined my
Scurvygrass pictures I noticed that an insect was prowling among the flowers. I
think it was the Sawfly, Dolerus Gonager looking for places to lay her eggs.
You may see the sting-like tail that is actually its genitalia specially
adapted for penetrating surfaces to deposit eggs. As the Redstarts had seemed to
have disappeared we then did our usual circuit out to the west side of the bay
to observe the birds present at the rocky outcrops there. That too was a bit of
a disappointment as there had been a clean-up operation going on brought about
by a spillage of wooden planks into the sea from a vessel some 100 miles to
the south. Apparently the planks made landfall over an area stretching from
Torness to St Andrews. At any rate, the workmen scared all the birds away!
However a beautifully-lit Reed Bunting treated us to some nice
photo-opportunities but other birds were few and far between. Just as a
juvenile Herring Gull flew overhead, we decided to cut our losses and trudge
back to the site of the Redstarts to see if they’d reappeared.
On our way I nearly got a picture
of a female Reed Bunting, then some Curlews made a flypast just as we
neared where we thought the Redstarts might be. Overlooking this spot
was a tower associated with the Power Station. Nine Cormorants were
perched there unconcerned by the accumulation of the birders gathered
before them. Then at last I got some brief glimpses of the Black
Redstarts, albeit from 50m away. I would have got some closer views
were it not for the amount of observers and passing walkers.
I did get another passable shot of
the Black Redstart before we moved on. On our way back to the car I
managed shots of the familiar birds, Meadow Pipit, and Robin, which are
not usually seen on rocky shores. Also a Rock Pipit moved across the
rocks in courting mode, with head bowed and wing tips lowered.
We changed location to Belhaven
Bay, west of Dunbar, but found it deserted. A pair of Mallards made
their getaway as we approached the seawall. But as we sat bemoaning the
lack of feathery friends a Rock Pipit descended before us, as they do
during their breeding season, and landed on a well lit spot just on the
other side of the wall like a gift from the heavens. At Seafield Pond
our bad luck seemed to continue as it was in flood. But I glimpsed a
Common Sandpiper feeding with some Moorhens. On our return to the car a
patrolling Herring Gull glided past and I said, “time for Tea and
Danish pastries”.
Not our most prolific week but we
managed a pleasing variety of sightings in fine comfortable weather -
and the apple and caramel lattice pastries were very fine! Pictures of the Week:
1st April: Oh dear, it was one of those
visits where all looked promising over our Dalkeith Morrisons breakfast
(9.5/10; -0.5 for burst fried egg) until we left and headed for
Aberlady, where, on arrival, the skies darkened and didn’t really
recover until we got home. To see how bad the light was, see our first
picture, of Starlings passing overhead, taken as we crossed the wooden
bridge over the Peffer Burn. Apart from a few distant Redshanks and
Mallards, the first part of our walk was very quiet - and dull, dull,
dull! It wasn’t until we were past a deserted Marl Loch that a couple
of photo-opportunities presented themselves- a pair of Greylags in the
long grass and a lone Roe Deer buck. Further along the route to the
dunes we entered an area that showed a lot of Skylark activity. I
caught a shot of one sitting in a leafless bush by the footpath.
As we watched a few Larks
ascending (Vaughan William’ music in my head), a flock of Teal passed
by, obviously in a disturbed state. Something must have put them up
from the pond some 100m to the east, maybe a wayward golf shot! Next we
came across a Meadow Pipit posing on a concrete block. Maybe it
couldn’t see us -the light was that poor. We clambered over the dunes
that line the long sandy beach at the East side of Aberlady Bay. The
view of the shore that met us left us quite downhearted as it was
completely devoid of birds. Nevertheless, we descended down onto the
beach and plodded back towards the footbridge, hoping that we would
find something. We did indeed see some birds, a few distant Shelducks
dabbling in the shallows.
As we moved across the marshland
towards the main footpath, we had a couple of unexpected sightings. The
first was of a big Hare I disturbed as I picked my way through the salt
marsh. It was up and away before I got my camera going. The other
sighting was equally as sudden. I put up a group of what looked like
Woodcocks that had been resting unseen in the long grass. Again they
were too fast for me, but it was an exhilarating moment. Looking over
to the Firth of Forth we could see it was fairly busy with sea vessels.
Below is a picture of the SMT Seraya, an offshore supply ship. We could
also see a couple of oil tankers and a container ship. Looking south
the sky showed looming sleet showers so we pressed on with increased
vigour before the bad weather caught up with us. A Herring Gull and a
passing Greylag were our final shots at Aberlady. We left longing for
better weather and the time there, when there would be flowers and
invertebrates to photograph.
We made for Port Seton where it seemed bit brighter. At Seton Burn we
spotted an Oystercatcher by the shore. John was intrigued by a large number of
sponge-like deposits that were on the sandy shore. These were Whelk egg cases
displaced by stormy weather from their rocky positions in the sea. A flock of
Turnstones flew in to feed by the shore. Also there were some Curlew that
continued to fly in as we observed them.
Our final location was at the
promenade leading from Port Seton Harbour. A fairly large flock of
mainly Sanderling with a lot of Dunlin was moving swiftly around the
rocks. The incoming tide had just about completely flooded the rocks
and the flock was obviously seeking a dry place to settle. This turned
out to be close to where we were standing. It’s a pity the light was
very poor as there were some great opportunities for great shots. I did
my best though with light I had though. Groups of courting Eider were
moving around just offshore, several drakes chasing each female. A
female that had shaken off her suitors took time to flap her damp wings
before she was once again a target of attention. This was our final
shot.
Although the quality of our
photographs could have been vastly improved if the sun had made an
appearance, we did fairly well and had captured pictures of a fair
number of interesting sightings. We took shelter in the car from the
bitter wind and celebrated with warm tea accompanied by jam and
cream-filled scones - lovely!! Pictures of the week:
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