|
31st January
Musselburgh
East again! The weather in the west was to be foul. The weather in
the east turned out to be rather good. Reasonable light and no rain.
After an "8" breakfast in Tesco in Hermiston Gate we headed over to
Musselburgh. We decided to walk anti clockwise today and started at the
scrapes. Standing on the sills in the hide for a better view we spotted
the usual suspects, Teal, Wigeon, Greylags, Oystercatchers and others.
After five minutes, John looked
down and spotted a group of Grey Partridges about 5 feet away right
below our noses. It happens sometimes that you are so busy looking far
away through lenses that you can't see what's in front of you.
Off to the sea wall to see what was there.
Nothing much to speak off on the way down. However, at the cadet hall I spotted a Med Gull.
Getting a photograph was another matter. All I could get was the south end of a north facing bird.
Eventually I got good enough shots. The walk back was also more
forthcoming and we saw Long-tailed Ducks, Shags and Velvet Scoters. One
black-headed gull suddenly dived into the water and came up with a
fighting fish. It was, it soon found out, too big to go down it's
throat.. Another gull flew in and they both abandoned it?
Our tea and a bun in the car park was interrupted by a low flying buzzard with a white tail!
| Black-headed Gull |
Goldeneye |
Grey Partridge |
 |
 |
 |
| Linnet |
Long Tailed Duck |
Buzzard |
 |
 |
 |
| Mediteranean |
Gulls |
Velvet Scoter |
 |
 |
 |
24th January 2016
Yellowcraig, North Berwick
Over to the East again today due to the weather. I'm yearning to
go west, for a change of scenery at least, but the weather keeps
defeating me. Breakfast in Morrisons in Dalkeith
was an ' 8 ' and we set off to Yellowcraig in the hope of spotting a
King Eider! We spent a pleasant hour here scanning the Forth but had to
be content with distant Common Eiders heading west . We decided to head
to North
Berwick to see if the King Eider was showing there. Alas, it was not to
be, although John did spot a Long Tailed Duck among the Eider, but too
distant for a decent photograph. Tea and a bun in the town car park, no
senior moment this week with the flask, and home in time for the
Arsenal Game.
| Curlew |
Curlew |
Rock Pipit |
 |
 |
 |
| Cormorant |
Turnstone |
Turnstone |
 |
 |
 |
17th January 2016
Strathclyde Park
On my own today as John is cooking for his youngest son's birthday tea.
No breakfast this morning as I am heading down to Strathclyde Park,
just 3 miles down the road. There have been notifications of a Ring
Billed Gull and an Iceland Gull on the loch. Not to be seen anywhere sadly. I headed
off for a sneaky McChicken Sandwich meal before heading back to look
for the Bullfinches I photographed last month. They didn't disappoint
and looked to be dealing fine with the snow.
10th January 2016
Skateraw, Torness
We headed East today. Miserable wet weather all round. There was a
sighting of Geese in the fields around Skateraw, including Pink-footed,
Greylag and perhaps a Bean goose among them. After a good breakfast in
Hermiston Gate we went, literally, on a wild goose chase. We found them
quite easily but getting close was going to prove difficult. As you can
see from the pictures we really didn't get close enough and with the
rain steady and the light all but gone, we abandoned the geese and set
off for a walk around the sea wall at the power station,
hoping to catch sight of reported Little Auks. The sea was quite rough
and any thoughts of photographing anything flying by was abandoned.
Down to Belhaven Bay for tea and a bun. Without going into too many
details the tea was abandoned as well due to a senior moment with a
flask!
| Pink-footed Geese |
Red-legged Partridge |
Greylag Geese |
 |
 |
 |
3rd January 2016
Balloch
Heading
out to Balloch today. The weather is pretty miserable everywhere and
our thoughts go out to the many people up and down the country affected
by it.
After a marvellous breakfast in Morrisons, in Dumbarton, we headed over to the loch.
Some of the paths around the loch were flooded and restricted us a little.
I had notification of a
potential White Winged Scoter on the loch and we set about looking for it.
It was very quiet, birdwise, but I eventually spotted it quite far out
in the loch and managed a few shots. The identification of the White
Winged Scoter is difficult to say the least. I have decided that this
is indeed a White Winged Scoter due to the white flash on its wing and
its broad bill but I am open to persuasion.
The walk down the east bank of the River Leven produced some nice pictures of a
Blackbird
and a Moorhen before heading back to the bridge. Some passers-by were feeding
the birds and I managed to get a few shots of excited birds scrapping
for the bread. In the mayhem, a beautiful Mandarin Duck slipped gently
into view and I managed to get more than a few nice photographs.
Down to ArdmorePoint for tea and a bun. Very quiet birdwise except for the Sparrowhawk that buzzed the car as we traversed the railway crossing.
|
