24th September

Port Seton, Musselburgh

The weather edged us east again this week where it was due some sunny spells for a while, which was a better prospect than going west into a cold front. Breakfast at Morrison's in Dalkeith was another 9.5/10 - a good start to the trip! Social media had reports of flocks of Sandwich Terns on the shores of Port Seton and the tide was incoming so we headed there first. The light was very good when we arrived and ' lit ' the iridescent plumage of a singing Starling perched on a lamp by the car park. The rocks were quite busy. Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlew, Cormorant juveniles and Redshanks were feeding and roosting close by. I spotted a young Ringed Plover darting between rock pools as a Cormorant flew in along with around 30 Sandwich Terns, returning to rest after feeding. Next it was off to Musselburgh Scrapes. There we were met by a very busy panorama with all the usual suspects - Mallard, Redshank, Teal, Dunlin, Godwits, Tern, Curlew, Greylags and at least 400 Oystercatchers were roosting. I managed a nice shot of a female Teal as it fed by the waters edge.We moved to the sea wall hoping for a wee surprise but the sea was empty. However, if you wait a few minutes at the sea wall in Musselburgh, you're sure to get something. Sure enough, five or six adult Gannets and three or four juveniles began fishing 100 metres or so ahead of us. I never tire of watching these birds diving for food. We spent around 40 minutes watching the dramatic display. It was interesting to observe the juveniles were hunting in a separate group from the adults. Their diving techniques were obviously still developing. They had shorter dives, stayed on the surface for longer and rose only a few feet before diving again. We started off west towards the mouth of the Esk. As we walked I managed some nice shots of Widgeon, Merganser, Goosander and Mallard flying in to land on the Esk. The Eskmouth was very busy with 90+ Mute Swans feeding close to the sea wall. The light was fading as rain moved in from the west so we walked back to the car for our tea. On the way we spotted a small flock of Reed Buntings feeding, unusually, on the rocks just below the sea wall. A nice Carrion Crow grabbed the last of the light before we headed over to the car park. A very productive trip indeed, finished off of course with another 'Toffee Apple Sauce' Danish pastry!

Starling	Bar-tailed Godwit	Juvenile Cormorant
Cormorant	Curlew	Redshank
Ringed Plover	Sandwich Tern	Dunlin
Magpie	Teal	Gannet
Juvenile Gannet	Curlew	Goosander
Red-breasted Merganser	Mallard	Widgeon
Mute Swan	Reed Bunting	Carrion Crow

 
18th September 2016

Tyninghame Bay

It was off east again this weekend where the weather looked to be brightest. Breakfast at Dalkeith Morrison’s again was a 9.5 as usual. There was not much on social media, so we decided to head for Tyningham Bay and see what was showing. We planned a cracking circular walk. From the car park we'd skirt the edge of the forest till the West edge of the salt marsh, cut across and make our way to the seafront, return back along the beach and then back across the marsh to the car. The toilet block at the car park gave me my first two shots - a very loud Robin and a rather light coloured Pied Wagtail. We met a fellow photographer setting up a shot of a Fox Moth caterpillar. A few minutes later, we found our own Fox Moth caterpillar and a few Common Darters on the path. As we approached the mouth of the Tyne we hunkered down at a spot I knew was always busy with birds. Sure enough about 6 Pied Wagtails were feeding around the many rock pools. They were quite far away and good shots were few and far between. The mouth of the Tyne was rather deserted, not helped by an inconsiderate photographer walking along the water line spooking everything in sight. We cut across some marshy ground and made our way through the sand dunes to the beach. The dunes proved to be rather productive with a new bug, Closterotomus Norvegicus and some nice examples of Scarlet Pimpernel, Common Storksbill, Restharrow and the moth Prochoreutis Sehestediana. The beach was rather quiet but John spotted a juvenile Gannet in the water a hundred meters out. It looked like it was in trouble. It tried to take off a few times but couldn’t quite make it. John reckoned that it may have injured itself on a dive. A few minutes later John became very animated as he spotted a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins about 400 metres offshore. As we walked down the beach we were buzzed by squadrons of Dunlin flying just above head height. John had one last look through the glasses for the juvenile Gannet, which was still resting on the water so hopefully it made it but it was now time to cut back across the dunes to the car park for a spot of tea and a bun. On the way over I managed to snap a very nice Painted Lady. As we moved on, my eye caught a glimpse of a lovely pink flower I hadn't seen before, although I had an idea of what it might be. My suspicions proved correct. I had found a Centaury, a type of Gentian which is uncommon in Scotland.All in all a very successful and highly enjoyable walk.

Robin	Pied Wagtail	Fox Moth Caterpillar
Common Darter	Scarlet Pimpernel	Bug - Lucerne
Fly-Dexiosoma Caninum	Buff-tailed Bumblebee   Queen	Moth - Prochoreutis Sehestediana
Common Storksbill	Common Restharrow	Curly Dock
Juvenile Gannet	Bottle Nosed Dolphin	Dunlin
Ringed Plover	Butterfly - Painted Lady	Centaury

11th September 2016

Musselburgh

After consulting the weather forecast, it was back to the east coast this week. Breakfast at Morrison’s in Dalkeith was a 9.5. It was great to get back to symmetrical toast! We started at the Scrapes. The light wasn't great but good enough for decent photographs. The tide was in and the Scrapes were well populated with birds. John reckons there were at least two thousand Oystercatchers resting between the three ponds. The usual suspects were there - Dunlin, Redshanks, Teal, Sandwich Terns, Greylags, and Black-Tailed Godwits. I must admit, it took me a little while to spot three Curlew Sandpipers, despite them being in full view. After we'd had our fill of the what the Scrapes had to offer we decided to head for the sea wall. On the last two visits there we hadn’t been able to reach the mouth of the Esk before time forced us back to the car. I had a feeling it would be the same today.
The water off the sea wall was very busy. The majority of visitors were Eiders in various stages of moulting. Soon, we spotted some Common Scoter a few hundred metres away, and also, closer to the wall but further down the coast, some Great Crested Grebes. We walked down towards them and I noticed that two of them were actually Slavonian Grebes in non-breeding plumage. They were quite close and I managed a good few shots of them successfully landing a fish. John spotted a juvenile Gannet diving quite close by. A few more adult Gannets joined in but soon moved off up the coast. As we scanned for Gannets I noticed a small copper-coloured insect about 2mm long on the sea wall. It was obviously some sort of beetle due to the hard shelled body. I later identified it as Notiophilus_biguttatus. The tide was coming in by this time and every few minutes a squadron of Oystercatchers flew by from the Scrapes heading for the mouth of the Esk. The Sandwich Terns flew over from the Scrapes as well but decided to fish just beyond the sea wall. As the skies darkened we decided to head back to the car and on the way spotted a nice Velvet Scoter just off the sea wall. The Esk mouth would have to wait for our next visit!
Only one bun each with our tea this week. The three for two offer on the custard filled Danish Pastries was rejected in favour of just two Danish Pastries with Toffee Apple Sauce. Oh boy!!

Curlew Sandpiper	Redshanks	Teal
Common Scoter	Eclipse Eider	Great Crested Grebe
Slavonian Grebe	Young Gannet	Gannet
Beetle - notiophilus_biguttatus	Sandwich Tern	Velvet Scotor

Cormorant	Female Eider	2nd Cycle  Herring Gull
Gannet	Sandwich Tern	Dunlin
Redshank	Razorbill	Pink Water Lily
Duclair Duck	Narrow - leaf Hawkweed	Female Mallard

 Back to Top