STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0143 : Go Forth (18/4/15)

0143 : Go Forth (18/4/15)

Less than 12 hours after being out birding together to Arbroath and Auchmithie the night before, myself and birding buddy, Nat, were intending on getting out and about for the day. We were undecided about where to go but a bit of chat in the car when she arrived to pick me up made our minds up and so we were off to East Lothian for the day, via Letham Pools in Fife.

I had already started my day list an hour earlier during a quick visit to the local shop. Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and Starling on the way there. Feral Pigeon on the way back again. Lesser Black Backed Gull was added before we had gone very far with Yellowhammer and Jackdaw both added on the Fife side of the river en route to our first stop at Letham Pools.

Curlew

We arrived to find plenty of birds on the pools, around the pools and overhead too. Black Headed Gull and Coot kick-started the list, followed in no particular order by Gadwall, a pair of Great Black Backed Gulls, Lapwings, Mallards, Mute Swans, Redshanks, Sand Martins, Teal, Tufted Ducks, and a male Sparrowhawk perched on a fence over the far side. More scanning and searching added Black Tailed Godwit, Reed Bunting, Skylark, a single Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Little Ringed Plover (at least 2), Shoveler, Grey Heron, Chaffinch and a pair of Snipe which flushed from just over the fence. For a bit of flooded field just off a main road the site is a great place for birds.

We headed off towards the Forth Bridge and beyond adding Buzzard and Magpie in Fife. A Kestrel was the only new addition as we made our way around the Edinburgh City bypass towards Musselburgh. Reaching the town we saw Canada Geese and Mallards on the river as we waited in traffic. A Mistle Thrush fed by the side of the road as we turned in off the main road to skirt round the end of the race course.

We could see that there were plenty birds at the mouth of the river when we got out of the car, so we headed towards the path that runs along the edge of the river Esk round to the Forth.Mute Swans and Mallards were close by, and a few Redshanks, Herring Gulls and Oystercatchers could be seen. Cutting inland briefly got us a few Linnets on the fence and in the trees before we rejoined the path along the river. Nat spotted a bird on vegetation at the top of the slope. A male Stonechat. A nice bird to see anywhere. A Meadow Pipit overflew.

Scanning along the edge of the river gave us a small flock of feeding Turnstones, some moulting into summer plumage, and a few Redshanks further on. Curlews could be seen over the other side of the river. Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls congregated together. On the water there was a nice mix of ducks - Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall, Shelduck with a few Eider a bit further out.
A Cormorant flew downriver and a small group of Black Headed Gulls went in the opposite direction towards Edinburgh.

We walked eastwards scanning out across the Forth at various points. Velvet Scoters could be seen rather distantly, their white eye marking visible even at a distance, and the white wing panel being very noticeable when the birds were in flight. Bar Tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Turnstones and Curlews all flew by, having been disturbed from their feeding by dog-walkers and their charges. A Shag was seen well offshore, and I found a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers to the west as we wandered back towards the car.

Another stop to scan found a pair of Sandwich Terns heading east and a very nice bonus bird was found in the Velvet Scoter flock - my first Surf Scoter sighting of 2015. A few Goldeneye flew in as we neared the Esk again and a small group of Jackdaws pecked around on the concrete around a bench. Another surprise came in the shape of a pair of Stock Doves which flew up from the mud on the opposite bank of the Esk and flew past us. House Sparrows were seen as we headed back out onto the main road to head for our next planned stop at Aberlady.

We did make a quick stop to allow me to get money from a cash machine just in case the SOC at Waterston House had some books for my collection. A second quick stop in Prestonpans gave us much closer views of a pair of Velvet Scoters close in. A few Eiders and Herring Gulls were nearby. We headed along the road to Aberlady to Waterston House, the SOC's HQ. In the car park we added Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit and an overflying Swallow. A calling Chiffchaff proved to be rather elusive and went unseen.

We spent some time browsing the secondhand books and I ended up spending £72 on books which would have cost much more online. Money well spent though now I have to find space for them...
Next stop was the Aberlady reserve itself and we managed to squeeze into the car park. We could see a few birds around along the banks of the river. Crossing the wooden footbridge we spotted a Greylag upriver on the bank and a few Teal flew up and over the bridge as we crossed.

A Goldfinch overflew, and a Grey Heron was spotted across the river. A Chiffchaff called loudly from somewhere in the trees but once again we couldn't see the bird. Two birds flew off ahead of us, up and over the sea buckthorn bushes. Managing to get the binoculars on the birds I was a bit surprised to see that they were Wheatears. A third bird was perched in the top of a small bush and we managed a few photos of it, despite the sun being behind it.

The first Meadow Pipit of many scattered around the reserve was seen perched in a bush. A male Pheasant was seen in the fields to the east of the sea buckthorn as we approached the small pool. Swallows swept low over the water, a Little Grebe and a Moorhen were seen among the vegetation around the edges. A Willow Warbler sang from the trees on the far side and it briefly sang in the open from the top of one before flying on and out of sight.

A bit further on we took a wee detour to check out the sewage farm hidden among the bushes. Plenty of Herring Gulls as well as Goldfinches here, as well as a pair of Magpies, plus more Chiffchaffs singing. A few more Meadow Pipits and a small group of Greylags at a small pool were more or less all we saw before we reached the dunes overlooking the Forth. The tide was well in so there was nothing to see on the beach, or what was left of it.

Scanning out over the water gave us a few Velvet Scoters, Eiders and a single Gannet but little else. We headed back the way we had came, seeing mostly the same species until we neared the bridge again, though we did also have close views of a Skylark which took off from near us as we passed along the path. Also on the path were lots of small bees, but only on the sandy areas. These were actually Andrena barbilabris which I'm pretty sure I'd never seen before.

Nearing the bridge we had decent views of a singing Willow Warbler, as well as a pair of Chiffchaffs and a Robin. A Curlew by the water had me wondering whether it could be a Whimbrel or not. A Grey Heron wandered around across the other side of the river. Once across the bridge again we scanned from the car and I spotted a bird that I was more convinced actually was a Whimbrel. The sun was behind the bird and I wanted to be certain so I walked along the roadside path to get around the other side to make sure. With better views I confirmed that it was indeed a Whimbrel, yet another nice find for the day list and a year tick also.

We debated where to go next with the time now after 4pm. We settled on Gosford Estate which was only just along the road a little, in the hope of finding a Nuthatch for Nat. This was where I had first seen Nuthatch back in 2010. We parked in the car park behind the farm shop and immediately added Great Tit to the list. We headed in through a wooden gate into the grounds. We only had around 45 minutes until the gate back to the main road was closed and locked so we had to be quick.

Luckily we hadn't gone too far when we heard a couple of Nuthatches calling, so we headed in the direction of the closest bird. A bit of searching and we saw the bird in the branches of a tall tree above our heads. Mission accomplished, so we headed back towards the car park adding Pied Wagtail and Song Thrush. A Buzzard was mobbed by a pair of Carrion Crows and we watched them for a few minutes passing over an open area. We discussed the species we hadn't seen yet which included Goldcrest and Treecreeper. Within minutes we had seen both as we neared the car park once more.

We decided to head back to Musselburgh stopping off at one of the Longniddry Bents car parks on the way. We eventually pulled into car park number 1 and were greeted by a Wheatear on the grass. A wander around the area added Blue Tit and Bullfinch to the day list, though we also managed to see Chiffchaffs and Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Blackbirds too. A Blackcap singing remained well hidden, although it may have been on the opposite side of the road.

We managed to miss the small road into Mussleburgh Lagoons as we were too busy chatting and only realised that we had as we neared the roundabout at the end of the road. We decided just to head back to the mouth of the Esk again for another stop. The tide state and the birds seen were much the same as earlier in the day, though a Curlew with a very straight bill(only very slight curvature near the tip) was an unusual sight. A Grey Wagtail flew in as we headed back to the car again.

We decided that we should probably just head back to Dundee with the time now after 6pm, so we set off back towards the Forth bridge. A bit of a traffic jam, caused by a broken down "Golden Eagle" coach, slowed us down, though it did mean we could pick out birds in the trees and fields such as Blackbirds, Woodpigeons and Song Thrushes that we would have sped past normally. Passing through Fife we added one last species to the day list when a large skein of Pink Footed Geese were seen near Loch Leven.

In a twelve hour outing we managed a rather decent 79 species of which 5 were new for my year list (in bold). A really good day out in the sunshine.

Species seen - Bar Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gadwall, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Surf Scoter, Swallow, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Wheatear, Whimbrel, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.