With the long-staying White Winged Scoter still off Musselburgh and no likelihood of a trip through by car, I decided that the weather forecast should give me a chance of seeing the bird, if it was still around. Paul had gone for it and seen it the previous day, as well as a Grasshopper Warbler. He had missed out on Surf Scoter though. Any of the three would be year-ticks, though all of them would be welcome, with the White Winged Scoter also being a lifer. I looked up the public transport times and discovered that it was possible to be in Musselburgh 2 hours after leaving Dundee, if the trains and buses were on time.
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| Velvet Scoter |
An early start was needed to reach the railway station in time to buy a ticket for the 0738 train, so I left the house just after 0700. Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Blackbird and a rather unworried Magpie started the list for the day followed by Feral Pigeon, a Collared Dove on Dens Road and the Wren on Dens Brae. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen near the bus station and a Goldfinch flew over near the Caird Hall. I made it to the train with time to spare. The journey itself seemed to take ages and birds were few and far between with Rooks and Jackdaws seen before reaching Leuchars, a Stock Dove between Leuchars and Cupar, followed by Mallard, Starling and Sand Martin at Cupar. A Grey Heron was seen near Burntisland and a Roe Deer in a field near Kirkcaldy. As the train passed Edinburgh Castle a drake Mallard landed up on the rocks below the castle walls, which was a bit odd.
I had just missed a heavy downpour in Edinburgh and I found the correct bus stop just in time to catch the bus to Musselburgh. Unfortunately, we caught up with the rain and when I got off the bus, a couple of stops too early, it was raining. I walked to the next bus stop before deciding to take shelter. Around 1020 the rain finally seemed to be abating. I walked along towards the river Esk, where I could see Mute Swans, a Canada Goose and a few Mallards. The rain hadn't actually gone off completely and as I reached the bridge it came down heavily again. With no obvious shelter where I was headed, I was going to get rather wet, and wearing a denim jacket was proving to be a bad decision.
I noticed that there were lots of pebbles below the bridges and it should be possible to drop down to them and shelter in below the bridge until the rain stopped. Thankfully, this was made easier as someone had fashioned a couple of steps from breeze-blocks and I took shelter, probably looking a bit strange to the passing, rather wet, cyclists and joggers. I heard a Kingfisher call and spotted it just before it flew below the bridge I was sheltering under. When the rain seemed to be going off again, I moved on, crossing the bridge and following the river down to the mouth. A few Swallows darted around, and a Cormorant was fishing downriver from the weir.
There were a few Wigeon and decent numbers of Oystercatchers around but the rain had got heavier again, so I hurried to try and get some shelter in the trees, but with little in the way of foliage it wasa bit of a waste of time. The camera stayed in the bag, but the binoculars being waterproof, were used to scan out over the river. I stopped to ask a lady from Glasgow with a scope, if she'd had any luck. She hadn't. She too was cursing the unexpected rain. A trio of Common Scoters flew past. There were some Velvet Scoters further out. A Gannet flew past, and a party of Red Breasted Mergansers were on the water a bit to the west. A few Eider were relatively close in, but there was no sign of either of the hoped for Scoter species.
An hour after the rain was supposed to stop (according to an app on my phone) I decided to head round to the Scrapes for the relative shelter from the wind that the walls would provide. With a little luck I might get the Grasshopper Warbler. Reed Bunting was seen on the walk, which felt longer than I remembered it being. Swallows were sheltering in a tree by the boating pond, and a Blackcap pair were calling and singing in the trees by the path to the hides. A small group of Pied (& possibly White) Wagtails and Meadow Pipits, a Skylark, 3 Ringed Plovers, a few Gadwall, a couple of Shelduck, a pair of Teal, a Pheasant and a Common Sandpiper was all there was to be seen at the Scrapes. Thankfully the rain finally appeared to be stopping and blue sky and sunshine was much appreciated.
I added Willow Warbler, Long tailed Tit, Chiffchaff and Robin before I walked back to the path by the seawall to scan some more. A Guillemot and a Long Tailed Duck were added as I scanned through everything I could see offshore. A Common Gull flew past, and I met up with the Glasgow lady again. A Kestrel hovered behind us and a Reed Bunting sang from a bush on the slope. I decided to walk back to the river mouth as the tide was rising in case either the Surf Scoter or the White Winged Scoter had sneaked in without us seeing it.
It hadn't. A pair of Curlews flew out from the river mouth as I checked every bird I could see on the water, using my small Opticron scope (having decided the Leica was too heavy to carry). Heading back round, another couple had joined the lady from the west and a few minutes later the wife of the couple picked up the
Surf Scoter in flight, and although I failed to see it before it landed it was easy enough to see, despite the distance. A young Kittiwake headed downriver and a couple of Fulmars skimmed low over the waves. I spent the next couple of hours checking every Velvet Scoter I could see, but to no avail, with a few sleeping birds looking promising until they woke up. There was 1 that stayed sleeping that I just couldn't be certain of. A Black Headed Gull was another addition along with a Great Black Backed Gull. A Goosander female was in the mouth of the river as I walked back to catch a bus to Edinburgh at around 1600, having given up any hope of finding the bird.
I had a roughly 25 minute wait for the train at Waverly station, followed by a 100 minute train journey. The train was relatively busy until Kirkcaldy then got progressively quieter from there on. Wildlife was in rather short supply again. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on a wall at Kirkcaldy station was a surprise given the time of day. A Lapwing was in a field near Markinch and a Brown Hare was seen near Cupar with another near Guardbridge.
Not the greatest of days out, with the weather and the rather boring traveling reminding me why I rarely go too far by train. On the plus side I managed to see 57 species, including a year-tick (in bold) and proved that Musselburgh for a day trip was doable, using public transport. Edinburgh buses were cheaper for a 30 minute journey to Musselburgh than Dundee buses are for anything more than a couple of stops, and were on time too. I didn't take many usable photos as the majority of birds were distant.
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Pied Wagtail (possibly White) |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Teal |
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| Gadwall |
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| Eider & Herring Gull |
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| Long Tailed Duck |
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| Gannet |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Wigeon & Gadwall |
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| Common Gull |
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| Surf Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter (or White Winged Scoter?) |
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| Black Headed Gull |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove,
Surf Scoter, Swallow, Teal, Velvet Scoter, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Brown Hare, Roe Deer.
Butterflies seen - Small Tortoiseshell.
