Given that the weather forecast for Wednesday this week was once again very poor with strong winds and heavy rain almost everywhere, it was rather fortunate that Paul was able to get out for some birding on Tuesday instead. The weather was still supposed to be rather variable with the possibility of showers though it appeared that our best bet would be to avoid Fife and Angus. As things worked out, the 'best' available birds were all south of the Forth anyway. We decided to start with Waxwings in Falkirk then head for the nearby Taiga Bean Geese flock then head round the Edinburgh bypass to Skateraw to try for Water Pipit, then if time allowed inland to Faseny Bridge to try for Rough Legged Buzzard then to Aberlady for Shorelark.
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| Rock Pipit |
An early start was required so I was out very early to get to the railway station for just before 0700. A singing Blackbird in a tree round the corner was a surprise given it was almost 2 hours until sunrise. A few Robins were heard on the walk into town and Herring Gulls in flight reflected the streetlights at a few points. It was impossible to see much from the train as the internal lights caused everything inside to be reflected by the windows. A probable corvid or two was as close as I got to seeing any birds. I met Paul at the station and we set off to try for Waxwings in the town though I wasn't hopeful given it was still pre-sunrise.
There were birds around though and we soon noted Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, a Sparrowhawk, Magpie, Black Headed Gull, Oystercatcher and Starling. As expected there were no Waxwings to be seen. This wasn't a major problem as the flock at Lidl in Falkirk were a safer bet given the time of morning we'd be passing through that town. Woodpigeon was seen as we neared the Queensferry Crossing. A Buzzard and some distant Pink Footed Geese were seen from the M9 and a Cormorant flew over the river Carron as we entered Falkirk. We found Lidl easily enough but couldn't see any birds perched in the nearerst tree, but within a second or two we noticed that there was a small flock of Waxwings in a smaller tree by the one we'd looked at first. Result.
We chose not to stop in the car park at the supermarket, and continued on towards the Slamannan road. House Sparrow was noted a little further on. A flock of Rooks were seen in a field as we searched in vain for the geese though we missed the turn for the farm access road we were looking for and had to double back on ourselves. A Robin was seen when we reached as far down that road as we could get. We stopped at a few spots on the way back out, adding a Pheasant and a Roe Deer at the first one. Thankfully at the next one I realised that the distant grey things on a hillside were actually geese. A quick check and we had 32
Taiga Bean Geese for our list. A year tick for me, and Paul's second of the day (and a lifer for him too).
A small flock of Golden Plover flew past us and a Raven tangled with a Buzzard much closer than the geese were. I shot a rather poor video clip for my video collection and we headed onwards. Collared Dove, Fieldfare and Pied Wagtail were all seen as we attempted to navigate back to the M9. This did result in us finding ourselves briefly in California. My navigation wasn't as bad as that sounds with the US west coast state sharing its name with a small village near Falkirk. Once we got onto the M9 it was straightforward from there to get down to Skateraw, near Torness. A hovering Kestrel was added from the car.
It had been cold and even a little frosty inland but when we reached the coast we found that it was actually rather windy, as well as rather cold, though the sun was shining. This didn't make it particularly easy checking through the pipits on the beach though. Scanning around we found Curlew, Mallard, Eider, Redshank, Turnstone and Grey Heron. There were plenty of Rock Pipits around with a few looking rather pale on the bellies but nothing really looking like the Water Pipit I saw at Barns Ness 2 years ago. A Greenfinch with the Rock Pipits among the seaweed was a surprise, as was the single Snow Bunting that suddenly appeared with them (possibly the same bird which was at Torness fairly recently).
We added Shag, Great Black Backed Gull, Goldeneye, Dunlin, Linnet, Red Throated Diver and Red Breasted Merganser as we searched for more Pipits. A small flock of Golden Plover flew by offshore and we had close views of a Peregrine stooping after something that we couldn't see from our vantage point. A Wren was glimpsed near the car park before we headed for Aberlady, having decided that the available time didn't allow an attempt at the Rough Legged Buzzard as well as the Shorelarks. Jackdaws and what was our 3rd Sparrowhawk of the day were seen on the way to Aberlady.
I'd messaged a friend of Roy's via Twitter the evening before about the location of the Shorelarks and had got an approximate location from a map she sent. When we arrived I spotted Lapwings in the burn and Teal were added as we crossed the bridge onto the reserve. Skylark and Fieldfare were both seen near Marl Loch, with a Moorhen on the water. Things were otherwise rather quiet. We had a brief chat with David McNee who I follow on twitter and got some info on where to try for the Shorelarks. From the dunes we added Common Gull, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Grey Plover and Knot with very distant Common and Velvet Scoter out on the sea. With the light rapidly fading we headed back to the car disappointed in not having managed to locate the Shorelarks.
This was compounded somewhat by discovering that I'd received a message via Twitter with a more accurate location for the birds. Unfortunately when I discovered this we were almost at the Queensferry Crossing. I'd been avoiding using the phone, especially the internet, so as not to prematurely drain the battery, or have it die on me due to the cold weather (as happened recently at Fife Ness while sea-watching). It had begun to rain rather heavily as we headed round the Edinburgh bypass. Paul dropped me off at Kirkcaldy Station with 2 minutes to spare before the Dundee train arrived and we both headed for home.
A relatively successful day with 55 species seen including a year-tick (in bold) - the Taiga Bean Geese at the 3rd attempt for me (a lifer for Paul) as well as Waxwing and Snow Bunting for him. It was mildly disappointing to miss out on the other target species but as neither had been reported for a few days I wasn't overly optimistic of getting either but you definitely don't get them if you don't even try. It just means I probably need another visit to East Lothian before the year is out.
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| Taiga Bean Goose |
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| Raven |
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| Taiga Bean Goose |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Greenfinch & Rock Pipit |
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| Curlew |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit & Snow Bunting |
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| Rock Pipit & Snow Bunting |
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| Turnstone |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Peregrine |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Rock Pipit |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Fieldfare |
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| Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull, Knot, Grey Plover, Herring Gull |
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| Ringed Plover |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Fieldfare, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Raven, Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Red Throated Diver, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sanderling, Shag, Skylark, Snow Bunting, Sparrowhawk, Starling,
Taiga Bean Goose, Teal, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Waxwing, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Roe Deer.
