When I was planning where I was likely to go during my short break off work I had 4 days of the 5 filled with Musselburgh being considered a possibility for the 5th. Saturday was looking the best bet for that trip but the unexpected offer from Ian of a trip through on Friday to try and see the White Winged Scoter was too good to turn down. Arrangements were made for me to catch an early train to get me to Perth for around 0715 which would mean we would hopefully manage to avoid the worst of the morning rush hour traffic.
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| Grasshopper Warbler |
I headed out at around 0615 noting Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Collared Dove, Starling and Goldfinch before finally adding Herring Gull to the list on Dens Road. Blue Tit, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow and Magpie continued the early morning sighting spree before I reached the railway station. The train journey was slightly less prolific with Mallard, Teal and Redshank being seen as the train passed Invergowrie Bay. The first of around 10 Shelduck was seen in flight with others being seen in fields nearer Errol and also closer to Perth. Jackdaw, Pheasant, Mute Swan and a few Goosander on the Tay rounded off the list before I met up with Ian.
The weather wasn't looking particularly great with rain passing through. The forecast was suggesting that by 0900 it would be clearing Musselburgh with some sunshine being the order of the day from then on at least until late afternoon. Because of the inclement weather only Buzzard was added to the list on the road. We arrived at the mouth of the river Esk at Musselburgh around 0830 and as expected found that it was still raining though my rain radar app suggested it should be off within 10 minutes or so. We scanned across the river from the car noting Eider, Turnstone, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Linnet and Great Black Backed Gull. As the shower was ending a birder appeared from the direction of the seawall and got set up for scanning the river.
Once the rain stopped I headed over to ask the newly arrived birder if he'd had any luck with the White Winged Scoter (and Surf Scoter pairs) while Ian was getting organised. My initial question changed when I was sure I recognised the gentleman. I was sure he was Dominic Mitchell, the former editor of Birdwatch magazine. I knew he had family in the area and once he confirmed that he was indeed Mr Mitchell we chatted for around 5 minutes while scanning the river mouth. Dominic had seen the White Winged Scoter close in to the seawall as well as 3 of the 4 Surf Scoters. We added Gadwall, Dunlin, and Skylark before we said cheerio to Dominic who said he was headed to Barns Ness next. We said we'd maybe see him there as we were likely to be going there too after hopefully seeing (or even failing to see) the Scoters.
Roy had said he would maybe join us as he also still needed White Winged Scoter for his year list and just as we were setting off along the path he caught up with us. Introductions completed we wandered round towards the scrapes where the Scoters had been earlier. Swallow and Meadow Pipit were added before we spotted the Scoters out on the water around 100 metres offshore. Velvet, Common and Surf Scoter were found with relative ease, including my first ever female Surf Scoter. Both Roy and Ian had large scopes with them but I only had a small Opticron scope with me. Thankfully the conditions were almost ideal for scanning through the ducks. It didn't take too long for me to find the
White Winged Scoter despite the limitations of my small scope balanced on the seawall and everyone soon got onto the bird.
The second Surf Scoter pair was found as were Red Breasted Merganser, Guillemot, a Long Tailed Duck and a few Gannets. Oystercatchers flew past in small flocks from the scrapes. A Reed Bunting sang from the trees behind us and a Great Crested Grebe was found out among the Scoters which were drifting further out on the receding tide. We decided to head in to check the scrapes. Unfortunately they were very quiet though we did add Curlew, Wigeon, Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull and a number of Speckled Wood butterflies. Chiffchaff and Great Tit were seen in the trees before we set off back to the cars. Willow Warbler, Siskin, Long Tailed Tit and Chaffinch as well as a few Green Veined White butterflies were seen before we made it back to the river mouth.
Rook, Kestrel and Pied Wagtail were seen on the drive to Barns Ness along with Roe Deer and Rabbit. When we arrived at the car park we spotted Dominic Mitchell wandering back round the shore edge so we decided to thank him for his help in getting us the Scoters as well as find out what he'd managed to see around the area. A possible but unconfirmed Lapland Bunting flushed by a dog sounded promising and Whimbrel, White Wagtail and a heard-only Grasshopper Warbler also added to the anticipation of something good being around. Dominic was off to check the wire dump area next and we wandered round towards the lighthouse.
Roy found a Wheatear out on the rocks and a White Wagtail was spotted closer in among the rocks before a Kittiwake or two were seen over the sea. Whimbrel was added and Ian and I had nice close views of 1 on the salt marsh remnants by the wreck beyond the lighthouse. Just as the Whimbrel flew off, Roy shouted to us to come quick and to bring the scope. A Lothian Birding message reported a Wryneck at the wire dump ("via Birdguides"). That could only mean one thing - Dominic had found a prospective lifer for all three of us. We hurried down the side of the lighthouse and found Dominic coming to get us to let us know about the Wryneck. We walked back along the road rather quickly and Dominic showed us where he'd found the bird and where it had been seen last. He also very kindly offered to help us relocate it.
We split up to maximise our chances of finding the bird. A rather noisy Grey Partridge was a year-tick for Ian and a few Sand Martins overflew. Orange Tip butterflies flitted around as did a few Peacocks and a Red Admiral but there was no sign of the Wryneck. I did hear the Grasshopper Warbler and while trying to pinpoint where the reeling was coming from I flushed the bird which flew a couple of metres away from me but initially perched in clear view allowing me some great photos. I grabbed a few more as it ducked in behind a screen of grass befoe retreating again and heading back to see if anyone had had any luck with the Wryneck.
Another couple of local birders had arrived by now and within a few minutes Dominic indicated that he had found the bird again, skulking deep within a bush. As it moved around he was able to give directions as to where the bird was in relation to us standing up on the roadside. Eventually Ian spotted the bird moving through a gap in the greenery and we all got onto our first ever
Wryneck. Some rather happy birders were joined by a few others. We waited in the hope of better views and Ian and Roy both had attempts at seeing the Grasshopper Warbler with Roy successful and Ian not. Dominic headed off with everyone's thanks ringing in his ears. Roy decided to hang around in the hope of a better view while Ian and I decided that we had better make a move to see if we could add anything else nearby as time was rapidly running out if we were to avoid getting caught up in afternoon rush hour traffic on our way home.
The Wryneck did eventually come out into the open around 90 minutes after we'd left and gave even better views on Saturday as numerous photos online showed. I was happy to get my record shots of a bird that was quite high up in my list of 'most wanteds'. Ian and I headed round to the gate by the cement works to scan through the gulls at Whitesands Quarry as a Glaucous Gull had been seen in the roost there the previous evening. Both of us found a promising looking bird but it was asleep and despite some activity around it, it appeared that we were not going to get confirmation. Just as we were contemplating moving on, the bird woke up and showed itself to be the hoped for
Glaucous Gull, looking a lot chunkier awake than it had asleep. A few Greylag Geese lingered nearby.
We made a quick dash along towards Skateraw but after turning off the A1 we discovered the dung-heap where the Water Pipits had been seen over the past few months. As we pulled up alongside the heap a male Yellow Wagtail landed on the top of the pile, next to the car. A Wheatear showed close by too. Meadow Pipits were also noted before we called it a (rather productive) day and headed back to the city bypass and homewards. Nothing new was added on the way back to Perth and I was unable to get any views out the window on the rather busy train back to Dundee.
All in all a very successful day with lots of really good birds seen. Massive thanks once again to Dominic Mitchell from all 3 of us, for finding the Wryneck and going out of his way to come and get 3 strangers to ensure we had a chance of seeing the bird before then spending more of his time ensuring that we did actually see the bird. I finished the day on 66 species with 3 new ticks for the year-list (in bold), 1 of which was a rather welcome lifer. 5 butterfly species and 2 mammals were also noted.
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| Velvet Scoter & Surf Scoter |
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| White Winged Scoter & Velvet Scoter |
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| White Winged Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Gannet |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Common Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Common Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter, Common Scoter & Surf Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter, Common Scoter & Surf Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Surf Scoter & Velvet Scoter |
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| Velvet Scoter |
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| Gadwall |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Wigeon |
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| Curlew |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard & Carrion Crow |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| White Wagtail |
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| Wheatear |
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| Whimbrel & Eider |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Grasshopper Warbler |
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| Grasshopper Warbler |
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| Wryneck |
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| Wryneck |
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| Wryneck |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull & Glaucous Gull |
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| Herring Gull & Glaucous Gull |
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| Glaucous Gull, Herring Gull & Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Wheatear |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Eider, Gadwall, Gannet,
Glaucous Gull, Goldfinch, Goosander, Grasshopper Warbler, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Long Tailed Duck, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail (& White Wagtail), Red Breasted Merganser, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Starling, Surf Scoter, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Wheatear, Whimbrel,
White Winged Scoter, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon,
Wryneck, Yellow Wagtail.
Butterflies seen - Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Peacock, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood.
Mammals seen - Rabbit, Roe Deer.
