Hi folks. I have a few days off coming up so I’ve been considering a trip along the coat to the east of Edinburgh. Does anyone have any advice on some decent places for waders and marine ducks? I've been told that the Musselburgh area can be good but have never been there before. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
I know the North Berwick area is quite popular but I'm not sure which species it's best known for.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Thanks, Clare. We've been to North Berwick to get the boat out around the Bass Rock but we haven’t done any more than that in the area. Living inland I don’t get to see many waders so I’d love to go somewhere to see if I can find any. I’m not even sure what types I should be expecting to see at this time of year so it looks like it could be a hit or a miss if I go to the right place at the right time. I’ve also being trying to work out what times would be best for watching feeding birds on tidal mudflats. I’m thinking that maybe as the tide moves out the birds may follow it to get at the tasty bits in the wet mud, but this could possibly be all wrong. Perhaps it would be best to look for them as the tide comes in? Any hints or insights on these things from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
I'm hoping you haven't already been, as I didn't see this thread when you posted it :/ some (possibly now useless) information: Aberlady Bay is good, if you stop in the car park where a bridge crosses the bay, then follow the path all the way to Gullabe Point, I had views of up to 300 Velvet Scoter, some Common Scoter, Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks, Cormorants, Divers, Grebes, and a couple of Puffins were there too but I didn't see them myself. Just before Aberlady Bay is Gosford Bay where you'll find pretty much the same stuff.
However, Musselburgh is a very, very good site. I haven't been much, but I'll post a link to a page that describes it better than I can.
Gus
Blog Flickr and I have a youtube channel but not updated much.
www.birdforum.net/.../Musselburgh
Recently at Musselburgh there were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, Dunlin always there, as are Oystercatchers, Curlew, Redshank. Snipe are usually skulking about in the tall grass by the lagoons, Grey Partridges are usually fairly easy to see. Just over the seawall Turnstones and sometimes Purple Sandpipers are there. If you check the next link I post, you can see the recent sightings in Lothian: http://www.birdinglothian.co.uk/recent-sightings/4537581602
Thanks Gus. We did take a trip over a few weeks ago and started off by having a walk through the nature reserve at Aberlady Bay. We saw a decent variety of birds ranging from Waders out in the bay through to water birds on the small Lochan. (Little Grebe, Coots and Moorhen). Other birds seen included Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat and Linnet. A few Eiders and a few Gannet were also seen out from the sand dunes. We stopped off at Musselburgh on the way back and saw Dunlin, Redshank and Turnstone among others. You’re spot on about the Grey Partridge as well although I didn’t see any Snipe. We had limited days to choose from and didn’t have the luxury of catching the Lagoons at high tide so another visit is planned for another time, possibly even sometime in the next week. Thanks again for the info, I think the area will be getting more regular visits from us from now on.
Curlew at Aberlady
Turnstone at the river mouth at Musselburgh.
Grey Partridge at the Lagoons.
Sorry I was a bit late. You got some great shots, esp that Grey Partridge :)
Thanks Gus. All information is always greatly appreciated.