Egrets, I've had a few ....................

Welcome to another Update!

I'll start by mentioning that I am leading a guided walk from Hogganfield Park LNR to Frankfield Loch via Cardowan Moss LNR on Wednesday 3 September 2014. This is a FREE event organised by the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs in conjunction with the RSPB Glasgow Local Group - all welcome. Meet at the Hogganfield Park car park at 10am; the walk will commence at 10.30am. See the following link for a location plan

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/55%C2%B052'43.2%22N+4%C2%B010'40.8%22W/@55.8786735,-4.178006,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

Also remember you can get a no.38C FirstBus to the park - the stop is close to the car park.

Now onto my latest birding trips and I make no apologies that they have, in the main, been to the east coast.

On 28 August 2014, I headed off to Aberlady Bay, in East Lothian, using the X24 First service from Edinburgh Princes Street. Approximately one hour later I was standing on Goose Green on the edge of Aberlady overlooking the Peffer Burn and admiring 3 Little Egrets .............

Two of the Little Egrets - 28 August 2014

 

Walking towards the timber bridge I was able to admire 3 Ruff, also in the Burn, before scanning the bay - the tide was well out .......................

 

 

Walking towards the Marl Loch I heard a Wren and Blue Tit call and then spotted movement in a hawthorn bush. This bush played host to Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Whinchat, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit and Wren! I was asked by a passing birder if I had spotted a Whinchat that he thought he had seen earlier - imagine his surprise when I showed him not only the Whinchat but many of the other species!

 

I carried on to the Marl Loch ....

 

 

 ... stopped for a bite to eat and was amused by this Pheasant in amongst the Sea Buckthorn ..............

 

 

I was soon on my way again and again noticed activity in the bushes just before the Sewage Treatment works. It looked like the flock of birds I had seen earlier although this time I managed a few photos .................

 

Record shot - Lesser Whitethroat

Sedge Warbler

Reed Bunting

Juvenile male Bullfinch

Juvenile female Bullfinch

Whinchat

Whitethroat

 

I walked slowly through the 'scrubby/bird cover' type area towards the path to the sewage works where I managed more record shots ........

 

Chaffinch and Stonechat

Chiffchaff

 

At this point I could see that the weather was beginning to turn and headed back to the village for a bus back to Edinburgh. However, when I reached Musselburgh I couldn't resist paying a quick visit to the wader scrapes ...

 

 

and was rewarded with another adult Little Gull ..

 

 

 and loads more Ruff ...

 

 

All in all I managed 55 bird species for the day!

 

Details of our trip to John Muir Country Park, Torness Power Station and Musselburgh wader scrapes will have to wait!

 

 

 

 

 

Lothian Wetland Bird Masterclass!

Note - click on the photos for a slide show (and a better view of the images).

On Friday (22 August) I travelled through to Port Seton in Lothian (900 bus from Buchanan St Bus Station to Edinburgh Princes Street and then Lothian Buses no 26 to Seton Sands).

At Port Seton I was met by hundreds of Sandwich Terns ........

 

........... spot the Kittiwake!

And spot the Common Tern!

 

The highlight, however, was this adult Mediterranean Gull .....

 

From Port Seton, I headed back to Musselburgh Lagoons (no. 26 bus to the stop before Levenhall roundabout) and a plethora of waders and some gulls ..................

 

Redshank

Dunlin

 

 Common Sandpiper

 Black-tailed Godwit

 Greenshank

Ruff

 

These were in addition to waders such as Oystercatcher, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Snipe; plus a solitary Knot. Not a bad wader haul!

 

There were also a couple of Little Gulls with the Black-headed Gulls ...............

 

 A juvenile Little Gull

An adult Little Gull

 

From the scrapes I eventually visited the sea wall and managed a photo of a drake Velvet Scoter .............

 

 

However, with the light fading and the threat of rain ......

 

 

...... I reluctantly left this bird haven and returned home, until next week!

 

Finally, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:

 

23 August 2014

Four Spotted Flycatchers in Dawsholm Park LNR, Glasgow, also two Ravens.

 

 

 

 

 

Frankfield to Hogganfield - a photographic delight

Well how do you find a new way of describing another visit to the Frankfield Loch/Cardowan Moss LNR/Hogganfield Park LNR triumvirate of wildlife sites?

I can't so here goes! On Tuesday (19th) I arrived at Frankfield Loch in the middle of the afternoon; it was still bright and sunny although water levels were quite high ................

 

......... there were only 22 Lapwing present, huddled together in small groups fighting for space on the small areas of exposed mud. As I left another 36 flew in trying to find space to land! So not enough mud, YET, for species such as Greenshank and Ruff which are starting to turn up elsewhere in Scotland - hopefully, if the water levels drop over the next week or so, a range of wader species will start to utilise this excellent site, as they did last year.

 

In addition to the usual wildfowl, there were 2 Shoveler present.

 

Leaving Frankfield Loch, I entered the Cardowan Moss LNR and walked along its extensive path network visiting two ponds on my way ......

 

 

....... I encountered a large 'tit' flock consisting of Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrests and Willow Warblers but very few other bird species. However, there were a good few Peacock butterflies ...............

 

 

....as well as numerous (35+) Common Darter dragonflies .....

 

 

I left Cardowan arriving at Hogganfield Park in the early evening ....

 

 

I was pleased to note a group of 3 Gadwall (another 2 were seen later) .................

 

 

....a young Great Crested Grebe, here next to a female Tufted Duck .........

 

 

.. and a nice range of wildflowers attracting a host of insects .....

 

 

My visit was sadly hampered by a really HEAVY rain shower but eventually it passed, leaving a nice rainbow ...............

 

 

As it was now getting late and with the light starting to fade, I decided to leave but not before I managed this shot of a Pochard ................

 

 

A nice way to end the day!

 

PS for those interested in numbers, 36 bird species were seen in total.

 

 

 

Aberlady and Gosford Bays

Yesterday I made another visit to the east coast, this time to Gosford and Aberlady Bays - thanks to Judith and Mike.

When we arrived at Gosford Bay/Ferny Ness the tide was well out but we still managed views of at least 5 Red-necked Grebes. Heading on to Aberlady Bay we started at the Kilspindie side of the bay .....................

 

... the tide was still far out, and there were waders, terns, wildfowl and gulls scattered all over the bay. However, we managed to spot 5 Greenshank, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Whimbrel in the channel in front of us.

 

We also had excellent views of a couple of Tree Sparrows beside the golf club car park............

 

Tree Sparrow - Aberlady Bay

 

We eventually headed around to the east side of the bay and crossed the timber bridge and soon we were watching a couple of Roe Deer ..............

 

 

We explored the scrub area beyond the Marl Loch and close to the sewage treatment works. Here Judith & Mike spotted a Blackcap and we all got views of Bullfinch, Whitethroat and Reed Bunting ....

 

 Reed Bunting - Aberlady Bay

 

I also got a fleeting glimpse of a bird with a grey head and red eye! It may have been a female Sardinian Warbler but I am not claiming it - hopefully some Lothian birders went looking today and find this elusive bird!

 

As we left the scrub, we encountered a Whinchat and a family of 4 Stonechat - a heavily cropped photo of one of the Stonechats follows ...

 

Stonechat - Aberlady Bay

 

By the time we got back to the timber bridge the tide was coming in ....

 

 

.... so it was time to go and enjoy a nice meal in the local pub!