More East Coast Magic

I've managed to upload my photos from Saturday, see previous post, and can now complete the story of a birding week that finished on a high.

On Saturday it was back to the Lothian coast where we bumped into Fiona and others from the Glasgow area. 

We started at Whitesands Quarry and a life tick for Stephen - Buff-breasted Sandpiper - as well as our first Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans of the autumn.

Our initial attempt at getting to Barns Ness was hampered by a 'charity abseil' at the lighthouse, so we did the obvious thing and went for coffee and cake!

We then travelled to Torness and Thorntonloch with the highlights being a Grey Partridge (a year tick for all of us), a Wheatear and numerous sea birds off-shore. This was followed by a short visit to the waterfall at Skateraw where we encountered, what we assumed to be, migrant Robins and Blackbirds, but nothing unusual.

By now we hoped that Barns Ness would be clear and whilst there were still a few people abseiling, we were able to explore the area without encountering 'stewards' with clip-boards!

We started at the 'wire dump' where the juvenile Woodchat Shrike, first seen last week, was still showing well but now in better light …

From the dump we walked along the shore to the lighthouse and beyond and we were amazed when these two Dunlin flew towards us and land to feed only a few feet away …

Further along I spotted this Wheatear sitting on a wrecked boat ….

… a reminder that birds were starting to migrate south.

Moving on to our final stop, Musselburgh Lagoons, which never fails to deliver and we added yet more birds to our day and year lists. The sun was starting to drop but I still managed a few photographs of some of the birds present such as this Pink-footed Goose, in amongst the Greylag …..

Pink-footed Goose - 22/09/18

and this Curlew Sandpiper, associating with a few Dunlin ……... 

Curlew Sandpiper - 22/09/18

We finished at the sea wall and this sunset …..

Remember to click on a photo to create a slide show and enhanced image.

East Coast (and Greater Glasgow) Magic

Over the past few years I have led outings to the east coast in autumn dubbed 'East Coast Magic' and have also produced a talk entitled 'East Coast Magic' which illustrates the excitement to be had and birds to be found by visiting the east coast, particularly in autumn. So it will be no surprise to learn that I managed to visit a few east coast sites during the week.

Similarly, I have a number of favourite sites in the Greater Glasgow area and I managed to visit them as well.

So taking it sequentially, on the 16th we visited various sites in Fife - the Wilderness (Pectoral Sandpiper, Ruff), Kilminning (nothing unusual - yet), and Guardbridge/Eden Estuary (Osprey, Peregrine, Little Egret, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, etc) …..

Eden Estuary from Guardbridge

Osprey

Greenshank

Having heard about a Woodchat Shrike showing well at Barns Ness in Lothian, we couldn't then resist making the journey to see it, after all it would be a UK tick for all three of us! Thanks to Stephen, we got there before dusk and had great views …………..

Barns Ness - wire dump

Woodchat Shrike (juvenile) in poor light

Following the storm on Wednesday, I set out on Thursday (20th) to Hogganfield Park LNR hoping to find a storm driven vagrant on the loch. Luckily, I found a juvenile Black Tern and managed a few record shots ..

Black Tern (juvenile)

Shortly afterwards, Stephen arrived and we were off to another one of my favourite sites, Balgray Reservoir, where a juvenile Grey Phalarope had been found. 

I used to watch Balgray on a regular basis and had seen 143 different species. The phalarope, if seen, would be a welcome addition to this total AND thankfully, we saw it. I managed a few record shots taken at a distance and whilst sinking into the mud!

Grey Phalarope

Grey Phalarope

In addition to the phalarope, we saw a number of other wader species including Black-tailed Godwits and a good range of other water birds with the biggest surprise being a juvenile Shelduck flying over the reservoir.

So over the past week, up to Friday 21st: 
I saw 79 different species;
Added to my year Scottish list which stands at 195;
Added to my life Scottish list which now stands at 313; 
Added to my life Balgray list which now stands at 144; and
Added to my year Hogganfield Park LNR list which now stands at 75.

So a terrific week with more to come! In fact, we also had a superb day yesterday but that will be the subject of a separate blog, mainly because I have been unable to download my photos for reasons that currently baffle me!

I would also apologise to those who would like to post comments as I have had to disable that function due to receiving unwanted posts about 'hacking'!

Wader Week!

Note: remember to click on the photographs to get a slide show and better view of the images.

Since the last post I've visited six different birding sites and seen 65 species including 12 species of wader.

On Sunday, I led a guided walk from Hogganfield Park LNR to Frankfield Loch via Cardowan Moss LNR on behalf of the SOC Clyde Branch in conjunction with the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs. We saw 37 species with a Garganey at Frankfield Loch being the highlight, plus three species of wader were seen - Greenshank, Snipe and Lapwing.

Grey Heron - Hogganfield Park LNR - 9/9/18

Approaching Cardowan Moss LNR - 9/9/18

Record shot - Garganey with Wigeon and Teal in foreground - 9/9/18

On the 12th I headed over to Balgray Reservoir using the No.3 McGills Bus from Glasgow City Centre to Neilston - get off at Oakbank Drive in Barrhead and then walk west for 10 minutes to a walled entry point to the Dams to Darnley Country Park. From here it's another 10 minutes or so to the car park and footpaths for Balgray Reservoir.

The reservoir's water levels are being dropped to facilitate work on the small reservoir opposite Balgray on the other side of Aurs Road. This has resulted in vast expanses of mud which is attracting a nice variety of waders - 8 seen here - Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Redshank, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Curlew, Ringed Plover and Lapwing.

Balgray Reservoir - 12/9/18

Curlew - 12/9/18

Black-tailed Godwits - 12/9/18

There were also good counts of Little Grebe (19) and Great Crested Grebe (11) plus a nice surprise, this female Scaup with a female Tufted Duck for comparison ….

Scaup and Tufted Duck (foreground) - 12/9/18

In between these trips, I also walked down to Bingham's Pond to check out if anything unusual had turned up. I added Grey Heron which, surprisingly, I hadn't seen at the Pond this year. This means my 'Pond Year List' now stands at 37. 

Finally, yesterday I travelled through to Musselburgh. It was too wet for any photography but I did add a few other waders to the weeks list - Ruff, Oystercatcher and, the highlight, Curlew Sandpiper. I also added Red-necked Grebe to my Year List.

Other people's sightings in Greater Glasgow,courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine, include:

Friday 14 September 2018 
The Garganey still at Frankfield Loch, also the first 36 Pink-footed Geese SE over at midday.
Balgray Reservoir counts included, a Knot, a Green Sandpiper, five Black-tailed Godwits, ten Dunlin, also still two Pintails, 20 White Wagtails and 250 Linnets.
Three Whinchats and eight Stonechats on the A77/M77 border at Shieldhill Farm, near Newton Mearns. 

Thursday 13 September 2018 
The Garganey still at Frankfield Loch, also an outstanding 38 Shoveler with eleven Gadwall.

A Ruff at Bridgend Farm Pool, near Kirkintilloch.

Waders at Balgray Reservoir included a Green Sandpiper, still seven Black-tailed Godwits, four Redshanks and a Common Sandpiper, also at least ten White Wagtails amongst the Pied.

Wednesday 12 September  2018
The Garganey still at Frankfield Loch.

No sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper at Balgray Reservoir, but a good collection of waders and ducks, including now two Green Sandpipers, seven Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Ringed Plovers and five Dunlin, also two Pintail with an  unusually high count for the site of 19 Little Grebes.

Tuesday 11 September  2018
The Pectoral Sandpiper still at a very reduced Balgray Reservoir, favouring the SW shore this morning, also three Dunlin and four Redshanks; late afternoon, also a Knot, a Green Sandpiper and seven Black-tailed Godwits.

Saturday 8 September 2018
A juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at Balgray Reservoir.

'Scarce' birds start to appear

I travelled through to Fife and Lothian with Stephen and Peter last Sunday in the hope of adding a few 'unusual' species to my year list.

We started at Pettycur harbour, near Kinghorn ……

The Forth from Pettycur

… and quickly saw a number of terns - Sandwich and Common. However, in the distance, two birds looked darker whilst flying around the estuary. We all thought Black Tern and our thoughts were then confirmed when one landed on a distant buoy giving us good scope views. This photo was shot at maximum zoom on my bridge camera but does at least provide a nice record!

Distant record shot of juvenile Black Tern

Having also added Arctic Skua to my year list, we then headed for Guardbridge and the Eden Estuary ….

Eden Estuary

Here we saw a variety of waders including Greenshank, Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit. Other species of note included Little Egret, Osprey and Kingfisher …..

Greenshank

Two distant Little Egrets

Having planned to then visit 'The Wilderness' and 'Letham Pools', we had a change of heart when we heard about a Pectoral Sandpiper at Musselburgh Lagoons!

We arrived after 5pm but managed to see the bird albeit it spent most its time at the back of one of the lagoons or in the grass! So photographs are limited to this heavily cropped token shot …

Pectoral Sandpiper

So a great day's birding and creeping ever closer to 200 species in Scotland for the year!

On Tuesday I paid a short visit to Hogganfield Park LNR to check out progress on the planned path improvements and to hopefully get a passage tern or chat.

The path work was almost complete but sadly no sign of any birds on passage …..

One of the new surfaced paths

… although I did get an atmospheric shot over the loch towards the island ….

Elsewhere, in Greater Glasgow, sightings (courtesy of SOC Clyde Branch) included:

Tuesday 4 September 2018
The female Garganey still on Frankfield Loch, also an excellent 25 Shovelers, 380 Lapwings and two Kingfishers.

Monday 3 September 2018
The female Garganey still on Frankfield Loch. 
An Osprey fishing at Gadloch, Lenzie between 1500-1800 hrs.
Eight Black-tailed Godwits at Balmore Pool.

Saturday 1 September 2018
The female Garganey still on Frankfield Loch, also a Greenshank.