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
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