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JULY for Lothian birders was a disappointing month which, in a nutshell, failed to produced any birds of huge interest. Little Egrets were the highlight is this quiet month with up to 3 birds seen, singles were at Tyninghame on the 20th & 21st with another there on the 31st, another flew west past Gullane on the 25th. It is unlikely less than 2 birds were involved in these sightings, and with this species still very scarce in Scotland this was a good showing.
A very brief Hobby in the Lammermuirs near Whiteadder on the 3rd was another good county bird and, without any real competition, the bird of prey highlight during July. Other scarcities included Roseate Terns at Musselburgh (2ad) on the 8th and Tyninghame (2 : ad + juv) on the 24th, single Little Ringed Plovers at Tyninghame on the 17th and Musselburgh on the 28th - 29th (both juv), Quail were at several locations including 5 near Coates on the 10th, a drake Mandarin Duck visited East Fortune on the 18th and a sinensis race Cormorant was at Musselburgh on the 21st onwards.
Little Gulls were common throughout the month with Musselburgh the main focus point, up to 45 were present there on the 22nd. Once again there was a good showing of Mediterranean Gulls with around 7 birds seen including a cracking juvenile at Tyninghame on the 24th. Manx Shearwaters could also be found with ease and some good numbers lingered in the Forth for much of July, this including 100+ seen from the RSPB Seabird Cruise near Cramond Island on the 7th, the high count however came from Barns Ness on the 10th with over 300 passed in just one hour.
Uncommon waders were around but in no large numbers, Green Sandpipers were at Musselburgh (20th-22nd) and Tyninghame (1 on the 19th, 2 on the 20th), Ruff were reported only from Musselburgh with at least 2 there from the 23rd-29th, Greenshank at Tyninghame peaked at 14 on the 21st, and a fairly average showing of Black-tailed Godwit made a count of 32 at Musselburgh on the 9th look high.
JUNE An exceptionally quiet June was prevented by being a completely rarity free month only by a brief Black Stork over the A1 (between Haddington & Macmerry) on the morning of the 22nd. What was probably the same bird went high NE over Redcoll (south of Longniddry) that afternoon, but unfortunately there was no further sign and hopes of the bird being relocated are all but gone. This will be only the 3rd Lothian record, the last being in June 1983.
A singing male Reed Warbler at Seafield Pond (Dunbar) remaining from May was the highlight for most local birders, this scarce Spring migrant was present until at least the 7th, another was by the toilet block at JMCP (Tyninghame) on the 5th but proved to be much more elusive. Waders were thin on the ground in comparison with an excellent May, bests were at least one Little Stint at Tyninghame between the 2nd - 10th (possibly a long stayer from May), a brief Wood Sandpiper at Seafield Pond (Dunbar) on the 8th, a Little Ringed Plover again at Musselburgh on the 3rd and 5 Black-tailed Godwits there on the 24th. Raptors included a Hobby at Skateraw on the 7th, a report of a Red Kite near Haddington on the 3rd and Marsh Harriers at Musselburgh on the 2nd and Fenton Barns on the 28th. At least 3 Mediterranean Gulls were at Musselburgh from the 23rd including 2 on the 25th & 29th, a single Little Gull was at the same site from the 23rd and a Little Tern was at Tyninghame on the 5th.
Other notable sightings included a singing Quail by Harlaw Reservoir (Pentlands) on the 22nd, a Red-necked Grebe off Ferny Ness on the 3rd & 4th at least, a total of 41 Manx Shearwaters including 22 off Musselburgh on the 6th and 11 off Barns Ness on the 10th, Great Skuas also off Barns Ness on the 10th & 19th and a single Arctic Skua which showed well by the wooden footbridge at Aberlady on the 20th.
MAY Throughout May, Lothian continued to dominate southern Scotland and remained consistent in producing birds of good quality. The only disappointment was the lack of scarce passerines due to unfavourable winds and weather conditions for almost the entire month. Thankfully this was compensated for by some good wader movement.
Bird of the month, despite being present for just one afternoon, was a cracking Spotted Sandpiper in summer plumage at North Berwick on the 13th… the fourth species of American Wader to have been in Lothian in the last 6 months! This is only the third record of this species in Lothian and amazingly the last was also one at North Berwick in May 1976. Needless to say then, most birders needed this on their county list after the 34 year gap.
A very brief female Red-footed Falcon near Howgate on the 22nd, seen and photographed only by the finder, will be only the 5th record for Lothian - the long staying bird in West Lothian during May 2008 certainly cushioned the blow on this one. A smart Broad-billed Sandpiper was another fantastic find at Tyninghame on the 13th, it stayed just 2 days in the Inner Bay with a large mixed flock of small waders, and showed well during its short visit.
One of the highlights in Lothian is the almost annual spring passage of Dotterel in small numbers in the Pentland Hills. This year was no exception with as many as 4 seen in the first week of May including up to 3 on the 1st and a single bird on the 5th & 6th. Another tradition during spring is the near routine arrival of Surf Scoter, and a single drake off Port Seton from the 10th - 14th was probably the same individual present off nearby Ferny Ness during April. It then relocated to Musselburgh on the 15th before being joined by a second on the 17th & 18th - at least one bird was still present on the 20th.
Backing all this up was a male Red-backed Shrike at Aberlady on the 27th, a drake Garganey at Musselburgh on the 16th, a singing Reed Warbler at Seafield Pond (Dunbar) on the 29th, a Little Stint at Tyninghame on the 25th, Marsh Harriers at Tyninghame on the 13th & 15th with another near Whitesands on the 23rd, a calling Quail at Drem Pools on the 16th and an unidentified Egret on the River Esk in Roslin on the 2nd, which would have been significant regardless of the species.
Other notable sightings included an Iceland Gull at Seafield (Edinburgh) on the 3rd, Great Northern Diver off Gullane on the 9th, Little Terns at Musselburgh (1) on the 13th and Tyninghame (2) on the 15th, a Hooded Crow at Oxgangs (Edinburgh) on the 13th, single Curlew Sandpipers at Tyninghame (14th) and Aberlady (16th), an elusive Little Ringed Plover at Musselburgh on the 17th & 18th and an Osprey over Gosford on the 17th.
APRIL Despite often being a month for good migrants, April surprised many with some cracking county birds and did not fail to impress or fall short of the high expectations. Bird of the month for most was a Hoopoe on the Lothian / Borders border at Dunglass, discovered on the 4th it was often elusive but did remain in the area until the 7th at least and gave most the chance to see this smart overshoot on Lothian‘s side of the border. It was later learned that the bird was probably present for at least a couple of days before it was found, apparently being seen by residents of Dunglass Mill on the 2nd.
Those quick off the mark had the chance to see both the Hoopoe and a superb female Bluethroat on the same day, with the latter at Skateraw also found on the 4th when it showed extremely well and was reported only briefly again on the 5th. One of the most surprising records of the month though was an inland Wryneck for just one afternoon near Loanhead on the 28th, a reminder of the rewards you can get by working a local patch even miles from the coast.
Backing up these fantastic birds were the 2 Shore Larks (remaining from March) in the Skateraw / Torness area which departed sometime after the 7th, a drake Surf Scoter off Ferny Ness reported three times from the 12th - 20th, 2 Avocets over the east beach in Dunbar on the 17th, a Tundra Bean Goose at Tyninghame from the 3rd - 5th before moving to Redside Cottages from the 18th - 24th, Little Ringed Plovers at Musselburgh on the 21st, 25th & 28th and 2+ Dotterel heard over Scald Law (Pentlands) on the 30th. After a good winter for the species at least one Water Pipit stayed into April with a bird moulting into summer plumage still at Barns Ness on the 2nd, up to 5 Black Redstarts were reported including males at Belhaven Bay (2nd) and Skateraw (20th). A good tally of 6 migrant Ospreys went over the county during the month and reports of Marsh Harrier included one over Gullane on the 29th and a possible at Danskine Loch on the 16th. White-winged Gulls could still be found with Iceland Gull at Blackness on the 10th and Glaucous Gull on Threipmuir Reservoir on the 24th, a Great Northern Diver was off Aberlady on the 15th and the wintering fm Smew on Linlithgow Loch was last seen on the 4th bringing it’s lengthy stay to an end.
The majority of returning migrants arrived in the second half of the month, most notable were a female Pied Flycatcher at Harlaw Res. (Pentlands) on the 24th, a male Common Redstart at Yellowcraig on the 26th, Wood Warblers in Auchendinny and Penicuik on the 24th and a Nuthatch at Barns Ness also on the 24th deserves a mention. Throughout the month there was also a notable arrival of Tree Pipits and a good showing of Grasshopper Warblers, including Lothian’s earliest ever in Roslin on the 11th.
A White Stork seen over Buckstone (Edinburgh) on the 8th and then again over the Pentland Hills on the 11th is presumably a returning bird and almost certainly an escape, a Black Swan first seen off Ferny Ness on the 23rd before moving to Musselburgh for the rest of the month and a White-tailed Eagle at Whiteadder in the second half of the month fall just about into the same category.
MARCH The highlight for many in a very reasonable month was 2 Shore Larks in the Skateraw / Torness area which, despite being elusive at times, showed really well to most from the 17th - 28th at least. Bird of the month though, considering recent records, was a very brief Corn Bunting at Barns Ness on the 6th… resident birds of this species are now thought to be extinct in the county and this individual migrant is the first record in seven years.
The Firecrest in Gosford Estate (found in January) remained elusive and was last reported on the 18th, the female Smew continued to winter on Linlithgow Loch throughout, and up to 3 Water Pipits were still on show with at least 2 at Barns Ness and a single bird at Skateraw during the month.
Early migrants and first arrivals started with a Sand Martin in Livingston on the 16th (just one day later than the earliest Lothian record), a Northern Wheatear at Skateraw on the 20th, a Swallow at Musselburgh on the 23rd, Sandwich Tern off Skateraw on the 25th and 2 Ospreys on the 26th with birds over Musselburgh & Dunbar. With Chiffchaff and Blackcap now wintering in the county it is difficult to determine which are migrants, although a definite increase in birds towards the end of the month suggested many Chiffchaffs at least were new in.
Best of the rest during March included a Black-necked Grebe around Skateraw from the 3rd which offered some cracking views in the harbour, Black Redstarts in Dunbar (2) on the 26th - 27th and Torness (1) on the 27th, the wintering Green Sandpiper at Tyninghame reported again on the 3rd, and the Brent Goose flock around Torness which again peaked at 27 on the 8th before departing. In a good month for Snow Buntings high counts came from Belhaven Bay with 32 on the 7th and Barns Ness with 10 on the 22nd - 23rd, there was also a good showing of Mediterranean Gulls with up to 10 birds reported including an impressive 5 together at Eastfield (Edinburgh) on the 26th. A drake Mandarin Duck on the River Tyne in Haddington entertained birdwatchers and photographers in particular by showing extremely well in the second half of the month, up to 3 birds may have been present here and as always their origin is questionable.
An estimated total of 76 Waxwings wasn’t bad considering the poor winter for this species, this included the larger flocks in Edinburgh with 14 in Granton on the 3rd, 21 near Slateford Road on the 9th and 15 in The Meadows on the 31st.
Kris Gibb
Birding Lothian
BIRDING LOTHIAN
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