Musselburgh is the largest town in East Lothian and lies right along the Firth of Forth. It is only a short distance from the outskirts of Edinburgh and it is surely one of the best birding hot spots in mainland Scotland. The amount of rarities that have turned up here over the years is truly outstanding, some of them even Scottish 'firsts'.

There are a few favoured spots at Musselburgh which should always be checked if you are planning to make a visit. The Scrapes, as they are known locally, are a series of freshwater pools that attract a good number of waders, wildfowl, gulls, pipits and wagtails, among them have been several county firsts. There is a boating pond adjacent to the entrance here, and it too can turn up the odd rare duck or gull. The surrounding bushes and long grass are a great place to observe Grasshopper Warblers when they arrive in April and May. The River Esk mouth can be equally as good as the scrapes on its day as it too has turned up some cracking waders, gulls and terns over the years, two of which were FIRSTS for Scotland in the shape of Lesser-crested Tern back in August 1987, and the Royal Tern which turned up in August 1999. As you head off from the river mouth around the side of the scout hut, you will come across the sea wall. A walk along here can be very productive as there are large numbers of sea duck, divers, grebes, gulls and terns during the appropriate months. It is also possible to encounter all four species of Skua in Autumn if conditions are right, Arctic and Great Skua are most likely and occasionally Manx Shearwater can be seen.

Another good spot worth checking is up on the ash lagoon which is situated just inland from the sea wall and over the grass embankment. It can also hold large numbers of roosting Gulls and Waders and is often a favoured spot for passing Snow Buntings in Autumn / Winter.

  HOW TO GET THERE  

The best way to reach Musselburgh is by the A1. If you are travelling from the west, exit at the Wallyford junction and turn left onto the A6094 signposted for Wallford. Continue straight through the town until you reach the main round-about and take your first exit, signposted for Musselburgh. Continue down this road until you reach another round-about which has a giant golf ball monument in the middle of it. If you are travelling from the east, exit the A1 at the Musselburgh junction and take the A199 signposted for Musselburgh. This route will also bring you to the round-about with the golf ball monument. Once here, you have the choice of two options, whether you head for the scrapes or onto the river mouth. All areas here are accessible by foot and the following directions are only to take you to your preferred destination, which can be vital if a mega should turn up. For the scrapes, exit at the third junction onto the B1348 signposted for North Berwick. Continue for about quarter of a mile until you see the national speed limit signs. Take the first left after these signs, which are not marked, and you will drive under a height restriction barrier. Happy that you are in the right place, continue along the track all the way to the end where you will come upon a car park by the boating pond. The entrance to the scrapes is about 50 yards along the path.

For the river mouth, take the second exit at the round-about and head into Musselburgh along the A199. Take your first right turn after about quarter of a mile or so onto Millhill Wynd. The entrance to Musselburgh race course will be on your right. Take your next right turn onto Balcarres Place, still with the race track on your right. Follow this road to the end where it bends to the left and take a right at the end of the road onto Goosegreen Place. The River Esk will now be on your left hand side. Park anywhere along here and begin your trip.

If you are travelling by bus, Lothian Buses and First Bus provide an excellent service and you can contact them on the following numbers to check time tables.

Lothian Buses (0131 555 6363)

First Bus (0870 872 7271)

Should you be coming by train, get of at Wallyford station. When you exit the station, take a left turn and walk to the round-about with the golf ball monument and follow the above directions.

HABITAT

As Musselburgh is situated on the Firth of Forth, a lot of the habitat is coastal and open sea. Low tides provide muddy bays and rocky coastlines. The River Esk and the freshwater pools at the wader scrapes provide a safe haven for passage migrants. There are small plantations of mixed and deciduous woodland scattered all over, and there is also a lot of gorse bushes and grassland.

WHEN TO GO

Certainly the busiest and most exciting time to go is from April through to October. Musselburgh always produces the goods year after year, annually recording some cracking Spring and Autumn waders. However, from November onwards, you can still expect the odd rarity to turn up which does happen in most years. November 2009 produced a stunning 1st winter Wilson’s Phalarope which stuck around the wader scrapes for 12 days during which time proved extremely popular. Desert Wheatear is another late comer which has occurred here in the past, and there was also a Kildeer recorded in January 2005... of course these are very rare but this is just an example of the quality this place can turn up. This can also be the best time of year for scanning out into the Forth as there is an abundance of sea duck to be found. Rafts of Velvet & Common Scoter are common place here and the rarer Surf Scoter is near annual. It is possible to see all five species of Grebe here, but Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes are a realistic target on an average day. Red-throated Divers are also fairly common but Black-throated and more so the Great-Northern are a little trickier to find. Eider Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Goldeneye, Wigeon, Goosander, Long-tailed Ducks and Mallard are also present in good numbers.

BIRDS TO BE FOUND

As well as the wildfowl mentioned above, other duck species that can turn up are Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard and Pintail. Greylag Geese are usually present through out the year, but during the winter months, Pink-footed, Barnacle, Brent and Bean Geese have all turned up here, as do Whooper Swans. There is always a large selection of waders to be found where ever you go and gulls are also pretty wide spread. Raptors such as Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Peregrine and Buzzard can normally be seen, but during Spring and Autumn, you will have a realistic chance of picking up a migrant Osprey. Kingfisher are often seen around the river mouth and also at the boating pond. Pipits such as the Water and Tree Pipit are possible if you are here during the appropriate months, where as the Rock & Meadow Pipit are fairly common and are expected in decent numbers. It is possible to encounter Pied, White, Grey and Yellow Wagtail here all in the one day, White & Yellow Wagatils are more scarce but can be seen regularly on passage. Most Finches can be found with the chance of Twite during Autumn / Winter. Reed Buntings and Yellowhammer are the easiest of the Buntings to pick up where as Lapland & Snow require a bit more luck.

Away from the winter months the wader scrapes are among the best in SE Scotland for passage waders, with regular sightings of Little-ringed Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Common, Wood & Green Sandpipers, Whimbrel, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Ruff all seen most years. Avocet, Spotted Redshank, both Little and Temminck's Stint's and even Pectoral Sandpiper are less regular but do occur from time to time.

In favourable winds any amount of cover could well be worth checking especially during passage, Barred Warbler, Golden Oriole, Wryneck, Richard’s & Tawny Pipit, Bluethroat and Ortolan Bunting are just a few passerines which have made it here.

ANNUAL & IRREGULAR PASSAGE MIGRANTS

Manx Shearwater; Little Egret; Garganey; Surf Scoter; Osprey; Little-ringed Plover; Temminck’s Stint; Little Stint; Wood Sandpiper; Green Sandpiper; Common Sandpiper; Purple Sandpiper; Curlew Sandpiper; Ruff; Spotted Redshank; Greenshank; Arctic Skua; Great Skua; Pomerine Skua; Long-tailed Skua; Med Gull; Little Gull; Common Tern; Arctic Tern; Sandwich Tern; Roseate Tern; Black Tern; Little Auk; Shorelark; Swallow; Swift; House Martin; Sand Martin; Water Pipit; Tree Pipit; Wheatear; Whinchat; Blackcap; Common Whitethroat; Lesser Whitethroat; Chiffchaff; Willow Warbler; Grasshopper Warbler; Yellow Wagtail; Blue-headed Wagtail; Lapland Bunting and Snow Bunting.

PAST RARITIES 

Cory’s Shearwater- Jan 91; Little Shearwater (found dead) Dec 90; Glossy Ibis- Nov 95; Spoonbill- Sep 92 & May 96; American Wigeon- March 90; Red-crested Pochard- Aug 84 & Sep 95; Ferruginous Duck (male shot) Dec 1855; King Eider; American Golden Plover- Sep 77 & Nov 01; Western Sandpiper *1st for mainland Scotland* Aug 97; Marsh Sandpiper- May 97; Lesser Yellowlegs- July 96; Kildeer- Jan 05; Wilson’s Phalarope- Aug 87 & Nov 09; Red-necked Phalarope- June 77 & June 97; Laughing Gull- May 91 & April 97; Franklins Gull- June 92; Sabine’s Gull- July 77 & Sep 78; Bonnaparte’s Gull- Aug 77 & Sep 98; Ring-billed Gull – Feb 85, March 91 & April 93; Lesser-crested Tern *1st for Scotland* Aug 87 & 89; Royal Tern - *1st for Scotland* Aug 99; Forsters Tern – Oct 85 & Dec 94; Brunnich’s Guillemot – March 93; Bee-eater (attempted to nest in 1920, the first ever record in the UK); Short-toed Lark - Sep 73; Richard’s Pipit – 98 & Nov 05; Tawny Pipit – Sep 72; Citrine Wagtail – Oct 85 & June 01; Bluethroat – May 97; Desert Wheatear from Dec 97 to Jan 98; Golden Oriole – June 98 & May 06 and Ortolan Bunting – Aug 97.

Dennis Morrison