Trip reports

RSPB Local outing

Sunday, 21 August 2011

We had a good turnout for our first outing after the summer break, and it was nice to see several new faces. The weather was mostly overcast, but dry, and with not much wind it made it quite pleasant to be out. We got off to an excellent start, with a Whimbrel being spotted in along the bank of the river just up from the bridge. Everyone got good views, but eventually we had to move on, as the warden was waiting to do some repairs to the bridge. The tide was well out, exposing a large area of mud, with hundreds of Lapwings present. Good to see such large numbers. Curlews, Redshanks and Ringed Plovers were also present, and the wildfowl included a few Teal among the more common Mallards.
The walk out towards the beach produced a good sighting of a young male Roe Deer, one of several seen during the day. There were also reasonable numbers of small birds to be seen. Linnets were the most common, with Goldfinches, Stonechats, Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats also being seen. A single Buzzard gave us our only raptor sighting for the day. It was spotted sitting on a small tree, then flew of and was momentarily lost before it reappeared on another tree, this time with some prey in its talons, which it then proceeded to eat.
There wasn't much doing on the beach, but out at sea there was plenty to be seen. Gannets, Shags, Guillemots, Razorbills and Common Scoter were present, and a few Sandwich Terns flew past. Our lunch stop at Gullane Point also proved interesting, with a large group of waders out on the rocks being identified as Knot, and a group of female Goosanders swimming past. A couple of Turnstone were picked out among the Knots.
As we set of on our return journey to the car park, I had problems finding the start of the path. When we eventually located it I realised what had confused me. They had been cutting down a lot of the Sea Buckthorn bushes, so the landscape looked a bit different that I was used to. Another deer, more small birds, and a quick glimpse of a Weasel dashing across the path (although I may have been the only one to see it), kept us going, and we returned to the cars having had a most enjoyable day.
Hugh M. Conner