18th November 2009 – Nearctic Wader Double in East Lothian!

Most of northern Britain seems to be engulfed in heavy rain and strong winds currently. However a trip to East Lothian with Chris gave us a pleasant surprise in the form of blue-skies and sunshine!

Our first place to visit was Musselburgh Lagoons where a 1st winter Wilson’s Phalarope had been present the previous few days. Thankfully, we were not to be disappointed; the Phalarope was feeding on the western most pool. Although the Wilson’s Phalarope was a bit far away for photography (as my pics and video clip (below) demonstrate), the views were still good in the bright sunlight. We watched the bird for some time as it typically span around in circles as it fed.

After watching the bird for some time, we decided to head down the coast to Aberlady Bay where we hoped to see the long staying Lesser Yellowlegs. On arrival, Chris soon located the bird as it fed in the company of a couple of Redshank, just downstream of the wooden footbridge. The views were better than we had expected, these are truly superb birds!

Next we decided to return to Musselburgh Lagoons to see what other birds were on the reserve. From the seawall we enjoyed great views of Velvet Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Goldeneye and a few Slavonian Grebe. We also managed some nice views of a small group of Twite feeding in the weedy areas along the edges of the track.

On one of the ash lagoons we saw good numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and smaller numbers of Grey Plover, Knot and Dunlin. Amongst the Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls was a solitary Lesser Black-backed Gull.

The day had been a real success and had turned out far better than we had anticipated. We finished the trip at Gretna, where we enjoyed the spectacle of many hundred thousand Starling heading to their roost!

Another fantastic trip!