Midweek Outing: Musselburgh 20/3/24
As usual, the weather forecast was checked out in the days prior to the outing but it did not improve as the date neared – rain, mainly drizzle. Despite that, 12 people turned up on the day for our Midweek Outing to Musselburgh Lagoons.
We met at the loch car park and before going up to the hides at the pools we checked the pond and surrounding area and saw or heard Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Chaffinch, Robin, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Magpie, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Oystercatcher and Wren.
At the first hide the cold wind was blowing straight in to add to the drizzle coming down (none of the 3 hides have roofs). Despite that my intrepid Midweekers set about identifying what was there, especially looking for scarcer Grey Plover and Little Ringed Plover that the local Ranger we had met told us about. I had to write furiously as the species being seen came thick and fast – Long-tailed Duck, Snipe, Shoveler, Dunlin, Redshank, Grey Heron, Curlew, Pheasant, Teal, Wigeon, Eider, Cormorant, Mallard, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Starling and a small flock of Meadow Pipits.
No sign of Grey Plover or Little Ringed Plover, so we headed to the furthest away hide as the Little Ringed Plover had been seen there earlier, and a birder we met on the path informed us it was still there. After a bit of searching, it was spotted at the back of the pool, giving good views but still no Grey Plover.
Feeling quite good with the number of species seen so far, we headed to the sea wall through the drizzle. On the way we were treated to a flock of about 50 Stock Doves which were feeding in the grassy area by the path and flying up and landing several times. At the sea wall the wind was blowing in our faces at first but subsided a bit as we walked towards the mouth of the Esk. Although it was quite choppy, we added Common and Velvet Scoter, Goldeneye, Slavonian Grebe, Herring Gull, Common Guillemot, Common and Great Black-backed Gull and Great-crested Grebe to the list.
As we were turning to go up the path to the RSPB hides, a small flock of Whooper Swans flew over, calling, and made a synchronised landing in a line onto the water. Heading up to the hides, we were treated to displaying and singing Skylarks which were ignoring the wet conditions. We also had good views of a male Reed Bunting. The first hide was occupied so we headed for the next one to have lunch. Not the most comfortable of places as again there was no roof, there was water on the floor and the viewing windows were really small so only some of the group could see out while having lunch. Despite that, the group settled in and started eating and viewing, and the variety of birds soon made us forget our discomfort – Gadwall, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Lesser Black-backed Gull and the elusive Grey Plover (a small flock). There were also good numbers of waders already seen.
Heading down to the sea wall at the River Esk where there was a mud bank as the tide was going out, we added Bar-tailed Godwit, Feral Pigeon, and Jackdaw to the list, plus Collared Dove and Siskin seen by a few taking a diversion for a toilet stop.
On the way back along the sea wall to the car park, the group had fragmented due to the toilet diversion, and some of us saw Razorbill and a single Gannet on the water and a pair of Stonechat on the fence along the grassy bank.
Despite the weather where it had rained with a few breaks, it turned out a good day species wise as the final total was an impressive 63 species.
Agnes