Eccleston Mere

Kingfisher 2
Mute Swan 2 adults
Nuthatch 1
Great spotted woodpecker 1
Buzzard 1
Swift 2
House Martin 20
Swallow 10

Eccleston Mere

Kingfisher 1
Tufted Duck 1
Mute Swan 2 adults
Swift 5

Eccleston Mere

Teal 1
Kingfisher 2
Mute Swan 2 adults

A bat walk this evening produced the usual Soprano and Common Pipistrelles, some excellent views of Noctules, but less than usual numbers of Daubenton's. Also a few more unusual calls which need further analysis.

Gosford Bay, Firth of Forth

Red-necked Grebe 10 adults summer plumage
Velvet Scoter 10 males
Common Scoter 2
Eider 200
Common Sandpiper 2

Year 219 (Red-necked Grebe)

A chance encounter with a local birder at Musselburgh first thing really paid off, with some good advice to head for nearby Gosford Bay while it was still high tide. Gosford Bay is the best place in the UK for seeing Red-necked Grebe, and it didn't disappoint today, with at least 10 spectacular summer plumage birds. This is a great coast for seabirds, whilst I was scanning for the grebes I kept seeing small flocks of Velvet Scoter and Eider, with plenty of Gannets, sometimes close inshore, and good numbers of Common and Sandwich Terns. This trip has really been a revelation.

Musselburgh, Firth of Forth

Another visit to Scotland this week, this time to the east coast and Musselburgh on the Firth of Forth, next door to Edinburgh. Musselburgh Lagoons have turned up some national rarities in the past, so I was very excited to visit the place for the first time yesterday.

 

On the lagoons there were quite a few waders, especially Dunlin, Redshanks, Lapwings, Curlew and Oystercatchers, but also Ruff, Greenshank, Common Sandpipers and Snipe. No sign of the recent Wood Sandpiper though. A few Sandwich and Common terns dropped in for a wash, and a couple of Roe Deer were at the back of the pools early morning today.

 

Out on the sea this morning, I was delighted to find seven drake Velvet Scoter quite close inshore, whilst other sea birds included up to 500 Eider,  60 Red-breasted mergansers, 20 Gannets, 200 Mute Swans and lots of terns and gulls. On the mud, Bar-tailed Godwits, Turnstones and Ringed Plover.

 

Musselburgh lagoons

A spectacular sunset over the Firth of Forth last night, with Edinburgh in the distance.

Drake Velvet Scoter.

Black Darter

Teneral Black Darter on a Scottish bog. Ternerals are newly emerged dragonflies which aren't quite mature and don't have the full colouration of the true adults. They look very similar to females, but usually have this silverish sheen to the wings and look a bit fluttery in flight. This is probably because the wings haven't dried out completely yet. A full adult would have completely clear wings.

Hebridean tour

Taking advantage of the reasonably settled weather over the past few weeks, we set off on a camping holiday to the Hebrides on July 20th. We were booked in for five nights at Craignure on the island of Mull, but after that we were completely flexible, with the intention being to go wherever the weather looked best! In the end we used seven ferries and two boats to visit 12 Hebridean islands and had many fantastic experiences on what can only be described as the holiday of a lifetime.

 

We camped for 11 nights at four campsites on Mull, Skye and North Uist. On Mull we were still in the heatwave, with sunny days and temperatures in the mid 80's. When it broke, we were on the tiny island of Lunga, surrounded by hundreds of Puffins. It was the experience of a lifetime to be there in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm! When it cleared, we headed to Staffa and Fingals Cave, and heard a Corncrake calling from the top of the island! After that, the weather was generally good, typically sunny with light winds, with just the occasional morning of rain. Perfect for camping.

 

My favourite campsite was at Balranald on North Uist, which was right next to the RSPB reserve. We had Corncrakes calling at  night right alongside our tent, and lots of other great sights, including Hen Harrier and Merlin over the campsite. It was just a few yards from miles of machair and silver sand beaches, and had the best showers I've ever experienced on a campsite. Wonderful place.

 

Below is a rough map of the route we took.