These aren't the ducks I'm looking for

Apologies for absence. Last year was rather tumultuous, although there were many birds, and I'll do a summary at some point soon. To get myself back into the habit though, I'll do a quick roundup of yesterday's excursion.

I've been up in central Scotland for the festive period, as usual, and kept an eye on the local bird sightings for what was interesting and accessible. I hate to sound such a critical note, but I am deeply unimpressed with the Lothian Bird Club sightings website. I'm spoiled down at home, where an open access system allows anyone to add sightings, and people put on everything they see - no matter how common - which gives a great picture of what can be seen, and where. It's also real time, so checking back every few hours is beneficial. Up here, they only post rare or unusual stuff, and it's all done in summary the following day. This is frustrating for those of us who don't know where to go for otherwise common species that we haven't seen before (say, bramblings), or if we want to know if a notable bird seen yesterday is still there today. Also, it's very much an East Lothian-based operation, and West Lothian rarely gets a mention.

Nonetheless, it's better than nothing, and their photo pages can give a broader picture of what's about, and how easy it is to see the species they've mentioned. I had planned on Saturday to do a trip for three new species - a lesser yellowlegs that was showing very well at North Berwick (somewhere I've meant to visit for ages, as there's a seabird centre there, and boat trips around Bass Rock, known for its gannet colony, in the summer). At Musselburgh, a surf scoter has been hanging around for months. And just east of Leith, a black redstart was seen on the beach for several days. I could do all three in one jaunt, but it was not to be. I didn't make it out until yesterday (Tuesday), by which time the yellowlegs and redstart had vanished (the latter may have moved east, but I didn't know that at the time).

Still, a surf scoter is not to be sniffed at, so I went down to Musselburgh anyway. Not to the well-known wader scrapes and lagoons - just a quick walk down the River Esk to its mouth at the Firth of Forth. The weather was perfect - mild sunshine, light wind. And as it turned out, there were lots of birds, and they were unusually tame.

First to catch my eye were goosanders (Mergus merganser). I've seen them a few times, always in Scotland, on rivers, canals, and in flight. But the males have never allowed close approach, and indeed all birds I've encountered were wary. Not so these. It was to be a recurring theme of my visit that all the birds on the river were habituated to humans. The Esk at this point runs through the town centre, and a strip of parkland is found either side, right up to the water. Both females (picture at top) and males (second photo) were abundant - I counted one group of seven. One female was preening on a mostly-submerged rock, and occasionally posing coquettishly (third picture above).

Then it was goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula), another duck I've seen a few times, but always from a great distance. They were a little skittish, but generally mingled with the other waterbirds and came as close as I could have wanted. At least 20 were scattered in small groups along the river (photos below - females with brown heads, male with green, just like the goosanders).

Finally, at the river mouth I stood and scanned the Firth of Forth patiently, looking for that black seaduck. But it was not there - perhaps it was just round the coast to the east, or too far out to see. The waves were choppy in a chilly breeze, but the low-slung sun lit up another lovely marine species, eiders. We get these at home all the time, but usually so distantly (hundreds of metres offshore) that photos are scarcely worth bothering with (see an earlier entry on this blog). This time there were closer, and I got my best shots yet - though they were still small in the frame, and kept disappearing as they bobbed up and down, so it required some patience. Pictures below.

Overall, it was a lovely couple of hours, and I will definitely go again in the spring. Below is the view acros to the island of Inchcolm, which is a breeding site for fulmars.