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27th December
Banton Loch, Hogganfield Loch
Heading north today and not very far, to Banton Loch. John hasn't been to this site and I
know he'll enjoy the walk if the birds are scarce. On the way to the loch, 2 minutes after stepping
out
of the car we had a very close sighting of a Dipper, diving under water
and surfacing with a catch. Spent a good hour watching it fish
successfully. Turns out there were 3 of them at least on this stretch
of the stream. On to the loch itself and the Green Winged Teal was
sadly not showing.
The rest of the walk round Banton Loch was picturesque but quiet. Off
to Hogganfield Loch to the south west. There are always photo
opportunities here and the view is even better with a cup of tea and a
bun.
| Coot |
Moorhen |
Cormorant |
 |
 |
 |
| Male Goosander |
Pochard |
Whooper Swan |
 |
 |
 |
The usual suspects were well represented on the pond and most were
swimming close to the shore for the bread thrown in by the many passers
- by. The Cormorant dove often and very close to us. We're not too
sure, but we didn't see it surface after a dive. We waited for some
time but to no avail. Hopefully it surfaced out of our sight.
With light starting to fade at around 2 p.m
we finished our tea and headed home.
20th December 2015
Figgate Park, Joppa
Heading east again today to a new site, Figgate Park in Edinburgh,
where a Mandarin Drake was showing. A reasonable breakfast at a nearby
Asda, while the sun shone, then off to find Figgate Park. We arrived at
the same time as a heavy rain shower, so it was half an hour in the car
scanning my weather App. Figgate Park is a delightful little park with
a wooden walkway over the edges of the pond. There was quite a variety
of birds on the pond including Goosander, Canada Geese and Moorhen. The
Mandarin, however, was having a siesta on the small island in the
middle of the pond and was hard to spot. I decided to pop over to the
sea wall at Joppa in case the Surf Scotter surfaced. Was
not to be, sadly, but I managed some nice shots of the usual suspects.
Back to Figgate Park and I eventually managed to shoot the Mandarin
which was almost hidden in the trees. Back to the sea wall at Joppa for
tea and a bun and home.
| Female Goosander |
Male Goosander |
Black-Headed Gull |
 |
 |
 |
| Moorhen |
Canada Goose |
Male Mandarin
|
 |
 |
 |
| Bar-Tailed Godwit |
Turnstone |
Redshank |
 |
 |
 |
13th December 2015
Musselburgh
Heading east again as the weather doesn't look too grand
anywhere. We stopped off at Fisherrow Harbour for breakfast
before heading round to the sea wall. Quite quiet here apart from
flocks of Oystercatchers flying above us on the way to the scrapes. The
short eared Owls were still hunting, flying low just to the right of
the pathway along the sea wall.The scrapes were busy. At least 1500 to
2000 Oystercatchers were roosting there. As the light faded we
managed to get some usual suspects. On the way back for tea and a
bun the sea wall was providing some close shots of a Red Throated Diver
and a Shag
| Short Eared Owl |
Mallard |
Redshank |
 |
 |
 |
| Little Grebe |
Greylag |
Wigeon |
 |
 |
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| Red Throated Diver |
Shag |
Twite |
 |
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6th December 2015
Torness
Heading east today as the weather forecast promises bright
sunshine. Very cold but wonderfully bright. There were reports of a
Barred Warbler that may have made me slightly deaf to the baltic winds
part of the forecast. The Barred Warbler was reported to be in trees to
the south of the main car park, feeding from feeders placed there to
attract Tree Sparrows. It did show, but the light was slightly against
us. I managed to get some decent shots. Little Auks were also reported
here, but despite an enjoyable walk around the sea defences around the
Torness power station, we failed to spot any. Heading to Skateraw, we
were waylaid by a large flock of Golden Plover rising and settling very
close to the shoreline. It was amazing to watch as they settled for
only minutes at a time before flocking again, showing silvery white or
black as they turned in the low sun.
| Barred Warbler |
Greenfinch |
Goldfinch |
 |
 |
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| Blue Tit |
Juvenile Eider |
Herring Gull |
 |
 |
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| Carrion Crow |
Rock pipit |
Golden Plover |
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