Skateraw Successes

Oh birding, what has happened to you recently? As the year has progressed real life and university have quite simply just taken over. Gone are the days of regular birding every week, I regret to say, Since April really, I’ve found myself restricted to getting out to Cramond every couple of weeks (poor show!), and outside of Lothian I’ve managed several days in Norfolk and a trip to Mull. That aside though, birding has been way too thin on the ground. It’s that time of key development in my life where I have to fit in birding where it’s convenient.

When this first hit me about half way through the 2013/14 academic year I hoped (and still do) that I could strategize to maximise the productivity of my birding when I do get out beyond the patch: in other words, very little birding time but much reward each time. Quite frankly, this has worked very well so far in Lothian. It will be of some surprise that I’ve only been on three full days out birding in Lothian since March – largely because I was out of town on all of these days. A half day inland in the Pentlands in May produced a cracking singing male Redstart in a very isolated patch of woodland: not too shabby!

Certainly meriting far greater attention was a fantastic day with Geoff Morgan in the Skateraw area on 26th April. Steady, medium-strength south-easterlies and fog, followed by a bucket-load of rain overnight on 25th provided the makings for a very tidy fall on the coast. It has hit me though, that if you’re going to find any passerines on the Lothian coast, 95% of the time it’s going to be along a five mile stretch between Dunbar and Torness Power Station – in other words the general Barns Ness area. Geoff and I initially felt ambitious, working pitifully underwatched areas near North Berwick such as Scoughall, but were rewarded with very few migrants. So it was down to Skateraw and surrounds, where the vast majority of people would inevitably be stationed.

Barns Ness back in 2013: the vast majority of passerines are likely to be found between here and Torness

On arrival we were informed of a Wryneck in one direction and a Hoopoe in the other, literally just found. We didn’t face much of a dilemma here. A Scottish Upupa usurps other scarce migrants: besides, we all know how easy it is to Jynx ourselves into believing we’re going to connect with ‘twitchable’ Wrynecks. And so it was a brisk walk to Torness in an attempt to re-find this Hoopoe. On arrival it was evident that the bird had not been seen for half an hour despite coverage from lots of birders: 15 minutes of fruitlessness kicking around the grassy wastelands near the dunes and still, nada. A wee bit of dirty twitching by the power station itself soothed us somewhat. A very unseasonable Yellow-browed Warbler was elusive in the patch of scrub by the car park: the first Scottish spring record which added a surreal element to the whole occasion. This calling little blighter was accompanied by a smart Brambling, but given the burning desire to re-find this Hoopoe, we only gave them both five minutes. Back to the wastelands for some more grass bashing!

Everybody was participating in this obscure activity, wandering semi-aimlessly in some tall grass for an itinerant epops. Fate meant that my self-consciousness about this activity would be rewarded. No sooner had Geoff and I reunited with affirmative statements of ‘no sign’, did I flush the HOOPOE. A few entirely deliberate expletives escaped me as those zebra wing-coverts and those stupendous orange crown feathers flashed across my retina like a dream. Wow, just wow! How about that to spice up the landscape! We alerted a few birders in front of us, and the message was passed round on site pretty quickly. Unfortunately we were only able to settle with flight views in the bins, as it kept very low in the tall grass and then proceeded to go missing again for a very lengthy spell, despite much further bashing. But so it came to be, my first Hoopoe in Scotland, with a memorable re-find to boot. Lovely!

***

Fast forward to September, and I’m birding the Lothian coast for the first time since that Hoopoe (way too long!). Light south easterlies and fog once again tempted my Dad and I up to Skateraw on Sunday 14th. It had been a dry night, so I was unsure whether anything would have fallen. A 20 minute spell of rain from c.10:30am on the drive there though was just what the doctored ordered, and lifted the spirits considerably. On arrival we got straight to work, clocking a noticeable fall of continental Robins and a decent movement of Skylark east, reaching triple figures by the end of our session. The density of Robins simply in the cover round the waterfall area by the car park was promising enough – involving some 15 birds – so we headed towards the large patch of scrub towards the Dryburn Mouth, where back in April I had needless to say dipped the aforesaid Wryneck…

A small patch of bushes nearby that had held Lesser Whitethroat back in April had nothing in them this time round, and other cover on the way was also empty. Generally, the further we edged towards the ‘Wryneck scrub’, things seemed to be getting quieter; even Robin numbers were thinning out. It was pointless having a loss of heart though, so we got to work on arrival at the scrub. 15 minutes working its western edge only produced a couple of Reed Buntings and a Whitethroat, so the omens weren’t looking great. As I connected with this Whitethroat however, I glimpsed a bulky, drab warbler sp. diving across the path into another nearby patch. Naturally, I followed it, my Dad noticing and joining me: a Chiffchaff showed itself, but this evidently was not what I had glimpsed beforehand.

We edged closer to the scrub and were greeted with a frantically loud, on-going and exceptionally deep-set ‘tacking’ metallic alarm call from the immediate cover; unmistakably a BARRED WARBLER. Result! Initially hearing this beast was not unlike a frenzied Blackbird with a chesty cough. A few moments later I caught the rear end of the bird moving out of cover and further into the open, where it moved across the top of a bush briefly, revealing its very stout fleshy tinged bill and a dark iris, confirming it as a first winter. Sporting an almost disproportionately long tail and uniformly grey upperparts, contrasting with somewhat more buff underparts, it dipped lower and briefly revealed diffusely barred undertail coverts. Structurally, it was akin to a Garden Warbler on steroids. My first attempt to photograph bird inevitably caused it to flush; it flew quite a way, and thereafter typically became the most skulking bastard on the planet. After a bit more following it around it could not be located. No-one else was immediately around to chase it up, but my hope was that it would be refound. It was indeed relocated, being seen by various observers for the following four days.

Onwards to Tyninghame Bay, which we caught at pretty low tide. This did not detract from some very lovely wader watching though, with a group of 120+ Dunlin and 70 Ringed Plover holding at least one smart Little Stint, 6 gorgeous Curlew Sandpipers and a few Sanderling. It’s an autumn prerequisite to get your fill of these classic passage waders, and as always I left feeling satiated. Other wader numbers were impressive, with triple figures of Redshank and Curlew, as well as numerous Barwits, 19 Grey Plovers at least 10 Greenshanks. That aside, the accolades go to my first two Little Egrets in Lothian, generally nestled into a partly concealed channel at some distance.  To round things off, a single Red-necked Grebe not very far out capped things off very nicely indeed from Gosford Bay; a timeless Lothian speciality that should merit more attention than I’ve given it!

***

So has my strategy worked? With Redstart, re-found Hoopoe and self-found Barred Warbler on my three days out in Lothian away from Cramond since April, it’s been pretty effective. I doubt it will be kept up, mind ,as I aim to get out more hereon in, but it’s certainly proved Lothian’s potential in the right conditions!

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Patch Perks Up

Before now, I felt I’d done Costessey House Private Estate an injustice this year. Aside from the rump end of a Christmas and New Year trip, I hadn’t been down to Norfolk at all in 2014 before April, but I ended up having precious little time to get out during that visit. Eventually, I managed to fit in a couple of weeks in at the beginning of this month, which finally made up for the lack of coverage earlier in the year and perked things up considerably.

I’ll briefly précis what was generally a hard-graft mid April on site. I was generally pretty peripatetic that month and in the meantime was having to revise for my impending first year exams, so the patch was somewhat neglected. Those few days I did manage to check the patch did not produce anything particularly fresh but were not entirely unproductive, as my visit saw in the arrivals of the majority breeding warblers on site, and numerous other summering species. Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and the single Willow Warbler pair on site were conspicuous by their absence until the last day on site, 18th April. Swallow, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were present throughout, however. Certainly the most notable occurrence of the visit was a Cetti’s Warbler letting out a single, belligerent burst of song on the ‘trail side’ of Fishermen’s Trail on 15th April, before it flew over to the reeds and consequently disappeared, never to utter another explosive note, at least whilst I was around! A gorgeous pair of Otter fishing along the top of the Wensum at Costessey Marsh were much enjoyed during these flat times, but slunk underwater more or less as soon as I noticed them. That aside though, patching was proving quite laborious and I was beginning to believe that the patch had properly stagnated after an extremely productive 2013.

Roe Deer at Costessey Marsh, April 2014

Otter in the process of submerging, April 2014

I was back with my hopes afresh on 31st May, and remained there until 11th June. The place is not only stunningly beautiful and warm in the tranquility of early summer, but it seems to be the most fruitful time of year for birding. Activity, be it breeding or just the showiness of all flora and fauna, is at its absolute optimum, and on this occasion it was still early enough to hear most stuff sing. The Swallows at the barn have had a stellar year, raising 5 young. Fledging took place on 5th June, as the juveniles sat desperately on the wires right by my bedroom window, incessantly waiting to be fed. The adults quickly attended, feeding each bird individual in perfect order from left to right across the wire. The next day, the juveniles took to the skies for the first time, a bit uneasy on the wing but nonetheless willing to partake in a general feeding frenzy in and around the paddocks. I was also delighted to find out that the local Fox pair, who have a den near the cottage, have successfully reared two cubs, which were seen frolicking together at the back of Costessey Marsh on 5th. The local Mallards have 13 chicks, whilst Nuthatch, Kingfisher, Great-spotted and Green Woodpeckers are showing signs of breeding activity and feeding regularly. A juvenile Egyptian Goose was noted on 1st, a sure sign that this year’s second brood was at least partially successful, whilst Mute Swan cygnets have yet to be seen despite nest building along Fishermen’s Trail in April.

Contrasting tree shots, near Witches’ Field along Mill Lane early evening

contrasting tree shots, later that evening along the Marriott’s Way

During this general breeding frenzy, I put in my annual effort to survey the number of warbler pairs on 7th, and decided to throw in thrushes for good measure. It was an excellent session, allowing me to familiarize myself with the true numbers of breeding Turdus and warblers, to the extent I am fully aware of where each individual pair is based on site. It is immersion in the local birds like this that gives me a major kick patching-wise, very little is more fulfilling in helping me get to know the bids here. The results of the survey, which threw in a surprise or two and was rather more comprehensive than last year, were as follows:

• Sedge Warbler – 7 pairs: in same areas as last year, a new pair noted along the back of Costessey Marsh
• Reed Warbler – 1 singing male was heard at Fishermen’s Trail at 6:30pm and then again an hour later at the reeds leading into Costessey Marsh. The bird remained at Fishermen’s till the 8th but was gone the next day.
• Grasshopper Warbler – a pair were seen together on site
• Whitethroat – 9 pairs: an increase of 5 pairs from last year, two new pairs at back of Costessey Marsh
• Blackcap – 6 pairs: two new pairs at the back of Costessey Marsh in addition to last years 4
• Chiffchaff – 7 pairs: a new pair at the back of Costessey Marsh
• Willow Warbler – 1 pair: first confirmed breeding record on site
• Song Thrush – 7 pairs: throughout the site
• Blackbird – 10+ pairs: throughout the site 

Both individuals from the Barn Owl pair showed themselves at various points during the visit, and it is believed that they are breeding again on site this year: I eagerly await to see if they produce any young. I was also delighted to find the first Little Owl of the year at the back of the paddocks at dusk on 10th: this was the only date that it was seen but I have reason to believe that the pair are present at the time of writing. The Hobbies have been conspicuous by their absence so far, though I expect them to be more showy further into the summer: just a single was noted, chased by Swifts on 4th. A brief flourish of uncommon patch species made up for their elusiveness however, with two Oystercatchers seen on two separate dates, representing the third and fourth records respectively and the first records for two years: no.1 was over Mill Meadow on 6th whilst no.2 was over Mill Field on 10th. 5 Canada Geese over Costessey Marsh, including a dodgy Canada x Barnacle hybrid, were only the second patch record of this species, whilst two impressive Serotine Bats hawking relentlessly over the back of the marsh in the serenity of a sticky twilight on 1st were a full blown mammal first.

Old Costessey Fields in the sunset

Finally, we move on to the patch firsts, of which there was a fulsome three, taking the overall patch total up to 103 species, two off my intended 2014 target. Prior to this month, I had had no patch lifers at all this year, which was one of the primary reasons for my believing that things had become stagnant. I was relieved to get calls from family during May alerting me of the long-term presence of a Cuckoo on site. I continued to get calls about it right up until my visit, and was able to finally connect on 31st, as its hollow-sounding call reverberated throughout Costessey Marsh and I later watched it being mobbed by mistaken Jackdaws who presumably thought it was a Sparrowhawk. I was delighted to find that it would remain consistently until I left on the 11th, adding a dose of quality to summer patching this time round; this is the first summer this has happened on patch since 2011 at least and is a wider indicator of a great year for Cuckoos UK wide. It always remained recalcitrant and never showed well though, and seemed to habitually make an appearance mid-afternoon between Mill Field and Fishermen’s Trail, usually at around 4:00pm. At other points during the day, I assume it may be at a breeding site off patch. The best views were had of it calling on the dead tree at the start of Mill Lane on 1st for a couple of minutes, but apart from that I was limited to distant or brief flight views. Nonetheless though, a partly expected but much appreciated patch first.

The second patch first was fairly unremarkable and entirely expected as a former patch bogey that I was thankful to get out the way; two Sand Martins joining a lively congregation of hirundines over Mill Field consisting of some 20 House Martins, 15 Swallows and 40 Swifts on 5th. I would have been fairly content with just this and Cuckoo for the visit, but I was in for one final bonus on the last night. As I arrived home from a meal out at around 9:45pm, a very familiar wader call sounded twice in the silence of dusk. I think it’s fair to say I have rarely been as excited by a Common Redshank as I was at that moment. A quick look up and I clocked the bird bolting westwards. It’s always very exhilarating, after hours of trying for them, when a wader flies over Costesesy H.P.E.. Admittedly Redshank was a main contender for the next new patch wader, but nonetheless any wader sp. is a good record, and there is not that much good habitat for this species in the Costessey area generally, especially on patch. It constitutes to the 9th species of wader recorded on site: Curlew is definitely favourites for no. 10. And so that Tringa terminated a reinvigorating visit, which has restored my belief in Costessey House Private Estate.

***

Are there many more opportunities to continue this fruitful spell on patch? At the moment, unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be many. I am down again for a few days only in July, and then after that I might not be down again until the autumn. Does that 105 seem within reasonable reach? Yes, but I have my doubts that I will manage if I don’t have a good long visit until the autumn or beyond. Which species seem likely now? Curlew, Red Kite, Common Sandpiper and Tufted Duck are on my agenda, but the patch often bucks my predicted trends! We’ll have to see what happens.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Cramond Update

The blog has gone very quiet recently, for no reason other than simply that university life had been all-absorbing for the last few months. I write now with first year already behind me, astonishingly. It’s a particularly peculiar feeling, as a monumental and truly life-changing uni year has finished in which so, so much has happened, yet I can remember eking out two Balearic Shearwaters at Saltcoats a couple of days before moving in as if it was literally yesterday. Christ! Sadly, moving out of uni halls has made me temporarily homeless in Edinburgh, so I won’t be able to patch the new birding homeland for me that is Cramond until late summer; in the meantime I’ll just have to hope that I don’t miss anything major!  Anyhow, picking up where I left off last time…

February saw me with the most free time I’ve had all year, so I was able to manage another good long session on site before the month was finished. During the a.m of 18th, wader numbers remained fairly consistent, with at least 140 Barwits, 5 Greenshanks with 230 Redshanks, 160 Oystercatcher, 120+ Dunlin and 110+ Curlew but nothing particularly new on this score along the mudflats. However, 64 Pink-footed Geese were a welcomed but very much expected new species here. A mile out into the Firth of Forth at Cramond Island, the sea was as flat as a millpond. This proved very productive in terms of clocking diver and grebe numbers, with at least 25 Great Crested Grebes and 12 Red-throated Divers noted. Scanning from Barracks Point eventually produced a smart adult winter Black-throated Diver on the sea not far out towards Inchmickery, the undoubted highlight of the day and probably the main patching highlight at this beautiful site so far. Great Northern Diver and Red-necked Grebe would now do very nicely indeed! Other new species here included a single flyover Siskin and numerous Linnets and Meadow Pipits. Since that day more or less, I have been particularly enthusiastic to work this underwatched but uniquely placed little promontory.

towards Hound Point and the Forth Rail Bridge

March was an exceptionally busy month, hence I only managed one visit!  I was determined to make 26th a productive one, with a mind to catching up with early spring species and Patchwork Challenge. The first two Chiffchaffs were noted on site singing towards the Almond Walkway. Wader numbers had dwindled somewhat, yet 3 Greenshanks remained among 185 Redshank, 100 Barwits, c.130 Oystercatcher, 60 Curlew and 40 Dunlin, so not entirely unhealthy apart from on the Calidrid front. As has increasingly become the case so it seems, much of the action again came from Cramond Island. Standing steadfastly against the battering wind from Barracks Point, I was intrigued by a relatively substantial movement of auks to and fro along the Forth, some just frolicking, others presumably heading towards Bass Rock. Mixed flocks of at least 350 auks passed through in c.50 minutes, with a good number of the less distant birds evidently being Razorbills. I felt as if this passage would herald something better and within half an hour 4 Puffins, pot-bellied but not porculent, headed east, briefly landing on the sea mid-way between Cramond Island and Inchkeith but slightly too distant for me to appreciate the wonders of their kaleidoscopic conks. Most of the obvious seabirds made an appearance for the first time, with at least 130 Gannets taking advantage of a good shoal very distantly, as well as numerous Fulmars, Kittiwakes and a partly expected bonus in the form of a cracking male Long-tailed Duck heading east. As I headed back towards the causeway along Western Nook, the song-flights of cascading Linnets and Meadow Pipits echoed along the folds of foliage extending from Tegmalm’s Wood in the encroaching incandescent sunset.

Barracks Point, with Arthur’s Seat in the distance (26/3/14)

sunset on the mudflats, an exceptionally low tide! (26/3/14)

For much of April I was in Norfolk, hence just two visits were managed in the approach to exam season. My visit on 5th was primarily to show friends the area so was thus very quiet, yet I still managed new species in the form of Grey Wagtail at the Almond Mouth, and both Stock and Collared Doves. A proper visit on 29th April was unfortunately both tight and a slight screw up in terms of predicting tide times: by the time I had arrived, half the causeway had already been submerged by the merciless Firth of Forth. The pace that the tide can swoop in at Cramond is frightening, and I am admittedly still learning my craft when it comes to anticipating arrival times in terms of maximising my chances both on Cramond Island and at the estuary mouth. If anything though, this proved beneficial on the day as it allowed for good views of the first ‘true’ spring passage waders on patch. No less than 30 Black-tailed Godwits – a good number of which were in stonking sumplum – shared the increasingly negligible mud flats hugging Long Green Woods with 80 Barwits, at least 120 coming-on-sumplum Dunlins, 150 Oystercatchers, 90 Redshanks and 65 Curlew. It was invigorating to watch these Blackwits in with the Cramond wader regulars, not only because of their beauty but because their presence symbolized the start of my spring passage wader experience here; an omen to more productive times ahead in late summer I hope: Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Spotshank are high on my agenda. This visit was also useful for catching up with the crop of expected commoner warbler species, with 2 Willow Warblers, Blackcap and Whitethroat present in and around the Cramond Walkway, and of course the first terns of the year offshore: at least 6 Sandwich and 10 Commons, as well as a single Arctic being harassed by a couple of belligerent Lesser-Black Backed Gulls.

looking back towards the mouth

This May was always going to be particularly pain-staking, as the urge to get to the patch possessed me during revision and exams. To my own academic benefit, I didn’t get out to Cramond until Tuesday 20th, shortly after my exams had finished. As I only had a relatively small window, the best I could manage was arriving within a couple of hours of high tide, thus again preventing me from getting out to the island. It was another productive day for passage waders, however, with my first Ringed Plovers here being a lovely sight. Totals in a 2 hour session in and around the mouth produced: 150+ Ringed Plover in flighty, disparate groups (largest group sat at 58), 70 Barwits, 50 Dunlin, 40 Curlew, 20 Redshanks, 6 Blackwits, 4 Knot, 2 Grey Plover (including one in sumplum shining out of the grey gloom) and another new species in the form of a lone Sanderling in with a few Calidrids on Cramond Sands. 4 House Martins and 3 Swallows were also at the latter spot. Kestrel and Buzzard were the only raptors on show, even though it felt like an Osprey day.

Finally, I headed via Cramond for a final once-over straight after moving out of uni halls on 25th . The visit was short and the tide was exceptionally low, rendering most waders distant. However, a posse of 28 Ringed Plover, 16 Dunlin and 1 Turnstone were close in by the causeway, and at least 80 Barwits were present not too far out. I finally got out to Cramond Island for the first time in what felt like an age. Reasonable numbers of Fulmar, Gannet and Auk sp were moving through offshore, but after half an hour’s bash it seemed pretty quiet. At the last minute I clocked the only new species of day heading north-west, a posse of 23 Common Scoter (5♂ and 18♀ ); given that both the Scoter species are slightly trickier west of Musselburgh and that nigra is oddly the least regular of the two, this was quite a noteworthy finish to an immensely enjoyable first half of the year on site.

***

In just 9 visits so far, I’ve managed 88 species and 102 points for Patchwork Challenge at Cramond; not that bad a haul and certainly indicative of what harder work and prolonged periods on site will produce in the future. Yearly aims? I’m thinking 110+ species, but it may well surprise me if I put more time in from late summer onwards. The first five months of patching this beautiful area have been far less frequent than I would have liked them to have been, mostly because real life has been very busy. That aside, my immersion into the elements of Cramond’s diverse habitats and birds has been seamless: its hoards of waders on the soft estuarine flats off which shades of light playfully bounce and merge, the beautiful folds of a spring-time Cramond Island and the island encompassed view of the Firth of Forth when seawatching from Barracks Point, are already absorbing themselves into my conscience. The bond grows stronger every visit; therein lies the beauty of patching.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph