20 Nov - not good weather for Munros, but fine for birding. My first stop was the Slamannan area where after a bit of searching I located the wintering flock of Taiga Bean Geese (1) and counted 95 - very wary birds, craning their necks and watching me from a distance of at least half a mile. My first ever sighting of this subspecies, as the single birds that turn up in the south of England are usually Tundra Beans. I then headed for Musselburgh and the Firth of Forth - an excellent selection of wintering birds here on the rising tide, including 4-5 smart drake Long-tailed Ducks (8), 50+ Velvet Scoters (7), Common Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, Eiders, a flyby redhead Smew, a Red-throated Diver (4) and a Slavonian Grebe (5). Waders included hundreds of Knot, and smaller numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlew, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. A flock of 200+ Waxwings (2) flew over Musselburgh town centre but didn't land.
John Muir country park near Tyninghame has a wintering flock of Shorelarks (3) this year, and I had good views of 10 birds feeding on the saltmarsh at fairly close range, together with a mobile flock of 150+ Twite with their distinctive nasal calls. Also seen here were 3 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, with more Grey Plovers and Bar-tailed Godwits.
Gosford Bay and Gullane Bay near Aberlady are well-known for their wintering duck, Grebes and Divers, and scanning in the persistent drizzle produced a total of 12 Long-tailed Duck, including some close views of drakes - 6 Slavonian Grebes, a Red-necked Grebe (6), a Black-throated and 2 Red-throated Divers were also seen. Other birds seen during the day included Brambling, Redpoll, Siskin and Rock Pipit.
An excellent tally for a winters day with some wind and rain and limited daylight hours.
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