Oystercatchers and other waders in Musselburgh lagoons

Whilst in Edinburgh last week, I took two days off from the Festival in order to go bird-watching.  One trip was to North Berwick in order to go on a boat trip round the Bass Rock and see the thousands of gannets that are on and around the rock at the moment - photographs of which are in one of my earlier posts.  The second was an afternoon adventure to Levenhall Links nature reserve in Musselborough, which is on the coast between Edinburgh and North Berwick and easily reached by bus.  In fact, I was going to see MacFloyd at an Edinburgh Fringe concert at Brunton Hall in Musselburgh in the evening, so that tied in nicely with a birding trip during the day.

The weather was a bit dull, but that did not stop me.  What nearly stopped me was that the nature reserve, if going on foot from Musselburgh, is not that easy to find.  It was easy to find the race-course, but the path to the reserve was at the back of the course and there were several dirt tracks and none of them were marked.  I asked directions from a lady with a toddler and she sent me in completely the wrong direction.  Then a very kind man who was walking his dog around the area, put me right and almost escorted me to the unmarked path through a field full of weeds and wild flowers that led to a lake and then the reserve.

After I had walked around part of the lake, I came to the entrance to the reserve - which was still unmarked.  How you find it, if walking there, without the help of strangers, I do not know.  Everyone I met in Scotland was very friendly and helpful, thank goodness.

There was a path that led to a concrete hide without a roof.  There were several bird-watchers in the hide and I asked one of them if he could tell me what was on the site.  Basically, it ended up that there was a path to the left that led to a second hide.  This was at a dead-end, so you had to turn round and retrace your steps.  There was also a path to the right that led to a third hide.  This was also at a dead-end and you had to turn round and retrace your steps back to the centre hide.  In front of the three hides, there were several lagoons.

According to Wikipedia, this is land reclaimed from the sea by building a sea wall and pumping large amounts of pulverised fuel ash into a number of ash lagoons.  This infill site for fly ash from the coal-fired Cockenzie Power Station has been partially restored and landscaped.  Shallow pools for wading birds have been created and the area has become a popular site for bird-watchers.

There were certainly a lot of wading birds in and around the lagoons - mainly hundreds of Oystercatchers, which I love.  Unfortunately they were a long way away from the hide, so impossible to get good photographs of them.  The photo below was at maximum zoom.  There are also brown waders in the lagoon, which are probably Redshanks.  I was told by the other bird-watchers in the hide that Curlew Sandpipers and Greenshanks were also there - but I do not have a scope and, as I was really in Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival and not bird-watching, I had only a small pair of binoculars with me.  One man very kindly let me look through his scope, which he set up to let me look at a Redshank and a rarer Ruff, and seeing both birds together was great.

In the photo below, the hill that is called Berwick Law is in the background.  This is located in North Berwick and can be clearly seen from many places around Edinburgh.

At least I managed to take photographs of some of the huge number of Oystercatchers that were hanging around the lagoons and, of course, it was much easier to find my way out of the nature reserve than it had been to find my way in.  Also, going to the MacFloyd concert afterwards was so mind-blowing after the peace-and-quiet in the reserve!

Gannets on Bass Rock, North Berwick, Scotland

Last week I went with a large group of friends to Edinburgh for the Festival.  We spent 6 nights in University student flats near the Pleasance Courtyard and we all had a great time.

I did not want to miss out on bird-watching while I was in Scotland, so made sure to take some time off from the shows and hustle-and-bustle of an extremely busy Edinburgh.  Last year some of us went to North Berwick for the day and I was amazed and very pleased to discover the delights of a boat trip round Bass Rock to see the thousands of gannets covering the island.  We went again last Tuesday and, again, it was a hot and sunny day - just right for a trip to the sea-side.

It is a short train ride from Edinburgh Waverley station to North Berwick and then about 15 minute walk from the station to the harbour.  We boarded Sula II for the first trip round Bass Rock at 12.00 noon.  The present boat has been running since 1972 and is built from Honduras mahogany.   It is unique among the boats sailing from North Berwick.  The name "Sula" comes from the Latin, Sula bassanus, now Morus bassanus, which is a species of gannet, of which many thousands inhabit the Bass Rock.

The photograph below shows the rock as we approach it.  It is covered with white moving objects, which look just like flowers from the distance.

When the boat got near to the rock, we could see that all the surfaces were covered with truly beautiful gannets and their chicks.  The juveniles take several years to reach adult-hood, so some were fluffy and white, some were fluffy and white/grey mix, some were grey and some were white and almost adult.

I think that the adult gannets have beautiful faces and colouring.  I love them!

It was just staggering to see so many birds covering any surface on the rock that would hold them.

Obviously, not all the gannets were sitting on the rock.  There were thousands flying around the rock and floating in the sea.  In the photograph below, I managed to capture a juvenile gannet in flight.

We sailed right round the island and there were gannets everywhere.

It is impossible to describe the feeling of seeing thousands of gannets on the rock, in the sea and flying around in the air above us.  It was absolutely amazing!  Below is a photograph of the old cannon that is on top of Bass Rock, with birds flying around in all directions.  There used to be a prison on the island and I guess the cannon was part of the rock's protection.

We sailed all the way round the Rock and I was fascinated with all the gannets flying above us.  I had made sure that I had a windproof jacket with a hood with me, which I had put on.  As the Captain said when we set sail, anything that comes from the sky is not snow!  

The lighthouse is now unmanned and the ruins on the old prison are below it.  Gannets cover the rocks on this side of the island too and many thousands are circling in the sky.

What an amazing experience and one that I will not forget in a hurry.  I enjoyed changing the crowds of people in Edinburgh for the crowds of gannets in North Berwick.

After fish and chips sitting outside in the sun and a walk along the beach, we headed back to the station for the journey back to Edinburgh and another Festival show.

The next day, I checked the Sula II's sailing on that Tuesday and discovered that the next trip at 2pm only managed to go halfway round the Rock before they had to turn back as the wind was too strong for them to continue - so we were very lucky to have gone on the noon sailing.

Growth of 9 cygnets

Since I first discovered that a pair of Mute Swans in Battersea Park were bringing up a brood of 9 cygnets, I have been anxious to follow their progress.  I cannot get to the park as often as I would like as there are plenty of other parks, rivers, nature reserves and open spaces that I try to visit too - as well as having to do a lot of other things.  However I walk over there when I can.

My first visit to Battersea Park was on 9th April and the only swan I saw was one that was sitting on a nest in the reeds, far away from the public eye in the middle of the lake.  I presume it was this mum, as on my visits to the park this year, I have not seen any other swans at all.

I first saw the swans and their cygnets on 29th May.  They couldn't have been very old and were very small.

I visited the park again only a few days later on 2nd June and was pleased to see that there were still 9 fluffy baby cygnets.  Fortunately, there don't seem to be any gulls bothering the ducks and swans in this park.

I went to the park again on 19th June and there were 9 large cygnets swimming around with their parents and getting fed bread and other unsuitable food by visitors to the park.

My next visit was on 10th July and just look how large all 9 cygnets are now.  Mum and Dad have been excellent parents, looking after their young and making sure that they are not bothered by humans, dogs or other waterbirds.  I love their tiny fluffy wings - still to grow a lot in order for them to be able to fly.

I went over to the park again today, 9th August and now the cygnets look very grown up.  They have been transformed from tiny fluffy cuties to almost-swans in less than 3 months.  They are still very well-behaved and formed an almost straight line when following mum around the lake - apart from the straggler at the back, that is, who is following dad instead of it's siblings.  I hope that the pigeon is also impressed with their progress!

I think that the parent swans have done a great job of bringing up such a large number of cygnets.

Pretty hybrid Canada/Greylag goose

During one of my recent walks in the park, I came across a couple of geese that were swimming along near the edge of the lake.  One had a very unusual face and I think that it is a cross between a Canada Goose and a Greylag goose.  It's companion is obviously a normal Canada Goose.

The hybrid Canada/Greylag goose has a light-coloured beak, just like a Greylag, but with a dark mark on the end.  It also has pink legs, while a Canada goose has grey legs.  The feathers on it's back and head/neck are much darker than on a Greylag goose.  The photograph below shows a normal Greylag goose - taken in a different park and on a different day - but it shows that there is quite a difference in the colouring.

The hybrid Canada/Greylag stood at the edge of the water for a short while.  It has a white patch on it's face, which is a quite a lot larger than the white marking on the Canada Goose's face.

I watched the goose for quite a while and managed to get some close-up views of the face.

I think that it has got a really lovely face and in this photograph it looks very sweet.

The goose swam around for a while and I enjoyed watching it.

While the Canada/Greylag goose was flapping it's wings, the Canada goose started swimming off into the distance.  It's friend followed it soon afterwards.

I am finding out very interesting things whenever I go out to take photographs of the great wildlife that is available to see in London.  I am a relatively novice birder and am learning more and more about the birds I have managed to photograph during my walks.

Egyptian Geese changing places on a post

I love walking round the lakes in London's parks and taking photographs of any wildlife I see that interests me.  Last weekend, one stop gave me the opportunity to take some photos of Egyptian geese changing place on a post near the edge of the water.

Here is Goose No. 1 standing on top of the wooden post and minding it's own business.

Then Goose No. 2 flew in and hustled Goose No 1 from the top of the post.  On the right-hand side of the photo, it is No. 2 arriving and not No. 1 falling off the post - though I think it looks more like that!

Due to my inept photography skills, I only got part of the new arrival and only a blurred foot and a wing tip remains of the departing goose on the left of the picture.  Never mind.  They say that practise makes perfect, but I am not sure that applies in my case.  I am trying hard though, with so many photographs now on my computer that I can hardly cope with them.

Now the photograph below shows Goose No. 2 proudly standing on the post that it has just pinched from Goose No. 1.

Also, on another post (there was a row of wooden posts in the lake), there was a Black-Faced Gull with a brown face.  I don't know what that means - maybe someone can tell me?

Great Crested Grebe and 3 babies hiding under a willow tree

On Sunday afternoon I went for another walk round the lake in Hyde Park and saw lots of interesting water birds on the lake.  More of those later, when I have time to write about them.

One of the main reasons I went there was that I was quite keen to find the Great Crested Grebe and chicks that Ralph Hancock mentioned in his Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park Birds blog.  Thank you, Ralph.  I was not quite sure where they were located and knew that they were hidden by greenery and hard to spot. He was definitely correct about that.

After a few hours walking and taking photographs, I decided to cross the lake by the road bridge and came down the steps on the other side in order to walk along the lake and then out of the park to an underground station.  When I came down the steps, I saw a Great Crested Grebe swimming along in the water.  By the time I focused on it, it was speeding away and, as you can see, the light at that time was not that great.

I took a photo of it and then, on looking around further, realised that it had been visiting the family under the leaves of an over-hanging willow tree.  My vision was impaired by the flowers, leaves and shrubs on the bank - but my luck was in and I had found the family I had been looking for!  It is kind of hard to tell, but there is a little stripey head in the centre left in the photograph below and just to the right of the spiky pink flowers.

I stood there for ages, taking lots of photographs and knowing that my photographic skills are not that great.  I have not got round to having some much needed photography lessons, but will do so one day.  Anyway, the parent kept appearing and disappearing from sight.  In the photo below, one of the youngsters can just be seen in front of the parent.

In this photo, three fluffy babies with striped heads can be seen hiding under the shelter of the overhanging leaves.

The photograph below has been cropped quite a lot so that there is a clearer view of parent and a young Great Crested Grebe.

Sometimes the parent and youngsters swam out from under the tree, but the view of them is still not very clear.

I was very excited to have actually found them and that they were in a position that I could, at least, attempt some photographs of them.

This is a cropped photograph of a youngster that has floated out from under the branches.  I love the fluffy feathers and striped head.

In the below photograph, the parent Great Crested Grebe has swum out from under the willow and a baby is floating in the water just, annoyingly, behind the tall spiked flower on the bank.

After a while, they disappeared completely from sight but I was over-joyed to have found them and to have been able to take some photographs of them.