Monday 17 September 2018

Goosander in Newhaven and wading birds in Cramond, Scotland


In August, while attending the Edinburgh Festival, I took a second day off to visit a couple of small towns on the edge of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian and just a short bus journey from the centre of Edinburgh.  It was a cloudy dull day, but not raining.

The first place I called at was Newhaven, near Leith, and below is a view of the harbour.  At first, I thought that the birds in the harbour were all gulls.  But I was mistaken!


Much to my delight, there was a Goosander!  One minute it was there and the next it wasn't as it kept diving for food.  Luckily I managed to get this photograph of it and have been told that it is a juvenile.


I was with a couple of friends and we had lunch in a pub in Newhaven.  Afterwards one went back to Edinburgh to see a show and one stayed with me.  We got a bus along the coast to the next small town and then walked along the towpath to Cramond, where there was a huge beach.


There is a long row of anti-submarine pylons across the beach between the mainland and a small island that was used for defence purposes during WWII.  Many gulls and wading birds were wandering around on the wet sand.


 An Oystercatcher was doing a balancing act - standing on one leg and stretching out it's black-and-white wing.


Two Curlews with long curved beaks were searching for food.


A group of Redshanks were paddling in a stream that ran across the beach..



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