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..
