Winter Birds at Musselburgh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

view from Musselburgh, looking across to Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Yesterday we had a lovely visit to Musselburgh, in East Lothian, a short bus journey away from Edinburgh. It's always a favourite place for birdwatching, especially at this time of year when the winter birds are still here and the summer birds are due to arrive. Plus, the resident Skylarks are starting to sing. We were lucky to hear probably three Skylarks singing high above us and even saw one of them, a small silhouette against the clouds. 

Meanwhile on the River Esk we saw a large number of Canada Geese

along with a few Goldeneyes, the males trying to impress the females, by throwing back their heads. I'm not sure whether the female in the photo below is impressed or not, but the male is certainly putting on a show.. 

Walking further, along the Firth of Forth, we saw several birds out on the water, the most impressive being this male Long Tailed Duck

We also visited the hides on the Lagoons, where we were impressed by the numbers of Wigeon gathered at the far side of the lagoons, and were also pleased to get some photos of this Curlew that came quite close to the hide.