Eastern Black Redstart at Torness

Hopefully an armchair tick somewhere down the line.

Also saw 3 White Fronted & 1 Barnacle Goose in a field of Pink Feet & Greylag at Skateraw.

Failed to find any Water Pipits at Barn's Ness.

November Update

November had its good bits but it also had its frustrations. The biggest frustration was the failed trip to Avoch for the Siberian Accentor. Being in the wrong place first light caused me not to see this bird & it now looks like I'm not going to see this species unless an over wintering one is found.

I also struggled to see Waxwings despite hundreds turning up on the east coast. I failed to see any of the 100ish flock at Gullane. The aforementioned Avoch trip did yield about 15 Waxwings but was hardly compensation for the Siberian Accentor dip.

I also failed to see any Taiga Bean Geese at Slamannen & stooped so low as to twitch a Scaup on the Heritage Loch for a year tick.

Highlight of November was undoubtedly the 20 strong flock of Shore Lark at Tyninghame along with 100 Twite & 3 flyover Snow Bunting. However, I failed to see the Lapland Bunting at Aberlady.

Finally saw Purple Sandpiper for the year with 4 at Torness.

Shore Larks - part of a flock of 20 at Tyninghame

More Birding in East Lothian

Not the same number of birds as last weekend but nonetheless still enjoyable.

Snow Bunting between Barns Ness & Skateraw

Stonechat at Barns Ness

Bluethroat at Bellhaven Bay

Dusky Warbler at St Abbs

Dusky Warbler at the Mire Loch

Constantly tacking to reveal its presence. Always keeping low in the dense vegetation.

Still plenty of Goldcrests around. 1 Yellow Browed & lots of Thrushes & a few Brambling.

East Coast Again

With easterlies continuing it was another visit to the east coast today.

Started at Barns Ness in early rain but it soon improved. Again lots of Goldcrests, a few Blackcaps & Chiffchaffs and c100 Barnacle Geese. At Torness had brilliant vies of a Pallas's Warbler & Great Grey Shrike. There was also Redwing, Fieldfare & Brambling present.

Finished off with a great view of the Surf Scoter at Musselburgh. Also Long Tailed Duck & Slav Grebe.

The Thrill of Autumn Migration

The last week has been great with all kinds of birds turning up on the British east coast. A run of east/east south easterlies have in particular drifted unprecedented numbers of Yellow Browed Warblers into Britain. I decided to jam in on some of the action at Barns Ness yesterday.

As soon as I got out of the car I heard one & got on it straight away. There were at least 6 at Barns Ness yesterday, possibly many more.

A YBW from Shetland last year....

.... and another

The other feature was the number of Goldcrest, particularly in the morning. There were dozens.

Goldcrest

Other migrants included Blackap & Chiffchaff.

Chiffchaff in the late afternoon sun

On and off during the day I spent c6 hours at the campsite wood trying & failing to see the Pallas's Warbler. My back is still killing me today with all the standing. This bird was so elusive it was untrue. If I hadn't seen some pictures of it on the day I would have seriously doubted it existed.

For a break I ventured down to Torness but aside from Goldcrest & 1 Wheatear it was quiet.

On the way home I had a Merlin chasing a small bird adjacent to the A1 at Longniddry.

This morning I ventured down to the Barr Loch to see an apparently unringed Hooded Merganser that has been present since Thursday. Overall it looked a good candidate for acceptance.

Brunnich's Guillemot - Anstruther Harbour

Skegness

Spent 4 days down at Skegness with Patricia on a largely non birding trip. I still managed to sneak in a some quick visits to Frampton Marsh, Gibraltar Point & Donna Nook. Frampton had c6 Little Stints, Curlew Sand & Yellow Wagtails & Gibraltar Point had 5 Spoonbills, 6 Spotshanks & 3 Green Sands.

The weather was absolutely terrific with 29 degrees on one of the days.

Glorious Weather

Little Egret at Gibraltar Point

Jackson's Marsh at Gibraltar Point

Berlin