Ne'er cast a clout 'til May is out

Unless you are a Gadwall that is... This male, one of two drakes at Duddingston Loch on 27 May was already beginning its moult out of its smart breeding plumage into its more dowdy eclipse plumage. Certainly the weather since then seems to have been distinctly summer-like, so maybe it had the right idea.

Note the fine comb like structre at the side of the beak - presumably a filter for dabbling.

First migrants return

I managed a brief trip out yesterday to check a couple of local spots - Duddingston, Figgate Park and Seafield. At each site a small number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were in evidence - almost all new arrivals I am sure, back from their wintering grounds further south and west. Most that were close enough for scrutiny looked to be large enough and heavy billed enough to be males, though that is a difficult call with isolated individuals. Two LBBGs from both my office window in Merchiston and over the back garden earlier in the week also indicate that the arrival of these smart gulls has begun. Other changes include Collared Doves back in Liberton and Figgate Park, a Pochard and pair of Gadwall on Duddingston. Bring on the spring!

Foot It in Edinburgh: 76 miles without a Collared Dove

Hit the 100% mark on Saturday during a 14-miler. Started at around 8:00 am - nice and calm with fresh snow underfoot. One of the hybrid Hooded x Carrion Crows from last weekend was on the same rooftop so I fired off some better record shots. As I did so a passerine flew over silently - almost certainly a Meadow Pipit - galling that it wasn't calling as it would have been a Foot It tick...

The now customary hybrid along with a more regular Carrion Crow

All I could think was "flush a Bittern"! One of 3 Fox sightings on Saturday.

Into Craiglockhart Castle Park for nice views of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Kestrel, and then on to Duddingston where I tried in vain to will a Bittern to emerge from the reedbed. Only ever seen 2 here but... A Fox trotting along the edge of the ice and as it could do no better than me I decided to head around to view the open water. A single Pink-footed Goose in amongst the Greylags was unexpected - nice close views, so presumably feral, but could just be lost and disorientated and tagging along with the Greylags?

Pink-footed Goose on Duddingston Loch - feral or wild?

My first Foot It tick of the day - a GBBG in the middle of the ice

Scanning the gulls on the frozen loch I noted a single Great Black-backed Gull (species 72 after my mid-week Little Grebe). After drawing a blank on this species until now, I ended up with 3 sightings before the end of the weekend. As I was watching the gull some calls overhead revealed 2 Skylark heading towards the coast. Soon after 2 Meadow Pipits (73) passed over calling making up for the earlier dip. Satisfied that two glaring holes in my list had been plugged, I decided to go and twitch something unexpected and headed up Arthur's Seat to look for the Snow Buntings that had been reported earlier in the week. After an hour or so combing the various tops I conceded defeat and headed to check the wildfowl on St Margaret's Loch. Nothing new to add here but an impressive concentration of hungry birds and a few handfuls of birdseed were soon hoovered up.

Hungry Mute Swans on St Margaret's Loch

Heading for the Figgy I bumped into yet another hybrid Hooded x Carrion Crow, my sixth while Footing It and my ninth different bird in Edinburgh this winter. There are obviously a few around...

My sixth different hybrid Hooded x Carrion Crow whilst Footing It - this one at Mount Castle

At Figgate Park I was glad to see that my two target species were still on the pond and so Gadwall (74) and Shoveler (75) brought me up to 100% of my target. That said, I have walked a bit further than I initially planned to and roamed a little further afield so maybe my target of 75 was too low. In fact, there are three species that I have yet to see on my initial list (Collared Dove, Tawny Owl, Lesser Redpoll). Yes you read that right - 76 miles without a Collared Dove!

One of four Gadwall on Figgate Pond

 I know of three other species that have been reported in the area so far during the month (Crossbill, Fulmar, Snow Bunting). In addition, the following are possible, though unlikely perhaps: Grey Partridge, Bittern, Mediterranean Gull, Long-eared Owl, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Mealy Redpoll. With one weekend remaining I don't see myself adding much more than Tawny Owl and Lesser Redpoll, but who knows?...

I hit 100% of 75 species with this handsome drake Shoveler

Gadwall, Figgate Park

Pleased to see the Gadwalls still at Figgate Park on Sunday. The 3 males have now been joined by a female - its white speculum giving the game away as it fed. The two males below were keeping a close eye on it and each other. The other male seemed more interested in the possibility of bread! So, 4 Gadwalls in total - probably the most that I have seen in Lothian for a few years and not a species of wildfowl I would normally associate with an urban park pond.

Gadwall and Shoveler

I popped into Figgate Park this morning en route to the coast. It is one of those sites where good views of ducks and gulls are guaranteed, so given enough visits something unusual will presumably turn up sooner or later. Well, today it was Gadwall, with three males sailing around, one of which was quite tame and displaying. I am not sure I have heard its grunting quack before. Male Gadwall are subtly gorgeous birds with their fine vermiculations on their breast feathers.

There was also a Goosander in with the bunch, and I was delighted to bump into Anthony (aka blackpuddingonabike) at what must be his local patch. Apparently he has had a Pintail and a Water Rail at Figgate Pond in the last few days.

The Gadwall was a Lothian year tick for me, as was a Red-necked Grebe off the seawall at Musselburgh later in the morning. I have not been trying very hard at listing this year given the amount of time I have been out of the country, but still nice to inch the list up a little higher...

I had been hoping to see the Shoveler that had been hanging around the Figgy in previous winters, but there was no sign of that until I popped into Duddingston Loch shortly before sundown. Also there, a Daubenton's bat foraging low over the water giving great in-flight scope views.

So, it turned out that today's two little birding trips around Edinburgh produced sightings of 13 species of ducks: Mallard, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Eider. Conspicuous by their absence perhaps were Pochard and Scaup both of which were once common in the area but now increasingly difficult to see.