Pentland Hills Regional Park (Flotterstone to Threipmuir) 

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Feb 212024
 

Flotterstone, Edinburgh, Penicuik EH26 0PR 

Hilly landscape with blue river, green trees, and cloudy sky.
View over Glencorse from Flotterstone
©Walkhighlands, Wikimedia Commons

Located south of Edinburgh, the Pentland Hills Regional Park is a good area to get a glimpse of the Scottish mountains wildlife without going to the Highlands. Along the hiking paths, especially from Flotterstone, you can hear – and perhaps see – some Pheasants, as well as the Red Grouse, an endemic species to the Scottish mountains. Along the few lochs and reservoirs in the park, such as Threpmuir, you can spot some hunting birds like the Cuckoo, Skylarks or Peregrine Falcons. You might also see waders breeding such as the Curlew and the Common Sandpiper. 

Profile photo of a brown bird with black eyes and red eyebrows standing in dry grass.
A Scottish Red Grouse
©MPF, Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; RSPB (Edinburgh Area Local Group)

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River Esk Mouth 

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Feb 212024
 

Shorthope Street, Musselburgh EH21 

Stone bridge spanning a river and green grass walkway with buildings and trees in the background.
River Esk Mouth in Musselburgh
©Musselburgh District Angling Association

Running through Midlothian and East Lothian, the River Esk ends in the neighbouring city of Musselburgh. The mouth of the River Esk is a good place to spot groups of swans, Canada geese, gulls, Goldeneyes, Mergansers, and Goosanders. Spanning from the city centre of Musselburgh (‘Store’ Footbridge) to the seashore, the walk ends with a view over Edinburgh and the bay.

White swan with an orange beak floating in dark blue waters.
A Mute Swan
©Yerpo, Wikimedia Commons

Especially at low tide, many waders breeding at the nearby Lagoons can be seen feeding. Between mid-summer and early autumn, up to 200 Mute Swans gather here on their migrating journey.

Profile photo of a white and black duck with a green head and yellow eye floating in dark waters.
A male Common Goldeneye in winter plumage
©Stefan Berndtsson, Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; East Lothian Council

Musselburgh Lagoons 

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Feb 212024
 

Musselburgh Lagoons, Musselburgh EH21 7QE 

Walkway alongside blue lagoon waters with hills in the distance.
Musselburgh Lagoons
©M.J. Richardson, Geograph

Following the path along the shore beyond the River Esk, the Musselburgh Lagoons is one of the most famous birdwatching sites in the Lothians. It is home to wintering species of waders, terns, gulls, seaducks and grebes. Several hides are located around the different lagoons as a way to quietly and closely observe the birds without disturbing them. From the shore, often visible species include Velvet and Common Scoter, Cormorants and Divers, as well as Terns, Gannets, and other seabirds breeding on the Islands of the Firth of Forth. From the Lagoons, Long-tailed ducks, Teals, Shovelers, Oystercatchers, Lapwings, Curlews, Bar-tailed, and Black-tailed Godwits can be observed from the different lagoons.  

Profile photo of a black duck with white on its wing and a yellow beak floating in light blue water.
A Velvet Scoter
©Vince, Wikimedia Commons

The Musselburgh Lagoons were originally created in 1964 to store ash waste from the former Cockenzie Power Station. The ash lagoons have been capped and landscaped over the years by Scottish Power. Later, with support from the RSPB, two of the lagoons were reconstituted to be wetland areas for breeding birds. As the area is an important breeding ground, it is now part of the Firth of Forth Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area.  

Profile photo of an iridescent green bird with a black and white face, and voluminous black feathers on its head, standing in sand.
A Northern Lapwing
©Eddy Van 3000, Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; RSPB (Scottish Nature Note by Molly Martin); Birdingplaces.eu; RSPB (Edinburgh Area Local Group)

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Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve 

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Feb 212024
 

Longniddry EH32 0QB 

Wooden bridge crossing grass and marshy waters with a blue sky and trees in the distance. The sign in front reads "Aberlady Bay - Local Nature Reserve - No Dogs Thank You."
The Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve
©Mat Fascione, Geograph

In 1952, Aberlady Bay was the first site to be designated a Nature Reserve in the UK. Its great variety of habitats, from low water to salt marsh and sand dunes, makes it an important breeding site for the local bird life, as well as migrants. As in most of the sites covered in this tour, the birds that you may be able to spot differ according to the season. In autumn, Aberlady Bay is the wintering ground of over 30,000 pink-footed geese migrating from Iceland up to the coasts of South Europe and North Africa. Passerines such as Wheatears, Whitethroats, and Blackcaps also nest on site, along with species of waders like the Redshank or the Lapwing. 

Profile photo of a brown bird with a red beak legs standing on a wooden posted against a green background.
A Redshank
©Andreas Trepte, Wikimedia Commons
A Pink-footed Goose
©Iwolfartist, Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club; RSPB (Edinburgh Area Local Group)

Additional Links:

Waterston House and Scottish Ornithologists’ Club Headquarters 

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Feb 212024
 

Waterston House, Aberlady EH32 0PY 

Wooden building with a reddish roof beyond a short driveway and trees. The sign in the front reads "Scottish Birdwatchers Centre - Waterson House - All Welcome."
The Waterston House, headquarters of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club
©Jim Barton, Geograph

The Waterston House is the headquarters of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC). The SOC was created in March 1936 after a meeting between Scottish ornithologists in the Royal Scottish Geographical Society with the goal to coordinate bird conservation actions and policies in Scotland. The Club promotes systematic recording and study of birds across gardens and nature reserves, and forms a network of local ornithologists all around the country. The Waterston House contains the Donal Watson Gallery, specializing in wildlife art, and the George Waterston Library and Archives collection, containing ornithological books, journals and bird reports since 1948. It also houses ornithological artefacts such as notebooks, correspondence and photographs from members of the SOC and of eminent Scottish ornithologists like Evelyn V. Baxter, Leonora J. Rintoul, and George Waterston. 

Black and white photo of a smiling man with hair wearing rain gear and binoculars.
George Waterston (1911-1980) one of Edinburgh’s most influential ornithologists
©SOC Archive, Scottish Orinthologists’ Club

Sources:

The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club; Pioneers in Scottish Ornithology, chapter in Bob McGowann and David Clugston, The Birds of Scotland (2007), edited by the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club

Additional Links:

Scottish Seabird Centre 

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Feb 212024
 

The Harbour, Harbour Terrace, North Berwick, EH39 4SS 

Stone building with an angular roof up a driveway and set right on the coast; blue skies and water in the background.
The Scottish Seabird Centre
©Edward McMaihin, Geograph

The Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick is a conservation charity and visitor centre, dedicated to the research and protection of seabird wildlife on The Bass Rock, as well as across the Firth of Forth, and further afield. The most iconic are the local colonies of puffins, pelagic seabirds with brightly coloured beaks that feed primarily by diving in the water. These unique birds can be found on many of the uninhabited islands in the Firth of Forth.

The Scottish Seabird Centre was opened by a team of local ornithologists in May 2000. Their goal was to use technologies, such as webcams, to enable locals to witness life on the surrounding seabird colonies in the Firth of Forth without disturbing the wildlife. The Centre not only has a role in sharing knowledge and interest for the marine wildlife, but also participates in its conservation by running several projects like recruiting volunteers to protect the puffins from invasive plant species on the island of Craigleith and cleaning the North Berwick beaches.

Rocky island with green foliage; dark blue waters in the foreground and light blue skies in the background.
The Island of Craigleith
©Mark Anderson, Geograph

The webcams in the Seabird Centre facilitate viewing from afar a kittiwake colony in Dunbar, the gannets of Bass Rock, and the puffins of Craigleith Island and the Isle of May. The Centre is also the departure point for boat trips to some islands of the Firth of Forth which are home to many seabird species (Bass Rock, Craigleith, the Lamb and the Isle of May). 

Tens of grey and white birds nesting on a grey rock cliff.
A busy colony of kittiwakes nesting on a cliff
©Julie St. Louis, PIXNIO

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; Scottish Seabird Centre (webpage)

Additional Links:

  • https://www.seabird.org/ (The Scottish Seabird Centre website for links to the webcam and current conservation projects)

Bass Rock 

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Feb 212024
 
Large rock at sea with a white building on one cliff; a white sailboat is visible in the foreground amidst blue seas and skies.
The Bass Rock, covered by nesting Gannets
©Ben Clarke, Wikimedia Commons

Bass Rock is an uninhabited island which lies in the Firth of Forth off North Berwick. Despite its rocky landscape, it was a royal jail in the 17th century, nicknamed the ‘Scottish Alcatraz’. Sold to the Hamilton-Dalrymple family, it was then used as a seabird hunting ground, a sheep grazing area, and a site to collect eggs or fish.

Profile photo of a white and brown bird in flight that has some tan coloring on its head.
A Northern Gannet
©jacme31, Wikimedia Commons

It is now a nature reserve, home to more than 150,000 birds and the world’s largest colony of Northern Gannets. The scientific name of gannets Morus Bassanus derives from the Bass Rock and its key role for gannet populations. In fact, the Gannets of Bass Rock faced a dramatic decline in 2022 due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza which killed more than 5,000 birds on the island.

The Bass Rock’ distinctive shape and interesting past inspired many works of fiction, from Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Lion Is Rampant by Ross Laidlaw, Tge New Confessions by William Boyd and the 2021 Stella Prize-winning The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld. Though access is restricted as not to disturb the nesting birds, the Bass Rock can be visited by a number of boat tours from North Berwick.

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; Scottish Seabird Centre; The Scotsman

Additional Links:

The Isle of May National Nature Reserve 

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Feb 212024
 

Isle of May Nature Reserve, Anstruther KY10 3XB 

Stone lighthouse on a green rocky hill with gulls in the foreground and grey skies in the background.
The Stevenson Lighthouse on the Isle of May
©Magnus Hagdorn, Wikimedia Commons

As of 1956, the Isle of May is one of Scotland’s 45 National Nature Reserves and belongs to NatureScot. The island is only accessible by boats which depart from each side of the Firth of Forth (North Berwick or Anstruther) and visitors can stay only 2.5 hours on land in order to minimize disturbance to the colony. A warden, assistant warden, volunteers and several researchers monitoring many aspects of the local wildlife live for up to 9 months a year on the island.

Profile photo of two black and white puffins with red-orange beaks and feet standing on a rock against a blue backdrop.
Two Atlantic Puffins
©rawpixel.com

Notably, the island is home to the biggest Scottish puffin colony! From cliff-breeding seabirds such as guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, fulmars to cormorants, Arctic terns or sea ducks such as Eiders, the island boasts many observable species. The island is also famous for its lighthouses. One was built in 1816 by Robert Stevenson, architect of many Scottish lighthouses and grandfather of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson; the other was built in 1843 and has now converted into a bird observatory.

Six brown and white birds sitting on a rocky ledge covered in white guano.
A group of Common Guillemots
©Boaworm, Wikimedia Commons

Sources: Individual Researcher Walk; NatureScot; Isle of May National Nature Reserve’s blog

Additional Links:

The Isle of May Bird Observatory 

 Birds  1 Response »
Feb 162024
 

Isle of May Nature Reserve, Anstruther KY10 3XB 

White lighthouse on a rocky coastline with greens in the foreground and blue skies and sea in the background.
The Isle of May Bird Observatory
©Wikimedia Commons

Founded in 1934 in one of the two lighthouses of the island, the Isle of May Bird Observatory is Scotland’s oldest bird observatory. The Isle of May was and still is a key location for the study of birds, particularly the understanding of bird migration. It is notably where the two ornithologists and founders of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, Evelyn V. Baxter and Leonora J. Rintoul, conducted fundamental work in the early 20th century to study birds’ migration. You can learn more about their findings in the 1918 publication ‘The Birds of the Isle of May: a migration study’ in the journal from the British Ornithologists’ Union. The observatory is still running today and contributes to the monitoring of birds migrating over Scotland. 

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; Isle of May Bird Observatory; Scottish Seabird Centre; Scottish Ornithologists’ Club

Additional Links:

First WWII Air Raid Victim in Britain

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Jun 052023
 

45 Abercorn Terrace, Portobello, Edinburgh, EH15 2DG

Portobello Beach, looking south-east in the direction of Abercorn Terrace.

Joseph McLuskie, house painter and Edinburgh resident, became the first civilian air raid casualty on mainland Britain after being hit by a stray machine gun bullet whilst he was up a ladder in Portobello (16 October 1939). McLuskie also became the first civilian in Britain to receive compensation for an air raid injury. Portobello hosted the funeral for the two German pilots shot down in the raid on the Forth. On 20 October 1939, a Royal Air Force procession escorted their remains from St. Philip’s Church to Portobello Cemetery, Milton Road East. The coffins were draped with the flags of Nazi Germany and hundreds of people lined the route as a pipe band played ‘Over the Sea to Skye’. At the graveside the chaplain stated, ‘There is much to divide us in thought and sympathy from those around whose graves we this day stand as mourners. And yet we do sincerely mourn the sacrifice of life demanded of them, and of so many other young and gallant men of all nations unhappily involved in war’. This suggests that ideas of heroic masculinity and nobility attached to the wartime pilot could transcend national boundaries, even at the height of war.

Tip to see this location: look east from Edinburgh Castle or Calton Hill, or travel to Portobello to see Abercorn Terrace and Portobello Cemetery.

Sources: Daily Express, 13 December 1939, p. 1, The Scotsman, 17 October 1939, p. 8, The Scotsman, 21 October 1939, p. 7 .

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