Duddingston Loch 

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Feb 212024
 

15 Old Church Lane, Duddingston, Edinburgh EH15 3PX 

Hill covered in green and orange foliage next to green loch waters.
Duddingston Loch
©Anne Burgess, Geograph

Located on the southern side of Holyrood Park, in the heart of Edinburgh, the Duddingston Loch is a great place to have a close encounter with several species of ducks and geese, and perhaps even spot some wintering migrants like the Great Northern Diver. It has been a Scottish Wildlife Trust bird sanctuary since 1925 and is home to breeding species of ducks such as the Canada goose, Pink-footed Goose, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Common Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, or passerines such as Reed Bunting or Willow Warbler.

Profile photo of a tall white, grey, and blue bird with a yellow beak and eye standing in grass.
A Grey Heron
©David Dixon, Geograph

Of particular note, the western end of the loch is the largest heronry in the Lothians. The Northern shore of the loch, accessible from the car park west of Duddingston Village, is the perfect place for a close encounter with the groups of ducks, geese, and swans breeding around the loch.

Profile photo of the head of a dark brown goose with a pink beak amidst lily pads.
A Pink-footed Goose
©Iwolfartist, Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; RSPB (Edinburgh Area Local Group); Scottish Wildlife Trust

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Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill 

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Feb 212024
 

Hermitage of Braid, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ 

Green hill with a path to a tall cement structure under a cloudy blue sky, with city views in the background.
The top of Blackford Hill
©Richard Webb, Geograph

The Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Nature Reserve offers some characteristic birdwatching of the woodlands. You can try spotting birds flying from tree to tree, but the easier option is to carefully listen for the birds singing. Often, their songs are a way to signal and mark their territory or to call their partner. You can train your bird song ID skills with online resources such as the RSPB website but you can also you the Merlin Bird ID App, developed by the Cornell Lab for Ornithology.

A profile photo of a small chartreuse bird with black eyes perched on a branch against a blue sky.
A Greenfinch
©Charles J. Sharp, Wikimedia Commons

The woodlands of the reserve are home not only to passerines such as Tits, the Bullfinch, the Greenfinch, the Goldfinch, the Nuthatch, and the Goldcrest, but also birds of prey like the Sparrowhawk, Owls, Kestrels, and Buzzards. By the Blackford Pond, you may spot some swans, ducks, and gulls.

Sources:

Individual Researcher Walk; RSPB (Edinburgh Area Local Group); Friends of the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Local Nature Reserve

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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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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)

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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

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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

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The Isle of May Bird Observatory 

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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

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