Blindwells

[NOW UPDATED at end for JUL-AUG]

Just a few images to document the evolution of the Blindwells site, part of my extended local patch for PWC2015. Sometimes bleak, but a dawn visit in spring can give more attractive impressions at this former open cast coal mine, the entrance area shown above with some regenerating birch. This area typically supports multiple territories of at least six species of warbler (2015 arrival dates): Grasshopper (23/4), Sedge (30/4), Willow (16/4), Chiffchaff (12/3), Blackcap (24/4) and Whitethroat (26/4), occasional visits of others (Garden Warbler - silent migrant 3/5/15, only previous was Apr-May 2009, and Lesser Whitethroat - 23/5/04, 2/5/09, 19/6/10, 17/5/13); many inhabit the abundant rosebay willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium), e.g. on the west bank, and hawthorn scrub along the north bordering the main east coast railway line.

The reedbeds at the minewater treatment scheme (MWTS) have also developed nicely in the four years since they were established, with the first reed harvest on the top tank in March 2015:

Now providing a little open water again:

Fortunately the harvesting activity did not approach the active swan nest on the margin of open water at the further east end of the site (easily overlooked), pen sitting tight on 26 April.

Young had appeared by 20 June, young taken to the middle tank which has more vegetation and learnt to feed by dunking heads below water:

Next four pics are the middle tank, in March and April, and looking north and south, respectively:

Finally the bottom tank at the west end:

Reminder of the views of open water back in April 2011:

Overall a very welcome creation of new habitat, albeit subject to future harvesting etc, and I suspect already an important breeding area for a number of species. And how could I forget the young Dipper which wandered here far from its natal area in summer 2013?! There are also important odonata and botanical interests around the site, newts are abundant on pond margins. On birds, I have picked up most of my expected summer migrants for the patch as usual, including a remarkable 13+ Common Sandpipers together on 24 April, all but one feeding along the south shore margin and particularly amongst the boulder piles there and into the adjacent short grass. Decreased to 7 on 26 April, down to 1 on 2-3 May and none left on 6 May. I'd had only one previous multiple count on 24 April 2010, but aware others have had up to five in the last 15 years or so. With water levels dropping again may hopefully still bring in one or two other species, missed Wood Sandpiper here last year though that seems a bit optimistic!

Other late spring sightings were pr Shelduck on 28 April & 14 May, regular White Wagtails and Wheatears, a fine ad m Yellow Wagtail on evening of 30 April (seemed to vanish though just as I was getting out my camera!), a Cuckoo heading W along the A1 at Bankton just off site on 12 May, a couple of Little Egrets flying low SW over the open area on 27 May, a young Black-tailed Godwit feeding voraciously at the west end on 29 May (above, demonstrating its flexible bill), Coots ON 12-27 May with 3 chicks on 31 May (with a second brood on top tank early July), and 65 Canada Geese resting on the south bank on 1 June, presumed moult migrants.

Despite all the interesting sightings the site does always leave you with mixed feelings - so much potential but it unfortunately suffers a lot from disturbance, a constant stream of people walking the path past the south of the pond which usually flushes many of the wildfowl and any waders if present, but probably of more concern is the impact of their dogs on potentially breeding birds, several wildfowl must nest in the vicinity of the main pond. The site is also regularly used by scrambler bikes, which do not stay only on the mounds/circuits but roam over the whole area even including the muddy shore of the main pond. But all of this is probably irrelevant in the longer term as it is expected that the designated new settlement will eventually get under-way (up to 6000 houses are envisioned!) and there will then be no hope of protecting the rarer breeding birds and the special open area inhabitants (Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Grey Partridge, Kestrel, Buzzard, Barn Owl, etc) will all lose their favoured breeding and feeding areas.

I ceased regular visits in June as the west end was taken over for the latest settlement tests, new earth banks being created, unfortunately eliminating the area with resident and presumed breeding Grasshopper Warbler. By July the main pond was very close to drying out, Swan family and Coot on a second nest in remaining area of water:

Into August and water level dropped further, down to c. 10% of original area, though some flood pools appeared after rain:

I resumed regular visits in hope of a few crumbs falling off nearby Musselburgh's table (where daily reports of a multitude of wader species, including some rare ones and extended stay of 2 juv LRPs and a bunch of Ruff) - both finally materialised (2 juv LRP on 1/8, 1 juv m Ruff on 23/8) along with a couple of fly-over Green Sandpipers (also 23/8), latter a good record for the site with only previous apparently the one on 3-13 August 2002. Also with the routine disturbance of dog walkers substantially diminished, a flock of Lapwings took up residence, some present for over a month and 40 peeling off a flock of 180W coming down to bathe and preen. No joy on Wood Sand though despite the widespread UK influx!

Less good for the breeding wildfowl, the swans losing their brood one by one until all had gone at the end of the month - presumed fox predation with insufficient water for safety, and Coots down to b2. The swans had earlier tried to walk out to St Germains, but left only flattened vegetation and many feathers at the eastern perimeter fence, before briefly visiting the MTS tanks where hatched, the first 2 cygnets vanished at this stage, then for some reason returning to remains of main pond. Just one brood of Mallard and Moorhen also at MTS, total failure of wildfowl at main pond likely due to spring disturbance, including scrambler bikes, churned up mud visible in above photos. A more worrying issue is the impact of the drying out on the population of amphibians - 30 newts under one small board in May (below). An adult Grey Heron has also been resident for a month or so, compounding their problems! It would be nice to see a better water management scheme here, as the nearby MTS stream has often been in spate but is all channelled away down to the sea via the Seton Burn.

Apart from the pond other local breeders worth a mention are hirundines, with a Sparrowhawk bringing out 60+ Swallows from St Germains, and 40+ over Seton East including many juveniles (though farm shop owner reported a dead one in July), then on 1 September a large movement of Swallows with a long stream totalling 365+ passing NE in 40 minutes just as a rain storm came in, in the middle of which a brown type Merlin appeared, buzzed the ponds back and forth, then chased a few Swallows over the open area (possibly a juv male), only my second record there after another f/imm bathing and resting on bales on 26 July 2008.

One more encouraging fact to conclude, with confirmed breeding of Reed Warblers in the MTS reed bed - despite regular checks (after one reported in May 2013) a single bird first spotted on the margin only on 13 July, and song was heard briefly only on that date, when a bird with food and two juveniles were also seen. These have since proved to be extremely elusive, with brief glimpses on only two more dates despite lots of effort, though the reed bed is fairly big. Though the Reed Warbler are mentioned in William Turnbull's 'Birds of East Lothian' (1863 & 1867) as being "present" in West Lothian bogs these old records seem very doubtful, presumably a mis-identification for Sedge Warbler, and conflict with the picture of spread north as far as Yorkshire only by the end of the 19th century (Holloway, The Historical Atlas). Despite a recent increase in records of singing birds (territorial bird(s) at Seafield pond/Tyninghame in 2010 and isolated records from Aberlady in 2012 & 2013) there has been no previous confirmed breeding in Lothian up to 2014.

PS - 2016 proved much better for breeding birds with up to 3 pairs of Reed Warblers with young fledged again and an upturn for breeding waterfowl, following less disturbance at main pond, some info in a new post.

Christmas and New Year

Geese in flight over Redhouse above, where up to 2600 seen daily from 30 December to 4 January, though often flushed and also making use of fields along B1377 all the way from Longniddry to Drem. Views at Harelaw in good light on 29 December allowed us to spot 4 tundra Beans in their midst, with also two European White-fronts, 4 Barnacle Geese and now a dark-bellied Brent also being seen in these same flocks with c. 4k reported to be roosting at Aberlady. My own photos rather poor but record shots below of a Bean and a Whitefront.

Bean Geese of the tundra (rossicus) race were first definitively identified in Lothian in 1996, based on two birds in an influx of 8 to 23 Bean Geese, though all of them likely to have been tundra given a wider invasion along the east coast. Thereafter there were 2 at Skateraw in Jan-Feb 2006, a single at the same place in Feb 2009, a single at Tyninghame and Redhouse in Apr 2010 and zeros every other year with the exception of the huge influx in winter 11/12 with 86+ birds minimum, of which the largest flock (59+) was in the very same field at Harelaw in late December. So overall that is only 5 previous winters and clearly a hugely erratic visitor to us with wild fluctuations in numbers. The way we are heading perhaps this will prove to be the second best year for this species here?

Swans are the other staple of this time of year and after a poor start with only 155 present in early December a fresh influx had arrived by the 28th with 256 at Prora. The latter is a new peak wintering count here, though we have had more during influxes in early November (peak 340 in 2007) they have not stayed to winter. Nevertheless we have dropped back again from the threshold of 270 birds averaged over 5 years that is required to meet the criteria of an internationally important site, having briefly attained that at the lower threshold of 210 birds in 09/10, see graph:

This all assumes that the "western" East Lothian (Drem area) flock is a discrete unit, while we do know from ring reading that there can be some exchange with the other main concentration at Tyninghame just 10km east. This year's flock are now feeding in oilseed rape so ring-reading is a challenge, but we do have back for a fourth year running yellow-46I which formerly had spent 3 winters on the Blackwater in southern Ireland (Co Waterford/Cork), and ringed in Iceland in 2003. Two new birds yellow-G5F and G5J likely from Martin Mere. Juvs ratio is very close to 20%, with 8 broods in 102 birds probably b5, b4, 3xb3, 2xb2.

On owls, recovered a Barn Owl from the A1 at Greendykes in December, but this was just the third of the year, continuing a trend of decline in such as per graph below. 2010 in fact was marginally the worst calendar year (21, versus 20 in 2005 and 2006) with a spate of casualties in cold weather at each end of the year, but I believe this plot commencing post-breeding (i.e. September) is a better picture of annual variation, as most casualties are young(er) birds moving in winter. I do now wonder whether the excessive numbers in 2005 and 2006 were do to ongoing colonisation, whereas more birds in our area are now settled? 20 years ago at the time of the last local atlas there were only a handful of sightings in East Lothian, the only confirmed breeders were at the head of the Tyne valley, the expansion here has occurred since that date.

More positively on owls it was apparently a great year for local breeders - with 12 broods of Long-eared Owl, the most for many a year. Poses many Qs about where they were all hiding last year when we made special efforts to find them as the local atlas concluded! Presumably also due to vole abundance, this summer was also great for local Barn Owls - out looking for Quail by bike I came across one and very fortuitously had it carrying off a rodent within a few seconds; this was followed by pleasant late summer evenings watching this and others hunting local meadows and attending a nest at a natural site, though a presumed second site eluded me. Encouraged by this I returned to another local site where I'd seen prey being delivered in 2012, but had failed to find a nest - as I arrived there and was peddling along a track on the edge of some rough ground a bird immediately appeared and came to investigate me, circled and peered down at me from c. 10 directly above me, perhaps thinking "wot, you again, where've you been all this time?!" Similar questions to LEO though, with two terrible winters 09/10, 10/11, then terrible breeding in 2013, with dire predictions of how many remained in the UK a year ago, how have so many survived to breed this year?

Not much news on gulls, though old friend Mediterranean Gull red-7P8 was still roosting at Seton at the end of the year, and a Black-headed Gull there (white-2ALV) had been ringed as a chick on the Moorfoots in June 2013. The odd Shag ring read at Seton rocks but so many now I tend to make less effort!

The last few months have been very busy, with Christina doing her pharmacy pre-reg year and lots of kids activities also spilling into weekends, plus increasing demands at work, such that my only dedicated birding time tends to be late Sunday afternoons, with anything else as a bonus and often squeezed into required trips to other places. So this blog has as a result rather lapsed and I now tend just to post news snippets on twitter (which have already covered much of above). In addition there is the bird recorder work which is a significant task, e.g. with last year's archive of records reaching nearly 60k, and already nearly 50k for 2014 from BirdTrack alone, an escalating trend (see graph), plus dealing with rarities, enquiries, etc, and the ongoing local atlas write-up.

NB - I still spend a lot of time manually editing records, as any decent database requires things to be sortable on a EURING (or similar) code and thus everything must pass through standard names, plus needs a standard set of fields which in different sources can get lumped and separated in different ways (the BirdTrack download has 30 fields!). I'm happy to supply my latest Excel sheet to anyone still making direct submissions, though for 2013 there were only 13 people supplying more than 100 bird records in this manner, the rest coming via BirdTrack (mainly), WeBS, Atlas, birdinglothian, lothianbirdnews, Aberlady LNR (and other ELCRS), Forth Seabird Group and various local CBC type surveys. In the ideal world there would be one fixed set of common bird names, and formats thereof for races, hybrids etc, and a single fixed taxonomic sequence and the bird recorder's life would be much simpler! On taxonomics I do not dispute the need to update orders but personally I'd like to see a "traditional" sequence established and optional at least in systems like BirdTrack, it is so hard having to keep rearranging the sequence in your brain - and indeed for recorder work I do everything locally in EURING.

Constrained to be even more locally focused I again had a bash at the Patchwork challenge contest, for my "Gosford Bay" patch (3km2 map above) entered in the Coastal Scotland league, achieving 138 species/172 points, which was 1 more species and 2 less points than in 2012 (2013 was dented badly by atlas). These totals were dwarfed by some others in the same league who were heading up towards 200 species/400 points, swamped by great lists of fantastically rare birds, many of which have never been seen here and even with 24hrs/day coverage would surely never have been reached - so it is somewhat a relief that islands will be separated out into their own league this year, which will hopefully make things look slightly less out of balance!

No time for a real "review of the year" but highlights on patch were the November eclipse drake Garganey (8th Nov record in Scotland), lingering female Marsh Harrier in summer, migrant juvenile Yellow Wagtail, winter Black Guillemot, Little Auk and Pom Skua, and patch ticks of Green Woodpecker, Little Tern and Little Egret, the latter also a garden tick. A massive influx of terns, mainly Sandwich but including Roseates, will live long in the memory (ring resightings still coming in) whilst two species missed on patch were also terns, Black and ... Bridled! Other species I'm aware that I missed were Osprey and Wood Sandpiper, the latter at Blindwells particularly galling as it would also have been a patch tick, and I did make several visits around that date - maybe next year? Overall, now at least 155 species seen in this 3km2 patch, so more could certainly be achieved if I could find the time.

Will close this post with a few shots from Aberlady and Gosford early Nov, camera now defunct, Santa hasn't supplied a new one...

Wknd 31 May - 1 June

Into June and onset of summer birding - cycling round the area as far as Macmerry produced a few of those increasingly valued rural species, Grey Partridge, Kestrel, Stock Dove, 2 Oycs, Swift and stacks of Tree Sparrow, also Barn Owl; but negative on Quail and Spotted Flycatcher and also blank at Penston where territorial Yellow Wagtail in 2012, brief look only last year. One find was an occupied GSW nest in a tree full of holes between Chester Hall and Greendykes, a species I failed to nail for NT47H in Longniddry Dean last year, so a late atlas confirmation (increase from 6 to 23 confirmed in East Lothian north of the Tyne).

A crepuscular trip on Monday via Redcoll, Cottyburn and Spittal again yielded no Quail, in places occupied in previous years, but one Sedge Warbler, two hooting Tawny Owls and two more Barn Owls, one of which first spotted on a road sign c. 23:15hrs, then hunting over cereal, plunged to make a kill then flew over my head with prey in one foot, a strong clue to breeding.

May patchwork total now 115 species (137 points) which is already 94% of last year, mainly because last year I was elsewhere a lot of the time for atlas. No comparison with the amazing achievements of John on Tiree!

Down at the beach very little on Gosford Bay or Sands, 10 Greylags roosted, but report of 2k Common Scoter off Musselburgh so it seems many of our remaining sea duck have moved down there - leaving me to wonder how the Queen Eider got past here!

Wknd 24-25 May

1st-sum GBB black-JYK05 was on Seton harbour wall on Saturday morning, ringed as a chick on an islet off Frederikshavn at the very northern tip of Denmark on 2 July 2013 (movement map).

3+4 Manx Shearwaters flew east past offshore. Seems "our" Common Scoters have gone to Musselburgh, just 14 RBM inshore, and only a handful of Velvets visible too (checked those of Seton prom but unlike last year they were all Velvets, Surfie habits must have changed). Only 32 Sandwich Terns on Gosford Sands Sunday evening, some courtship feeding still occurring, also 22 grey geese, presuambly Greylags, at Craigielaw Point which flew off north over the Forth.

Best sight of the weekend was an adult Peregrine with a decent sized kill, perhaps Feral Pigeon or Jackdaw, flapping vigorously as it headed on a course for it's nest, if I'm right a journey of over five miles, quite a feat. BWP states "In north-east Scotland, most prey seems to be taken within 2 km of nest-cliff, though hunting range may be extended to 6 km or more when ♀ begins to hunt too (Weir 1978a); in continental Europe, breeders may feed up to 15 km or more from eyrie (Glutz von Blotzheim et al. 1971)."

Monday - a Grasshopper Warbler reeling at dusk from a field edge south of Longniddry farm, no Quail heard there or Redcoll/Hoprig. Another Gropper still reeling very sparsely, presumably paired, on the bank at the west end of Blindwells main pond. Also on Monday Canada Goose broods b8 (small), b8 (medium) and b5 (large) at Duddingston, their numbers must be shooting up at a fair old rate now! Counts/range now ~ Greylag in 1988-94 tetrad atlas, we can probably expect a local population of many hundreds in 20 years time.

Wknd 7-8 December

Whoopers on Sunday totalled 145 (just 18 juvs=12.4%, very low), with the main flock of 95 in cereal at Drem pools which included darvics orange-ZBN (ringed Martin Mere early 2013), yellow-46I (formerly wintering in Cork, ring moved to tibia Jan-13) and a new one yellow-BVU (above, ringed Iceland last summer). There were another 23 at East Fenton (cereal) and 27 at Chapel/Prora (potatoes).

Grey goose census took me to East Fortune where over a thousand geese were lurking in fields just west - 815 Greylags, 310 Pinks and a Barnacle Goose, plus the usual feral/hybrid Greylags. On ponds a good number of duck, in fact made it 153 Mallard and 153 Teal, that one is going to look like a transcription error! One ad graellsii LBB at East Fenton.

On Saturday noted what are presumably this years brood of hybrid Greylag x Canadas surviving at Eskside, 4 or 5, quite dark backed. At the river mouth 800+ Knot put on a good display and nearly 1000 Oycs were roosting.

A few more atlas confirmations, Magpie NT57H, Carrion Crow NT47X, NT57G & NT58A. On airport bus during week added Woodpigeon (mainly multiples of) NT17L, NT17R, NT17W and NT27B, and Carrion Crow NT17L, NT27B. The previous weekend had added Woodpigeon to NT58D, Magpie NT58S, whilst House Martin UN at Sunnyside, Betony Hill was a tetrad tick for NT57P; also recounted rookeries at East Linton confirming upper end of original estimates (6 UN at Prestonmill). Unlike previous atlas winters which were very distracted by finding living birds it is clear that plenty of useful stuff can still be done for breeders via nests - may go for one more trip to West Lothian to log nests there too.

Wknd 9-10 November

Heading out for WeBS/ICG goose count Sunday afternoon spotted this imm m Sprawk which had just taken a Feral Pigeon, still flapping, at Mungoswells. Was immediately plucking it and within 20 seconds 2 crows had arrived to engage in jackal like behaviour sniping around the edges.

One crow lost heart and flew off, the other looked more wary when the Sprawk was plucking, short video.

Goose-wise just c. 350 Greylags plus the domestics at East Fortune; found just 45 Whoopers at East Fenton but amongst them was yellow-46I, ringed on left tibia (unusual, vast majority are tarsus rings), thus confirming suspicion about ringed bird photographed by Abbie at Prora on 25 October. This is the bird which wintered on the Blackwater in southern Ireland 3 winters from 08/09, first seen here on 18 Feb 2012 (ringed in Iceland August 2003). A covey of Grey Partridge south of Redside was another pleasing sight, though too late now for a breeding confirm likely a family, if so the 11th brood I'm aware of this season in Lothian (thanks also to Mike, Abbie, LBN and twitter):

Certainly would have hoped for a few extra young after such a good summer, regardless they are just a shadow of former status here. 700 corvids, mainly Jackdaws, went to roost in adjacent Craig Wood. The East Fenton Whoopers flew to roost at Chapel at 17:01hrs, 46 minutes after sunset (typical here).

A urban oddity was this cock Pheasant at the miner's club in Macmerry:

Dawn on Lammermuir edge at Stobshiel was pretty but a poor Woodpigeon passage, my 500-odd being less that 0.1% of the UK vismig total for today (map)! Did find a nest along road past Stobshiel Mains which is a confirm for NT46W and confirmed crow in NT56C, Aikeyside.