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Scotland Lothian

Eider Somateria Mollissima ŠRay Wilson http://www.raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk

Comprising East Lothian, West Lothian, Midlothian, and the City of Edinburgh

Lothian is the coastal plain on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It is backed by the hill ranges of the Lammermuirs, the Moorfoots and the Pentlands. The hills are typical uplands with grouse moor and sheep walk but the plain is dominated by rich farmland and the city of Edinburgh. It is a densely populated region with a thriving RSPB Member`s Group.

Probably the most important aspects of birding in Lothian are the seabird colonies of the Forth, from the numerous Gannets of the Bass Rock to the scarce Roseate Tern.

As well as the sites below, I could have mentioned the seabird islands off North Berwick, Aberlady Bay, Duddingston Loch and Linlithgow Loch, as top sites in the Lothians.

top sites

Hound Point

(NT123787)Hound Point Follow the track from South Queensferry under the Forth Bridge and continue eastwards. This is a great place for watching Skuas and all four species are recorded annually. Migrating raptors are occasionally reported too, as is the odd Sabine`s Gull. The woods have Woodcock, Green Woodpecker and Jay.

Musselburgh Lagoons

(NT345733)To the north of Musselburgh at the mouth of the Esk. Old fly ash lagoons now a mixture of young woodland, grassland and a wader scrape overlooked by three hides. Roosting waders, gulls and terns. Seaduck, grebes and divers offshore and you can get really good views of these. Specialities include Slavonian Grebe, Long-tailed Duck and Velvet Scoter in winter, Little Gulls in summer and passage waders. Claims to fame include Britains first live mainland Brunnich`s Guillemot, the Western Sandpiper and the tern hat-trick - Forster`s, Lesser Crested and Royal Terns have all been recorded.

The coast south of Dunbar.

(NT688785)The coast south of Dunbar. This is a collection of sites along the A1 south of Dunbar and includes Barns Ness, Skateraw, Torness, Thorntonloch and Dunglass. These are all good areas for migrants in the right conditions and Barns Ness can be a good seawatching point. All have scrubby cover with access and in past falls have produced many Siberian vagrants.

The Lammermuir Hills

(NT530672)The Lammermuir Hills From the roads you can scan the moors in these rolling, heather clad hills south of the village of Gifford. There are good numbers of Red Grouse, Black Grouse are almost extinct in these hills. Raptors can be seen too with Buzzard and Peregrine quite common but this is the most likely area to see a Rough-legged Buzzard or Hen Harrier in Lothian and there are sightings of Red Kites, Marsh Harrier, Osprey and Gyrfalcon too. Whiteadder Reservoir has a few ducks and Greylag Geese. Small birds to be expected include Stonechat, Whinchat, Ring Ouzel, Dipper and Grey Wagtail.

Tyninghame

(NT625793)Tyninghame North of Dunbar, this is the estuary of the River Tyne. Excellent site for Greenshank which are present all year, a large Wigeon flock and the best Lothian site to see Spotted Redshank. Corsican Pine plantations, saltmarsh, grassland, farmland and deciduous woodland. The farmland is good for Whooper Swans in winter, with the odd Bewick`s among them. Past major rarities have included Green Heron, Greater Sand Plover and American Black Duck.

contributor

David Kelly
(Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland)
davidjkelly@tiscali.co.uk

county recorder

David J Kelly
Lothian Bird Recorder & Editor Lothian Bird Report, 20 Market View,Tranent, East Lothian, EH33 1AG
01875 614072
djkelly@btinternet.com

numbers

Number of bird species:343
There is no county bird (or even county); however, East Lothian Council uses a Peregrine Falco peregrinus as its logo.

useful reading

Where to Watch Birds in Scotland

Mike Madders, Julia Welstead Paperback - 332 pages (May 1997) Christopher Helm
ISBN: 0713644877
Buy this book from NHBS.com

clubs

Foulshiels Bird Group

Frazer Henderson, 2 Elizabeth Gardens, Stoneyburn, W Lothian EH47 8BP 01501 762972

RSPB -

http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/edinburgh/
The RSPB Edinburgh Area Members Group is a large and active group covering the Edinburgh and Lothians area. We have a monthly programme of indoor meetings (held at Napier University Craiglockhart) running from September to April.

Scottish Ornithologists Club - Lothian Branch

http://www.geocities.com/lothianbirding/LSOC/Index_pagex.html
Welcome to Lothian Birding - the website of the Lothian branch of the SOC. Compiled by branch members, this aims to provide you with news and information about Lothian`s Bird Club, birds, birders and birding in the area -where and when to go, the best chance to see certain species and to keep you informed of what`s going on with birds and other wildlife in the region. We hope that you find this site useful, and it encourages you to get involved in birding in the Lothians! Please help the website to evolve by sending in your ideas, comments and opinions. [Ian Thomson, 4 Craigielaw, Longniddry, E Lothian EH32 0PY 01875 870588 The branch`s Club Nights are more informal than the main meetings. They are normally held in the Waterston Library, 21 Regent Terrace at 7.30 p.m. during the winter months. For further details of speakers and subjects and to check the dates please contact Ian Thomson on 01875 870588.]

Scottish Seabird Centre

http://www.seabird.org/
Get Close to Nature with amazing live close-ups of Scottish wildlife. Enjoy exciting live wildlife action all year round. Spectacular seabird cities with puffins, gannets, guillemots and shags, as well as marine mammals, including grey seals and bottlenose dolphins...

The Seabird Group

http://www.seabirdgroup.org.uk
The Seabird Group, a registered charity, was founded in 1966 to promote and help coordinate the study and conservation of seabirds...

observatories

Isle of May Bird Observatory

mailto:margaretthorne@woodland-trust.org.uk
Secretary: Margaret Thorne, Craigurd House, Blythe Bridge, West Linton, Peebleshire, EH46 7AH 01721 752612

reserves

Longniddry Bents

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longniddry_Bents
Despite the large number of visitors, a variety of bird species are able to breed here. Grey partridge can nest in the grassland often a few feet away from an unsuspecting walker, and chiffchaff, willow warbler and reed bunting can be heard calling from the scrub...

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you cant find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page give them a try!

tour operators

Birding Pal

http://www.birdingpal.org/Unitedkingdom.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

places to stay

Belhaven - Cottage [Dunbar]

http://belhavenholiday.netfirms.com/
2-bedroomed self-catering cottage....

Craigbrae Farmhouse B&B

http://www.milford.co.uk/scotland/accom/h-a-1769.html
Craigbrae is an attractive stone farmhouse built almost 200 years ago and for the last 20 years it has been the home of Michael and Louise Westmacott. The landscape around the house is attractive, peaceful and rural - with sheep and cattle grazing. All bedrooms, the dining room and the drawing room look out onto the fields and parkland.

Eildon B&B

http://www.stayinscotland.net/
Eildon is a beautifully restored Georgian townhouse situated 7km East of Edinburgh city centre. Eve personally welcomes you to her home and makes every effort to ensure that you enjoy your holiday in the area with a combination of warm Scottish hospitality information and advice... ...run by a natural history enthusiast and just 10 mins walk form the Musselburgh nature reserve.

Fife & Lothian Bed and Breakfast Association

http://www.rosythferry.com
Find the right place to stay in Central Scotland - Quality Inspected B&Bs...

The Cottage, Matthews Croft - Blackridge

http://www.thecottageselfcatering.co.uk
The Cottage combines the modern facilities you would expect from contemporary self-catering holiday accommodation with a peaceful rural environment. The property is a self-contained annex to our family croft and is available from March 2008...

mailing lists

Lothian Bird News

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lothianbirdnews
To post to list:lothianbirdnews@yahoogroups.com
List contact:lothianbirdnews-owner@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to list:lothianbirdnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Lothian Birders On-Line (LoBoL) has now evolved into LothianBirdNews, a Yahoo! e-mail list for those interested in birds in Lothian, which informs peopleinterested in birds sightings, events to attend and other bird related news in and around the Lothians and south east Scotland.

Birding East Lothian - BLOG

http://birdingeastlothian.blogspot.com/
A slightly cynical Scottish birder's diary: the daily efforts of looking after one of Scotland's finest wildlife sites, a few wider wanderings and hopefully the reward of seeing some decent birds!

Birding Musselburgh

http://www.andrewsi.freeserve.co.uk/birding-musselburgh.htm
The mussel beds at the mouth of the Esk have probably always attracted many thousands of feeding waders. Although the construction of the lagoons caused the loss of some of this feeding area, many more birds can now roost in the area rather than making the long flight to other safe roosts such as Aberlady (Furness 1973). Golden Plover, which appear to roost on the mussel beds or lagoons, more often feed inland from Musselburgh.

Birdwatching sites in Lothian

http://www.andrewsi.freeserve.co.uk/lothian-sites.htm
The aim of this guide is to provide birdwatchers, whether locals, new arrivals or visitors with some basic information on where to birdwatch in Lothian Region. Most sections are written by someone familiar with the site, except for a few for which I have provided a few notes! The Birds of the Lothians and the Lothian Bird Reports give some idea of where most people go birdwatching, but this guide provides useful information not only on where to go, but also details of site access (supplemented with maps) and also the species likely to be seen during the year. The best known sites are mainly coastal and are covered in some detail, but a variety of inland sites complete the whole range of habitats from which Lothian benefits. Lothian may be one of the best watched parts of Scotland.

Checklist

http://www.geocities.com/lothianbirding/LSOC/Lothian_Checkx.html

East Lothian Biodiversity

http://www.ukbap.org.uk/lbap.aspx?id=380
Conservation partners, species plans etc.

Edinburgh Cameras

http://www.edinburghcameras.co.uk/
For all your optical needs... ...one of Scotland`s specialists in binoculars.

Lothian Birding

http://www.geocities.com/lothianbirding/LSOC/Index_pagex.html
Welcome to LOTHIAN BIRDING - the website of the Lothian branch of the SOC. Compiled by branch members, this aims to provide you with news and information about Lothian`s Bird Club, birds, birders and birding in the area -where and when to go, the best chance to see certain species and to keep you informed of what`s going on with birds and other wildlife in the region. We hope that you find this site useful, and it encourages you to get involved in birding in the Lothians! Please help the website to evolve by sending in your ideas, comments and opinions.

artists

Gallery - Gannets of Bass Rock

http://www.beautiful-scotland.co.uk/bass.htm
Bass Rock is a 450 foot high crag at the mouth of the Forth of Forth, 30 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland. Bass Rock is home to 60,000 gannets, and countless other seabirds, including puffins. The gannet is Britain`s largest seabird. At the peak of the breeding season a gannetry is a sight to be seen.

Photographer - Ray Wilson

http://www.raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk/index.html
Photos from the UK and several overseas trips from this very good photographer...

Webcam - Bluetits

http://thebirdcam.co.uk
Follow the progress of a pair of Bluetits from inside the nest box in Edinburgh, Scotland...

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