March 2006
A much more productive month than February, but sunny days were still very few and far between. Luckily, I had a bit more free time this month and was able to take advantage of the few sunny spells whenever they occurred.
Early in the month I spent one sunny, but blisteringly cold, morning on the beach at Tynninghame looking for the Water Pipit that had been hanging around the area for about a week. Unfortunately there was no sign of it, but there were plenty of Rock Pipits to photograph.
Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus petrosus) - Tynninghame, Lothian
Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus petrosus) - Tynninghame, Lothian
At least half the flock appeared to be comprised of the Scandinavian subspecies littoralis. In worn winter plumage, the Scandinavian race tends to be greyer with a whiter background colour and sparser streaking on the underparts. Its supercillium is also slightly more distinct than nominate race Rock Pipits.
Scandinavian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis) - Tynninghame, Lothian
Scandinavian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis) - Tynninghame, Lothian
There were also a few Meadow Pipits on the beach.
Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - Tynninghame, Lothian
Most of the month was rather cloudy, as you can see from the colour of the sky on the photo below...
Reed Bunting (Emberiza shoeniclus) - Aberlady, Lothian
Towards the end of the month a couple of Snow Buntings were showing extremely well along the sea wall at Musselburgh, and if you were lucky enough to get a long enough lull in the dog-walkers and joggers it was relatively easy to approach within 5-10m of them without disturbing their feeding.
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
A few Slavonian Grebes and Long-tailed Ducks were showing particularly close in to the sea wall on a couple of days...
Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Common species such as Eider and Mute Swan were also showing quite well.
Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Musselburgh, Lothian
There wasn't all that much of interest among the shorebirds this month, but a few Bar-tailed Godwits were quite close at the river mouth on the receding tide.
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) - Musselburgh, Lothian
Ray Wilson owns the copyright of all images on this site.
They may not be used or copied in any form without prior written permission.
raywilsonphotography@googlemail.com