Day 2

Friday April 26

We both slept reasonably well after yesterday's long drive, and were away from Berwick on Tweed Travelodge soon after 9 a.m. 

After shopping for food in Gregg's and M and S, our first stop was just over the border in Scotland, St Abbs. One of our favourite places, the steep road winds downwards to a small, rocky, fishing harbour, its northern shore a cliff where auks gather to breed. Usually, the ledges are crowded with ranks of black and white birds sitting on eggs. There was only one crowded shelf today, set back under an overhang, other small groups dotted the guano decorated rock. 

 


A few more birds bobbed on the sea below, thrown about by the turning tide. All the Auks I saw were Guillemots. Apart from a goodly number of Herring Gulls, the only other species was a few passing Gannets. Is this another example of the devastation caused by Avian Flu? 

Skatteraw is another favourite. It appears in  books as a migration hotspot - there is a small wooded gully reaching inland from the beach. It also has a parking area with loos. The small cluster of houses at the entrance to the beach road always have a small colony of Tree Sparrows nearby. Despite the very gusty wind, when most small birds were sheltering, we managed to see one. 

Not much on the sea and rocks today either. Two Swallows were zipping about, half a dozen Shags occupied the top of a concrete pillar, two Shelduck bobbed in the shallows and two Redshank fed on the shoreline. After eating a late breakfast/ early lunch there, we  decided against our usual exploration of the Aberlady Bay coastline, making directly across the magnificent Queensferry Bridge to Loch Leven. The bridge is made up of four pairs of wings, white struts angled against a solid mast.


The old Forth  road  and railway bridges are in parallel view.

Loch Leven is an RSPB reserve where we often see commoner birds otherwise scarce on this trip. Known to birding listers as 'padders'. It's an enormous loch with extensive areas of marshy islands on shore. We added a few late Pink-footed Geese, Tufted Ducks, Shovellers, Pochard, Teal and Wigeon to the day list. The wooded car park at the centre had a pair of Blackcaps, Wren, mating Blue Tits, with several Willow Warblers announcing their arrival from all around.

It was time to sing in to Kinross Travelodge for the night. We stlll drove over 200 miles today, but it felt much less than the 300 of the day before. The wonders of birding.

 

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