musselburgh lagoons

 

19-03-23
Mary has a swollen knee that gets worse if she runs. So she is reduced to cycles, swims and walking. She was going for a cycle round the lagoons at Musselburgh, so I went along. The weather being too shit to bother taking photos elsewhere.

large gang of wigeon at the Esk estuary

'ten - shun!

we went via Holyrood and the Innocent path
(18.5 miles total)

great crested grebe

They have fenced off the dirt road that the heavy lorries go along. So although we have a lovely new tarmac path to cycle (or walk) along, there is no access to the seawall at many places. Which means photos are from a distance plus over the road through the fence which is not helpful. And the sea birds were keeping their distance anyway. I didn't realise we had gt crested grebes just off the coast here. If that is what they are. And I would have liked a closer shot of the long tailed ducks too.

long tailed duck

cormorant fly by

shelduck

As we were going round the path I asked Mary if she wanted to go to the hides. There are 3 birdwatching hides - concrete bunkers that keep birdwatchers hidden and at a distance from the 6 shallow ponds that might be known as the scrapes. She hadn't been there before and didn't realise they existed. They are set back from the cycle path and behind some scrub. I thought she would be bored by the experience which is of the middle-aged variety. You sit on a cold slab of damp concrete and watch a number of groups of wading type birds stand on one leg or swilling through the shallows. It is more of a flask and sandwich activity, than a keep-your-eyes-peeled-it's-all-kicking-off day out. To my surprise Mary liked it - maybe even really liked it. 

It helped that when we arrived at the middle hide there were 3 deer there, and making the place look like the wateringhole on the african planes. Except it was overcast and very un-african temperatures. But there was a sense of spectacle and an ambience that if you weren't in the mood for an action film, was very peaceful and mindful.

the 3 hides - below the 6 ponds

teal

Whenever I take photos like this (above) it reminds me of the paintings of Sir Peter Scott an old school ornithologist who used to shoot wildfowl before becoming involved with conservation and studying wildlife. His film The Private Life of the Kingfisher (1968) was the first BBC natural history film to be shown in colour.

these might be redshank

curlew

We stayed at the hides longer than I would have anticipated and visited all 3. It was a bit cold and we were glad of a decent cycle back to warm up. Mary had us go back along the prom which I felt was a mistake as there was plenty of Sunday traffic mooching about despite the weather. It got worse as we got towards the Kings Road end and I was making WTF noises at Mary as we squeezed through the cafe customers.

Mary was ahead and didn't see me stop to photo this charming starling that was doing a turn on the sea-wall, oblivious to the passing traffic. It was beatboxing and dancing about like a champ (right in the crowds) and if I had caught Mary's attention I would have asked to stop and film for a bit. But she hadn't seen me spy the starling and continued edging through the crowd.

I took some quick photos - but then put the camera away and hurried to catch M who by now must have thought I'd got in a fight. I love starlings, especially when they click and chirrup away, and had there been a better place to put a bike and get some footage I would have done so.

must go back soon and film them on a sunnier day