best part of the day: seal of approval

Friday 26th Jan

I was going to title today's outing Good Friday, but that wouldn't be high enough praise for such a spectacular day out: it was FANTASTIC. Let's go!

Mary took this photo.

We had seen a decent forecast for Friday; a bit on the cold side, but potentially sunshine or mixed sun-and-cloud all day. Not too much wind (hah!) and it was all heading Eastward. How about we catch the train to Longniddry and walk to NB again? Okay but this time we'll catch the earlier train as the best of the sunshine is allegedly first thing.

As you know I have a mild allergy to early mornings but if there is a good reason to get out the scratcher early, it can be done. However as we struggled up Leith Walk into a headwind laced with lashing rain we did wonder had we been sold a turkey. It wasn't the first cold shower that morning. I have been backing off run-training lately with a sciatica problem that is mild currently. However I'm pretty sure I could turn it into a major issue if I continue to run hard and do parkruns as per usual on Saturdays. So I have been backing off. Especially on rainy days!

As a result it had been "a day or two" since I had enjoyed a shower. In an mild effort not to turn into a stinky old person with a shambolic life in disarray, I got up especially early so I could shower. The only way I could do this was to tell myself I didn't need to finish the process with the traditional obligatory 30 seconds of brutally cold hose down. However just at the end of the shower I reneged on the deal and turned the dial to BALTIC! I hopped about while breathing hard, wondering what part of the brain is in control and can you really fool yourself by acting in a way different from the way you thought you would? As a concession I didn't time the torture and probably let myself off with about 20 something seconds rather than the full 30. I was both good cop and bad cop, although it felt like I might also be the guy being tortured in the cells.

When we went into Waverley, the last we saw of the world had a thick layer of grey brown cloud cover. When we exited the Abbeyhill tunnel on the 08.40 (they have cancelled peak rate fares recently!) things had already improved, and by Longniddry (08.58!) the miracle of a sunny day was underway. Maybe we hadn't been stiffed after all. Also the station coffees were kicking in. Also, although the sun was out and warm-ish there was a stiff BALTIC breeze letting nobody off the hook. It was the sort of day if you had taken any extra layers you would put them on straight away before leaving the station car park. I had a merino buff and got it out and put it round my neck. Mary held my camera while I did this and had the cheek to take a couple of photos. I liked that the crow she photo-ed had its beak open. (see photo 2 above) Probably saying fuckety fuck nae warm the day!

bridges below the horizon

crazy keen! (Just the one though!)

There were quite a few starlings around Aberlady. These 2 above checking the wind direction on Aberlady Parish Church. (Pretty much on our backs most of the way to North Berwick.)(The wind, not the starlings.) More still on the green as you go round the corner.

curlew

We were both grateful for the facilities at Aberlady. Not just Margiotta's where we bought lunch for later, but the toilets at the bridge. A quick visit there then over the bridge to enchantment. We did not hang about to take the best possible photos of a curlew and a couple of shelducks. I only post them here because I didn't photo any further examples. There were only 2 cars at the bridge car park. On other sunny days (esp at the weekend) it will be fully rammed with around 20 cars.

shelduck

the buffalo on the savannah looked cosy and warm

The tide was out about the same as last time with possibly only 1 mini-sub showing. Maybe the other one has decayed and flattened. There was a large conference of waders (knot, dunlin, sanderling types) along the waters edge but quite a broad stream between them and us. We approached but stopped at the point we'd get wet socks. The photos were too distant. We turned East and I hoped there'd be a few stragglers down the beach. Despite seeing sanderlings nearly every visit and getting decent photos, they are sufficiently challenging and beautiful to always be worth another approach. We were not disappointed.

Mary clove to the main direction down the centre of the beach while I headed seaward, where I could see a handful of sanderlings and a couple of oystercatchers. They will work the waters edge from one end to the other so if you get close ahead of their direction, then kneel down, you can let them approach you rather than chase them down the beach. They might speed up a little as they go past but aren't the sort to loiter or bumble anyway and always seem to be going at a gallop. Worth setting the shutterspeed to superfast. There was enough light to set it at 1/2000 of a second which froze them as they sprinted past.

good! Mary also finding distractions further down the beach

they would run at a lean to compensate for the wind

sanderlings: full speed ahead!

a very enjoyable walk along a deserted beach

mystery duck below the cormorants

At Gullane Point I saw something I didn't recognise, out on the rocks. It looked average duck/mallard sized but was black. It might have been a coot with a wonky beak but I wondered if it was something more exotic. It was quite a distance away and I failed to get close enough for an informative photo. Mary had been saying she was cold and wanted to get out of the wind and have something to eat at the picnic table at Gullane. Instead of investigating I felt it best we should get warmed up moving a bit faster.

When I got home I zoomed in a bit more and could see what looked (after googling) like a common scoter. They seem to be fairly rare around the UK (but not OMG rare!) so I was kicking myself for not creeping closer for better photos. However it wasn't worth making Mary stand around getting colder. We were both feeling a bit chilled after stopping on the beach trying to photograph sanderlings in the stiff cold wind, and weren't far off teeth-chattering as we sat at the inhospitable picnic tables near the toilets in Gullane "enjoying" our sandwiches. Had there been a warm cafe nearby with bowls of hot soup we'd have gone in a flash, but it would have taken an hour out the walk to go into Gullane for a break. To Mary's credit she never even suggested it. Although we had an extra hour today (earlier train) we didn't want to throw it away just to do lunch.

fieldfares

glam lunch stop!
All the luxuries!

While it was great to see large squadrons of fieldfares around the trees and buckthorn bushes of Gullane, it was also frustrating that they would fly off at a predetermined distance. We didn't get any closer than last time and no great photos were taken. Good to see large numbers flying between trees. A couple nearly landed next to our picnic table but made sure they put some branches between us, negating any photo opportunities.

Mary relaxing at Driftwood

Having enjoyed taking a more inland trail last time along here we did the same this time. The large area of grasses waving in the breeze was like being on a straw coloured sea. No deer this time although it felt like something exotic or unexpected could be round the next corner or hummock. Eventually we descended to the beach at Archerfields. The tide was quite high against the rocks and another half hour might have meant wet feet.

a singular fox moth caterpillar out for a walk

I took the time to look along the beach for those stones with (sort of) writing on them. The one above perhaps says Mary or Milky or something just a strong coffee away from a definite translation. Another said Mission Impossible or perhaps Mother's Imperative. By this time ~~Milky~~ Mary was halfway to Yellowcraigs.

the Bass Rock

turnstone

The turnstones seem to be aware of how well they merge into almost every beach. They are indistinguishable from a pile of kelp and stones, which is helpful (for them) as that is where they spend their time, turning over stones, badder wrack and thongweed to look for luckies underneath. This beach of grey stones is not great for their otherwise extremely successful disappearing act. I took hundreds of photos of them today but very few were worth posting as they mostly merge into their background. Also as you approach them or stand nearby they assume you can't see them and go about their business. If they see you coming closer yet, they sometimes resort to standing motionless and watching to see if you can still see them. Which is good for taking photos, although mostly you can't see them, so not ideal. They have very lovely plumage despite it looking like every pile of seaweed and gunk on the beach. Top bird!

There was a section along the fenced-off big-footballers-houses where about 200 birds flew out. Mostly fieldfares and finches and not one did I get for a photo. Okay, just one. Above. The rest flew out like a murmuration in reverse, the bastards. I have a notion to buy a cammo poncho and come back to this spot before the buckthorn berries are all gone and set up a hide to photo them all sitting in there chatting about the latest ugly mansion to go up behind the green fence.

yup, that lighthouse on Fidra again

and the other one on the bassington rock

today's best turnstone photo - hurray

Now this looked like a hooded crow to me. Apparently they only live up North so is more likely to be a hoodie / carrion hybrid. It looked much more hoodie than the ones I've seen in Warriston or around Edinburgh. Maybe it was on holiday? It did not hang about for any other photos or to confirm its identity.

looking back to Yellowcraigs

Last few times we have ended the walk by going inland (from Yellowcraigs) on the JMW and walking the last mile on tarmac. This time we were up the beach a bit before we actually thought about it, which was good for a couple of reasons. I'm sure that field the JMW cuts across is still an absolute quagmire, and also we bumped into a couple of seals we wouldn't have seen. They were both taking time out of the water. We were alerted to the first one by a woman who had a large slobbery rottweiler that looked disappointed not to be eating seal-pup for dinner. It was on a lead but keen to be off a lead. The woman said (seeing our cameras) there was a seal just round the corner and it would make a good photo. It was and it did!

A couple of men were stood beside it sorting out its requirements. Phoning up people to inform them. I believe young seals find continual immersion too much and need to be out the water for a while. The mothers will drop them off and come back later. Or if they are a bit older they make their own way back into the water. Unfortunately the beach was being visited by several dog walkers, so not a bad idea to inform the authorities. I know little about them, seals, or what should be done. I was glad someone else was phoning the authorities although I doubted there was much to be done other than leave it alone and it'll either be fine or die. When the seal-pup heard my voice as I chatted to the guys, it perked up and looked in decent health, and alert. Possibly it just needed an hour or 2 to snooze while mum fished for dinner. No idea. No sign of injury. We left them all to it.

As we walked up the beach the last mile or 2 into NB there were a couple of birds nearby. A pied wagtail on the beach pretending it was trying to get away from us but just moving up the beach 15 yards ahead, always just frustratingly too far away to bother taking a photo. And a red-breasted merganser that would dive under the water for 10 seconds then reappear for 4 seconds before diving again. It was swimming about 10 yards offshore and parallel to the beach, covering the ground at a rate just slightly faster than we were. I'd run up the beach while it was under the water hoping it would pop out just at the point I anticipated and I'd get a photo before it re-submerged. Sometimes it worked, mostly it didn't. We covered about a mile of beach without really noticing. Also I had to co-ordinate the sun being out and bouncing off its mad hairdo, and for it to be facing in the right direction and not out to sea. It seemed to enjoy the game as much as I did and neither of us got bored. Mary had been walking ahead and when I caught up with her nearer the bend in the golf course the mad merganser was still alongside, fishing the shallows.

This redshank had legs so dazzlingly bright I had to lower the saturation in post because they were too fluro orange. It obligingly stood still so that we could properly admire its orange breeks, so thank you!

more traditional turnstone photo
on a pile of festering shoreline mank

bosh! take that

Now you kind of assume that the shoreline birds are so at one with nature that they don't get bothered like we might - a wave comes in a bit sharpish, goes over your new running shoe and you've got a wet sock and a tainted new shoe for the rest of the day. Those birds, they're too clever to get caught out like that? And yet as the above photo shows, occasionally they are not paying proper attention and get smacked right in the chops by a slightly bigger wave than they were expecting. Doesn't happen often mind. Probably paying too much attention to those people with cameras getting a little close for comfort.

freshly washed - no harm done

A whole gang of oystercatchers landed like football fans arriving off a coach at the pub closest to the match. But better looking and less aggressive. The shoreline where they mooched about was in shade so not great for photos. When they flew off (despite our best efforts to walk at maximum distance away on the other side of beach) they looked great in the air catching the sunlight. It's only when you get close you can see their striking red eyes, and that their beaks look plastic and comical.

They flew in a huge circle above us before landing on the golf course.

Meanwhile we had caught up with the merganser which was keen to show off its diving skills. I like the photo below where you can see its feet through the top of the wave it is riding. The sea has a deeply unwelcoming colour of cold-and-misery the bird ignored. I mean who apart from the birds and one wind boarder at Longniddry wants to go swimming today? Shudder!

Then just before North Berwick proper we see this guy in a fluro gilet has run down and tackled Mother Teresa to the ground. Oh hang on, it's another seal pup. This one a bit older (darker grey colour, less silvery white, quite a bit bigger.) I was going to take a few pics then quietly make off but Mary shouts out - do you need a hand? Because he is struggling to contain his quarry. Despite being a decent-sized powerful young guy, the seal is bucking him off and does not placidly allow the towel to be tied round its eyes. No sir. Not happening!

He asks that Mary passes the (hard plastic) tube from his bag - while he tries to hold onto his captive. The idea is to open the pup's mouth and place this inside to allow a decent view to make sure there are no obstructions or anything untoward. We get the slightest of views of lots of teeth and no oddities. No further checking was possible. By this time Mother Teresa has decided the interview is over and is leaving the scene of the crime. The pup had been a bit sleepy and showing signs of fatigue at the start apparently, but when it got pretty lively, pretty quickly, it was allowed to slip back into the sea without requiring further examination. It seemed to me to be as healthy and strong as a horse and quite indignant about being interviewed which is probably a good sign. I got some video as it regained the sea. Even though less cute than the previous younger version it was still more cute than I'd have anticipated. Wouldn't want one in the flat as a pet though.

Mother Teresa makes a break for it!

We told the rescuer where the other seal was and he asked if it was accessible by car. Nope. He set off bravely along the dunes. Good man! It was interesting to see him work. Clearly the myth about touching them and inadvertently marking them with human scent which encourages the parent seal to disown them is just an old wives' tale. I have always thought this was horseshit, despite people warning about approaching baby deer and baby birds and was always interested to know if there was any evidence to back this up. I suspect it is just something that human parents and other busy-bodies make up to dissuade people from interfering with things they find outdoors. (Generally not a bad appraisal.) Given that the strength of bonds between most (animal) parents and children is one of the strongest in nature, it always seemed unlikely that a parent would abandon its offspring on such insubstantial grounds. A quick google suggests this to be the case although there are a range of responses.

the guy from British Divers Marine Animal Rescue
their advice if you come across a seal, linked here

I'm getting the Thompson Twins
(from Tin Tin not the pop band)

The golf course (at North Berwick) turned out to be a rich ground for birdlife. Must be the neatly trimmed fairway providing excellent worm and invertebrate holiday homes. Firstly the oystercatchers (perhaps the same gang as earlier) were seen crossing it. Then a small army of wagtails - maybe 15~20 - were spread equally across the grass like they were searching for evidence after a shooting. I tried to line up angles to get as many in the same photo as possible however they were too widespread to get more than 3 at any time. To one side there was a lone pipit. After a bit of googling I reckon it was a rock pipit, although they are very similar to the slightly smaller meadow pipits.