So the lens had to be sent away at my cost, to Sigma for an upgrade (free), only to find that when I damaged the camera, the lens must have taken a hit too and also needed a repair. Many £££s later it should all be sorted and I should get it back in time to go to Lesvos next month.
In the mean time we have been up to Edinburgh a couple of times and made our first visits to the Musselbourgh Lagoons, plus a wander around the coasts of the Firth of Forth. Then after taking in some shows at the Fringe we spent a day at a very soggy RSPB Loch Leven.
The hides at Musselburgh are somewhat basic (no roofs), but the views on to the pools are great, over the two visits, this was the list, not huge, but we only spent a short time as we had things to do and it was August!
| Blackbird, |
| Black-headed Gull |
| Black-tailed Godwit |
| Blue Tit |
| Carrion Crow |
| Curlew |
| Dunlin |
| Gannet |
| Canada Goose |
| Greenshank |
| Greylag Goose |
| Jackdaw |
| Knot |
| Lapwing |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| Magpie |
| Mallard |
| Mute Swan |
| Oystercatcher |
| Pied Wagtail |
| Redshank |
| Robin |
| Sandwich Tern |
| Shelduck |
| Stock Dove |
| Swallow |
| Teal |
| Woodpigeon |
We visited the estuary at Aberlady, unfortunately the tide was in, so there was little about, a few Lapwing, distant Curlew and loads of Mallard.
On our last day up in Scotland and 'Fringed Out' we drove north up the M90 to the RSPB Reserve at Loch Leven. The weather was awful but we persevered and managed a few hours when the rain eased off and visited all the hides. It was a great day in the end, with our first Osprey sightings of the year, we think four seperate birds.
| Blackbird |
| Black-headed Gull |
| Blue Tit |
| Carrion Crow |
| Chaffinch |
| Coot |
| Cormorant |
| Curlew |
| Goldfinch |
| Great Tit |
| Canada Goose |
| Greenfinch |
| Grey Heron |
| Greylag Goose |
| Lapwing |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| Little Grebe |
| Long-tailed Tit |
| Magpie |
| Mallard |
| Moorhen |
| Mute Swan |
| Osprey |
| Pied Wagtail |
| Reed Bunting |
| Robin |
| Sand Martin |
| Sedge Warbler |
| Snipe |
| Starling |
| Swallow |
| Teal |
| Tree Sparrow |
| Tufted Duck |
| Water Rail |
| Willow Warbler |
| Woodpigeon |
So not bad for what was essentially two non-birding trips.
