In comparison to 2014 it was a relatively quiet year on the rarity front with no county firsts until the last day of the year when a Little Swift was found at Thorntonloch. It never stayed long and was only seen by a small handful of lucky observers and dipped by the rest of the large contingent that dropped everything to make it down there, myself included. My favourite bird in Lothian this year was the Arctic Warbler at Skateraw back in September which was only the 3rd county record and my first in Britain. Having dipped so many of these over the years it was great to have my first one in my home county. A few disappointments this year though, missing the two Red-necked Phalaropes at the scrapes by 5 minutes was a sore one, could be a while before the next one comes along. The second one was missing the White-billed Diver off Torness 3 or 4 times and again, it could be a long time for the next one to come. Waders were plentiful as always and the Lesser Yellowlegs at North Berwick back in January proved popular and guess who missed it... Along with the American Golden Plovers at Kilspindie and Torness, Pectoral Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper were the only other yanks to reach our shores.
My personal highlight of the year was being present when the first ever Lothian Osprey chick fledged the nest and Watched it being taught the ropes straight away, absolutely brilliant. My other main highlights this year was being the first ever person in Scotland to see Barred Warbler in December at Thorntonloch and also the having the pleasure to watch the 10+ Short-eared Owls at Musselburgh, an amazing sight to witness.