Rewind back to a dismal July day in 2016 when I opted to head up to Aberdeen to twitch a rare bird. I was hungover, tired, but the flight was booked. Unfortunately the bird went missing for a day which was just a little inconvenient. This perennial American visitor was back, returning to the place where it had initially been identified in 2014. I decided to head for Musselburgh Lagoons for another crack at this yank seafarer. A 4.15am alarm call, 5am taxi ride, 5.50am coach ride, and an 8.55am plane ride from Stansted, had me at the car hire office by 11am, By 11.50am I was on-site, firstly walking the wrong way, and then hacking back to the sea-wall away from the town. At 1.30pm, the a merican-white-winged scoter was picked up associating with a small group of pristine Velvet Scoter . The open water was at times back-lit on a mild and breezy afternoon. It roosted for a while, preened for a while, swam up and down for a while, flicked...