East Lothian Council Countryside Service and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are asking local people and visitors to East Lothian's beautiful coast to take extra care over the coming weeks to help protect eiders.

During the late summer you will see flocks of these large sea ducks close to the shore. The male ducks are black and white and particularly attractive. These moulting flocks are losing their summer feathers and preparing for the winter ahead.

SNH area officer Lachlan Lamont said: "This is a crucial time of year for eider along our coast. From mid July until early September these flocks of eider are moulting and are unable to fly. They are especially susceptible to being disturbed by people and their dogs. Every time the ducks try to swim or run away from being disturbed they use up more of their energy stocks. This disturbance affects their winter survival and their breeding success the following spring."

The Firth of Forth is one of the most important coastal and estuarine areas in the UK with hundreds of thousands of breeding, wintering and migrating birds. This importance is reflected in the number of designated sites in the area. These include the Firth of Forth Special Protection Area (SPA) which covers much of the coast of the Firth, and is designated for the wintering and migrating birds which use the mudflats, sandy beaches, rocky shorelines and saltmarshes. The Firth of Forth Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covers a similar area but also includes sand dunes, coastal grasslands and geological features. The area was made a SSSI for wintering and migrating birds and also some breeding birds such as eider.

East Lothian Council countryside ranger Vicky Hughes said: "We are monitoring the sections of the coast that eiders traditionally use. You can help us by giving the moulting eider a wide berth. Please look out for any advisory signs around the beach asking visitors to keep their distance from these beautiful ducks. If anyone would like to know more about good places to go birdwatching, without causing disturbance, then please contact the countryside ranger service on 01620 827279."

Earlier in the year similar signs asking people to help prevent disturbance were put up by rangers at the Leithies, at North Berwick, where eider currently breed. These signs and extra patrols by the countryside ranger service and volunteers have protected the vulnerable nests with many eider ducklings now being seen along the coast.

The signs are part of a package of measures being introduced by East Lothian Council and SNH to monitor and to help improve the breeding population of eider along the East Lothian coast.