@jdanielp
Wonderful. Did you see the Celts exhibition? I tried to make a copy of the golden pony cap for my cat, but I nearly lost a hand fitting it. (He is wild and eats squirrels if not given cat food in sufficient quantity.)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
(7221 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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@IWRATS sadly not but good effort. On the subject of hats, I would thoroughly recommend seeking out Jon klassen's 'Hat trilogy' of children's books, in particular 'I Want My Hat Back'.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@jdanielp
Cheers, in return I recommend Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style. Same story 99 times, always with a hat.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@IWRATS noted, ta. I was thinking that my girlfriend has a copy of that book but it's a comic strip version - 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden. I will have a look in any case to find out if he retained the hat.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I introduced Madame IWRATS to reed buntings this afternoon. Ah yes, she said, it is sausage-shaped and has a different head. And she was right.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I politely greeted a swan which was observing me from the safety of the water as I cycled by on the canal towpath earlier. It replied with a series of snorting noises.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Mountain haré in white side of road Megget way
Posted 7 years ago # -
On the A701, a sheep carcass that had been picked clean, as if by vultures.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Greenroofer - was that on the left side when going south ? Think i saw that last weekend, assumed it was a deer.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Yup. There was lots of wool round it, so I guessed it was a sheep.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Beautiful (male!) yellowhammer as we were approaching Gosford Estate in East Lothian via some "challenging" muddy paths!
Posted 7 years ago # -
Kingfisher on the WoL yesterday just along from Pizza Express in Stockbridge. I saw it catch a wee fish!
Posted 7 years ago # -
@unhurt good to hear. I've not seen one in some time now.
Posted 7 years ago # -
A capsized sheep, which I watched for a while, baffled, and then righted. It sauntered away as if nothing odd had just happened. Ovine deadpan humour.
Posted 7 years ago # -
A fox taking a wrong turn into a dead end before backtracking. Think I heard it mutter something about a "bloody satnav".
Posted 7 years ago # -
Lots of ducks on the towpath in various places, presumably considering where to build nests. The new swans at Wester Hailes (at least I think they are a new pair) have already built their nest in the lagoon area which is now occupied.
It turns out that the sheep that I have been spotting in a Kingsknowe back garden is just an ornament, either that or it's extremely well trained about where and when to graze. I suspect that this is also what I first spotted as a possible pig.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@jdaniep hah - feel free to start a Fake Wildlife highlight of the day thread ;)
Posted 7 years ago # -
@amir could do... I also spotted a pair of solar-powered butterflies fluttering around some plants at the front of a flat that I was delivering SGP newsletters to on Sunday.
Posted 7 years ago # -
There's definitely room on the market for a fake wildlife id book. It should start with plastic bags
Posted 7 years ago # -
@jdanielp
Sure they weren't solar-powered Zhuangzis dreaming...?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Orkney and Shetland birding fora on FB both report on the "white feed bucket snowy owl" phenomenon from time to time. Apparently a windblown tub can look amazingly like the hoped-for tick (when it's known to be in the area) to the eyes of hope!
Posted 7 years ago # -
Yes unhurt we have seen this on the canal with blue pool shoes being spotted as kingfishers
Posted 7 years ago # -
I read an academic paper the other day - which I now can't find - that suggested that some populations of sparrowhawks have developed a cryptic approach flight which mimics the profile and wingbeat of a pigeon in order to get close to prey. Cuckoos have gone the other way in order to keep out of trouble.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I should have also pointed out further up that the garden on the canal with the stag now appears to have a gorilla leaning against the tree by the jacuzzi. It may have been there for ages of course, but I only spotted it recently.
I spotted a cormorant impersonating a kingfisher by flying low and level just above the water on the canal just now, but its size and colouring wasn't helping the deception.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Is the stag in the garden of the house that took maybe ten years to build? If so I will check for gorilla (never seen the jacuzzi). The massive Oor Wullie statue is back near Domino pizza at Slateford Station
Posted 7 years ago # -
@gembo you haven't spotted the stag or the jacuzzi/hot tub? It sounds like you're thinking of the right garden.
Posted 7 years ago # -
No, I have spotted the stag, but not the gorilla in the jacuzzi
also a large bentley type motor, bigger than the house parked in the car port number plate GB IX
Posted 7 years ago # -
@gembo ah, I see. Yes, they do seem to have a posh car and its probably one of relatively few houses with a car port.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Two separate sightings of a female sparrowhawk soaring over Liberton. Looking for love I suspect, insofar as those mad, swivel-eyed killers are inclined to love.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Nice day and all that so I dug the vegetable patch ready for planting. Sometimes you turn stuff up - with me it's usually fossilised potato peelers that have got into the compost bin.
This time - a tub of relatively fresh butter. Not a brand I ever buy. I reckon a fox must have stolen the tub and buried it for safe keeping.
Unless anyone has any better ideas?
Posted 7 years ago #
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