After not having spotted The Heriot-Watt Stoat for several months, it ran past us while we were sat outside in the sun having our lunch at the Millenium Garden just now.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
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Posted 5 years ago #
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A woodpecker swooped over the canal just ahead of me as I cycled past Hermiston House this morning. As I rounded the corner from Hermiston House Road onto the core path by the A71, I heard it knock, knock, knocking on a tree, so after crossing the A71 I stopped to see if I could spot it again in the grounds of Hermiston House. A few moments later it swooped over the A71 into the grounds of Heriot-Watt. I'll hope to spot it again when I go for a walk at lunch.
Posted 5 years ago # -
My two garden goldfinches brought a friend this morning. Soon, I will have a flock.
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Posted 5 years ago #
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That links to an article about the vandalism of standing stones?
Just heard and then spotted a large skein of geese flying north.
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I also spotted a squirrel that was very near the end of the branch of a tree which was drooping under its weight, facing straight down towards the ground as it picked the new buds off. I was wondering if it was going to drop to the ground, but it somehow managed to turn itself around and climb back up the branch again when it had finished.
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@unhurt: A veritable charm, in fact.
We used to have at least four goldfinches regularly visiting our feeders. I hadn't seen them in a quite a while and feared that they might have succumbed to the Beast from the East, as the RSPB seem to have concluded happened to a lot of small birds, on analysing the results of this year's Big Garden Birdwatch. I did see two on the sunflower kernel feeder last week, though, so I'm hopeful that we're being recolonised.
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@ejstubbs that's a nice book. It also includes a crown of kingfishers. I gave a copy of the book my brother's family the other year, partly because it is nice but also because it features jays (a party?), my nephew's middle name being Jay.
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@ejstubbs the nyger seeds seems to be the right kind of bird bribery for mine - nothing else has even tried that feeder.
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I used to have a nyjer feeder but not even the goldfinches would go near it. They used to queue up behind the greenfinches and have shoving matches with the chaffinches for the sunflower kernels, though. Numbers of all those species are noticeably down this year, sadly. And I haven't seen a bullfinch in ages, much to my regret. I do like a male bullfinch.
ISTR reading recently that goldfinches taking sunflower kernels in preference to nyjer is increasingly commonly reported these days.
Posted 5 years ago # -
A little lunch-time ride on the path to nowhere, i.e. old railway path that runs below the Shandon colonies and ends at a fenced area belonging to the railways.
When I arrived at the dead end, a large black crow was sitting on the fence. It flew off, and then I could see what had attracted its vulture-like attention.On the ground a small bird of prey was fixed on to a pigeon. I’d guess the predator was a merlin – it had a spotted under-carriage, and was grey-brown on top. It was trying to pick up the pigeon and fly with it, but the poor pigeon was (a) about its size; and (b) still alive so beating its wings. The merlin jumped about a bit with it and then kept pecking and chomping at the pigeon, trying to subdue and eat it. I suppose it must have killed it eventually and perhaps managed to tear off bits for its young.
There should be more fenced off wasteland (so-called “waste”). You often see the best wildlife in places like Ministry of Defence sites, where there isn’t much human activity at the fringes, and with few human beings wandering about. It’s quite rare in cities – people are always trying to turn it into parks or gardens or even cycle paths.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Nice route underneath Shandon. Ends in gate but could be so much more. Merlin certainly brown on top. Bit of a sportsperson, sporting type of chap or gal as links to catch the small birds in the air, whereas sparrowhawk of toughly same size but not maybe so brown? Is just a nutter. Pigeons anybody's game.
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Having written yesterday that I hadn't seen a bullfinch in ages, guess what was tucking in to the sunflower kernels this morning? Pink waistcoat and velvety-looking black cap and everything. Bless him.
Also saw a magpie flying along with a stick three times its own length (including its not inconsiderable tail) in its beak! Its flight configuration was a little lopsided, to say the least.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@Rosie
Most likely a first year female sparrowhawk. Merlins are quite rare birds of open country and don't often come into town whereas Edinburgh is rammed with sparrowhawks which are still common.
Lovely to see it on the kill.
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A heron on the Water of Leith.
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@IWRATS: I tend to agree with you. Sparrowhawks were/are known to be breeding in Dalry (a female ringed in Dalry took a pigeon in our garden a while back - feathers everywhere by the time it had finished its meal!) so no great surprise to see one in Shandon.
Much as I dislike having to disagree with gembo again, merlins are the UK's smallest bird of prey so I'd guess only likely to be the same size as not-yet-fully-grown sparrowhawk (particularly a female sparrowhawk, since they are significantly larger than the males). They are also falcons whereas the sparrowhawk is (predictably) a hawk, which does mean that there are genus-related detail differences (falcons always have dark eyes, for example, whereas sparrowhawks have piercing yellow or orange eyes with a definite "what can I kill next?" look to them!)
With all attempts at bird identification based on (with no disrespect to Rosie) fragmentary observation details, you do have to take in to account the probability of the thing being one or another species, based on the environment in which it was observed, the bird's geographical distribution and even just how common or otherwise it is, as well as the reported physical characteristics. Which is a long-winded way of saying that IWRATS remarks about rarity and habitat of merlins are certainly relevant in pinning down the identification.
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you do have to take in to account the probability of the thing being one or another species, based on the environment in which it was observed
I once saw a white stork circling over Duddingston. No mistake - I'd just seen loads in Morocco.
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@IWRATS and ejstubbs
I have no pretensions to being a bird watcher at all. I unfortunately didn't have my smartphone so couldn't take a picture. I'd guessed it was a kestrel by size and because they are prevalent in Edinburgh. However the sparrowhawk i.d. seems quite likely going by the picture IWRATS links to. It did have mad yellow eyes.
And it was a thrill to see it on the kill. Nature red in beak and claw a short way from the financial heart of Edinburgh.
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@ejstubbs, not me you are disagreeing with It is Killian Mullarney, though what is a centimetre between friends? As we have said before the female Sparrowhawk is the Daddy.
I saw a white stork in a field out Stow way the other day. Turned out to be a swan going for a walk
Posted 5 years ago # -
A large non-buzzard, non-sparrowhawk raptor soaring over Inch Park. There's a falconer's Harris Hawk on the loose in Edinburgh - may well have been that.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Yes Tweed escaped parliament pigeon killing duties 2012 and has been bossing it around Salisbury Crags and the innocent railway ever since
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The faconer told me all he did at Holyrood was pick up the remains of the pigeons the sparrowhawks killed.
Good on Tweed for lasting seven years. Makes you wonder why Edinburgh seems to have no goshawks...
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I was briefly convinced that an otter was crossing Captain's Road in front of me last night.
When I got closer, it turned out to just be a very short-legged cat.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Green parakeets in Victoria Park Glasgow. Claimed by a man called Stuart Whitaker from Scottish National Heritage to be the most northerly flock of parakeets.
Looking at capture and rehousing ahead of eradication. Apparently the fruit farmers down south just shoot them (again, not me, Stuart making this claim. On the BBC news website)
As an Easter treat there are two deliberate mistakes though in the paragraphs above.
Your's affectionately
Gembo, aka Mr Magnolia
Posted 5 years ago # -
Scottish Wild Life Trust are having a fun day at the Secret Herb Garden, for families et cetera. Nice cafe.
I am sorry I cannot tell you where it is as it is a secret. Oh go on then it is at Damhead
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Two alpaca, two Tamworth, two geese but not The Ark as many of the middle class of Edinburgh out buying very expensive herbs.
Very enjoyable lunch, the soup comes in a tin mug so takes a while to cool but they do give three slices of chunky bread, which I like.
We went round to IKEA to rebalance the Chi and bought a huge tub of rosemary for the same price as the tiny tub at Secret Herb Garden.
As you wander around the secret herb garden you will come across people amongst the herbs lying on sofas etc.
Also an old red Hackney cab and the frame of a VW Beetle.
I like it
Mrs Garto feels it is a little dilapidated.
They have branched out into Gin which looks like the base alcohol in stainless steel tanks and various of their herbs added.
Why not? If people will pay £35 for this then who am I to stop them?
Spotted two touring cyclists heading down to auchendinny.
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Sparrowhawk in the garden yesterday, perched up in the rhododendron. Took it for a pigeon when I first caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye as it landed but quickly realised that it was too upright. Got the binoculars on it and had a cracking view of its barred tail and beady yellow eye before it flew off. Only occurred to me afterwards that I should have tried to see if it was ringed (you can report ringed birds to the BTO and they'll usually let you know where and when they were ringed).
Kestrel hovering over the parcel of rough ground between Jim's farm and the Asda "super" store in Straiton this afternoon.
@gembo: They have branched out into Gin which looks like the base alcohol in stainless steel tanks and various of their herbs added.
I was under the impression that that's how most of the abundance of modern gins are made: buy in the alcohol, add botanics of choice, distill, hey presto. That's how they described the process to us it at Pickerings, anyway.
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Swallows, house and sand martens over the Cairn Water at West Cluden. It was wintry cold and I don't know what they were catching.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Red kite on the way out of Gibside on Saturday afternoon. Lots of geese and goslings in York last week, seemingly trying to weed out the weak and slow by taking shortcuts between the rivers across the car park beside Clifford's tower.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Black Guillemot pair on rocks on the west shore of Arran at the weekend. Very smart bird. BTW bird watching from a bus is nice but frustrating - it keeps moving on!
Posted 5 years ago #
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