Oh brother @gembo
My eagle friend uses 'hirundidae' unironically.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
(7221 posts)-
Posted 4 years ago #
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Too far away to identify for a novice like me to work out whether martins or swallows. But the flight was unmistakeable. I really should take binoculars but I always forget.
Now for swifts (May?)Posted 4 years ago # -
Think two swallows out Harperig this aft. Though have been fooled before. The sand martin is Riparia Riparia.
@IWRATS what is your friend who is an eagle called?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Must be Aquila
Posted 4 years ago # -
@amir yes that would make sense but knowing @IWRATS it is probably Eddie.
Posted 4 years ago # -
all finch variations vociferously objecting that i've chosen today of all days to bash out the persian rugs for unwanted moth eggs
Posted 4 years ago # -
Sitting on the back step with a beer. Total silence. Actually heard the local lady sparrowhawk before she appeared round the side of the house, about two metres from me. Stopped to squirt a big shite on the neighbour's shed roof and off again.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Trailcam installed outside the mother's house catching a badger under the front windows at night & a 24 hour mouse squeezing in & out the air brick.
Heard my first skylark of the year on a delivery mission out West this morning.
Posted 4 years ago # -
mouse squeezing in & out the air brick
forever in my nightmares
they don't play by the rules with that routine
its just cheating really
Posted 4 years ago # -
My neighbours getting a lot of live mice brought in as trophies by their cats. Mostly from my garden.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I cycled round the Bush estate this afternoon. I was taking photos, and then realised a deer was watching me from about 20 metres away. It melted into the trees and disappeared completely.
the local lady sparrowhawk…appeared round the side of the house, about two metres from me
I had the pleasure earlier this afternoon of watching a local male sparrowhawk on the fence. I waited for ages, camera poised, for when the bird would dash off in hot pursuit. Eventually a sudden commotion with pigeons saw it dash off so quickly I was taken by surprise and managed not to take any photos of the action.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I watched four Jackdaws bullying a Rose-ringed Parakeet above the right of way through Duddingston Golf Course earlier today. The Parakeet remained unflustered and stood up for itself pretty well. It's very noisy and seems to be missing a tail feather or two. There are pictures of it on Briding Lothian on Twitter.
The gorse in The Park on the low road by Duddingston Loch is more vibrant than I've ever seen it, and I always enjoy the vanilla/coconut aroma.
Cheers
ColinPosted 4 years ago # -
Great shot @Arellcat. I don't often even see the males, let alone get to photograph them. They are ghostly.
@Colin
I wondered if the new clean air changed my perception of the gorse? The perfume and colour are startling.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I've been hearing skylarks for a while. The Braid Hills are a good place for them.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Been hearing chiff-chaffs here there and everywhere for a good week or more now.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Larger
Posted 4 years ago # -
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument surprisingly under several metres of water while Godzilla prepares to wreak havoc* on America?
* 'chaos' if you prefer†
† more plausible explanations are also availableThe frogs in my parents' garden pond usually return around 12 March, plus or minus just a few days. They have successfully made spawn this year, after being nearly wiped out last year by foxes.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Posted 4 years ago # -
Female sparrowhawk making herself very obvious again at lunchtime. Maybe no satisfactory male has appeared yet? No rush they're late nesters to hoover up the other species' fledglings.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Goldcrest now a regular visitor in the garden. So cute.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I have a pair of goldcrests and a pair of bullfinches coming every day. Hoping for wee ones later on.
The dunnock threesome are always about too and getting very tame.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Wren practically begging for publicity now.
https://twitter.com/overlandertheb1/status/1250405195349139456
Posted 4 years ago # -
Facebook reminds me that it was four years ago today that I first spotted an otter in the canal. I wonder how active they have been of late...
Posted 4 years ago # -
Heard a woodpecker on the Howe Dean path on the way down to the Hermitage of Braid yesterday evening. It sounded very close but I couldn't spot it.
Also earlier on the same run something like a kestrel on the Braid Hills golf course. Is a kestrel likely?Posted 4 years ago # -
Kestrel is likely, yes. They haven't done well the past few years but they are certainly present on Braid and Craigmillar Hills.
If you see a medium-sized bird hovering it will usually be a kestrel.
Posted 4 years ago # -
It wasn't hovering (I can do "bird that hovers = kestrel"... ;-) ). It looked kestrel-shaped, though. I see them in the Pentlands sometime. I just wasn't sure if the Braids was a place one might see them.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Most times you see a falcon-shaped bird in town it will be a kestrel. There are sparrowhawks on Braid Hill too, but they are much more discrete and only rarely fly with their primary feathers swept back to make the wing pointed.
Peregrines do come into Edinburgh but but not nearly as much as in Glasgow, Liverpool and so on. No idea why not.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Went back to Warriston Cemetery to look for goldcrests - no joy, but a zillion other birds, including a noisy chiffchaff (finally spotted momentarily) and a female great spotted woodpecker looking very handsome as she pecked for food. Blackbirds singing their territorial hearts out.
Also spotted: a wild buckfast bottle on the leafy banks of the WoL at the Dene. Empties along here are usually white wine.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Heard woodpecker up Cockburnhill Road (just after massive dead rat)
Previously out Whang there was a cacophony of bird song and wagtails sauntering causally on the road.
Was like 1930 - no cars, beautiful hills and the reservoir
Mad farmer nodded at me today first time of asking as he patrolled incredibly slowly in his land rover
Posted 4 years ago # -
"Also spotted: a wild buckfast bottle on the leafy banks of the WoL at the Dene. Empties along here are usually white wine."
Bohemian types clearly.
Posted 4 years ago #
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