Not me, not Edinburgh, great photo -
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
(7221 posts)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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How about this one from the BBC's "Your Pictures of Scotland" this week:
Posted 3 years ago # -
Male little grebe on Blackford Pond this afternoon - not for the first time - but this time in company with a fairly newly-fledged looking grebelet*. I was unaware that they were nesting there.
Also the swan pair was shepherding eight cygnets around the pond. The adult seemed to do a sort of treading water action every so often, which we presumed was intended to stir up the bottom of the pond a bit so the wee ones would find something to nibble as they practised dabbling. I've never noticed swans doing that before but I doubt it is previously unrecorded behaviour.
* Or whatever the correct term for a young grebe might be. Which inspires me to come up with a new tongue-twister, in the style of the old woodchuck one: "How many chicks could a dabchick fledge if a dabchick hatched six** chicks?"
** I didn't just make that up: the BTO says that the typical clutch size is 4-6 eggs.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Loads of swifts over St. Margaret's Loch on Monday evening.
Posted 3 years ago # -
A nuthatch running up and down a tree trunk on the Cat Walk Glen path at West Linton last Thursday. Cuckoos on the road past the reservoirs in the Pentlands on Tuesday. Cormorants flying past North Berwick beach on Monday. All while at work, all in the pouring rain.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@cyclingmollie summer is coming - possibly briefly
Flowers seem late this year
Posted 3 years ago # -
Flowers seem late this year
Everything seems late this year, which is understandable given the weather.
Finally saw a proper flock of swifts yesterday evening. I'd seen a solitary one over a fortnight ago, but since then sightings were of very rare ones or twos and several days went by without seeing any. Last night it was proper screeching flight display around the rooflines.
The trees and grass have had a real growth spurt in the last week - at least some things have been enjoying the recent rain.
Posted 3 years ago # -
amir: "Flowers seem late this year "
I was still seeing Primroses and Lesser Celandine last week.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Yes the poppies in my garden have just bloomed. Avoiding the wind that often wreaks havoc
Posted 3 years ago # -
A magpie knocked on our door. Stood on the doorstep and straight up knocked on the door.
Flew away before I could open it, so I don't know what they wanted.
Posted 3 years ago # -
During a walk with the missus today, we paused on Old Cramond Brig to see if anything interesting was flying around or swimming on the river. Missus says, "What's that bird?" After a few seconds of contemplation I replied, "That's a bat." Bit of a surprise at 2:30 in the afternoon but no doubt about it: it flittered around for quite a while and came quite close once or twice so we got quite a good look at it. A bit big for a pipistrelle I think, quite a chunky-looking body with rather attractive chestnutty reddish-brown fur.
Anyone know anything about bat ID?
Posted 3 years ago # -
What I think was a roe deer on the Drum estate this morning.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@ ejstubvs sounds like a wuhan bat hence the spike in cases?
Posted 3 years ago # -
Flora looking very good now. There's a nice meadow by Eskbank station - wonderful slice of nature.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@gembo: Very good :)
Posted 3 years ago # -
Combining cycling and swifts: https://edinburghswiftlocalgroup.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/rspb-edinburgh-swift-cities-self-led-cycle-path-for-swift-awareness-week-2021/
Posted 3 years ago # -
There seem to be more insects this year (hopefully!). Might make the swifts happy
Posted 3 years ago # -
Spotted the most tame Fallow Deer I have ever seen in car park At Knole. All velvet antlers and picnic scavenging. (Sevenoaks Kent, last week)
Posted 3 years ago # -
All eight cygnets still in evidence on Blackford Pond this afternoon - seven in a group with the cob, one staying a few yards apart. There's always a troublemaker...
The dabchick fledgling was also there, with its dad. It's looking much more dabchick-like now, rather than a floating fluffy humbug as it did last time I saw it. It's also making good progress with dabchick life skills: it caught two fish in the short time I was watching it.
To cap it all, we spotted a family of eight moorhen chicks plus parents on the water at the east end of the pond, in a gap amongst the tall ?sedge? which seems to have shot up alongside the banks since we were last there..
Posted 3 years ago # -
Last week we camped out near the sources of river Dee (in the Cairngorms, large flat area) and after our dinner (which we finished by 6pm) a heard of reindeer arrived. We got very excited and slowly and quietly came closer trying not to scare them. It turned out that they are really tame and don't mind people at all.
They spent the night around the sources. Perhaps they hang out there during this heatwave.Posted 3 years ago # -
Ooooh, I've always wanted to camp up there! It must have been lovely. I'm jealous...
Posted 3 years ago # -
Yesterday afternoon we were having a late lunch bbq and playing badminton in the backyard. suddenly a bunch of seagulls chased a hawk* into a tree in next door's yard, then chased it out again. absolutely bizarre scene.
*or some sort of light brown bird of prey; one of our guests identified it as a hawk.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Canoeing with the kids this morning near the Kyle of Lochalsh - week away. A porpoise surfaced just 10 yards off the front of the canoe as were paddling along.
Posted 3 years ago # -
2 ravens sitting on fence posts and calling to each other on a walk up the Afric/Kintail glen. Even from a good distance away they were an impressive sight. Also a possible eagle sighting. Hard to know for sure but seemed a bit larger than a buzzard. High up over the mountains.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Sparrowhawk on feeder pole in garden. Seemed to be empty clawed
Posted 3 years ago # -
“
The “Glorious Twelfth” may be effectively cancelled this year, shooting estates have said, as the grouse breeding season has been so poor.
“
Posted 3 years ago # -
Nice two-sides-of-the-same-coin @chdot
Posted 3 years ago #
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