Just caught up with this thread, re rats and water, oh yes rats can swim, nae bother at all! They didn't all join and leave ships via the gangplank!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
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Posted 12 years ago #
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No joy on the Ospreys Zenfrozt :(
Off up north to see family this weekend though, which brought some nice regulars...
Red Squirrel Munch by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
Squirrel Cling by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
Newburgh Seals by blackpuddinonnabike, on FlickrOh, and I know Debs what posted that about the Figgy and Porty. :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Moorhen chicks on the canal! (spotted on North side of bridge 2, by towpath). Sorry I didn't have my camera, they were so close!
I feel this news really needs a thread to itself...
Posted 12 years ago # -
Moorhen question: Why aren't their feet webbed? I assume this helps them find food maybe (can pick at dirt more easily with non-webbed feet?), but swimming always looks like such a struggle for them...
Posted 12 years ago # -
Anth, the squirrel is gorgeous - nice to see a red one rather than the equally cute horrid grey tree rats more often seen in the city.
Lionfish - Moorhens long-toed, unlobed feet enable them to walk on floating vegetation as well as climb. (Source: http://studentmag.acsedu.com/Articles/Seabirds-and-Waterbirds.aspx)
also
Moorhens, like all birds of the gallinule family have large feet. The long toes help to spread the weight of their relatively large bodies as they walk across pond lillies and other aquatic vegetation. This is needed as they site their nests beside or on water.
(Source: http://www.overthegardengate.co.uk/wildlife/archives/template.asp?linkid=175)Posted 12 years ago # -
Thanks Zenfrozt! Good bit of research there. Also, their feet are so big they probably act like quite good paddles even without webbing... I'm pleased the first link says the chicks are almost impossible to see - the canal gives people a really good opportunity to see them! To find them, follow an adult back from a forage...
@anth: thanks for the amazing photos of the squirrels :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Taken this morning (at same place as yesterday's sighting) moorhen chick. We could see three chicks!
(sorry about the interesting compression artifacts: taken on minimoth's mobile phone).
Posted 12 years ago # -
Moorhen chicks fall into the 'so ugly they're cute' bracket. I've got pics of some from last year (as well as equally 's-u-t-c' Coot chicks) on the Figgy. All we have there so far are a couple of Canada Goose goslings. The Mallads, Tufties, Coots, Moorhens and Swans are a LOT later this year.
I think I know the canal spot where you got these lionfish. I was out with the big lens on Friday lunchtime and could hear the chicks, but no chance of seeing them, and didn't want to stress out the parents.
Back on the Figgy, the place is utterly swarming with Swallows, Sand Martins (loads more than any other year!) and House Martins (the last arrival) at the moment. Have managed to get snaps of all three, but they're sooooooo difficult, like tiny little fighter jets. Always feels like it's getting to be proper summer when the Martins arrive.
Posted 12 years ago # -
A Great Spotted Woodpecker calling, flying, landing then drumming, right above Middle Meadow Walk this lunchtime!
Posted 12 years ago # -
@anth: "and didn't want to stress out the parents" - we were worried about that too, but they didn't seem to mind (still going about their business). I guess they're used to people walking/cycling past. Also you'll probably be able to see them much more easily as the chicks are being a bit more adventurous. btw: What's the 'figgy'?
@kaputnik: wow. feel I should run out there right now to look for it!
Posted 12 years ago # -
"What's the 'figgy'?"
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/directory_record/10836/figgate_park
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/galleries/gallery/17/figgate_park
Posted 12 years ago # -
Sorry, lionfish, I wasn't meaning to suggest you were stressing out the parents! The chicks were in the undergrowth when I heard them, so rustling about I'd have been going a bit too far.
As chdot has posted, the Figgy is the Figgate Park, which I live 5 minutes walk from. It's a cracking wee wildlife haven.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Thanks chdot & anth! How have I never been there... I'll make sure I visit it sometime :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Two crows mobbing a buzzard for quite a long time on long dalmahoy road tonight
Posted 12 years ago # -
Over three weeks later than last year, the Mallards have finally produced on the Figgy
New Ducklings by blackpuddinonnabike, on FlickrPosted 12 years ago # -
Erm, down the Figgy again tonight and... There's an otter...
I'd actually been speaking to one of the 'Friends of Figgate Park' about a week ago and someone had reported they'd seen an otter. Well tonight we came face to face as she chased a Coot from some undergrowth, then stopped two yards from me for a moment to take in what I was before disappearing back into from whence she came, I spent almost half an hour, as the light faded, trying to get a photo, but she was elusive, only leaving behind tantalising glimpses and rusting reeds.
Naturally I'm going to leave for work slightly early tomorrow and have a gander. Actually, tempted just to get up early and go down before breakfast...
Ah well, got photos of foxes and rabbits (not at the same time) instead.
Posted 12 years ago # -
No sign of the otter since 2 days ago (though planning a stakeout tomorrow morning I think). But I do still get a kick out of seeing foxes.
Riding down Johnston Terrace and one saunters across the road in front and up onto the slopes of the Castle. Alternately being harassed by crows; and searching for rabbits, I had the big lens (wahey!) and snapped away, causing occasional clusters of tourists to stop, look, realise, and grab cameras and phones. As well as workmen sitting in vans having their breakfasts.
It's the little things like that on a commute to work in the morning that reinforces how much better it is by bike.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Can't really claim this as a highlight, as the occurrence happens on literally every evening that I whizz down a particular shared use path in Dundee.
Without fail, there is a group of flopsy bunny rabbits scattered across the path. Presumably they find the grass adjacent to the nearby children's playground tasty. Invariably, as I approach on the wee silver folder, halogen lamp ablaze, they all hop and scamper to the entrance to their burrow, on the other side of the path.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"New Seabird Centre vessel makes waves with catamaran trips to Bass Rock"
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FOR those travelling to the famous Bass Rock, exposure to the elements has always been par for the course.Boat trip passengers visiting the gannet colony happily risk seasickness, a soaking from a rough sea or even an unpleasant delivery from above.
"Posted 12 years ago # -
8 - 10 swallows skimming back and forth, low over Water of Leith at Roseburn Park, including under the bridge to Murrayfield Ice Rink. Looked like they were hoovering up insects.
Posted 12 years ago # -
A dipper (had to look it up) playing about at the edge of the North Esk. I know, I live in Musselburgh, I should be doing better than this.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Phenology news: elder in flower in Paris. When does it flower in Scotland, mid June?
Posted 12 years ago # -
"
Stewart Stevenson (@zsstevens)25/05/2012 07:37
Fri: Launch Bees for Everyone Project at Botanic Gardens
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Posted 12 years ago # -
Whitethroat this morning singing in the mist, then a pair at lunchtime building a nest in the sun.
Posted 12 years ago # -
And a fox (or two, not sure if it was the same one or not) in the mist on the hill this morning.
The Whitethroat was lovely to see, and despite the wee lens got a reasonable shot of it.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Actually it was a wildlife highlight of yesterday: first cygnets of the year on the canal round Wester Hailes.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Think I heard a woodpecker on the Innocence Cycleway (I think about here http://goo.gl/maps/quRc ). minimoth thinks it was a crow...
Lots of chiffchaffs, yellow hammers, etc on our ride at the weekend.
@anth: We went back from our weekend ride via Dudingston loch, this time ~9pm. I was hoping the otters would appear in the dusk etc. But we've still not seen them!
@Tom: For more dippers, go to the water of leith, just below the weir (with the metal steps) somewhere in the town centre.
@Greenroofer: Oh, the ones on the water of leith were a few days ago (according to minimoth), I've been monitoring the ones at the very end of the canal... :)
Posted 12 years ago # -
There's another crow pretending to be a woodpecker somewhere across from my house. There's a real woodpecker hanging around above Middle Meadow Walk which I keep hearing but not seeing. A wagtail right-hooked me on Duddingston Road West this morning, landing on the white line.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Lionfish, both Anth and myself have heard a Woodpecker on the Innocent before. It is not that common but I do hear it occasionally.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Yes! That's what I wanted to hear. I knew it :) Wait 'til I tell minimoth! Thanks Min!
Posted 12 years ago #
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