Another kingfisher sighting today, this time near the footbridge approaching Wester Hailes.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
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Posted 10 years ago #
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Well the evidence is growing that there is probably more than one kingfisher kicking around the canal. I haven't spotted any yet this week although a heron did a fly-by along the canal this morning beyond Slateford aquaduct.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I am mightily jealous of your kingfisher sightings! I even slowed down from Bridge 8 onwards to scan the trees opposite....and nearly fell in the canal after spotting a greeny-blue plastic bag stuck in the vegetation...
Posted 10 years ago # -
That reminds me: I can confirm a sighting of a blue and orangey-brown takeaway cup lodged in the reeds earlier! There was also a blue bag that I repeatedly forgot about for a while around Christmas – it was never a kingfisher.
Posted 10 years ago # -
The Long-tailed Tits announced their return to the garden by appearing right outside the kitchen window today. Good times.
Posted 10 years ago # -
The takeaway cup was still there, but didn't fool me for a second today, and I also saw a kingfisher in its usual half-hidden spot just before Hermiston House Road bridge.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Posted 10 years ago #
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@jdanielp - Ha! No wonder I couldn't spot the blighter despite slowing to a crawl every morning for the past two weeks. That's a bridge too far for me - I pile off at Gogar Station Road.
Any chance you could give me a pointer or two for locating the perch? I think I might be able to persuade Mrs I Were Right About That Saddle to take a spin out to see it at the weekend...
Posted 10 years ago # -
@I were right about that saddle - no problem... I have seen it many times lurking within the branches of a bush or small tree which overhangs the far side of the canal just prior to the turn off up onto Hermiston House Road. I have also seen it on various other branches along that stretch, a handful of times on the previous stretch, and once so far on the stretch before your turning off point.
I've been spotting it far less frequently lately though.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Tuesday, Whiteadder Reservoir. Two Mute swans and a dozen or more Lapwings, first of the year for me. Makes you think of spring when you hear the "peewit" call and see them swirling left and right in the sky. Shortly after, on my way home, around half a dozen Grey Geese flew overhead.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Scotch canaries singing in the trees outside the office at South Gyle
Posted 10 years ago # -
Hopefully some of you may be interested in this:
Posted 10 years ago # -
I may have been hallucinating after a reasonably vigorous crossbike ride up to Harlaw and back, but I could have sworn I saw a dead fox/dog/badger a couple of yards to the north of Leamington Walk this morning (on the left shortly after crossing Whitehouse Loan, heading for the Meadows). Weird thing was, it looked long dead - well decomposed, ribs visible.
Now, I'm all for nature red in tooth and claw and all that - good to start the kids early on the old et in Arcadia ego, but it struck me as a little odd that this was lying not far from a heavily used path in the city centre. Did I dream it?
Posted 10 years ago # -
@PS I saw that too yesterday afternoon although I didn't look very closely because a family was inspecting it – I did however hear one of the adults identify it as a fox.
Posted 10 years ago # -
My first butterfly of the year today, not a great view but I think it was a peacock.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Yesterday evening, another forum member (can't recall his name on here) and I spotted a HUGE bird flying in Dalmeny Estate. As I'm a complete Bird ignoramous I think it might have been a buzzard, for it was the size of a city car!!, Either that or Big Bird's darker coloured cousin!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Watch for toads & frogs crossing the roads if you are doing circuits on Arthurs Seat (http://www.edinburghrc.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=15861.0)
Posted 10 years ago # -
To follow on from Mr Pintail, saw a Red Admiral today as my first flutterby of the year.
And shortly after, I was having a snack and dropped a ginger nut which rolled away, and was then treated to the sight of two crows fighting for it, and each time they won they sort of sat with it in their beak for a while, wondering what to do with it, and then dropped it...
Posted 10 years ago # -
I literally stumbled upon the toad and frog phenomenon on Arthurs Seat on an evening walk a few years ago :-)
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ dave c - maybe it was Big Bird from sesame st?
Spotted two dead frogs already this spring
Posted 10 years ago # -
@davec
a HUGE bird flying in Dalmeny EstateBuzzards aren't that big. But given the small population of sea eagles in Fife I wonder if it was one of them. Did it resemble a flying barn door ?
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ DaveC
"I spotted a HUGE bird flying in Dalmeny Estate. As I'm a complete Bird ignoramous I think it might have been a buzzard..."
As Pintail says, buzzards aren't particularly big as birds of prey go. Then again, if one flies straight across the road front of you, barely above head height (as one did to me last year), they do look big!
There's definitely at least one pair around the estate as I often see one of them sitting in the trees backing onto the A90 at Cramond Brig. I also have one which flies around just behind my house, emitting its beautiful haunting call. Been here for about a year now.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I spotted a woman swimming in the sea as I cycled along Portobello promenade the other day. I mean, it was a lovely day and all ...but still..!
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ouime: I have a friend who is part of a group who swim from Portobello all year round - I think they use wetsuits, and they don't stay in long when conditions are at their coldest.
Posted 10 years ago # -
This one is from Wednesday morning, Heron at the ponds in Edinburgh Park right at the end of my commute.
Heron in the ponds at Edinburgh Park by Chris Fleming, on FlickrADMIN EDIT
iframes don't work in CCE.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Two bramblings in Redford Wood this afternoon, the first and probably the last I've seen all winter.
Posted 10 years ago # -
In the garden this weekend, a blackcap and a LT tit (fatballs doing their job). In Dean, a couple of dippers close up, also a female goosander
Posted 10 years ago # -
First Bullfinch in the garden on Thursday.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Some kind of bird of prey hovering over the Pinkhill path beside the golf course. I watched it for a few minutes.
I don't know what kind it was - it had a long thin tail. Kestrel? Sparrowhalk?
Posted 10 years ago #
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