Has he started a kennelling service for snake-owners who are going on long holidays abroad? He has a ready supply of tasty rodents. And eggs.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
(7221 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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Hadn't thought about snakes for the rats! Ooh!
Posted 9 years ago # -
You know what rats really don't like sharing a shed with? SCORPIONS.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Cormorant flew over my head on the canal this morning. It was relatively high: it wasn't just avoiding me, it was going somewhere.
jdanielp's teeny weeny ducklings at the west end of the aqueduct.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Pretty sure I heard the Shereee! of a swift this afternoon, but I could have been imagining it.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@kaputnik
Never ever before the 4th of May. Never.
Unless it came through a wormhole?
Also, some starlings have learned to make the swift noise.
Also, on R4 there were swifts in the background of an interview in Italy. They're on their way.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@wingpig, rats don't like 80s power ballads? Who knew?!?
Posted 9 years ago # -
Explosion of green bottles in our garden, a few blue bottles, some passing butterflies, one very large hoverfly that I mistook for a honeybee at first but I've now ID'd (with the help of my big book of insects), a reasonable number of bumbles (we've a rather bee friendly garden) and the ants are on the march. I suspect all may be in for a shock very soon if the weather forecasts are correct.
Macro lens has been getting a work out...
Posted 9 years ago # -
The duck puppies appeared on Monday. I just hope the heron doesn't eat them.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Did a talk today to the whole of St John's Primary about the wildlife of the Figgate Park (while the Council Rangers talked about the park in general and work on trees, flowers and a new butterfly patch).
I can only assume they were excited by the photos, given the increase in volume, and the hands thrust into the air to guess at the animal on the screen.
Next week it's Duddingston Primary, the week after that the Royal High Primary.
An audience of 400 kids is flippin' intimidating (and watching them all perform the Lord's prayer and do the whole crossing themselves thing in unison shold have been expected but wasn't).
Hopefully instilled in at least a few of them some more interest in wildlife!
Posted 9 years ago # -
Perhaps they were excited to have a TV star presenting to them ;-)
Posted 9 years ago # -
That sounds great fun WC. I've only talked to a class of school children once in recent years - it was a little stressful but a great experience.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Swallows over the Figgy! Yay!
Posted 9 years ago # -
Well who wouldn't be interested in copulating green bottle flies, and tiny zebra spiders?
Green Bottle Copulation by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
Zebra Spider on White by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
Zebra Spider Massive Crop by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
Posted 9 years ago # -
After the swift false alarm, 6 definite actual proper real swallows over Lochend loch this morning on our weekly litter pick. Also 2 ducklings, 3 heron argy-barying eachother for the best fishing spot, a lone sandpiper, a chiff-chaff, swans nesting, coots and moorhen nestbuilding and geese getting bizzywidit.
Interesting facts on Lochend, it counts as a loch because it is natural. It's unique in Edinburgh's lochs and ponds (as far as I'm aware) in having no source burn, it's fed by a natural underground spring. The council tried to largely fill it in in the 1960s after some tragic drownings, they filled it with as much muck as they could and planted the trees. They managed to raise the lochbed to a maximum depth of 10 feet, but the water sorted the "land" out and you now have the spooky mangrove that's a great waterfowl reserve.
It used to serve as the reservoir for the port of Leith, with wooden, leather-lined pipes carrying the water downhill to the port apparently roughly on an alignment with the present day Easter Road.
Posted 9 years ago # -
"The council tried to largely fill it in in the 1960s"
And again more recently -
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/council-may-fill-in-loch-where-boy-drowned-1.399504
Posted 9 years ago # -
Two dippers on the Water of Leith between Dean Village and Stockbridge, which was incredibly busy around midday, even for a Sunday. We decided that this was probably a result of the Stockbridge Market taking place, which was so busy that we didn't even bother trying to look around it.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Saw a/the heron stabbing at the water in Pondend Loch on the way to PoP. Only ever seen one at once.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Buzzard high in the sky above the Figgy being mobbed by a crow, which isn't in itself that notable. But the buzzard had something in its talons, which as far as I can make out from the photos was.... a bat.
The Pond is still ducklingless, but amongst the returning swallows were a couple of sand martins, which are lovely to see.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Heron took off on canal this morning, quite a display. Eleven ducklings on way in but hopefully different mum with five on way back, one of the ducklings running on the water. Papa mallard also showed me a virtual vertical take off. So plenty of showing off even from our more common birdies.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@kaputnik
Never ever before the 4th of May. Never.
Well considering it's April 30th and I'm currently watching a flying anchor doing its stuff over Royal Park Terrace, I guess there must be a wormhole!
Posted 9 years ago # -
@kaputnik
What! What! What? Great news!
I'm sad I never saw the canal kingfisher, before or after the 4th of May, but here's how I imagine it;
Posted 9 years ago # -
Cuckoos have arrived at Hopes Reservoir
Cuckoo by blackpuddinonnabike, on FlickrGot close to a cute wee Goldcrest
Goldcrest by blackpuddinonnabike, on FlickrAnd had a Dor Beetle showing off its colours
Dor Beetle by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr
Posted 9 years ago # -
Those are great pics!
Taking my brother to try and spot some Tayside beavers as a birthday present in a few weeks - probably ride up and camp near Dunkeld (is Loch of the Lowes any good for wild camping?). Free tours, though they ask for (and shall receive) donations, and they claim a 96% beaver spotting rate. I'm quite excited!
Posted 9 years ago # -
Bats, doing that thing where they get really close to your head, on the Restalrig path round the back of Leith Academy.
Posted 9 years ago # -
@unhurt, could you let us know how that goes? I'd love to do this, and that hit rate sounds fantastic!
As we were talking about them upthread, a few Swifts wheeling away about the Figgate yesterday. Also the Swallows and Sand Martins appear to have found a favoured tree to sit in during the early evening. Must have been a dozen or so sitting when we popped down last night. The House Martins seem to be preferring to be on the wing.
Looks like the park has lost its first youngsters. Reports and pictures of three goslings with the Canada Geese on Saturday. Sunday, Monday and last night I was down, a couple of pairs of geese about, but no goslings in sight at all.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Will do! Probably going up for 30th or first Saturday in June. (If there are beaverlets I might actually expire of glee...)
Posted 9 years ago # -
a few Swifts wheeling away about the Figgate yesterday
I've been scanning the skies of the New Town for swifts the past week, but they don't appear to have made the short step from East to Central Edinburgh yet. I wonder if they represent different swift populations?
Posted 9 years ago # -
"(If there are beaverlets I might actually expire of glee...)"
Yep, I'd be with you on that! I've been keeping an eye on the local fox den. Got shots of the kits three years ago, but the last couple of years the undergrowth has got too thick to see. This year the mouth of the den is clear just now, but it's a race against time for them to start venturing out!
Posted 9 years ago #
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