Big gull eating a very fresh pigeon in the Missoni taxi rank this evening as I rode past.
Oh I just heard about that from someone else this evening!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
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Posted 8 years ago #
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Out bicycling with Madame IWRATS on Sunday, stumbled on a racing pigeon on Porty Prom. Most dead. A bit smelly. No gull eating it, though something had decapitated it.
Phoned the racing pigeon hotline and reported its demise and ring number. I understand that people are very fond of their birds.
Posted 8 years ago # -
@IWRATS, good to know the racing pigeon hotline still going strong. See a fair few decapitated birdies out this way. When I stayed in city centre the gulls used to love a Chinese takeaway, particularly, spicy Peking duck. Chinese restaurant on Frederick St used to leave bags of rubbish out the back, not sure why they did not use bins. Carcasses were strewn most mornings all along thistle St lane as gulls not bothered about tidying up after they have dined.
Posted 8 years ago # -
When asked by the Guardian why he had not cited any science to back up his assertion that raptors were suppressing native birds, Page replied: “I don’t want to, why should I?”
Ah, the Daily Mail eh? Quality. I also want to point out that the raptors are native birds too.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"I also want to point out that the raptors are native birds too."
Indeed
Pigeon racer on radio at lunchtime was complaining that BoPs were now being encouraged to nest in urban areas - 'which isn't their natural habitat', plus 'they see pigeon lofts as larders and visit every day'.
Posted 8 years ago # -
One man's "raptors disembowelling red squirrels" is another's "raptor having its dinner".
We think it's terrible that birds of prey are purposefully killing fluffy and feathery creatures. We want to solve this by purposelessly killing feathery creatures.
Is this the same Robin Page of "One Man and His Dog" fame? And the same Robin Page who has been on a long, slow Conservatives > Referendum Party > UKIP > UK First polical slide to the loony right?
Posted 8 years ago # -
"... plus 'they see pigeon lofts as larders and visit every day'."
Hahahahaha! Because, aye, pigepn lofts are a 'natural habitat'.
I've often seen a similar discussion about chickens and foxes (given I've got chooks and frequent chicken fancier type websites on occasion. People declare that foxes just kill for fun, and when they get into a henhouse they just kill everything in sight which isn't natural behaviour, they should just kill what they need to eat. Yeah, well in the 'wild' birds wouldn't all be confined in one small space and unable to flee - the original wild chickens in the rainforest would all disappear into higher branches and a hunter would get one. WE have created the unnatural situation (and anyway, undisturbed a fox WILL come back for the rest, it can only carry so much).
OR gamekeepers who complain that buzzards kill rabbits and grouse which is.... erm... stopping people with guns killing them. For fun. Which is more natural? And breed large stocks of prey animals and the raptors are gonna move in.
Posted 8 years ago # -
At least in these isles it's only foxes and buzzards sneaking around catching and eating semi-captive/deliberately-bred things (rather than bears or wolves, which would be much more of a problem for an intervening human).
Posted 8 years ago # -
Braid birds -
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/5113/hermitage_of_braid_birdlife.pdf
Posted 8 years ago # -
Also
'Spotted' (not by me) man with bike and telescope waiting for sedge warbler on canal near Wester Hailes.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Aye, the whole blaming creatures for being creatures whilst ignoring the effect human activity has on them opens up a whole can of red squirrel bowels!
Posted 8 years ago # -
We mustn't forget the cat owners who let their cats kill many dozen wild animals a year each with the cry of they're only doing what they've evolved to do. While being fed food from a tin and able to retire to a warm house whenever they want. No wonder song birds are in decline.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
The ecology of urban Sparrowhawks has been studied within Edinburgh since the late 1980’s however despite ongoing monitoring of a number of nests across the city, little is known about the dispersal strategies and survival rates of juvenile birds once they fledge the nest.
In an attempt to improve our understanding of the behaviour of these juvenile birds, 100 Sparrowhawk chicks from 14 nest sites in Edinburgh have been ringed with unique colour rings over the last three years. You can greatly assist this research project by watching for and reporting observations of these colour ringed birds.
"
http://www.burdiehousefriends.org.uk/news/apleafromlothianandbordersraptorstudygroup
Posted 8 years ago # -
"We mustn't forget the cat owners who let their cats kill many dozen wild animals a year each with the cry of they're only doing what they've evolved to do. While being fed food from a tin and able to retire to a warm house whenever they want. No wonder song birds are in decline."
Something which even the RSPB has admitted can't be attributed to bird decline. They do kill birds, yes, but compared to manmade causes - and studies have shown drops of same levels in the same species in areas with low numbers of cats and high numbers of cats. And please don't tarnish all cat owners with the brush of not caring about wildlife, because it's simply not true, much like 'all' cyclists jumping red lights.
Posted 8 years ago # -
My cat couldn't catch a moth let alone a bird!
Posted 8 years ago # -
RSPB:
No evidence
Despite the large numbers of birds killed, there is no scientific evidence that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK-wide. This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year, mainly through starvation, disease, or other forms of predation. There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds.
It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season
We also know that of the millions of baby birds hatched each year, most will die before they reach breeding age. This is also quite natural, and each pair needs only to rear two young that survive to breeding age to replace themselves and maintain the population.It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations. If their predation was additional to these other causes of mortality, this might have a serious impact on bird populations.
Those bird species that have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.
Posted 8 years ago # -
" And please don't tarnish all cat owners with the brush of not caring about wildlife, because it's simply not true, much like 'all' cyclists jumping red lights."
Amen!!
Posted 8 years ago # -
I didn't mean to tarnish all cat owners with the same brush and apologise if that's the way it was taken. There is certainly a complete spectrum of people owning cats just like there is in all walks of life, drivers, dog owners, cyclists and I'm sure pigeon fanciers too.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Posted 8 years ago # -
Nice heron @chdot. I was overtaken by a swallow as I cycled south on the stretch of the canal towpath which runs parallel to the City Bypass near Wester Hailes on the way home this evening. Several others were swooping over the canal and towpath.
Posted 8 years ago # -
One of our new-ish regulars (very small, a bit skinny, but very bold - our more regular regular is bigger but much more flighty).
Stare by Anthony Robson, on Flickr
Posted 8 years ago # -
Dead badger on Queensferry Road. Prince Charles will be pleased.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Posted 8 years ago #
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The Figgate cygnets have debuted in society. 7 in total.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Wooded Fox by Anthony Robson, on Flickr
Listen up you lot by Anthony Robson, on Flickr
Sent flying by Anthony Robson, on Flickr
Posted 8 years ago # -
A goosander with ten chicks on the Water of Leith between the Dean Gallery and the weir at the edge of Dean Village this afternoon. I don't think that I have seen goosander chicks before; they were like ducklings, but differently coloured and turned up to eleven in terms of dynamism...
Posted 8 years ago # -
Quite an active burst of birds in garden this morning whilst I was eating the breakfast of champions (porridge with Greek yoghurt and rhubarb compote). First a little wren creeping up the creeper (tempted to say tree creeper but was creeper creeper) then thrush, I love a throstle as they eat the snails tho would need a full volery to keep them at bay. Then two magpies chasing the thrush, then the swallows finally arrived. This was all in a crazy two minutes. Then more usual coal tit, sparrow and herring gull. The big fat wood pigeons laying low until I typed that and it is now tamely perched on neighbour's fence. This generation of pigeons come right up to the door.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I scrambled through, round, over and under the wind yesterday on my favourite Esk-Pentlands-Water of Leith loop. Very few swifts, a few swallows and a set of finch pairs doing bird-book poses. Goldfinch, greenfinch and bullfinch all showing off their ludicrously colourful plumage.
The Esk Path is closed due to the train works at Hardengreen. Got lost and off-roaded it back on track across a luxury golf course somewhere East of Rosewell.
Posted 8 years ago #
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