Re my barn owl encounter yesterday, yes it was wonderful. I'd read on other cycling forums from folk down south of barn owls doing this but I certainly never expected to ever see it myself. Especially West Lothian where they get very few sightings. The Lothian Bird News feed often reports them in East Lothian but rarely in West.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Wildlife highlight of the day
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Posted 8 years ago #
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Had a good view of a peregrine today, up near Harlaw, circling over the snow.
I continued my walk to Thriepmuir where another highlight came in the form of a flight of about 20 whooper swans flying in, past my position and landing on the water. A glorious sight in the winter sun and an even better sound, music to my ears ! Winter at its best.Posted 8 years ago # -
Whooper swans are fantastic!
Posted 8 years ago # -
Not entirely wild -
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
Fox and eagle battle over dinner in the Trossachs
"
Posted 8 years ago # -
A snow bunting looking very much at home on Harbour Hill this morning.
Posted 8 years ago # -
https://mobile.twitter.com/zurika/status/693446478623281152
"This Internat'l Life – @zurika
An otter frolicking in the Water of Leith this morning. #stockbridge #waterofleith #Edinburgh
6:51 a.m. - 30 Jan 2016"
With video footage!
Posted 8 years ago # -
Saw that on twitter earlier - amazing! I may need to go on more river walks...
Posted 8 years ago # -
Great footage of that Sockbridge otter.
I paid the Bavelaw hide a visit today, my first for a while. Quite a few recent sightings of otters reported in the visitors book there too, also several of kingfishers. Needless to say I saw neither but I did enjoy the 18 strong flotilla of whooper swans gliding across the water. Lots of geese about too.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Saw a greater spotted wood-pecker in garden next door. First one I've ever seen. Beautiful bird.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Very large formation of Geese overhead as I left the house this morning. Possibly a couple of hundred but certainly the largest I've seen for quite some time.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Oh yes, I saw geese too! Not hundreds, but quite a few, and quite low.
I was supposed to be turning right at the time, and did wonder if I confused any passing motorists by gazing at the sky rather than looking at traffic (there was none behind me).
Posted 8 years ago # -
"did wonder if I confused any passing motorists by gazing at the sky rather than looking at traffic"
If only there were more open-topped cars...
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
“Ultimately the Centenary Wood will benefit a wide range of wildlife including badgers, barn owls and bats.
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Posted 8 years ago # -
I rode out this morning to see the Mandarin duck who has been at Figgate Park for a few weeks. He is gorgeous!
Posted 8 years ago # -
Daffodil in flower beside the A89 just west of Coatbridge.
These are always the first ones I see in spring. It's in a wood so it's sheltered and there is a slope with a southern aspect.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Last night I came home to my wife asking "do you know what this is?" - a bird photographed in our back garden.
Turns out it was a red-legged partridge - which I'd never seen in a garden before!
Robert
Posted 8 years ago # -
Sweet. I have seen them wandering southern Edinburgh before.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I wouldn't usually bother reporting a solitary heron, but today I spotted one from the bus rather than when cycling on the towpath, which is perhaps a first. It was stalking purposefully along the small stream that runs through the Research Park at the north end of the Heriot-Watt Campus.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Last week on my solitary eastwards canal journey I spotted a cormorant landing on the canal clumsily. Seemed brownish, maybe juvenile and a swan just after take off, beating the air into the whoop whoop sound.
Today on walk along the WoL path spotted elvis and two of the other llamas of Balerno.
Posted 8 years ago # -
A kingfisher perched on the branch of the tree west of Meggetland near the pedestrian footbridge. Apologies to Gembo who I spotted shortly thereafter, but completely forgot to tip off about the kingfisher. Can't remember what distracted me from thinking about it so quickly :(
Posted 8 years ago # -
A long V-shaped skein of something which looked too small and rapidly-flapping to be geese so which were probably ducks going over Leith Walk on Monday evening.
Posted 8 years ago # -
five deer on ravelrig hill last eveningin the dusk and a gosander taking off along the canal this morning
Posted 8 years ago # -
My mother reports that birding twitter sai the Inverleith Park water rail has been seen about recently.
I have now seen a singing dipper on the Stockbridge WoL. Better yet, it was periodically in flight, seeing off an encroacher on its territory. When not singing it was bobbing furiously just across from me. A good start to a Monday morn!
Posted 8 years ago # -
The Inverleith Water Rail is, I think, resident. Certainly I got shots of him at the beginning of 2015; and I've got friends have seen it at various points throughout the year. Lots of pics recently too.
Had one in the Figgate at the weekend, last report I saw of it was on Tuesday. Hoping it hangs around, but our reedbeds are a little more spread out, so it has to come out into the open a bit more, and they don't like that.
The Mandarin Duck has been two months now, and seems quite happy to mix it with the Mallards. Asked for some name suggestions through our Friends FB page, and by far the best was Jerry (Mandarin), which has stuck nicely. Get people tweeting us about him using his name, rather than any species reference.
Had Siskins in our garden a week ago, which was a lovely little treat.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Quality punning there. Kudos!
Posted 8 years ago # -
Skylarks singing between Carberry and Tranent this morning
Posted 8 years ago # -
A mouse (or maybe a shrew - I didn't look closely enough) in an old discarded margarine tub next to one of the back paths in Livingston - poor thing was shivering. Hope it's gone today (in the it's-alive-and-run-away sense).
Posted 8 years ago # -
Went for a lunchtime walk yesterday and saw something scuffling about in an artificial pond thing. Went for a closer look and found it was full of frogs. Frogs are brilliant. Going back with my grown-up camera next week.
Posted 8 years ago #
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