The West Lothian coast of the Firth of Forth

Today we took a trip into West Lothian. We had lunch in the open air section of the Rouken Glen Garden Centre. After lunch we wandered along the path through the allotments, where lots of the pretty orange hawkweed (which is often called fox and cubs) grows 

 We then went up to Blackness Castle, which is only open if you have booked in advance. 

 

However we were only interested in walking around along the shore 

 

and up the hill.

It was very windy, which judging from the shape of the hawthorn tree below, is the usual type of weather for the area. 

 There were quite a few swallows and house martins flying around, which is always nice to see but I don't even try to capture them on film as they're so speedy!

 For 30DaysWild.

Buttercups for 30 Days Wild

 The buttercups are beautifully in bloom at the moment, here are some photos from earlier today in Colinton and Craiglockart Dells

(in the photo above, you can also see comfrey, which is covered in bees at the moment, which is lovely, as there seem to be fewer bees than usual this year, probably partly due to the strange weather, but also partly due to overall insect declines)

For 30DaysWild.

Watching insects for 30 Days Wild

 Insects are fascinating as well as vital elements of the ecosystem! Many insects are food for birds, mammals and spiders. many are also beautiful or interesting to watch. 

This is a click beetle (Athous haemorrhoidalis) which I found in North Merchiston Cemetery. These beetles make an audible click if you disturb them! 

And this is a species of mayfly which I photographed in Saughton Park. Mayflies are river flies, which are emerging at the moment in large numbers, including from the Water of Leith, which runs through Saughton Park. 

What insects have you been seeing recently? 

For 30 Days Wild.

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On another topic, I've just added some more earrings to my Crafty Green Poet Etsy store, you can see them here.

Tracking Mammals for 30 Days Wild

 I was excited to find this badger footprint in a local area 

Nearby we also found some fur - white downy fur and some more sturdy fur. Each strand of the sturdy fur was black at one end and white at the other, typical for a badger (and didn't come out in my photos!). We also found entrances to a badger sett. 

It was amazing to find this badger sett, so close to where we live and in an unexpected place! I'm not going to give details of where it is as I don't want to inadvertently encourage disturbance of the sett.

Walking Meetings for 30 Days Wild

 One of the things I have loved discovering during lockdown restrictions are walking meetings! Over the past year or so,  I've often met up with colleagues to go for a socially distanced walk through local green-spaces while we discuss things. It's a much better way to meet than the traditional format of sitting in an airless office or the pandemic alternative of staring at each other through a video conference. 

If you're not able to walk far or comfortably then walking meetings are out of the question. They're also not an ideal option for people with hearing problems, as if you've got more than two people in the meeting it can be difficult to enable lip reading throughout the walk. Of course when the weather is nice you can gather together for a socially distanced meeting on park benches or similar, but this hasn't been ideal during our cold Spring this year.

I find that being out in nature helps me think as does the actual movement of walking. Though the act of walking does make taking notes tricky so you need to record things if you want an accurate record of any decisions.

As I often lead guided walks, walking will (hopefully) remain part of my working life well into the future, but I hope that walking meetings will specifically continue to be part of the mix too.  

It's a lovely sunny morning just now and I'm off very soon for another walking meeting! 

 

Photographing Nature for 30 Days Wild

 30 Days Wild encourages people to engage with nature and wildlife in some way every day in June. If you join up on the website, then you'll be given a list of suggested activities to ensure you keep exploring nature over the whole of the month. I'm just posting my own ideas each day as I go along!

Today I had a walk around Silverknowes. I'll be bringing a birdwatching group next week but I haven't visited for a while due to lockdown restrictions and then being busy so i thought I'd have a wander along before meeting a friend in the area. 

The fields of the Lauriston Farm here are due to be transformed into a local agroecology project (though there is some concern from some birdwatchers that the project will actually damage the area for certain species of wading birds that winter here, while undoubtedly improving the area for other species). You can find out about this project here. The project seems very keen to survey what wildlife there is in the area and are keen for people to send in their wildlife records so if you have any recent records from the area, do send them in to the project, using this page on their website. 

I made a note of the birds I saw, including swallows, pied wagtails and whitethroats, all these records will be sent to the project. At the same time I took the chance to take some photos. 

The farmland is looking lovely at the moment, everything is so green and the hawthorn hedges are in bloom. 

On the water, herring gulls were trying their best to ride the waves

though the water looks calmer in this photo below 

I was particularly interested in this beautiful hawthorn tree 

The air is scented with the sweet cicely that grows in profusion here 

There's a lovely variety of habitats in this area, including a small patch of woodland, which looked particularly beautiful when the haar (sea mist) lifted and the sun came out.

Go on a Guided Walk for 30 Days Wild

30 Days Wild encourages people to engage with nature and wildlife in some way every day in June. 

This morning I lead a birdwatching walk around Corstorphine Hill, one of Edinburgh's many hills. (I didn't take any photos today so this is a photo from a couple of years ago).

In normal times, I regularly lead guided walks, but the pandemic put a stop to them entirely for a while and Edinburgh Council is only just allowing them again, with smaller groups to allow for social distancing. 

Everyone who is coming along to the current walks is just delighted to be able to get out in groups again to meet new people and learn about nature. We've seen some great birds over the past few weeks including blackcap, buzzard, whitethroat and goldcrest, with today's highlight being a great spotted woodpecker that wandered about in a tree right in front of us. It's also been lovely to listen to all the birdsong.

The City of Edinburgh Council is currently putting together its adult education programme of guided walks and outdoor classes for the next term. The details will eventually be available here. Many conservation organisations also offer guided walks either as a regular programme or as part of a larger event.