The Meadows is a lovely area of greenery in the middle of Edinburgh, it has few fences around it and feels like part of the city rather than a cordoned off park (though we have plenty of those too!). I wandered round the Meadows this morning, walking from the Shelter second hand shop (where I bought two books and 2 small picture frames for a total of £3) to the recently expanded New Leaf organic shop (where I had my Ecover washing up liquid refilled and bought some organic pears) to Real Foods (where I bought loads of food and some Sarakan toothpaste).
I was hoping to see redwings in the Meadows as they are often seen there at this time of the year. I didn't see any but that was more than made up for by the other birds. The whole Meadows was shimmering with a mist of low whispers from the trees. Looking up I saw that almost every tree was full of long tailed tits, busily eating and twittering. There were also a lot of blue tits and some goldcrests, one of which came really close and I got a wonderful view of its little yellow head crest.
9 comments:
Sounds like a lovely day! Our local organic market is called New Leaf as well! :)
You’re so darned observant! Long-tailed tits and a goldcrest indeed! All I ever see on the Meadows are gulls, crows and the occasional chaffinch … although I was particularly pleased with myself when I noticed a treecreeper on Bruntsfield Links a couple of months ago.
I live very near to the Meadows, so I really must look up and pay more attention to the birdlife there. Thank you for drawing my attention to it. It’s amazing how rich central Edinburgh is in bird species.
I love the different tits you have there - some of those birds are such beauties.
I use Tom's toothpaste - all natural ingredients and no preservatives.
Janice - Toms is good but as its American i prefer not to buy it, reduce the airmiles of my toiletries. Sarakan is British.
Golebnik - its amazing what's there in the Meadows if you look,
What a wonderful treat to see these birds, I very rarely see long-tailed tits. This morning whilst walking to work I stopped to study a tiny blue tit in a tree, it didn't seem to mind my presence. The Meadows sounds like a beautiful place to be. x
We have New Leaf here too, but it is not Buddhist, it used to be a proper co-op, but now it is a same chain (pretty good though). I have started brushing my teeth with soap (no kidding), check out Toothsoap. Toothpaste has glycerine in it that creates a sticky coat that keep teeth from re-mineralizing.....though your toothpaste sounds good....
It is wonderful to have such an area on hand - and generous of you to make it possible for us to share it vicariously.
I went back to the Meadows early this morning and finally managed to find the long-tailed tits! I didn’t see any on the Meadows itself (themselves?), but there were a load high up in a tree just across Melville Drive. Long-tailed tits are so flighty that they’re almost impossible to photograph, but I just about managed to catch one here. I got a lovely view of a great spotted woodpecker on my way home, though. Thanks once again for providing the inspiration with your original post.
Golebnik - thanks for sharing your photos, they're wonderful! Glad you saw the long tailed tits and wow! a great spotted woodpecker in the middle of town!
Post a Comment