Saturday 23 November 2013

Counting Birds on Cammo Fields

I blogged recently about the proposed housing development for Cammo Fields and the public meeting that's happening on Thursday. I said in my previous blogposts that the area is rich in birdlife and today Crafty Green Boyfriend and I went along to the fields to record the birds we saw to feed into the meeting (though hopefully the local Wildlife Record Centre and Scottish Ornithologists Club will be adding in their records too).

 the field that may be lost to houses, photo taken by me

The birds were obviously aware of the importance of our task as they turned out in great number. Not only were there lots of goldfinches, several robins, blue tits and a buzzard (all common species) but there were also a range of rarer birds too. We saw: one or two yellowhammers, several tree sparrows and ten or more linnets, all of which are both red listed in the UK (ie of special conservation concern) and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP)). We also saw: about 15 fieldfares (which are red listed in the UK but not mentioned specifically in the Edinburgh LBAP) and at least three reed buntings (which are amber listed in the UK, as being of moderate conservation concern and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh LBAP).We didn't however see any of the (red-listed) skylarks that sing so beautifully above these fields in the spring.

yellowhammer, photo by Crafty Green Boyfriend

tree sparrowshiding in the shadows in the hedge, photo by Crafty Green Boyfriend

We continued our walk into Cammo Estate itself and the autumn colours and shadows were magnificent in the woodlands. 


A reminder that the public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. If you can't get along to the exhibition or public meeting, but have a genuine interest in the development then you can respond on the Cammo Development website

For Shadow Shot Sunday

as ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more. 

17 comments:

robin. said...

i am sure you have a battle ahead!! best of luck. the bird shots are great!!!

TexWisGirl said...

it is a beautiful area. good luck...

Sylvia K said...

Oh, a beautiful area indeed and wonderful captures for the day. Best of luck!!

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

Oh, yes! Please count the birds while you can. I hate the thought of that beautiful area being overrun with human habitations!

Shadowy Stone

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful variety of birds seen during your walk. I do hope you can win this battle. I wish you and the birds the best of luck!

Kathe W. said...

lovely shots- very sad to hear about future plans for what should remani a field. We have 10 acres of our own and have massive amounts of birds including Goldfinches. Good luck with your battle.

Jeannie Marie said...

Lovely shots for us to enjoy! I would so take a walk down that lane!

MyMaracas said...

I do hope you are able to save the field! It seems people won't be satisfied until everything is paved over, built on, or planted in sod.

Ms Sparrow said...

I'm glad you are taking a strong interest in stopping this project. It breaks my heart to see all the wild places being nibbled away by greedy corporations. I wish you well!

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Juliet,

Loved seeing your beautiful bird photos and it looks like a gorgeous area.
Best of luck with the battle ahead and hope the development can go elsewhere.

happy weekend
hugs
Carolyn

Little Miss Titch said...

great bird shots good luck with the fight!xx Rachel

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I really love the yellowhammer picture :)

LE CHEMIN DES GRANDS JARDINS said...

Nature et poésie, ton blog me plait beaucoup.

Roger

bunnits said...

Yay, Birds! Lovely photos. I certainly hope that area and others like it can be spared development

RG said...

Oh that last photo - you are sure it is not a photo of an old master's oil painting?

Good luck with the campaign.

I would think some of the lands there would be zoned for housing, and others zoned for rural or agriculture or critical habitat or ... otherwise what is to stop a developer, as long as that development does not befoul the waters or atmosphere and meets building codes.

Anonymous said...

good to see the birds are cooperating nicely with you :)

Crafty Green Poet said...

thanks everyone for your best wishes for the campaign, I'll keep you up to date on the blog!

Rabbits Guy, this field (and the others nearby) is at the moment greenbelt and thus protected from development of any kind. But the council are wanting to rezone it for housing. Of course, it makes a mockery of the greenbelt if they just re-zone when htey feel like it...