In the Dells

The weather has been very changeable today. Once the early morning rain stopped I went out to do a litter-picking, wildlife recording patrol of the Water of Leith. About three quarters of the way through, it started raining / hailing / sleeting! I didn't take many photos as it was also very windy and the wind kept threatening to blow my litter bag away, so I had to keep hold of it all the time, which made photography a bit tricky. I did however, make sure to get this photo of the developing new cones on the larch tree. 

 

I don't think I've ever caught them so early in their development! I blogged about the stages of their later development back in 2014, you can see those photos in this post. 

The Water of Leith features in this week's Crafty Green Poet Substack post, which marks International Day of Action for Rivers (which happens on 14 March).  

A Walk at Musselburgh

 Yesterday we had a lovely walk at Musselburgh, following part of the John Muir Walkway along the Firth of Forth. The weather was lovely and the tide was out when we started the walk 

There were plenty of birds around! The photo below shows a group of Mallards on the beach and a male Goldeneye on the water behind them.  

We were delighted to hear Skylarks singing! This is always one of the most wonderful things about walking this route at this time of year, as Skylarks are much less common than they used to be. One Skylark was singing, as you might expect, high up in the sky, but another (lazy!) Skylark was singing from the ground, which is very unusual (though I have once seen a Skylark singing from a fence post). 

George A Magpie Memoir by Frieda Hughes

 

The author had recently moved to Wales, when she rescued three injured magpie chicks that had fallen from their nest and been abandoned. Only one of these survived, she named him George. 

This is the story of Frieda Hughes' life with George, who for a few short months was a huge presence in her life until he flew away back into the wild. 

The book is a very engaging tale of looking after a mischevious and very intelligent wild magpie who had a 'tangible sense of humour'. Interwoven with this primary narrative are details of Hughes' work at renovating her new home and garden, while suffering from chronic health problems and the breakdown of her relationship.   

George develops a good rapport with the author's three dogs, and we are treated to many scenes of how they would play together, George often hiding dog treats and the dogs finding them. George in fact seems to think he is a dog! 

He also developed a very close relationship with the author herself:

"He was also happy just sitting in my hand as I loved around doing chores: cooking, tidying up, whatever I could do one handed. Sometimes I held him in one hand and painted with the other; and he'd watch my face or my pantbrush as it moved, and seemed captivated. So was I. Of course I realised that everything took twice as long to do with a magpie hanging off me, but I also wanted to make  the most of every minute. His warmy feathered presence was like having an emissary of the natural world grounding me daily."

This ia a very readable account of life with a wild bird, with fascinating insights into the intelligence of magpies.  

George: A Magpie Memoir by Frieda Hughes, published (2023) by Profile Books. 

**

Today is World Book Day! To celebrate this fact, yesterday's Crafty Green Poet Substack post was all about books! You can read it here.  

In the Dells

Spring is definitely here! I did my regular volunteering session in the Dells alongside the Water of Leith this morning and took these photos. 

The Scarlet Elf Caps are more hidden away this year than they normally are, in the place where I've found them over the past few years, but I did manage to get this photo

The Hazel Trees are in full bloom just now, with all the catkins out and lots of the tiny red female flowers too, if you look carefully along the branches.  

In the corner of Colinton Cemetery, there's a lovely patch of Winter Aconite and crocuses

This is one of the few places where I regularly notice Winter Aconite, it's a lovely flower  

As well as all the Spring flowers, there were lots of birds around. Among others, I saw Bullfinches; Buzzards, Dippers; a pair of Coal Tits checking out nest sites; and a Nuthatch that looked like it was carrying food to a nest. I also heard Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming and Song Thrushes singing. 

 

Blackford Pond and Hermitage of Braid

 Yesterday we walked round Blackford Pond and then through the Hermitage of Braid. Here are some of our photos. 

There were quite a few birds on Blackford Pond, including Moorhens, Coots, Mallards and Black Headed Gulls.  

 The Hermitage is looking very green just now with the fresh leaves of Ramsons and Few Flowered Leek 

I like the patterns formed by the Turkey Tail fungus on this fallen log. 

and the Hazel Trees are wonderful at the moment, with both the male catkins and the tiny female red flowers out 

 

A Walk at Cramond

 Yesterday we took a bus to Cramond and had a walk along the River Forth. The tide was well out, so we didn't get close views of any of the Oystercatchers, Curlew and other wading birds that were hanging around further out on the mud flats, but the light was beautiful so we managed to get some decent photos.

 

This Carrion Crow posed for us nicely.

 We were delighted to hear a Song Thrush singing a little bit, almost as if he were tuning up for the Spring. 

Snowdrops

 

I love seeing snowdrops, one of the first signs of Spring every year, these are in North Merchiston Cemetery, which, just now, has more of these lovely flowers than I've ever seen before.