Saturday 16 February 2008

Weekend Walk - Birds

We walked along the Water of Leith this morning. The weather was lovely, cold but with bright blue skies and no wind. The slopes by the paths were often covered with snowdrops and there were lots of rich mosses on the walls. It was a good day for birdwatching, we saw a pair of goosanders, which seem improbably grand for a small river in the middle of a city. Further along we got very close to two dippers, I was hoping to see some courtship behaviour but each bird stayed firmly on its own rock and groomed. It was lovely to get so close to a bird that often is nothing more than a blur as it speeds along the river! We also saw long tailed tits almost dancing in the branches above us.

10 comments:

jem said...

Always good to read someone elses wildlife adventures. Some long tailed tits passed through our garden last year - their faces are so distinctive. Like little flying badgers.

Crafty Green Poet said...

jem - that's an excellent and original description of long tailed tits!

this is my patch said...

The weather is so lovely at the moment, I have been able to spend some hours out in the garden this weekend. We did walk along Worthing seafront this morning, it was sunny but quite cold with this easterly wind. Your walk sounds great and to see long-tailed tits, I rarely see these, they don't frequent my garden! x

Deb G said...

Sounds like a wonderful walk! Today I walked along the bay where I live. Not too many birds today,just a few diving ducks (Golden eyes I think) and a very serious looking Cormorant.

Christy Woolum said...

I am eager for the birds to return to our area. I saw sunshine today... perhaps soon!

Kay Cooke said...

We have a Water of Leith here too - but no gooseanders, dippers or longtailed tits.

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

You remind me of the atmosphere I found at the Orkneys and the birds there, the majestic Skuas and the Gannets I saw for the first time in my life at the Hebrides in that same summer.
Best wishes, Davide Trame

Crafty Green Poet said...

Davide - oh there are wonderful birds in the orkneys aren't there? I love watching the gannets dive...

chiefbiscuit, its funny how often the same place names turn up, isn't it?

deb - our cormorants usually look serious too

this is my patch - there are a surprisingly large number of long tailed tits round Edinburgh

inland empire girl - hope your birds are back soon!

Anonymous said...

I've never seen a gossander before, very elegant fellow, I can imagine them gliding along prim and proper, so well dressed.

Crafty Green Poet said...

gingatao - yes, like a lot of British water birds they are a bit prim and proper.