Yesterday evening we walked over to Blackford Pond, where we saw these proud parent mallards and a little grebe, respendent in its breeding plumage. The books describe little grebes as very shy and this one certainly was, it spent most of its time under water! The evening was beautiful, mild and still with a wonderful sky of soft clouds. We walked round Blackford Hill and the Hermitage of Braid and after coming almost face to face with a swooping kestrel (they're incredibly beautiful at close range!) we sat down for a while looking at the trees below, which were full of chattering jackdaws and the hill behind that was full of rabbits. Swifts were darting about high above us and the air was full of birdsong (I was pleased that I recognised the song of a whitethroat). A very peaceful place.
Glad you made it over to our neck of the woods and saw the beautiful bunnies. Your ornithological finds always impress me … a little grebe on Blackford Pond? I consider myself lucky if I see so much as a tufted duck there! And a whitethroat? Admittedly I wouldn’t recognise its call, but I’d never expect anything so exotic. I must be more observant next time!
golebnik- we were surprised by the little grebe, and it spent much of its time underwater sao difficult to spot. Whitethroats aren't really uncommon round Edinburgh but they are elusive
I shouldn’t really get so excited about seeing less common birds, but I suppose there’s a bit of the twicher/birder in all of us. It’s a pleasure just to see a mallard, really.
golebnik - yes I agree entirely, anyone who loves birds does get excited about the less common ones but at the same time even the most common are a delight. (Well except perhaps for feral pigeons)
Yesterday evening we walked over to Blackford Pond, where we saw these proud parent mallards and a little grebe, respendent in its breeding plumage. The books describe little grebes as very shy and this one certainly was, it spent most of its time under water! The evening was beautiful, mild and still with a wonderful sky of soft clouds. We walked round Blackford Hill and the Hermitage of Braid and after coming almost face to face with a swooping kestrel (they're incredibly beautiful at close range!) we sat down for a while looking at the trees below, which were full of chattering jackdaws and the hill behind that was full of rabbits. Swifts were darting about high above us and the air was full of birdsong (I was pleased that I recognised the song of a whitethroat). A very peaceful place.
Beautiful green. If the sun would only come out. :)
ReplyDeleteA whitethroat is a bird I've never heard of - he certainly has a sweet song and very similar to our wild finches.
ReplyDeletethat's lovely... kestrels are quite common here, grebes less so, but i'm not sure about whitethroat...
ReplyDeleteBrian - actually it was quite nice in the clouds,,,
ReplyDeleteJanice - yes it is a lovely song
Polona - kestrels aren't uncommon in Scotland but I've never seen one at such close range...
Sounds and looks very lovely. Thanks for sharing. Yes.
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it over to our neck of the woods and saw the beautiful bunnies. Your ornithological finds always impress me … a little grebe on Blackford Pond? I consider myself lucky if I see so much as a tufted duck there! And a whitethroat? Admittedly I wouldn’t recognise its call, but I’d never expect anything so exotic. I must be more observant next time!
ReplyDeletegolebnik- we were surprised by the little grebe, and it spent much of its time underwater sao difficult to spot. Whitethroats aren't really uncommon round Edinburgh but they are elusive
ReplyDeleteI shouldn’t really get so excited about seeing less common birds, but I suppose there’s a bit of the twicher/birder in all of us. It’s a pleasure just to see a mallard, really.
ReplyDeletegolebnik - yes I agree entirely, anyone who loves birds does get excited about the less common ones but at the same time even the most common are a delight. (Well except perhaps for feral pigeons)
ReplyDelete