Further along we wandered onto the beach and looked out over the Firth of Forth. It was incredibly windy and the eider ducks looked to be struggling on the choppy waters. We also saw small numbers of curlews and oystercatchers as well as lots of crows and gulls. 
There were some determined birdwatchers on the grassy banks near the shore, with telescopes and tripods (if you click on the photo below, you may be able to see some of them!), no doubt watching out for unusual passage migrants that might be blown off course into the Firth. 
We went back onto the woodland track and found some interesting fungi, the photo below shows earth balls on a rotten tree stump. 
Nice post I have been birdwatching and it's very windy too.
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole lot of poetry waiting to be written in those photographs c.g.p. Do hope the awful rainstorm that has hit The Yorkshire Dales (5 inches of rain) doesn't drift as far North as you. We are almost afloat here (maybe there is some poetry there too!)
ReplyDeleteThe photos are outstanding. I enjoy coming walking with you.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Julie. I loved my wandering through Queensferry and especially enjoy the beauty of the Dalmeny Estate.
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful photos except only the first one enlarged - the rest would not for some reason. I really like the second photo - such wonderful rocks. It's very lush there I guess because you've had so much rain.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see the Firth of Forth .. a place I have heard of often, but never even seen a picture!
ReplyDelete"Place" is an important part of much of the writing of the Pacific Northwest .. partly because everything is so BIG .. the firs so tall! Much work to try to keep some of it as it is forever, just so the things you mentioned don't happen. We are fortunate to have many miles of coastal rainforests, most protected. Both in Washington State and in British Columbia.
I loved seeing eider ducks in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteMuch as I love watching birds, I could never get into that obsessive twitching after the rarest of the rare, the off-course migrants and accidentals. It seems to be missing the point somehow...
Weaver of Grass - sorry you've had such bad rain, we've had a lot but not that bad....
ReplyDeleteSelma, Annie - thanks
Janice - a shame the photos wouldn't enlarge, I don't know why that would be. The rocks are wonderful aren't they?
Rabbit's Guy - good to hear your forests are protected.
Lucy - no I'm not a twitcher either, the closest I've ever got is to go up the road to see the waxwings, which only fall on us once every few years.
Thank you for the stroll along the beach. This resembles the PNW shoreline.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI do most of my bird watching in our little garden!:) Through the kitchen window, or, from the garden bench!:) It's been a pleasure reading about other people and their approach to bird watching...!:) Beautifully instructive!:)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, walking down the riverside in the city centre this afternoon, I heard a strange bird singing… For a moment I thought the singing was coming from an apartment… When I passed the Shomakers’ Bridge, one of the well known sights of Ljubljana, I saw a young man, sitting crossed-legged, much like a hippie from the 60’s, on the bridge, imitating birds… Be that as it may, the last piece I head from him definitely conjured the image of a wild cat in my mind!?:)
hi juliet,
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing pictures of your nature walk. i enjoy birdwatching as well. and i'm the same way about place, most of my poems are rooted on a particular place in time.
that sounds, and looks, lovely! lush!! we were thinking of having to invest in a cheapish but good pair of binoculars to bird watch, as we found so many fab species in the hebrides!
ReplyDelete