It was a winter wonderland today in Colinton Dell along the Water of Leith. And guess who forgot to take her camera? Oh well!
The branches of the trees were white with frost. The last remaining leaves and the grass were edged in white and the wooden fences and paths glittered in the low sun.
The jackdaws were noisy around their usual nesting site and they seemed to be pairing up already!
Meanwhile in the river, two dippers were diving into the water and generally hopping around. A handsome male goosander glided past on another stretch of the river.
At one point I got caught up in a flock of mixed tits. Mostly they were long tailed tits (which aren't actually tits at all) - one of my favourite birds, so cute with their long tails and pinkish tinged plumage.
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Meanwhile I've got another haiku on Daily Haiku, you can read it here.
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other pages where you can find out more.
Long tailed tits are one of my favourites too Juliet - they are at the table as I write, eating the fat balls. They are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteThe snow really changes everything you see, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI must visit this place which, in the meantime, will become "superfrosted".
ReplyDeleteI think the haiku I have just read is superlative, a celebration of the urban is what I sense deeply. We all need that, let's find gold in it.
Weaver - I'm glad the long tailed tits are visiting you!
ReplyDeleteMs Sparrow - it wasn't snow, just very thick frost, amazing stuff!
Tommaso - indeed, Colinton Dell can be thick with ice in a severe winter.... Glad you enjoyed the haiku!
Sounds like a lovely time, enjoying the birds and nature. You do not always need a camera to enjoy the time.
ReplyDeleteThat damned haiku. Looks so easy.
ReplyDeleteEileen - oh i know you don't need the camera, just that it was a perfect day for photos. Plus actually when I'm doing my voluntary work I'm supposed to have my camera with me in case there's any vandalism etc to report on
ReplyDeleteno camera . . .
ReplyDeletelearning to
let go
I’m clearly behind the times with avian taxonomy – hardly surprising, since I learned it all in childhood, over thirty years ago, and have paid little attention to it since – but it was a shock to me to learn that the poor old long-tailed tit had been ‘detittified’. My 1979 Hamlyn guide just about has it hanging on in Paridae, but I see that my recent books do indeed list it as the sole European member of Aegithalidae. In any case, I was delighted to see a little cloud of them flying around the trees at a bus stop in south Edinburgh last weekend.
ReplyDeleteHi Howard, one of the things I love about the long tailed tits is how they appear in large groups just about anywhere in Edinburgh!
ReplyDeleteI'd actually forgotten that they were once classified as Paridae.