Kingfishers and Libraries

I just found out that today is National Libraries Day in the UK. Libraries are a great resource for enabling people, particularly those on a low income, to access books and other media. They're also environmentally friendly, many people borrow the one copy of a book, thus saving on paper, while at the same time authors are paid each time their book is borrowed, so there's not the loss of income that many authors see as a downside to other forms of book sharing.

So, why not pop into your local library today and choose a book to read..... There's also plenty going on today to celebrate libraries, you can find out more here.

This morning we visited the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. We were totally delighted to get a wonderful view of a kingfisher on the pond. It dived into the water and came out with a fish in its beak then flew into a bush where it stayed in full view for several minutes. Kingfishers are often seen on the pond here as it is so close to the Water of Leith, where the birds breed. They're visiting the pond more frequently at the moment, partly because when water levels are high in the river (as they are at the moment) kingfishers will often visit ponds (which is the same reason why a kingfisher is currently often seen at Musselburgh Boating Pond near the River Esk). in the case of the Water of Leith / Botanics kingfisher, it's likely that the ongoing flood prevention works along the river are disturbing the birds, encouraging them to visit the pond.

Also in the Botanics, we heard the wonderful sound of great spotted woodpeckers drumming. Spring is definitely on the way!

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks which take you to other webpages where you can find out more.