The moods of the sea and a weird goose

The waterfront at Musselburgh today. Out there, are goldeneye, eider, velvet scoter, a red throated diver and a shag. Only some of them are even in the shots and all of them are too far out to be identifiable in the photos, even if you click to enlarge, sorry, but click on each bird's name and you can find out more.

This goose has characteristics of a pinkfoot and of a whitefront, very confusing, possibly its a hybrid, I'm currently trying to get an answer from the experts, but if anyone knows, let me know in the comments. It was hanging out with Canada Geese and greylags (and gulls too!) at Musselburgh.

Edited to add: well it seems that the goose is likely to be a Canada / greylag hybrid! 

Le Dementellement

Le Dementellement is a film from Quebec, showing in the French Film Festival. It follows Gaby, a sheep farmer as he makes the difficult decision to sell his farm. He's 63 and in good health and the farm has been his life for 40 years but he's selling it because his older daughter has demanded his financial support so she can separate from her husband and buy out his share of their mansion marital home. Although Gaby had my sympathy all the way through I just wanted to shake him and tell him to wake up to the fact that his daughter was totally taking advantage of him. Meanwhile his younger daughter is playing the role of Cordelia in a stage version of King Lear.

It's a beautiful film, the camera lingering on the gorgeous scenery and the daily rhythms of life on a sheep farm. The acting is consistently excellent and understated and the story is engrossing. It is however very depressing and Gaby's passivity becomes wearing for the viewer. There seems to be no hope at the end for Gaby and with other of his elderly farming neighbours taking the decision to sell their farms, there seems little hope for the future of sheep farming either.

I seem to watch a lot of films about sheep farming. You might be interested to check out my reviews for:

Cycle - a Turkish film about a sheep washing contest

Vivan las Antipodas - a documentary that includes a section on a Chilean sheep farmer

Off the Beaten Tracks - a documentary about a Rumamian sheep farmer

Le Quattro Volte - an Italian film about charcoal making and farming (though it's goats rather than sheep)

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

Late Autumn Woodlands

The photo above is talen looking through the sign outside the Forestry Commission office in Edinburgh to across the road from the commission's offices. I took the photo on Friday.

Today I was in Colinton Dell, along the Water of Leith.

Fungi in Colinton Dell

I should know the species of fungus, but don't and I can't find them either in the Woodland trust fungi id swatch (that I reviewed here) or in my fungi book! If anyone knows the species, please let me know in the comments section! 

Fallen leaves in the Dells.

Meanwhile if you live in the UK amd love woodlands, please consider signing the Woodland trust petition calling on Forestry Minister Dan Rogerson, MP, to ensure grants for tree planting and creating new woods are put in place and maintained during the gap between old and new forestry funding schemes. 

For Nature Notes. 

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On an entirely different topic, my poem Cello in the Dark is now up on the Bigger Stones website.  

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

Upcycled Christmas Cards

I never like to see Christmas items and decorations in the shops too early, but at the same time, because I make most of my own Christmas cards and some of my Christmas gifts, I start early! Here are some of the cards I've made so far this year, some of you may notice a common theme .....

All the cards are made from card-stock given to me by a friend and scrap paper including scrap wrapping paper.I might add some glitter (given to me by the same friend) at the last moment.

You can see some of my designs from previous years here, here and here.

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

Counting Birds on Cammo Fields

I blogged recently about the proposed housing development for Cammo Fields and the public meeting that's happening on Thursday. I said in my previous blogposts that the area is rich in birdlife and today Crafty Green Boyfriend and I went along to the fields to record the birds we saw to feed into the meeting (though hopefully the local Wildlife Record Centre and Scottish Ornithologists Club will be adding in their records too).

 the field that may be lost to houses, photo taken by me

The birds were obviously aware of the importance of our task as they turned out in great number. Not only were there lots of goldfinches, several robins, blue tits and a buzzard (all common species) but there were also a range of rarer birds too. We saw: one or two yellowhammers, several tree sparrows and ten or more linnets, all of which are both red listed in the UK (ie of special conservation concern) and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP)). We also saw: about 15 fieldfares (which are red listed in the UK but not mentioned specifically in the Edinburgh LBAP) and at least three reed buntings (which are amber listed in the UK, as being of moderate conservation concern and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh LBAP).We didn't however see any of the (red-listed) skylarks that sing so beautifully above these fields in the spring.

yellowhammer, photo by Crafty Green Boyfriend

tree sparrowshiding in the shadows in the hedge, photo by Crafty Green Boyfriend

We continued our walk into Cammo Estate itself and the autumn colours and shadows were magnificent in the woodlands. 

A reminder that the public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. If you can't get along to the exhibition or public meeting, but have a genuine interest in the development then you can respond on the Cammo Development website. 

For Shadow Shot Sunday

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

Nature is Not for Sale

 

Yesterday and today Edinburgh has hosted the World Forum on Natural Capital, which is discussing how to put a financial price on nature. Many thinkers and some environmentalists see this as a positive step as it would ensure that the value of nature and ecological services (including clean water and air) is included in decisions around economic development.

Others feel that by putting an economic value on nature, we turn it into a commodity and effectively sell it off to the highest bidder. World Development Movement yesterday held the Nature Not for Sale Forum to 'stand up to global finance and share ideas to protect our natural world for the benefit of all.'


The first speaker overused economics jargon. Maybe she thought she was speaking to an audience of experts, but I was scratching my head trying to work out exactly what she meant. Yes I'd heard many of these economics jargon words before but so many of them packed together in a speech? Hard work.

The second speaker joined us via Skype and similarly used a lot of jargon.

Over a delicious vegan / vegetarian supper, Crafty Green Boyfriend and I discussed the importance of Plain English and avoidance of jargon when addressing the general public. You want to inspire people to get involved, not leave them wondering over exactly what you meant in your talk.

The panel discussion after supper was distinctly more engaging and contained much less jargon. Speakers discussed a range of ideas including how to appeal to individuals' personal values to get them engaged in campaigning and acting on issues.

There was discussion around the fact that some conservation bodies are tempted by the possibility of receiving funding for their nature reserves through biodiversity offsetting (where damage to the environment in one place is 'balanced' by protecting it in another place.) This could mean however that funding for nature reserves might become dependent on the environment being damaged elsewhere, surely not an overall conservation success! Also specific habitats are irreplaceable and replacing them with something similar elsewhere doesn't compensate for the specific losses to local wildlife and communities.

One of the speakers made an analogy that if he injured someone in a car crash and then paid for the victim's medical costs that didn't make things okay! But effectively that is what is being suggested by biodiversity offsetting.

A member of the audience shared the story about a community in Indonesia (I think) who had protected their local rainforest for generations as they saw it as sacred. A Japanese company then came in and offered to pay the community to look after this forest. This support lasted for a few years. By the time it was withdrawn, the community had lost its traditional reasons for protecting the forests and now saw it as a potential source of income. I think the forest ended up being felled.

At root, the problem is that society has become too focussed on money, believing that everything has a monetary value and that economics are more important than more abstract values. In the small nation of Bhutan, success is measured by Gross National Happiness rather than Gross Domestic Product (a measure of economic success). That certainly entirely changes the way people perceive the world.

Cross posted to my website. 

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

Selected Poems by Jason Sturner

I was delighted in August 2012 to publish Stopwatch, a poem by Jason Sturner on Bolts of Silk. So when Jason offered copies of his Selected Poems to his Facebook friends I jumped at the chance and was pleased to receive one! This small book contains 22 poems, opening with Leaving the Old Us, a poem about failed relationships and climate change, written with a lovely rhythm:

Today we sail in the wake of an albatross,
Colored by sunrise and bound for the sea. 
It's an auspicious time to leave one's past.

The collection contains poems about love, belonging, loss and war, but always there is a sense of connection with nature and with the weather:

I am a whisper,
of storms through your skin. 

(from Whispers)

There are some wonderful phrases too:

benevolent bees sting blue stars

(from A Lament for Sylvia)

The collection ends with another wonderful phrase:

My heart is in a dance
with autumn's return. 

(from Seasonally Home)

Selected Poems by Jason Sturner (available from his blog) 

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

National Tree Week

an ornamental rowan tree, Princes Street Gardens 

National Tree Week organised by the Tree Council, runs from 23 November - 1 December to coincide with the start of the tree planting season. 

The week aims to encourage people to plant trees and to look after those they already have. Why not get involved in one of the many Events happening across the UK? Or plant a tree in your garden!

If you're wanting to use Tree Week as a way to inspire children and young people to look after trees, then The Woodland Trust has a very comprehensive selection of activities and learning resources. 

The Tree Council has a network of volunteer Tree Wardens across the UK. Find out how to get involved here. 

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And for those of you who missed these links a couple of days ago: 

You can read about the Scottish Government's tree planting grants on the Woodland Trust website.

Meanwhile in England the government plans to stop tree planting grants in the period 2014 - 2016. If you think this is the wrong decision, please sign the petition  to ensure grants for tree planting and creating new woods are put in place and maintained during the gap between old and new forestry funding schemes. 

Over the next week, to celebrate Tree Week, I'll be posting a couple of poems about trees over on Bolts of Silk.  

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

haiku

not enough starlings
for a murmuration -
dusky moon

Maple yellow

Colinton Dell, by the Water of Leith.

You can read about the Scottish Government's tree planting grants on the Woodland Trust website.

Meanwhile in England the government plans to stop tree planting grants in the period 2014 - 2016. If you think this is the wrong decision, please sign the petition  to ensure grants for tree planting and creating new woods are put in place and maintained during the gap between old and new forestry funding schemes. 

for Nature Notes.  

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

Late autumn, Hermitage of Braid

 (the yellow conifer in the photo above is a larch, a deciduous conifer)

Hermitage of Braid, Edinburgh.

Update on Cammo fields

I wrote recently about the proposals to build housing on arable fields near Cammo Estate. Today I went along to the exhibition about the proposed development. 

The plan is to build housing on most of one of the fields between Cammo Walk and Maybury Road. The development will be surrounded by new trees with a footpath running through them to create a new woodland walk. So the developers are at least trying to be sensitive to the environment and landscape of the area, though it will significantly impact on the semi-rural aspect of the area. 

However, there is no attempt to be sensitive to the specific wildlife found in the field. This field (with the adjoining one) is the only place where I have ever seen tree sparrows (and it's a very exciting birdwatching moment every time I do see them), a UK red listed species that is specifically mentioned in Edinburgh's Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) as needing conservation help. Skylarks also use these fields (their songs are a joy in the springtime) as do yellowhammers (both are red listed species and specifically mentioned in the Edinburgh BAP).

Additionally, development of this field would set a precedent for other nearby fields which would destroy the semi-rural aspect of the area and leave Cammo Estate isolated in a sea of housing.

The Local Development Plan to turn that part of Cammo from green belt into development land has not yet been passed, but developers are perfectly entitled to apply for planning consent and it would be a tragedy if this open green space is lost to housing. 

If you're concerned about this development, you may want to go along to the exhibition and /or the public meeting on the developments. The exhibition will be in Cramond Kirk church hall, Cramond Glebe Road. The public can view, discuss and comment on on the proposed developments until 5pm today and also on these dates:

·	16th November between 9.30am and 5.30pm  - staffed from 10am to 1pm

·	17th November 9.30am -12noon - unstaffed

The public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. This is an important meeting for people to attend as this will be an opportunity to input into any resulting planning application and to hear the views of other residents.

If you can't get along to the exhibition or public meeting, but have a genuine interest in the development then you can respond on the Cammo Development website. 

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

No Worries Whale - a book of ocean poems

I was delighted to be approached on Twitter by No Worries Whale to review a copy of their book of ocean poetry by Amanda Gehrke, illustrated by Alison Sojka. The book is designed to appeal to young readers to get them interested in the life of the oceans.

The poems in No Worries Whale are full of endearing ocean-going characters who address us in engagingly jaunty rhyming poetry accompanied by delightful illustrations. One of the first we meet is Thomas the Touring Turtle:

Thomas the touring turtle
Born on a Florida beach
Set off to find his mother
Who was somewhere out of reach.

The style is light hearted and many of the poems are entirely fanciful, such as Cookie Cutter Shark, in which 'a shark whose name is Clark..../ loves to bake confections'. Other poems though include a lot of interesting factual information about ocean life:

This paradise can be -2 degrees C
A wintery world weaved with whites and blues
Filled with funny fish you can see right through

(from Icefish Playground)

while other poems directly address some of the issues affecting ocean life:

When we contaminate the water
And pollute the Earth
It’s the corals and animals
Of the oceans who get hurt

(from Coral Reef)

There's even a poem (Aquatic Academy) to show the parallels between human children and fish and a few that offer advice for life, including Picasso Fish with its encouragement to the reader to Go paint the world a better place.


Children around the world will be captivated by the fishy characters in these poems and illustrations and hopefully will be inspired to find out more about the oceans and to protect the creatures that live there. An excellent example of using the arts to engage young people on issues around the environment.

No Worries Whale is available on Amazon or you can follow them on Twitter.

haiku

double rainbow -

the changing colours

of the cherry tree.

Supernature lemongrass infused rapeseed oil

The Edinburgh ethical grocers Real Foods recently invited people to volunteer as product reviewers and I was delighted to be chosen! For my first review I chose Supernature lemongrass infused rapeseed oil.

It's a beautifully presented product in this attractive bottle. This award winning oil is gently cold pressed at Carrington Barns Farm in the Lothians, 8 miles from Edinburgh. The farm uses a spring rapeseed plant, which is planted in April and harvested in September. Its natural rapid growth means that there is no need for the use of any herbicides or fungicides and the by-product of cold pressing is put to good use as high quality animal feed, ensuring nothing is wasted. I have to admit to not really liking the sight of the excessively vivid fields of rape, but there's no doubting that this is an ethically and locally produced cooking oil, with claims also to be healthier than olive oil. 

So how does it taste? Crafty Green Boyfriend and I initially tried the taste test as done at tasting events in the Real Foods stores - we dipped pieces of bread into the oil. I thought it was delicious while Crafty Green Boyfriend's comment was 'bit too lemongrassy for me, but it might be nice used in cooking'. Which was exactly what I did next using it to fry up onions, mushrooms, carrots and courgettes with a touch of freshly grated ginger and some ground coriander then adding lentils and water and boiling it all up and serving it with noodles. It tasted delicious and the lemongrass taste was subtle enough to keep Crafty Green Boyfriend happy.

There are several other flavours of oils produced by Supernature, the garlic oil sounds particularly appealing. 

Supernature Lemongrass infused rapeseed oil is available instore or online at Real Foods. 

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

Autumnal colours by the Water of Leith

We're continuing to enjoy stunning autumnal colours in Edinburgh. Many of the leaves are still on the trees:

These lovely fungi (possibly a species of bell-cap) were growing on a tree by the side of the Water of Leith.

My favourite tawny owl was again in its roost hole, this time, a chaffinch (seen here on the left hand side of the photo, you may need to click on it to enlarge it) was hopping around, calling loudly, as though it were taunting the owl. The owl was paying no attention at all.

Many of the leaves that have fallen from the trees have landed in the river, giving this lovely effect:

The orange ladybirds (Halyzia 16-guttata) which by this time last year were already hibernating are now just starting to gather on the old rusty fence.

(My hand is in the photo because otherwise my camera was refusing to focus on the ladybird!).

for Nature Notes

as ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other weboages where you can find out more.

Upcycled notepad

I made this little notepad from the back of a notebook that I had filled up, scrap paper and a hair grip that is too small to be any use for my very thick hair! It's useful to have by my side whenever I need to take notes or make lists.It's also endlessly refillable.

Rhinoceros Summer by Jamie Thornton

Seventeen year old Lydia Gibbhas, the daughter of a Sacramento pastor, works in a Christian shop and yearns to be a photographer. A missionary contact of her father's offers her a chance to travel to Tanzania, where she becomes ensnared in the cruel world of big game hunting and the complicated lives of an expatriate family with lots of secrets.

The story is told against the backdrop of the beautiful wildlife of Tanzania and the constant tensions between that wildlife and humans - whether hunters, conservationists or ordinary villagers trying to live and farm alongside the wild animals. The reader is drawn into the beautiful world of wild Tanzania and, with Lydia, sucked into the terrifying and corrupt world of big game hunting that threatens to destroy this wild beauty.  

This is a gripping and insightful coming of age novel, which reads like a thriller. Lydia's journey from naive young Californian to young woman aware of the dangers of the world is entirely convincing. Minor characters are also well drawn,  with the corrupt hunting safari manager Paul being particularly unlikeable, but all too believable. 

Can the hunters and villagers learn to live together with each other and the wildlife? Can Lydia find a way of using her photographic skills to help wildlife and people? Can Lydia's parents learn to accept that their daughter has grown up? 

At the end the reader is far more aware of the complexities of the obstacles facing conservation of African wildlife, but this isn't a book that offers a vision of easy answers to the complicated problems that face the wildlife and people of Tanzania.

Thanks to Story Cartel I downloaded a free review copy of Rhinoceros Summer by Jamie Thornton 

Cammo fields - prime site for development?

I was very saddened to find out that City of Edinburgh Council is intending to designate some of the farm fields near Cammo Estate into development land with the intention of building hundreds of houses there. These fields form a lovely part of the rural-feeling setting around the Cammo Estate and I have regularly seen skylarks, yellowhammers and tree sparrows there - all species are known to be declining, are red listed in the Uk as being of highest conservation concern and are specifically mentioned in Edinburgh's Biodiversity Action Plan. 

The Local Development Plan to turn that part of Cammo from green belt into development land has not yet been passed, but developers are perfectly entitled to apply for planning consent and it would be a tragedy if this area of open green space is lost to housing. 


If you're concerned about this development and are in Edinburgh then you may want to go along to the exhibition and /or the public meeting on the developments.
The exhibition will be in Cramond Kirk church hall, Cramond Glebe Road. The public can view, discuss and comment upon on the proposed developments on the following days: 

·	14 November between 1pm and 8pm  - staffed by members of the project team

·	15th November 9.30am -5.30pm - unstaffed

·	16th November between 9.30am and 5.30pm  - staffed from 10am to 1pm

·	17th November 9.30am -12noon - unstaffed

The public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. This is an important meeting for people to attend as this will be an opportunity to input into any resulting planning application and to hear the views of other residents.

haiku and birds

frosty grass -
Greenland white fronted geese
fly in from the north

***
Over the past week or so, geese have been turning up at Musselburgh Lagoons that don't normally visit. At one point there were apparently 50 barnacle geese (though there are only 11 left now) and they have more recently been joined by about five Greenland white fronted geese.  As you can see from the maps (if you follow the links in red) these birds are well outside their normal wintering grounds. Lovely to see them. Also four snipe, which are often around the Lagoons, but very elusive. Meanwhile I got my closest ever views of the fabulously weird looking velvet scoters and spent a few minutes watching a group of six of them diving in the incoming tide. There were at least 20 of them scattered around the water just near the John Muir Walkway. Then the storm clouds began to move in rapidly from Fife and I speeded up to avoid getting caught in the downpour, but in the end the storm bypassed Musselburgh entirely.

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

Autumn colours

We're having a stunning display of autumn colour this year and in between the rain storms we're getting beautifully still weather with amazing blue skies. Here are some photos from Colinton Dell, Water of Leith earlier today.

 I love how the fallen leaves make little islands in the mill lade above Redhall Mill.

 I love the colours of beech leaves at this time of year (above and below)

I've frequently blogged photos of the wonderful chandelier style catkins of the hornbeam tree, but this is the first time I've taken the photos from this angle.