The Year in Birds 2013

 We had a lovely walk around Colinton Dell by the Water of Leith today. Two grey herons were chasing each other and one landed on the grass for Crafty Green Boyfriend to capture on camera. He also caught the tawny owl, who today had attracted quite an audience. Just after this photo was taken, he shuffled back into the dark recesses of his roosting hole.

It's been a great year for birds! I've seen 124 species this year - almost all of them in Edinburgh and the surrounding Lothians and all of them in Scotland.

Nine of these birds have been lifers, that is I've never seen them before, these are:

avocet (a very exciting sighting on Musselburgh Lagoons, avocets have come back from near extinction in the UK and in certain places in England are now frequently seen, but they're still rare in Scotland!)

pied flycatcher (we went to Dumfries in Spring this year, specifically hoping to see migrant birds including pied flycatchers and we weren't disappointed! It was on the same trip that I saw my first ever redstart in the UK - previously I'd only ever seen this bird in Vienna, where it was hopping around outside the Natural history museum).

wood sandpiper (on Musselburgh Lagoon, not a particularly good sighting, it was skulking around in some undergrowth!)

little gull (turning in circles on Musselburgh Lagoons)

ruff (on Musselburgh Lagoons, less spectacular in non-breeding plumage than it would have been in breeding plumage, but still a beautiful bird!)

curlew sandpiper, little stint and green sandpiper (on Musselburgh Lagoons)

common scoter (swimming in the middle of a group of velvet scoters at the sea front at Musselburgh).

So you can tell that Musselburgh Lagoons is a great place for seeing unusual birds! (I was sad to miss the spoonbill that visited Musselburgh this year.....)

In addition I've seen (and heard!) more mistle thrushes this year than ever before and have been delighted by the return of the Colinton Dell tawny owl to its rightful roost (scroll down in that post to see the best photo of the owl).Plus I was delighted and amazed to see a murmuration of knots at Musselburgh.

So, what have been your favourite bird sightings this year?

If you're in the UK, remember that the Big Garden Birdwatch is coming up soon, and I'll be blogging about that in early January.

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

Arthur's Seat

It was very windy today, but stayed dry while we were walking round Arthur's Seat.

We were delighted to see this rather large rabbit sheltering in the gorse! At one point it raised one ear, but we didn't manage to get that in the photo!

And just as delighted to see about 20 siskins in the alder trees outside a superstore in a road near Arthur's Seat.

 

 male siskin

female siskin

 (I took the landscape photo, Crafty Green Boyfriend took the bunny and the siskins). 

We also saw a peregrine falcon dash across the sky, far too fast to be photographed! The first peregrine I've seen for months.

Seasons Greetings

Best wishes to all my blog readers for a wonderful holiday season! 

(I took this photo in Colinton Dell by the Water of Leith, 2009.)

Cammo

We walked round Cammo Estate today, it was very damp, muddy underfoot and distinctly cold! Lots of interesting things to see though, including these fungi, which contrast so beautifully with the moss.

The Cammo Fields (the fields threatened with housing development) were full of greylag geese, with at least one pink footed goose. I think these greylag were truly wild, migratory geese rather than the feral race of greylag that is often found in parks - it's impossible to tell from appearance alone, but its generally the migratory, wild birds that flock on fields in the winter.

There was a group of very lively tree sparrows in the undergrowth at the corner of one of the fields. We were able to get very close to them.

Learn to Tie a Tie with the Rabbit and the Fox by Sybrina Durant

A day in the life of a little rabbit, happily eating the tasty green shoots of grass until he spies a fox. A chase ensues (scenes of what a film classification board might describe as mild peril!) and the two animals trace out the actions needed to tie a neck tie.

Beautifully illustrated by Donna Marie Naval and with a fun song at the end, this is a wonderful book for anyone who can't tie a tie or who loves bunnies. You can use it as a family activity, so grab your neck ties and get ready to follow the instructions given by rabbit and fox.

Learn to Tie a Tie  with the Rabbit and Fox by Sybrina Durant

Thanks Story Cartel for my free download of this book

Christmas haiku

Christmas lights -

cherry blossom

still in bloom.

**

chocolate Yule log

dusted with icing sugar -

snow covered hills

Christmas Tree

Here's our Christmas tree. It's a living tree, standing in a pot of soil and after the Christmas season it will go back to Crafty Green Boyfriend's mum's garden to return to our flat for the next few Christmases until it becomes too big.

I've decorated it with a variety of items, including a number of odd earrings and a Christmas star made from felted shed fur and red seed beads from our old rabbit Anya.

(The photo's not brilliant because the light isn't great today!)

and for Kat, a close up of the star, though it doesn't want to sit straight for the camera!

I don't know about you, but this year I've been particularly annoyed this year by the number of companies and charities doing '12 Days of Christmas' campaigns and giveaways, starting on the 1 December or sometimes 12 days before Christmas day. In fact, the Twelve Days start on Christmas Day and end on Epiphany, celebrating the arrival of the wise men, which is on 6 January (or 5 January in some traditions). We're currently in the season of Advent, or anticipation of Christmas, which these days most people celebrate by buying more stuff than they need.

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

No Biodiversity Offsetting

Biodiversity offsetting is the idea that nature can be destroyed in one place and this loss balanced out with nature somewhere else.

The concept allows and even encourages environmental destruction, with the promise that the damaged habitat can be recreated elsewhere. Companies and governments doing the damage can thus claim that they are investing in environmental protection.


Governments across the world are enthusiastically adopting the idea of biodiversity offsetting and creating public policies to ensure that property rights over nature can be transferred to corporations and banks. Often they claim that habitats will only be destroyed in extremis and that offsetting allows such destruction to be balanced. But, as the plan to build houses on Cammo fields in Edinburgh shows, decision makers can't be trusted to leave important sites undeveloped or even to recognise the importance of sites and biodiversity offsetting can lead to increased destruction. 

Nature is unique and complex. Biodiversity is impossible to measure, and specific areas of habitat are impossible to replace. It is ridiculous to suggest that an area of ancient woodland can be destroyed to build a high speed rail link and then replaced by planting a few sycamores somewhere else. Not only is the specific ecological value for the wildlife living in that ancient woodland lost forever, but the people living nearby lose a valuable part of their local culture.

Some conservation organisations are apparently being tempted by the idea that biodiversity offsetting could fund some of their nature reserves. However, it would be appalling to think that nature reserves were to become dependent on funds from environmental destruction.

(It is worth saying that some environmental damage can be made good - one of my favourite birdwatching sites, Musselburgh lagoons was created on the site of an old dunping ground for fly ash from the nearby power station. Many quarries have been made into wildlife friendly areas once the quarrying comes to an end. But the concept of biodiversity offsetting as a general approach to environmental protection is flawed and ultimately dangerous).

If you are a representative of a group or organisation that disagrees with the concept of biodiversity offsetting, please sign the No Biodiversity Offsets Declaration.

Yukon Dreams. Remoteness and mystique of the corner of the world. by Damien Tremblay

'The Yukon embodies a distant, cold, and painful elsewhere. Idealized, it tantalizes with its wonders and riches. Strange, its borders are imprecise; a wilderness implacable. Intangible, the territory is a land of dreams'. 

In this book, Damien Tremblay attempts to get to the heart of The Yukon's remoteness. 80% of the region is wilderness and mountains effectively seal it off from the surrounding areas.

The region opened up with the Gold Rush (1896 - 1900) and this short book explores the relationship people have had with the area since then - the native Tinglit peoples; shamans with their intimate connection with the earth; prospectors hoping to find the elusive mother lode of gold; trophy hunters, killing the region's big game; tourists lured by remoteness and adventure; present day residents, many of whom were drawn to the area's remoteness and artists of all types inspired by the area's beauty and wildness.

Through exploring the Yukon, Tremblay also explores the idea of remoteness and its importance to the human psyche, particularly in today's increasingly ubran world.

Yukon Dreams is beautifully written and includes amazing black and white photos of the area. A wonderful meditation on the most remote part of Canada and on wilderness as a concept.

Thanks to Story Cartel for my free download of this book. 

Yukon Dreams by Damien Tremblay

Ducks on Figgate Pond

male gadwall

male shoveller

Very high winds today. A lot of trees have been blown over in Figgate Park, it looks a mess (though hopefully the council will leave some of the dead wood when they tidy things up, as dead wood is good habitat for all kinds of creatures!) Lots of birds on the pond though including the two handsome ducks shown above!

(Photos by Crafty Green Boyfriend, taken on a previous visit to Figgate Park). 

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

Simple upcycled coaster

You may remember, I recently blogged about an upcycled notepad I made, using half the cover of a used up notebook.

Well that left me with half a notebook cover to use for something. I just carefully cut off the uneven edges and added some shiny tape to two edges and now it's a useful and pretty coaster!

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

Winter birds

A beautiful murmuration of knots at Musselburgh Lagoons, the birds glowing in the low winter sun. Loads of oystercatchers too and a few teal and wigeon. 

Five long tailed ducks out at sea alongside the velvet scoters and goldeneye.

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

Scotland after the Ice Age - book review

Scotland after the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000BC - AD1000. 
Edited by Kevin J Edwards and Ian BM Ralston

I was delighted to win this book in a Twitter competition from Edinburgh University Press. I was offered a choice of any of their paperback books and felt very much spoilt for choice as they have a wide range of books on various topics. This one though particularly appealed to me for its mix of history and environmental studies.

This is of course, an academic book, so it's written in an academic style. The text is backed up with lots of diagrams, graphs and photos. The book studies 'the nature and extent of human-environment interactions {between} the final melting of the interglacial ice sheets' and the early historical period. It looks at how early people in Scotland were affected by the environment around them and how they in turn affected that environment. The book gives a fascinating overview of this often overlooked area of human prehistory and early history, relying on archaeology and pollen analysis to recreate Scotland as it used to be.

The book covers the changing landscape, soil formation, the changing flora and fauna, the changing climate and the many waves of immigration that swept through Scotland and the islands - including the Vikings and to a lesser extent the Romans.

For anyone who wants to delve deeper into the topics, there is a very comprehensive reading list at the back of the book.

Scotland after the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000BC - AD1000.
Edited by Kevin J Edwards and Ian BM Ralston published by Edinburgh University Press.

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

Fabulous fungi and a sleepy owl

 I don't know the identity of the pretty orange fungus above, but those below are oyster mushrooms. 

seen along the Water of Leith, where I was also delighted that the tawny owl was once again in residence in its hole, looking sleepy (Crafty Green Boyfriend took this photo last week but the owl looked pretty much the same today!).

for Nature Notes

Grey Squirrels at Edinburgh Botanics

 There were several grey squirrels in Edinburgh Botanic Gardens today. The one above was quiet and shy but posed very nicely. Its friend below wasn't at all shy and came over and begged for food

 which Crafty Green Boyfriend then provided.

Not content with that, the squirrel then followed us around for a while.....

We also watched another squirrel for a while, as it ripped bark off a branch, collected it all in its mouth then disappeared off up the tree, no doubt to line its drey with the bark! 

There weren't many birds around in the Botanics today, but this juvenile black headed gull was happy to pose for the camera.

Autumn becoming winter

 beautiful autumn colours along the Union canal in Edinburgh the day before yesterday and winter sets in at the John Muir Walkway at Musselburgh today. In between there's been quite a storm with very strong winds, lots of trees have fallen.

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

How many supermarkets do we need?

When we visited my parents at the weekend, we went up to the local shopping centre. This has changed drastically since I was a child. Several years ago it was renovated and made into a pleasant indoor mall:

but in the last year or so, they've been extending it and extending it. There's a huge supermarket at one end, which seems to be much hated, and nowhere near as well used as other supermarkets of the same chain. There's lots of empty retail space in the extended mall:

But while these spaces all lie empty, what are they building next to the existing huge supermarket? Houses? Community services? NO, they're building, wait for it, another huge supermarket of a rival chain. Meanwhile green fields on the edge of town are being covered in houses.

People need houses of course, and they need somewhere to buy food, clothes and other essentials. However there seems to be absolutely no justification for building a huge new supermarket next door to an existing huge and underused supermarket. Why not build houses on this site and save the fields?

It's the same in another town near where my parents live, two huge supermarkets are being built next to each other, while houses are built on fields. It doesn't make sense to me. It surely doesn't even make commercial sense for the supermarkets involved.

Update on Cammo Fields

Crafty Green Boyfriend and I (and his Mum and his brother) went to the meeting last Thursday to oppose the building of houses on this arable field at Cammo.

The development company talked about their overviews for the site including traffic management and environmental mitigation. The new development if it goes ahead will create huge amounts of extra traffic, with detrimental effects on the health of local residents and on the wildlife as well as destroying habitat for important birds.

The site has been moved up from a possible site for development to a probable site for development, though it is not yet a done deal and the field can still be saved. The meeting however, talked about the development as if it were going to go ahead, and comments were only allowed if they related to the development. Essentially no-one was allowed to stand up and say the site couldn't be built on, which was a little dispiriting, though I think most people who did stand up to comment were able to work in their objections to any development as they made their points relating to the details of any development that might go ahead. (It sounds confusing, well, it was confusing).

I spoke up for the birds and detailed the birds that live on and around the field:

tree sparrow - red listed in UK (ie of major conservation concern)
linnet - red listed in UK
skylark - red listed in UK
yellowhammer - red listed in the UK
reed bunting - amber listed in UK (ie of moderate conservation concern)

all these birds are additionally specifically mentioned in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan as being of specific conservation concern in the city. 

In addition, the field is important in winter for visiting birds such as the fieldfare.

The developers claim they will protect the hedgerow that currently bounds the field, but they can't make any guarantee to protect any of the birds who will be pushed off the field if the development goes ahead. The developers intend that around 600 houses will be built on the site (which will be pretty crowded and will certainly create a lot of extra traffic) yet they claim that there will be parkland areas incorporated into the development.

But remember, this is not yet a done deal, we can save this field! There is still time to tell the developers that you don't want this development to go ahead, by completing this survey.

To keep up to date with the campaign, you can:

follow Cammo Residents on Twitter,
like Cammo Residents on Facebook.

if you live in the area, you can write to your local councillor, get in touch with the local community council and go along to exhibitions and public meetings.

For Nature Notes

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

Blackleach Country Park

We've just come back from a lovely weekend visiting my parents. These photos are from Blackleach Country Park, Salford, which is just up the road from where my parents live. There were lots of birds on the pond, including three pochards.

We also saw lots of birds in Parr Fold Park, my parents' local park, including a flock of redwings and a nuthatch.

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

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. 

***
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.