Colinton Dell

One of the things I love about volunteering every week with Water of Leith Conservation Trust, is seeing all the seasonal changes in Colinton Dell (my patch of the river). Today I noticed that about about one third of the ramsons (wild garlic) are now in flower. It smells of garlic too. Often it carpets whole areas of the woods and other times it just appears in clumps, as below where it's growing around a dead tree that's been allowed to lie as it offers great habitat for insects and other invertebrates that birds may want to eat.

Talking of birds, today was a particularly good day for birdwatching in the Dells. Most exciting was seeing two spotted flycatchers! I had read that historically these birds had been found in the area, but as far as I was aware, no-one had seen them for years. I've never before seen them here so it was wonderful to see them perching high in the trees then flying into the air to catch insects then return to the same perch.

For Nature Notes