Figgate Park

It's been another unusually mild December day. We had a lovely walk round Figgate Park this morning - of all the urban parks in Edinburgh it often seems to be the best for birds and today was no exception! Crafty Green Boyfriend got these lovely photos of several of the smaller birds that were around today

long tailed tit

male bullfinch

goldcrest

There weren't any unusual birds on the pond (though this park is famous for having regular visits from a shoveller and also a mandarin stayed here for a long time recently! I was pleased however to capture this photo of two black headed gulls (in winter plumage, hence the lack of black heads!), as it shows the difference between the parent on the left and the adolescent (beak and legs are pale rather than red and there are brown markings in part of the wing) on the right.

and two different black headed gulls here

This birch tree has a lot of 'witches brooms' growing on it, these are galls, caused by a parasitic wasp or fungus that attacks trees (almost always birch trees) resulting in these characteristic growths