Surveying Plants along the Water of Leith

I've joined a team of volunteers who will be surveying the plants along the Water of Leith downstream from the Water of Leith Conservation Trust Visitor Centre. This is to update the information held from the previous plant survey made ten years ago. Last year I updated the plant survey information for Colinton and Craiglockart Dells (just upstream of the Visitor Centre and the patch I patrol most weeks). This year my patch is the area running from the visitor centre up to Saughton Park (though not including the park as it is currently being restored and remodelled).

We're concentrating on trees and wild flowers,  though we include whatever else we can! (I particularly record fungi and ferns).

At this time of year the only flowering plants are winter specialists such as winter aconite

snowdrops

and the first crocuses of the year

There were plenty of birds around too, including several goosanders

and this carrion crow, which is either a hybrid with a hooded crow (and there are a few such hybrids around here, with differing plumage patterns) or partially leucistic.

Finally I took this photo from near the bus stop,

I look forward to seeing the changing plantlife of the area over the next year!