Show the Love - Get Out there and Enjoy Nature

Every year around Valentine’s Day, hundreds of thousands of people join in the Climate Coalition's #ShowTheLove campaign for the places, people and life that we want to protect from climate change. One way we can Show the Love is by protesting against the destruction of nature as Save Meadowbank Trees were doing yesterday (see this post) and another is getting out there to enjoy nature!

After watching the trees being massacred at Meadowbank yesterday, I wanted to escape to see some living nature so I hopped on a bus and went to Musselburgh, where I hoped to see some interesting birds and to hear the first skylark song of the year.

I wasn't disappointed! There were lots of birds around including 150 lapwings, 50 or so curlew, plenty of teal and wigeon. Also several goldeneye, the males of which were occasionally throwing their heads back onto their neck in their courtship display

The swans were more obvious in their displays

I watched this black headed gull (still in it's winter plumage) for a while as it followed the pair of mallards, picking off invertebrates or other foods that the ducks were disturbing

And yes the skylarks were singing and in fact at one point two skylarks were chasing each other very close to where I was standing. Skylarks are wonderful birds but sadly their numbers are declining rapidly across the UK. They still sing round Musselburgh though, hanging high in the sky singing almost constantly all through the spring and summer.

Find out more about the Show the Love campaign on the Woodland Trust website here.