North Leith Cemetery

 I'm continuing to survey the wildlife in all the council managed cemeteries in Edinburgh. Today I visited North Leith Burial Ground, a tiny cemetery

that sits just alongside the Water of Leith. 

There were a good number of birds around including this friendly feral pigeon 

who later joined with about 30 more feral pigeons alongside the river! 

On the way home, I popped into South Leith Cemetery to check on the squirrels (I blogged here about my survey of South Leith Cemetery, which I carried out in early December). 

I was very glad I had popped into South Leith today, as two of the squirrels were busy making a drey (nest). The photos aren't very clear as I didn't want to get too close and risk worrying the squirrels (though they're used to disturbance as a lot of people walk through this cemetery, many with dogs). Anyway, it was lovely to watch the two squirrels working together, breaking twigs from the tree and carrying them into the drey. If you click on the photo below you'll be able to see a squirrel to the right of the main tree trunk, and you may also be able to see the mess of twigs that is the drey, just to the left of the squirrel.