This morning I did my patrol of the Colinton and Craiglockart Dells alongside the Water of Leith. It's a beautiful place, but sadly sometimes has a litter problem (though not as much as it used to have back when I started patrolling). Today I collected two bags of rubbish along my walk.
But it was a nice mild day and despite the lack of sunshine, Spring definitely seemed to just be around the corner. Robins, wrens and song thrushes in particular, were singing beautifully. I'm always impressed by how many song thrushes sing in the Dells, as this is a species that is declining across the UK.
The birding highlight of the day though was seeing (and hearing!) three great spotted woodpeckers. These birds were chasing each other around the tree tops, calling loudly, with one (or two?) of them taking regular time out to drum on the tree trunks. I know that great spotted woodpeckers nested in almost exactly that spot last year, and hopefully they will do so again! The woodpeckers were too high up for me to get photos.
I'm very happy that the Water of Leith Conservation Trust has just published a short article I wrote about surveying plants in the Dells. You can read it here.
1 comment:
It is so nice that you pick up trash along a trail. I wish people would remember the "leave no trace behind" rule. Trash and even human waste have sadly become a big problem here in some wilderness areas where people hike and camp.
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