We had a long weekend this weekend, so today we had a lovely, sunny walk round Figgate Park. The Figgate Burn runs through the park, though it doesn't actually join up with the Figgate Pond, which is an artificial pond in the middle of the park. Figgate Pond is a good place to look out for relatively unusual ducks and we were lucky today to see these three Wigeon, the male with the yellow / orange stripe on his head and the two females.
Another unusual bird we saw today was this Hooded Crow x Carrion Crow hybrid. in Scotland, Hooded Crows are more or less confined to the West Coast (though they're common across mainland Europe) but these hybrids can increasingly often be seen in Edinburgh.
The Autumn colours are showing beautifully around the park.
The ivy is in bloom.
These flowers offer a great late season snack for hoverflies such as this Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus sp)
Some late flowering daisies are also in bloom
and a garden flower that must be related to daisies, but I'm not sure exactly what it is.
3 comments:
Wigeons are so funny with their whistling!
I was interested in the hooded crows when we saw them in Europe, but when I asked people about them I got kind of funny looks (they knew I was either a stranger in these parts or not very smart ... both were correct!) But we don't see them on this side of the pond so they were a new sighting (the first time ;>)). That's a pretty park you had to walk in on your long weekend ... it's wonderful to have spaces like that nearby.
Love the Wigeons, they are cute. The trees and flowers are beautiful.
Take care, enjoy your day!
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