Formula One Racing or A Wildlife Haven?

 It seems like a no-branier to those of us who love nature and understand the value of wildlife. 

 

The Lagoons, were created in 1964 by the South of Scotland Electricity Board. Three hundred acres of land have been reclaimed from the sea with pulverised fuel ash from Cockenzie Power Station. The area has become an important area for wading birds and sea ducks and has nice tree lined paths that lead to concrete bird hides.Musselburgh lagoons are now in fact the best place for birdwatching anywhere near Edinburgh 

and plans for a Formula One racing track seem totally inexplicable. However, those are the plans that were put forward recently - you can read more here. 

If you agree that turning a wildlife haven into a Formula One racing circuit is a stupid idea, then please consider signing the petition against the development here. There are already almost 5,000 signatures, showing the strength of feeling against this madness. 

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In other news, I've been making earrings recently and you can see the latest pairs in my Crafty Green Poet Etsy store here and here. 

Duddingston Loch in Winter Sunshine

 It's still very cold out there, though the sun has been shining brightly most of the day. We had a wee expedition to Duddingston Loch to see the geese and other birds. 

This goose is a Canada / greylag hybrid and was happy to pose for photos 

There are quite a few of these hybrids around Edinburgh!

This magnificent mute swan was showing off as it swam across the water

while this adolescent mute swan was intent on preening 

Ice on the Water

 Our temperatures have risen in the last 24 hours and much of the ice has melted from the streets and pavements. We're back in lockdown but this time with no restriction on how long we spend exercising outside (I suspect this is because most people won't spend long outside in the current weather, COVID restrictions or no!). We had a lovely walk to and round Inverleith Park, where the pond is still frozen and there are some nice reflections of the trees. 

The snack kiosk in the corner of the park does wonderful cakes too.

Winter Wonderland at Saughton Park

 It snowed again last night. I was slightly apprehensive about going out, as yesterday I had been very uncomfortable about walking on snow and ice, but today I felt much better about it. We had a lovely walk down to and round Saughton Park, which is a winter wonderland at the moment.

The formal gardens are just as pretty in the snow

 

 

 

We were amused by this miniature snow person on the bridge 

(You can see more of my photos of Edinburgh's snow people here).

There were plenty of birds around, though we didn't see the kingfisher (which has been reportedly seen today) but the most exciting moment was watching the two otters playing around just in front of us. Crafty Green Boyfriend got this photo of one of them 

 

Happy New Year from Edinburgh

 

Ice Patterns on Blackford Pond

 It was very cold today and much of yesterdays snow has partially melted and then frozen again, making lots of paths treacherous underfoot. But if you can keep your balance, it's lovely out there! We went over to Blackford Pond today, 

 Most of the pond is frozen, but there were small areas of open water where mallards and mute swans were gathering 

the patterns in the ice are lovely 

We walked round to Midmar Paddock, passing these handsome snow people on the way 

The Paddock itself looks lovely at the moment, though interesting that Blackford Hill seems free of snow while the paddock is snow covered. 

For Nature Notes.

Winter on Corstorphine HIll

 It snowed last night and we went up Corstorphine Hill today to enjoy the winter wonderland! 

The woods are beautiful in the snow 

The gorse is amazingly still in bloom 

and the turkey tail fungus doesn't seem bothered by the snow either 

the ivy looks very pretty in the snow

 

This great tit came down at the wall at the top of the hill (The Rest and Be Thankful) (Thanks Crafty Green Boyfriend for this photo).

We also had great views of a hunting kestrel 

though we didn't see it catch anything. The voles and other small mammals it usually eats are probably all hidden away under the snow at the moment. 

It was nice to see this snow-person that someone had built on the hill 

 You can see more photos of the snow people of Edinburgh over on my Shapeshifting Green blog here.